Page 14 - Transformation Report 2023

TRANSFORMATION

2 GOAL

Technology-Enabled Resources The Academic Planning and Quality Advancement ACHIEVE ACADEMIC EXCELLENCE THROUGH BROADENING STUDENT
(APQA) team provided excellent support in coordinat- ACCESS, PARTICULARLY THOSE WITH DISABILITIES AND FROM
An assessment of the computing needs of the Academy ing the CHE Audit submission and processes during the HISTORICALLY DISADVANTAGED GROUPS
was done. This included understanding the types of soft- panel visit. After submitting the Self-Evaluation Report in
ware, hardware, and infrastructure required to facilitate 2022, the draft CHE Audit Report was received in 2023,
effective teaching and learning. To this end, licences were which the University responded. Once the final Audit Re-
renewed for packages such as ArcGIS, Corel Site License, port is received, an improvement plan will be developed
Sketch UP, MATLAB, Statistica, Mathematica and SMark and implemented. Diversify The UG And PG
(Assessment). Student Profiles

The WiFi densification and expansion project continues, Excellence in Learning and Teaching
with more coverage and resilient connectivity. The Uni- The student datasets below are from audited HEMIS final
versity has sourced a tool to assess the WiFi strength to submissions to the DHET for 2019 to 2022 and preliminary
ensure consistency in the quality of connectivity, includ- Various colloquia, symposia, seminars, and other similar submission two for 2023.
ing on-campus and off-campus residences. Off-campus platforms were created to open up discussions to share
residences continue to be incorporated into the Univer- insights gleaned from innovations in the learning and The total number of student enrolments for 2023 was
sity connectivity grid with 78 large student accommoda- teaching spaces across faculties and other related areas 31 400 (28 147 UG and 3 253 PG), relative to 32 320 (28
tion establishments housing over 9 000 students already within the University. These platforms serve as invaluable 910 UG and 3 410 PG) in 2022 (Table 1). This translates
on-boarded. opportunities for faculty members, researchers, and other to 90 percent of enrolments being at UG level and 10
stakeholders to exchange ideas, discuss best practices, percent at PG level. The year-on-year (YoY) change in
Open Resources and Textbooks and showcase advancements in pedagogy and educa- student population groups show that African enrolments
tional technology. By facilitating such gatherings, the in- increased to 85 percent of the total student enrolments,
The University continues to explore and expand its ca- stitution fosters a culture of collaboration and continuous while the Coloured and White enrolments decreased to
pabilities to be responsive to technological advances. improvement in teaching methodologies and curriculum 7 percent, respectively and Indian enrolments remained
The cost of prescribed textbooks is prohibitive, which transformation. Moreover, these events promote inter- constant at 1 percent. Only three percent of the total stu-
prevents indigent students from accessing these critical disciplinary dialogue and collaboration, enriching the ac- dent enrolments are international students relative to the
resources. ademic experience for both educators and students. In 97 percent national enrolments (similar to 2022). The pro- Table 1: Student Enrolments According to Gender, Population groups at
essence, these platforms play a crucial role in promoting portion of students with disabilities (disclosed) remained UG and PG levels and Nationality for 2022 and 2023.
Due to the need for the development and provision of innovation and excellence in teaching and learning within constant at two percent for 2022 and 2023.
good quality Open Education Resources (OER) that are the University community. ceeded the 2023 target set in the Annual Performance
relevant to the South African context, an element of the A concerning trend observed is the steady decline in the Plan (APP) by 2.9 percent. PG enrolments showed a YoY
Kresge-funded Siyaphumelela project provided fund- proportion of male student enrolments over the past five decline of 7.8 percent from 3 410 in 2022 to 3 143 in 2023.
ing to support academic staff to develop these critical years, from 47 percent in 2019 to 41 percent in 2023 (Fig- The university fell short by 17.7 percent of reaching the
resources and textbooks. Capacitation sessions for aca- ure 1). It is unclear whether this decline is a national, pro- APP target of 3 820. The continued decline in PG enrol-
demic staff started with a workshop held in October to vincial or local trend. Nationally the gender profile is 55.2 ments over the past five years, having made up 13 per-
introduce Academics to the concepts and processes of percent male and 44.8 percent female. The factors con- cent of enrolments, to only 10 percent of enrolments. A
writing OERs. Further sessions are planned for 2024. tributing to this significant reduction in male enrolments contributing factor to this decline may be that the num-
should be further explored. ber of students supported by National Student Financial
Aid Scheme (NSFAS) having shifted from 44 percent in
Table 2 shows that a YoY decrease of 19.1 percent in first- 2019 to 60 percent in 2023. It should be noted that NSFAS
Quality Advancement Framework time entering UG enrolments from 8 555 in 2022 to 6 917 only pays for the first qualification of the beneficiary.
in 2023, while the overall number of UG enrolments ex-

The new and finalised Council on Higher Education (CHE)
Quality Advancement Framework (QAF) was launched in
September 2023 and will guide the Higher Education In-
stitutions (HEIs) curriculum review framework. CHE is con-
sulting on its associated protocols, and the final version
will be available to universities by July 2024. In addition
to the above, the CHE is consulting HEIs on an integrat-
ed quality management system (IQMS). Introducing the
CHE Dashboard will monitor the institutional progress
of curriculum processes and provide improved curricu-
lum and programme management. This tool will assist
in tracking changes made to the curriculum and inform
updates.
Figure 1: Student enrolments according to gender from 2019 to 2023.

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