SIU Bergen, June 2012

Reflecting on the role of academics/intellectuals in the struggle (Habermas) Muller and Cloete The white hands: academic social scientists, engagement and struggle in South Africa'. Social Epistemology, 1,2, Cloete and Muller Social scientists and social change in South Africa. International Journal of Contemporary Sociology, 28, 3-4, Muller and Cloete Out of Eden: modernity, post-apartheid and intellectuals. Theory, Culture and Society, 10, 3, From protest to policy National Education Crisis Committee (Wikipedia – Internal resistance to apartheid (1987) Education policy units (Wits, Natal, UWC – activists on campus ) National Education Policy Investigation (NEPI) – restructuring SA higher education started with NEPI (web) Union of Democratic University Staff Associations -1991(back to the street UDUSA Policy Forum (1993) – prepared for NCHE National Commission For Higher Education – Mandela appointed participatory policy framework 2

Capacity building without a theory – Strengthening HE Governance (1997) (building the boat on the sea) Reviewing first 5 years of post Apartheid HE (2001) – performance indicators Policy formation has been SA local/Global (Manuel Castells – The Rise of the Network Society, 2000) Finding the rest of Africa – Higher Education Research and Advocacy Network in Africa (HERANA) (2009) 3

Loosely and tightly coupled networks High profile Board, two person office, outsourced services (pay for services) and commissioned experts (academics work for little – no consultants – must be employed elsewhere) and designated project managers Service providers Publishing: Compress/African Minds News: University World News Events: Millennium Travel IT: Tenet Financial Support services: CHEC Construct research programmes with historical/new networks – local and global Connect capacity building – empirical research - training - advocacy See Herana slide 4

5 HERANA Higher Education Research & Advocacy Network in Africa RESEARCHADVOCACY Higher Education and Development Investigating the complex relationships between higher education and economic development, and student democratic attitudes in Africa The Research-Policy Nexus Investigating the relationship between research evidence and policy-making in selected public policy sectors in South Africa University World News (Africa) Current news and in-depth investigations into higher education in Africa The HERANA Gateway An internet portal to research on higher education in Africa Nordic Masters in Africa (NOMA) Collaborative research training by the Universities of Oslo, Makerere, Western Cape, and CHET FUNDERS Carnegie, Ford, Rockefeller, Kresge, DFID, Norad

Seminars are strategically inclusive 10 to 15 seminars per annum over 1 or 2 days includes multiple system levels, i.e. supra-national, government, university management, academics, funders Includes experts, university representatives and policy-makers Informational Development and Human Development: Creative Synergy or Mutual Destruction (August 2010) Participants – Castells, 2 NEC members of ANC (coordinator of policy), 3 academic economists who advise minsters or Presidency, Deputy Director General of Budget in Treasury, 2 serious capitalists (Africa’s richest woman), 2 VC’s, 2 environmentalists ( SANBI), 2 ICT (researcher and director general), 6 academics and a political commentator (Mbeki’s brother) Main outcomes: why ICT failed and R300million grant to Sanbi Differentiation: Diversity and Stratification (January 2012) ◦ 7 senior officials from DHET, 1 National Development Plan (Presidency), 1 Higher Education SA, 3 university directors of planning, 8 Chet network ◦ Outcome: DHET ask Chet to organize Differentiation Implementation meeting 6

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“Covert and overt political and ideological agendas will always be there, but data is the starting point for a dialogue Leads to “empirical independence” of the organisation rather than it being an ideological hand-maiden (of government or others) CHET adds value to raw data collected by government and/or universities by cleaning, verifying and analysing source data Data is made public and focused presentations are made to government on key issues (e.g. differentiation; doctoral output, etc.) as well to the universities In doing so CHET fills the capacity void in the ministry of HE and in many of the universities’ planning departments provides government and institutions with an empirically-based picture of post- secondary education in South Africa 10

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14 1.UWN Special Africa editions and fortnightly Africa newsletters launched in 2008 in collaboration with the HERANA project. 2.More than people in 150 countries receiving the weekly global edition. 3.Of UWN’s total of registered readers, receive the Africa edition. 4.More than of UWN’s readers are based in Africa, in 29 countries. (Figures as at December 2010)

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Origins and Goals of HEMA  HEMA  Higher Education Masters in Africa programme  Builds on previous masters programmes at UWC, UIO and MU  Main goal: “to build research capacity and expertise in higher education studies in Africa”  Research-focused degree  Targeted at current and future researchers, policy makers, managers with interest in higher education in Africa 16

Higher Education Master in Africa (HEMA) programme Semester Location UiO UWC Home country / field work UWC / Home country Programme Component Doing course work Proposal & instrument development Conducting field work Data analysis Writing up Exam (by Thesis). HEMA degree programme structure 17

18 HEMA Programme Description of Component Master’s Dissertation Compulsory; counts 100% of your overall assessment. You have to write a dissertation of 40,000 words under the supervision of academics attached to HEMA HEMA Introduction to Higher Education University of Oslo Compulsory course; counts towards academic progress (credits certified by UiO); Introduction to the field of higher education studies HEMA Higher Education & UWC Compulsory course; counts towards academic progress; in- depth introduction into the history of higher education in Africa and the nexus of higher education and (economic, political, social) development in Africa. HEMA Research Design & UWC Compulsory course; counts towards academic progress; introduces students to the basic steps and the practical methods of conducting empirical research, along with the development of a research proposal. CHET Dialogue Series & HERANA Workshops Highly recommended; opportunities to engage with African and inter-national HE researchers; workshops on specific HERANA projects Higher Education Seminar Series at UWC Highly recommended; seminar presentations and discussions on current research topics in HE. Education Postgraduate Students’ Methodology & PET Workshops Highly recommended; weekly sessions on research methods and proposal development jointly with Master’s and Doctoral candidates of the Faculty of Education & Workshops organised by PET on Social Research Methods.

HEMA Degree Programme at UWC  Cohort 1: Jan (10 students)  Cohort 2: Aug (6 students)  Cohort 3: Aug (5 students)  5 graduates (2 cum laude) 19 Picture: Cohort 3 at University of Oslo (Helga Engs Huis), August, Randall, Ntimi, Lineo, Thierry (coord.), Theo, Agnes.

20 Cohort 1 (started January 2008) Graduated:  Samuel N. FONGWA, Cameroon - Contribution of Higher Education to Regional Socio-economic Development: A case study of the University of Buea in the Fako Region, Cameroon (2010, cum laude)  Angolwisye M. MWOLLO-NTALLIMA, Tanzania - Higher Education and Democracy:A study of students’ and student leaders’ attitudes towards democracy in Tanzania (2011, cum laude)  Hanitra RASOANAMPOIZINA, Madagascar – HE Policy changes in Madagascar and the Government’s Approach to Steering these Changes During the Last Two Decades ( ) (2011)  Pam WATSON, South Africa - Contextual and Policy Positioning of Higher Education for Development: a Comparative Study of two Southern African Countries (2011)  Francois VAN SCHALKWYK, South Africa - Responsiveness and its Institutionalisation in Higher Education (graduated 2011) Finishing:  Biko GWENDO, Kenya - Human Capital Formation in Kenya; the Interconnectedness Between the State, Higher Education Institutions and the Labour Market  Jennifer Sarah HUGOW, South Africa - The Dynamics of Policy Implementation: How Internal Visions Shape Faculty Responses To Steering In South African higher education  Nita CHIVWARA, Malawi - Governance of Higher Education Demand And Supply In Malawi  Wanangwe D. WANJIKU, Kenya - The Provision of Access and Skills Development by Private Universities in Kenya HEMA Students: Dissertations & Progress (1)

21 Cohort 2 (started August 2009)  Daniel CHIHOMBORI, Zimbabwe –Cost-Sharing in Higher Education Financing in Zimbabwe, : A Historiography (Proposal)  Lucky KGOSITHEBE, Botswana – Higher Education and Democracy: Attitudes and behaviours of students and student leaders towards democracy in Botswana (Data Analysis)  Domingos Jaime LANGA, Mozambique – Understanding the process of defining the roles of public universities in Mozambique: The cases of Eduardo Mondlane University and Pedagogical University (Editing final)  Doreen Nakasaga LWANGA, Uganda – Investigating the extent to which Institutionalization of Donor Funding Strengthens the Academic Core at Makerere University Kampala (Proposal)  Keitumetse Gofaone LEBOTSE, Botswana - Organisational assessment of the Tertiary Education Council in Botswana (Data Analysis)  Refiloe Moratuoa MOHLAKOANA, South Africa - Students’ Experiences of the Work- Study Programme at the University of the Western Cape (Data Collection and Analysis) HEMA Students: Dissertations & Progress (1I)

22 Cohort 3 (started August 2011)  Lineo KOLOSOA, Lesotho – (Proposal) Responding to challenges of knowledge production in Southern Africa: the comparison of Botswana and Lesotho  Randall Stephen LANGE, South Africa – (Proposal) Student engagement with Citizenship at UCT: The contribution of curricular, co-curricular and community involvement  Agnes LUTOMIAH, Kenya - (Proposal) An examination of incentive and reward structures for knowledge production : the case of the University of Nairobi  Ntimi MTAWA, Tanzania – (Proposal) Knowledge Connectivity, Academic Core and Pact in Community Engagement: The models of Sokoine University of Agriculture inTanzania and Stellenbosh University in South Africa HEMA Students: Dissertations & Progress (1II) Next Cohorts / Plans  Planned Master’s Intake 2013 (Cohort 4)  Planned Extension of HEMA to a Doctoral Programme (HE – PhD)  Other plans: HEMA Summer School 2013; Post-doctoral Fellows

HEMA Evaluation Survey Objectives  Conduct a critical and holistic self-evaluation of the current operation of the HEMA programme at UWC  Evaluating the programme against the goals of HEMA and NOMA  Review of programme documents  Survey staff and student perceptions and experiences  (Conduct in-depth interviews with staff and students; - still to be completed). 23

Conceptualisation and Methodology  Is the HEMA programme achieving its main objective of increasing higher education research capacity and producing a new generation of HE researchers in Africa?  Formative evaluation  improvement focus  Critically reflexive practice  subjectivity!  Asking pertinent questions about:  Programme structure  Student and staff experiences  Research training, course work, supervision, management,  Quality and outcomes  Resourcing and programme sustainability  NB. Qualitative dimension still to be completed (in-depth interviews with students and staff) 24

Student respondents by  Cohort 1: 6 (of 10)  Cohort 2: 5 (of 6)  Cohort 3: 5 (of 5) by international mix by gender:  Males: 10 (of 10)  Females: 6 (of 11) Student respondents to HEMA survey 25

 13 staff respondents ◦ permanent and part-time teaching staff. ◦ 10 academic, 3 admin  All academic staff/tutors have PhD or are PhD candidates (4).  2 professors of HE Studies Staff respondents to HEMA survey 26

Goal Achievement: Programme Overall Is the HEMA programme achieving its main goal of building research capacity and expertise in higher education in Africa? Almost all staff respondent are very positive about the achievement; half of student respondents DK yet. 27

Quality: Programme Overall On the whole, how would you rate the academic quality of the HEMA programme? Therefore: very positive overall evaluations. All except one student and all academic staff say they would recommend the programme to students. 28

Research training Learning outcomes: Are students successfully acquiring key research skills through HEMA? 29

Supervision Is the co-supervision model a strength or a weakness? Responses from senior students and staff are mixed on the merits of the co-supervision model. 30

Student-Supervisors relationship How do students perceive their relationship with their supervisors? Most students perceive their supervisors in a very positive light; while supervisors themselves are more critical of their ‘empathy’, expertise etc. 31

Relevance of Coursework Is the HEMA course work / seminars at UiO/UWC relevant to prepare students for research? Most students (8 of 11) and academic staff (6 of 9) indicate that they consider the course work relevant. 32

Quality of Course material Is the HEMA course material and additional academic resources of high quality? All student respondents considered course material as “excellent” or “good with minor problems”; Some academic staff (5) answered they “don’t know” while the other three academic staff respondents also consider course material and additional academic resources to be of high quality. 33

Presenting, publishing and networking Presenting & publishing as learning opportunities and outcomes? Are HEMA network links considered as strengths of the programme? 34

Where to from here? Expected graduate destinations Some possible improvements 35

Summary and Conclusions HEMA programme seems to be doing well overall & quality from staff and student perspective (self-evaluation) Staff seems to be more critical than students Research training overall seems to be working (key skills) Need to look at Overall programme structure / examination Co-supervision model Financial sustainability & resourcing Look at partnerships Institutionalisation in academic core of UWC is NB. Regular review and continued reflection Track graduate destinations Consider developing a Doctoral-level programme 36

Thank you. Please Save Our Planet. University of the Western Cape Centre for the Study of Higher Education Dr Thierry M. Luescher-Mamashela Coordinator HEMA