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EXTENDED STUDIES UNIT

SELF EVALUATION REPORT

April 2009

1

List of Appendices

Appendix I Department of Education’s Policy on Foundation Grants

2

1. INTRODUCTION

Funding for what are technically known as ‘Extended Programmes with an Integrated

Foundation Phase’ has been made available by the national Department of Education

(DoE) since 2000. In the first round of funding, Rhodes University received only a

small amount (approximately R400 000) because most foundation provision offered

by the University did not meet the criteria set by the DoE. By the time applications

for the next round of funding were invited in 2004, plans had been made to develop

Extended Programmes in the faculties of Science and Humanities in addition to the

one which already existed in the faculty of Commerce. As a result, the University

received a Foundation Programme Grant of approximately R6 million in 2004. This

then provided for the establishment of the Extended Studies Unit in 2005.

In the early years of the decade, student demographics at the University were by no

means reflective of the demographics of the country as a whole. The Audit Report on

Rhodes University (HEQC, 2006:51), for example, notes that, according to 2003

HEMIS data, only about 30% of enrolments at the institution were black South

African students. When the Extended Studies Unit was established, therefore, it was

understood that its role in the University was related to the need to increase

enrolments of black South Africans. The Unit played this role by focusing on the

construct of ‘educational disadvantage’ and most of the students recruited from its

programmes came from former DET schools. Over time, the construct of ‘educational

disadvantage’ has been contested as a criterion for entrance to the programmes given

the role of social class in determining access to and success in higher education. This

has meant that programmes have been opened up to students from former Model C

and even private schools. In 2009, the demographics of the University are very

different from what they were earlier in the decade since black South African students

now comprise 41% of all enrolments (Vice Chancellor’s Forum, March 20th

2009). As

numbers of black South African students at the University continue to grow, the role

of extended programmes in promoting access and success for certain social groups

therefore needs to be examined. The question of the intended audience of the

programmes, and thus, of the role of the Extended Studies Unit in furthering the goals

of the institution, is therefore critical to this Review.

With this question forming an overall backdrop to the Review process, this Self

Evaluation Report begins by setting out the parameters for funding from the

Department of Education in order i) to explain why the Unit and the programmes it is

involved in offering are configured in their current form and ii) to guide the Review

Panel in any recommendations it might make on the assumption that continued

funding from the DoE is necessary if the programmes are to be continued. The

Report then goes on to examine each of the three programmes (in the Faculties of

Commerce, Humanities and Science) in which the Unit is involved. The report

concludes by identifying some areas/issues common to all three programmes and by

highlighting areas/issues the Unit would like the Review Panel to consider in detail.

2. FUNDING

As already noted, Foundation Programme Grants are awarded for foundation level

work in what are technically termed ‘Extended Programmes with an Integrated

3

Foundation Phase’ (DoE, 2006). An Extended Programme is a programme in which

the period of study required to attain the qualification has been extended by at least

six months. In effect, most institutions choose to extend the period of study by an

additional year. As well as providing more time for students to complete a

qualification, Extended Programmes also provide more tuition. This tuition has to be

offered in the form of registered courses – i.e. courses which appear on HEMIS. The

combination of courses, which an institution develops in order to provide this

additional tuition, is then known as the ‘Integrated Foundation Phase’. It is important

to note that funding criteria do not allow an institution to mount what the literature on

Academic Development (see, for example, Boughey, 20051) terms ‘adjunct’ or ‘ad

hoc’ support initiatives. An example of an ‘adjunct’ or ‘ad hoc’ initiative might

involve the provision of additional tutorials to students deemed to be ‘at risk’ in

academic departments. A copy of the DoE’s Policy on Foundation Funding (DoE,

2006) appears as Appendix I to this document.

Foundation Programme Grants are awarded on the basis of a formula. Details of the

application for funding for each programme for the most recent triennium of Grants

submitted to the DoE in 2006 are included in the sections on individual programmes.

Since CESM categories are a factor in calculating Grants, it is important to note that

some courses earn more in Grant monies than others and some programmes earn more

per head than others. At Rhodes, the Foundation Programme Grant has been paid into

a single account. No programme has thus benefited more from the Grant than any

other because of the CESM category of the courses in its integrated foundation phase.

To date, the University has received two Foundation Programme Grants. The first

grant of approximately R6m was received in 2004 for the triennium 2004-2006. When

this first Grant was received, a decision was made to place all costs related to running

Extended Programmes on the Grant. This was in spite of the fact that the University

had previously funded at least two posts aimed at foundation work – a lecturer post in

the English Language for Academic Purposes (ELAP) course and a senior lecturer

(co-ordinator) post in the longstanding Commerce Foundation Programme. In

addition, the University had also borne the cost of tutors and some of the cost of a

post in Accounting used for foundation level work. Since 2004, then, the Foundation

Programme Grant has been used to cover salaries, tutors and even running grants for

programme expenses. All student fee income has gone to the University, however.

The first two rounds of Grants were not awarded using a funding formula – rather

applications simply made a request for approximate costs for running the

Programmes. At the end of 2006, a surplus from the previous two rounds of funding

remained and permission was received from the DoE to roll this over into the next

triennium.

In 2006, it was decided that future Foundation Programme Grants would be awarded

according to a formula – a system which is probably more fair overall but which did

not favour Rhodes University because of the small number of students enrolled on

1 Boughey, C. 2005. Lessons learned from Academic Development movement in South African higher

education and their relevance for student support initiatives in the FET college sector. Human Sciences Research Council: Cape Town.

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Extended Programmes. When the application for the 2007 – 2009 triennium was

made, a shortfall in funding was anticipated and a decision was made at the Academic

Planning and Staffing Committee that the University would cover any shortfall in

funding the programmes in the final year of the triennium. For 2009, the shortfall was

estimated at R1,1 million. It should be remembered, however, that the University has

benefited from student fees of approximately R750 000 per year for each year of the

triennium.

More detailed illustration of the funding for each of the programmes is provided in

the following section.

3. THE EXTENDED PROGRAMMES

As already noted, the University offers three Extended Programmes. The Commerce

Extended Programme, the Science Extended Programme and the Humanities

Extended Programmes. Each of these has a different history and follows a different

format and will therefore be described separately in this review document.

3.1 The Commerce Extended Programme

3.1.1 Programme Design and Funding

The Faculty of Commerce has offered an Extended Programme since 1994 although

this has only fallen under the auspices of the Extended Studies Unit since 2004. Ms

Este Coetzee has acted as Programme Co-ordinator since its inception. Before the

programme was moved into the Extended Studies Unit, Ms Coetzee reported directly

to the Dean of Commerce.

Unlike the Humanities and Science Programmes, the Foundation Phase of the

Commerce Extended Programme runs over two years. The following table outlines

the design of the Foundation Phase

Year One

Semester One Semester Two

Accounting 1F Accounting 1F

Computer Science CSC 1C Computer Science CSC 1C

Theory of Finance

TOF 1

Theory of Finance

TOF 1

English for Academic Purposes English for Academic Purposes

Business & Life Skills Business & Life Skills

Ecos 102

Year Two

Accounting 1G Accounting 1G

Ecos 101 Statistics 1D

Management 1 Management 1

Commercial Law 1 Commercial Law 1

Key: Italics indicates semester courses taught over an entire year termed by the

DoE ‘Extended Courses’

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Bold indicates courses which are supernumerary for B.Com degree purposes

and which are thus non-credit bearing.

Examination of the table above shows that the foundation phase of the Commerce

Extended Programme consists of a number of different kinds of courses. Semester

courses run over an entire year (termed ‘extended courses’) offer double the amount

of tuition to normal courses. Supernumerary courses do not count towards the degree.

In addition to ‘extended courses’ and supernumerary courses, the foundation phase

also includes normal level one courses (Ecos 102 & 102, Management 1, Commercial

Law 1). Students are provided with additional tutorial support as they engage with

these normal level one courses. Strictly speaking, this support is not eligible for

funding from the foundation programme grant although the costs of tutors have been

charged to the grant account.

The fact that the Commerce Programme has been running for some years means that

the language component is theoretically dissonant with language elements in other

Extended Programmes which have been developed more recently. In the Commerce

Programme, the language component was originally conceptualised within an English

Second Language/Language & Study Skills framing. Over time, the idea that

students’ experiences with tertiary study are related to their status as users of English

as an additional language as well as due to their lack of appropriate ‘skills’ have been

challenged by understandings which acknowledge that learning and language use are

both social constructs and therefore needed to be dealt with in socially embedded

ways. This sort of thinking is captured in the design of the language elements of the

other two programmes in Humanities and Science. The appointment of a new

language lecturer in the Commerce programme and the incorporation of Economics

102 as a programme element in the first year of the Foundation Phase has facilitated

the introduction of what might be termed a language/literacy in the disciplines

approach more recently, however. The 2006 submission for funding to the

Department of Education allocates the following credits to the programme:

When the application was made, a decision was taken by the Data Management Unit

not to allocate any credits to the Business Skills supernumerary courses as it would be

Bachelor of Commerce Extended Programme – an example

Academic

Year

Required Courses Credit values in year

Found Reg Total

4 Ecos

301

Ecos

302

Man

301

Man

302 0 0.52 0.52

3 Ecos

201

Ecos

202

Acc

201

Acc

202

Com

Sci

201

Com

Sci

202

Man

201

Man

202 0 1.04 1.04

2 Com

Law 101

Com

Law

102

Man

101

Man

102

Ecos

101

Stats

1D 0.13 0.65 0.78

1 Theory of

Finance

Com Sci Acc 1F Language Ecos

102 0.52 0.13 0.65

TOTAL 0.65 2.34 2.99

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more beneficial financially not to do so. It is important to note that the current

programme model requires only 0.65 of the 1.00 credit which Foundation Programme

Grant rules allow to be requested for foundation level work in an extended

programme. Following the allocation of credits to the programme, head counts per CESM category

were then calculated as follows in the 2006 submission to the DoE:

Course

Title

CESM

Category

Head Count

Enrolment

Credit

Value

FTE

Students

Weighted

FTE

Stuents

Com Sci 06 50 0.13 6.5 13

Total Science& Technology 6.5 13

Theory of

Finance

04 50 0.13 6.5 9.75

Acc 1F 04 50 0.13 6.5 9.75

Acc 1G 04 50 0.13 6.5 9.75

Total Business & Management 19.5 29.25

LANG 05 50 0.13 6.5 6.5

Total Humanities 6.5 6.5

This then meant that FTEs requested for the triennium 2007 – 2009 were:

Year Science & Technology Business &

Management

Humanities

2007 13 29.25 6.5

2008 13 29.25 6.5

2009 13 29.25 6.5

3.1.2 Programme Staffing

The submission to the DoE lists programme staffing as follows:

Post Level Status Funding Notes

Co-ordinator Senior Lecturer

(E.Coetzee)

Permanent DoE Grant Post formerly funded by

the University

Language Lecturer

(O.Eybers)

Contract DoE Grant Students formerly

enrolled in ELAP course.

RU previously funded

one post for ELAP.

Accounting Lecturer

(I.deVos)

Permanent DoE Grant Post formerly funded by

the University in Dept of

Acc.

Computer

Literacy

Lecturer

(N.Tshuma)

Contract DoE Grant Working across all

programmes

Secretary 5/8 post

(currently vacant)

Permanent DoE Grant Working across all

programmes

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The costs of a number of other posts are also borne by the programme funding. Ms

Gill Wylie, who teaches the supernumerary Business Skills course and which was not

included in the DoE application, is funded by the programme as are various tutors

providing support in level one courses taken in the foundation phase.

As details of the staffing of the programme show, posts which were formerly funded

by the University were moved onto the Foundation Programme Grant in 2004. Over

time, therefore, the University has effectively shed responsibility for funding

foundation level work which previously took place in the Faculty of Commerce.

3.2 The Faculty of Humanities Extended Programme


The Faculty of Humanities had long offered foundation provision in the form of the

English Language for Academic Purposes (ELAP) course located in the Department

of English Language and Linguistics before the current Extended Programme was

developed. Students in the Faculty of Humanities deemed to be ‘at risk’ because of

their language status were required by the Dean to enrol in the course as a condition

of admission. In these cases, the old ELAP course was a substitute for a normal first

year credit. Students may have been allowed to add three ‘normal’ first year subjects

to their curriculum in addition to ELAP or might have been advised to follow a

reduced curriculum.

A number of problems were associated with the ELAP course:

As a ‘remedial’ language course, ELAP was necessarily pegged at a lower level of

the NQF than other first year academic courses. While this was not a problem in

terms of NQF/HEQF rules, it essentially meant that anyone graduating with ELAP

in their degree curriculum had earned 30 SAQA credits of their degree at a lower

level than other students.

Theoretically, ELAP assumed that the language/literacy needed for students to be

able to cope with mainstream study could be developed in isolation from the

academic disciplines. This assumption has been questioned by researchers and

theorists for many years now and informed contemporary more approaches

generally centre on the development of language/literacy in the disciplines.

In 2003 attempts were made to develop a more comprehensive approach to

foundation level work in anticipation of the Foundation Programme Grants which had

been announced by the DoE. Following the guidance of the then Director of the

Academic Development Centre, Ms Helen Alfers, co-ordinator of the ELAP course,

consulted extensively with departments in the Faculty of Humanities about the

possibility of developing a course which offered experience of the mainstream

disciplines and which, at the same time, provided the development students admitted

to such a programme could be expected to need.

At this time, it was envisaged that a new course might follow the model of the

‘Introduction to Science Concepts and Methods’ (ISCM) course then being developed

in the Faculty of Science. ISCM carries two semester credits taught over an entire

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academic year and is taught by lecturers from participating mainstream disciplines.

Lecturers use disciplinary knowledge to provide content organised around a number

of themes. The aim in doing this is i) to develop students’ understanding of scientific

concepts and ii) to introduce them to the methods used to construct knowledge in the

sciences. The work of mainstream lecturers is then supported by staff members of the

Extended Studies Unit who integrate language/literacy and other forms of

development around the content areas. Although Ms Alfers was successful in

eliciting support from a number of mainstream departments in the Humanities for

such a course, the initiative was not received favourably by the then Dean.

In order to make an application for Foundation Programme Grants, some rethinking

was necessary and, in the short time remaining before applications were due, a model

using four mainstream courses was developed. In this model, which is still in

operation today, students register for first year courses arranged in one of two options:

Option 1: Sociology & Politics

Option 2: Journalism & Anthropology

In each option, mainstream departments offer eight lecture periods (four per subject

area) plus two tutorial periods (one per subject) each week. This mainstream teaching

is then ‘augmented’ by additional teaching offered by Extended Studies Unit staff.

The result of the augmentation is that students receive double the tuition they would

normally receive for each subject.

The augmentation provided by staff of the Extended Studies Unit focuses on the

development of language/literacy. The approach used is therefore one of developing

language /literacy in the disciplines. In addition to the tuition in the mainstream

disciplines, students also take a computer literacy course offered by staff of the

Extended Studies Unit. The following table outlines the Foundation Phase of the

Humanities Extended Programme which, in contrast to the Commerce Programme,

lasts only one year. Following the one year Foundation phase, students enrolled on

the Humanities Extended Programme receive no additional support or tuition.

9

Key: Italics indicates semester courses taught over an entire year termed by the DoE

‘Extended Courses’

‘Augmentation’ refers to the developmental activities provided by members of the

Extended Studies Unit and involves activities directed at students’ ability to cope with

the level one course. The normal level one courses included in the programme thus

involve double the amount of tuition

The 2006 submission to the DoE for funding allocates the following credits to the

programme:

Year One


Sociology + Soc Augmentation

OR

Anthro + Anthro Augmentation

Sociology + Soc Augmentation

OR

Anthro + Anthro Augmentation

Politics + Pol Augmentation

OR

Journ + Journ Augmentation

Politics + Pol Augmentation

OR

Journ + Journ Augmentation

Computer Science CSC 1H Computer Science CSC 1H

Bachelor of Arts Extended Programme

Academic

Year


Found Stand Total

4 RA

301

RA

302

RB

301

RB

302

0 0.48 0.48

3 RA

201

RA

202

RB

201

RB

202

RD

101

RD

102

0 0.72 0.72

2 RA

101

RA

102

RB

101

RB

102

RC

101

RC

102

0 0.72 0.72

10

It is important to note that the Humanities Programme uses only 0.6 of the 1.0 credit

fundable by a Foundation Programme Grant.

Following the allocation of credits to the programme, head counts per CESM category

were then calculated as follows in the 2006 submission to the DoE:

This then meant that FTEs requested for the triennium 2007 – 2009 were:


Management

Humanities

2007 14.4 28.8

2008 14.4 28.8

2009 14.4 28.8

Of note in relation to the design of the Humanities Extended Programme is the

assumption that students selected to participate in it will have the capacity to engage

with mainstream learning from the first term of their first year. This is in contrast to

the two other programmes in the Faculties of Commerce and Science where teaching,

for the entire year in the Science Programme and the first semester in the Commerce

programme, prepares students for learning in the mainstream disciplines. The extent

to which this difference has been taken into account when admitting students to the

Humanities programme is not evident.


Staffing of the Humanities Extended Programme is as follows:

1 FA 101 FA102 FB101 FB102 Com

Sci

0.6 0.48 1.08

Total credits in curriculum 0.6 2.4 3.00

Course Title CESM

Category

Head Count

Enrolment

Credit

Value

FTE

Students

Weighted

FTE

Students

Com Sci 1H 06 60 0.12 7.2 14.4

Total Science & Technology 7.2 14.4

Augmented

Anthropology

22 30 0.24 7.2 7.2

Augmented

Journalism

22 30 0.24 7.2 7.2

Augmented

Politics

22 30 0.24 7.2 7.2

Augmented

Sociology

05 30 0.24 7.2 7.2

Total Humanities 28.8 28.8

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Co-ordinator Lecturer

(J.Reynolds)

Contract DoE Grant This position was

formerly a permanent

post rolled over from the

old ELAP course.

Following the resignation

of Ms H. Alfers, the

permanent position has

not been filled.

Language Lecturer

(C.Knowles)

Contract DoE Grant

Computer

Literacy

Lecturer

(N.Tshuma/

C.Chibaya)


programmes

Secretary 5/8 post

(currently vacant)


programmes

3.3 The Faculty of Science Extended Programme


The Faculty of Science Extended Programme was developed in the course of 2003 -

2004 when soft funding allowed for staff to be employed to design a curriculum. The

current curriculum was designed by Dr Kevin Williams, then working in the ADC,

and Ms Michelle Wait, current Science Programme Co-ordinator.

As already indicated in the discussion of the design of the Humanities Programme,

the Science Extended Programme makes use of a specially designed course,

Introduction to Science Concepts and Methods (ISCM), intended to prepare students

for study in the mainstream disciplines. In addition to ISCM, students also take a

course in Mathematics (Maths 1L) offered by the Department of Mathematics and a

course in Computer Literacy offered by staff of the Extended Studies Unit.

The following table outlines the Foundation Phase of the Science Extended

Programme which, like the Humanities Programme, lasts only one year. As the table

also indicates, the Science Programme consists of semester courses offered over an

entire academic year. This means that students receive double the tuition for the

credit load that they carry.

Key: Italics indicates semester courses run over an entire year termed by the DoE

‘Extended Courses’.

Year One


Introduction to Science

Concepts & Methods

Introduction to Science

Concepts & Methods

Maths 1L Maths 1L

Computer Science CSC 1H Computer Science CSC 1H

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The 2006 submission to the DoE for funding allocates the following credits to the

programme:

Headcounts per CESM category were then calculated as follows:

Course

Title

CESM

Category

Head Count

Enrolment

Credit

Value

FTE

Students

Weighted

FTE

Students

Com Sci

1S

06 50 0.15 7.5 15

Maths 1L 16 50 0.15 7.5 15

ISCM 15 50 0.3 15 30

Total Science& Technology 30 60

This then resulted in a request for the following FTEs in the form of a Foundation

Programme Grant:


Management

Humanities

2007 60

Bachelor of Science Extended Programme

Academic

Year


Found Reg Total

4 RA

301

RA

302

RB

301

RB

302 0 0.6 0.6

3 RA

201

RA

202

RB

201

RB

202

RC

201

RC

202 0 0.9 0.9

2 RA

101

RA

102

RB

101

RB

102

RC

101

RC

102 0 0.9 0.9

1 Comp Skills 1S Maths 1L ISCM 0.6 0 0.6

TOTAL 0.6 2.4 3.0

13

2008 60

2009 60


The Science Extended Programme is staffed as follows:


Co-ordinator Lecturer

(M.Wait)

Contract DoE Grant

Language Lecturer

(L.Pienaar)

Contract DoE Grant

Maths Lecturer

(M.Lubczonok)

Contract DoE Grant The DoE Grant is used to

pay a proportion of Ms

Lubczonok’s salary in the

Department of

Mathematics as Extended

Studies students are

enrolled for the Maths 1L

course offered by the

Dept.

Computer

Literacy

Lecturer

(C.Chibaya)


programmes

Secretary 5/8 post

(currently vacant)


programmes

4. Student Success

As the Humanities and Science Extended Programmes have only been running in

their current form since 2004, the first graduates only appeared in 2009. This means

that only one cohort can be tracked through all three programmes.

4.1 Commerce

The Commerce Extended Programme differs to the other two programmes in that

there is very limited choice for students. In the following table, courses marked * are

compulsory and must be taken until students either pass or are excluded.

14

BComF: 2005 to 2008 All Years

No of courses taken by students 25 No Reg No Passed No Failed % passed

Overall success rate 71.2

Economics 102 * Ecos 102 158 89 69 56%

Economics 101 * Ecos 101 84 57 27 68%

Management 101 * Man 101 85 76 9 89%

Management 102 * Man 102 84 74 10 88%

Commercial Law 101 * Com Law 101 82 61 21 74%

Commercial Law 102 * Com Law 102 78 61 17 78%

Statistics 1D * Stats 1D 80 55 25 69%

Accounting 201 Acc 201 25 10 15 40%

Accounting 202 Acc 202 19 17 2 89%

Information Systems 201 IS 201 41 29 12 71%


Management 201 Man 201 20 19 1 95%

Management 202 Man 202 20 18 2 90%

Economics 201 * Ecos 201 35 15 20 43%

Economics 202 * Ecos 202 34 16 18 47%

Commercial Law 201 Com Law 201 13 6 7 46%

Commercial Law 202 Com Law 202 10 6 4 60%

Economics 3 Ecos 3 2 2 0 100%

Accounting 3 Acc 3 5 4 1 80%


Professional Communications Prof Comm 19 19 0 100%

Management 3 Man 3 4 1 3 25%

Auditing 1 Audit 1 3 2 1 67%

Taxation 1 Tax 1 4 4 0 100%

Management Accounting 1 ManAcc 1 4 3 1 75%

It is obvious from the table that some courses have much higher success rates for

students on an Extended Programme than others. Care should be taken, however, to

examine the number of students enrolled for each course as, in some cases,

enrolments are very low. Significant is the overall success rate of 71.2% in

comparison with the overall institutional success rate of 85% - 86% and the overall

success rate of between 77% and 79% reported for black students on NSFAS reported

in the 2005 Self Evaluation Portfolio submitted to the HEQC for audit purposes. This

reduced figure must, however, be seen in the context of the reduced Swedish point

scores on which students are admitted to Extended Programmes.

3.2 Humanities

15

The following table shows subjects taken by students in the one year foundation phase

over the past four years:

Pass/fail foundation phase

2005 2006 2007 2008 Total

pass

Total

fail

%

pass

pass fail pass fail pass fail pass fail

Anth 16 2 10 7 9 7 14 4 49 20 71%

JMS 0 0 16 1 12 4 17 1 45 6 88%

Pol 101 18 1 15 2 10 15 21 7 46 24 66%

Pol 102* 15 2 18 7 14 14 47 56 46%

Soc 23 6 15 2 19 6 23 5 80 19 81%

* Please note that Politics was recorded as four term credits in 2005. In this table it

has been simplified as one credit.

Although caution needs to be exercised because of the small number of students

enrolled on the Extended Programme, it is interesting to note the variance between

pass rates in some subjects compared to others.

The following table shows subjects taken by students in years following the

foundation phase:

BAF: 2005 to 2008 All years

No. courses taken by

students: 70 No. Reg

No.

Passed

No.

Failed % passed

Overall success rate (%) 63.7

Anthropology 1 ANT 1 12 11 1 92



Classical civilization 1 CIV 1 1 1 0 100

Computer Science 1 CSC 101 1 1 0 100

Computer Literacy CSC 1L 5 3 2 60

Drama 1 DRA 1 5 5 0 100

Drama 2 DRA 2 1 1 0 100

Drama 3 DRA 3 1 1 0 100

Earth Science EAR 101 2 0 2 0

Microeconomics ECO 101 11 2 9 18

Macroeconomics ECO 102 7 5 2 71

Economics 2 ECO 201 1 0 1 0


English Language and

Linguistics ELN 1 3 1 2 33

English ENG 1 1 0 1 0

Ethnomusicology ETH 102 1 0 1 0

16

French 1 FRE 1 1 1 0 100

French: Preliminary FRE 1P 1 1 0 100

Geography GOG 102 3 0 3 0

Geography 2 GOG 201 1 1 0 100




History and Appreciation of

Music HAM 1 2 0 2 0

History 1 HIS 101 12 8 4 67

History 1 HIS 102 10 0 10 0

Information Systems 2 INF 201 1 1 0 100


Industrial and Economic

Sociology 2 INS 2 32 28 4 88

Industrial and Economic

Sociology 3 INS 3 14 10 4 71

Journalism and Media

Studies 1 JRN 1 15 14 1 93


Studies 2 JRN 2 17 13 4 76


Studies 3 JRN 3 8 8 0 100

Latin 1 LAT 1 1 1 0 100

Legal theory 1: Foundations

of Law LAW 1 33 16 17 48

Legal theory 1: Introduction

to Law LAW 1 25 16 9 64

Legal Theory 2: LAW 2 5 4 1 80

Legal theory 2: customary

law LAW 2 7 2 5 29

Legal theory 2:

constitutional law A LAW 2 9 3 6 33

Legal theory 2:

constitutional Law B LAW 2 6 2 4 33

Legal theory 2: legal

interpretation LAW 2 9 1 8 11

Legal theory 3: law of life

partnerships LAW 3 2 1 1 50

Legal theory 3: law of

persons LAW 3 2 0 2 0


contract A LAW 3 2 1 1 50


contract B LAW 3 2 0 2 0


property A LAW 3 2 0 2 0


property B LAW 3 2 2 0 100

Principles of Management

A MAN 111 11 6 5 55

17

Principles of Management

B MAN 112 9 7 2 78

Organizational Psychology

2 ORG 2 6 5 1 83

Organizational Psychology

3 ORG 3 3 3 0 100

Introduction to Philosophy PHI 1 1 1 0 100

Philosophy 2 PHI 2 7 3 4 43

Philosophy 3 PHI 3 1 1 0 100

Politics and International

Studies 1 POL 101 17 12 5 71


Studies 1 POL 102 17 9 8 53


Studies 2 POL 201 47 28 19 60


Studies 2 POL 202 49 34 15 69


Studies 3 POL 301 9 9 0 100


Studies 3 POL 302 9 8 1 89

Psychology 1 PSY 1 22 11 11 50



Sociology 1 SOC 1 15 14 1 93



World Music and Culture WMC 1 1 1 0 100

IsiXhosa mother tongue XHS 1M 8 8 0 100

IsiXhosa second and

foreign language XHS 1N 1 1 0 100

Again, although pass rates appear to differ significantly between courses, care must

be taken to examine the number of students who have taken the course. Significant is

the overall success rate of 63.7% in comparison to the overall success rate for the

University of 85% - 86% and the overall success rate of between 77% and 79%

reported for black students on NSFAS reported in the 2005 Self Evaluation Portfolio

submitted to the HEQC for audit purposes. The success rate for the Extended

Programme needs to be contextualised by the facts that students admitted to Extended

Programmes enter the University with much lower Swedish point scores than students

admitted to three year programmes and, also, that the University provides only 0.5

FTE worth of additional tuition.

3.3 Science

BSCF: 2005 to 2008 All years

No. courses taken by students: 68 No. Reg No. passed No. failed % passed

18

Overall success rate (%) 71.2

Accounting ACC 101 2 0 2 0

Accounting ACC 112 1 1 0 100

Anthropology ANT 1 2 2 0 100


Biochemistry 2 BCH 201 16 7 9 44




Botany BOT 102 13 9 4 69

Cell Biology CEL 101 23 14 9 61

Chemistry CHE 101 47 37 10 79

Chemistry CHE 102 42 37 5 88

Chemistry 2 CHE 201 17 15 2 88




Computer Science CSC 101 26 26 0 100

Computer Science CSC 102 22 9 13 41

Computer Science 2 CSC 201 3 0 3 0

Earth Science EAR 101 23 11 12 48

Microeconomics ECO 101 9 6 3 67

Macroeconomics ECO 102 16 7 9 44



Entomology 2 ENT 201 2 0 2 0

Entomology 2 ENT 202 2 0 2 0

Environmental Science 2 ENV 201 3 3 0 100




Geology GLG 102 16 8 8 50

Geology 2 GLG 201 4 2 2 50

Geology 2 GLG 202 3 2 1 67

Geology 3 GLG 301 2 1 1 50

Geology 3 GLG 302 2 2 0 100

Geography GOG 102 7 7 0 100





Ichthyology 2 ICH 201 1 1 0 100

Ichthyology 2 ICH 202 1 1 0 100


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Principles of Management A MAN 101 1 1 0 100

Principles of Management B MAN 102 1 1 0 100

Mathematics MAT 1 35 25 10 71

Maths slow stream MAT 1E1 2 1 1 50

Introductory Calculus MAT 101 9 7 2 78

Discrete Mathematics MAT 102 12 11 1 92

Mathematics 2 MAT 201 11 8 3 73




Microbiology 2 MIC 201 8 8 0 100

Microbiology 2 MIC 202 8 5 3 63

Mathematical Statistics 2 MST 201 11 7 4 64




Physics: elementary physics PHY 1E1 4 4 0 100

Physics: Electronics literacy PHY 1E2 4 1 3 25

Physics PHY 101 4 3 1 75

Physics PHY 102 4 3 1 75

Statistics STA 101 41 31 10 76

Statistics STA 102 30 19 11 63

Statistics 1D STA 1D 8 4 4 50

Zoology ZOO 101 19 15 4 79

Comments made in relation to success rates in the Humanities Extended Programme

apply also to the Science Programme.

5. Admissions

Criteria used for admissions to Extended Programmes are crucial as they impact on

student throughput and success. As already indicated, over the years, debate about the

target audience for Extended Programmes has resulted in problems related to the use

of admissions criteria. Initial understandings of the purpose of Extended Programmes

constructed them as providing an alternative access route to the University for

students from ‘disadvantaged’ educational backgrounds. As a result, their target

audience was understood to be working class students from former DET schools.

More recently, questioning of the construct of ‘disadvantage’ has opened up the

programmes to students from former Model C, and even private, schools since it has

been acknowledged that schooling alone is not instrumental in developing the capital

necessary to succeed at university. Although this has resulted in more students being

eligible for the programmes, it has meant that cohorts have become less homogenous

20

and that admissions criteria have been trickier to handle. It has also meant that classes

have become more difficult to teach because of the diversity within them.

In practice until now, Extended Programmes have only been open to black students.

Given the problematic nature of the term ‘educationally disadvantaged’ consideration

needs to be given to whether the programmes should, in fact, be open to students from

all social groups including white students on the basis of social class. Students on

Extended Programmes often complain of marginalisation, stigmatisation and even

racism. If programmes were opened more widely to, say, students of working class

origins regardless of racial group, these complaints could be expected to be

minimalised.

The following more specific issues related to admissions have emerged over time:

In the Humanities Faculty, students are accepted unconditionally on their

provisional results. While this probably works well for students from good

schools with reliable assessment practices, many students placed on Extended

Programmes come from schools where this is not the case. In some instances,

this has led to students’ final results being below even the minimum

requirements for admission to an Extended Programme. It has also resulted in

students who should be on an Extended Programme being admitted for a 3

year degree programme.

In the past, the University has taken two different approaches to students who

have gained admittance with lower than usual Swedish point scores because of

the practice of using provisional results as criteria. Both of these have been

problematic. Students are either i) put into mainstream (possibly on a limited

curriculum) where they have little extra support and often become statistics of

the revolving door syndrome or ii) they are told at registration that they have

been placed onto an Extended Programme. Students are often angry about this

latter option, not only because their expectations are dashed but also because

an extra year has serious financial implications for them. Extended

Programme co-ordinators have tried to manage this response by requesting the

University not to make unconditional offers to students from schools without a

track record of providing reliable provisional results. Programme Coordinators

try to telephone all students placed on Extended Programmes before their

arrival at the University in order to ensure that prospective students understand

what has been offered to them. There are, however, still occasions where

students arrive at registration without realising that they have been placed on

an Extended Programme. Students in this position are invariably upset.

Ideally, the process of admitting students to Extended Programmes should be

managed from the Registrar’s Division and should not have to involve

Extended Studies Unit staff making telephone calls in January.

Many factors are considered when admitting students including Swedish

points, English mark, subjects taken, type of school attended, extra-mural

activities, home background and computer literacy. Much of this information

is elicited on the application form which was redesigned as a result of requests

from ESU staff. The wide range of factors involved in identifying students for

Extended Programmes reduces the reliability of the admissions process.

21

Ideally, admissions criteria need to be made explicit and research needs to be

conducted regarding their validity and reliability. The possibility of using the

National Benchmark Tests for placement purposes in 2010 also needs to be

explored especially, since by that time, the University will have piloted the

Benchmark Tests on both the 2008 and 2009 cohorts.

As already noted, in recent years students from former Model C, and even

private schools, as well as students from former DET schools have been

admitted to Extended Programmes. Given the limited capacity of each

programme, an admissions policy needs to be developed regarding each

category or student since it is possible that an increase in applications from

students from former Model C and private schools, who often have sufficient

funding to make an early application, would affect the chances of students

from former DET schools in attaining a place.

Differences in the way the three Extended Programmes are currently designed

means that students admitted to Science and Commerce Programmes enter a

truly foundation phase intended to prepare them for mainstream study. In

Humanities, however, students are expected to engage with mainstream study

(albeit with support) from the outset. This difference in programme design

needs to be considered when admissions criteria are developed. To all intents

and purposes, one would expect that Humanities students would need to be

more prepared than students enrolled for other programmes although this

assumption would need to be tested through research. Currently, it is possibly

the case that students enrolled on the Humanities Programme are less prepared

than students on the other two programmes which tend to have higher entrance

criteria.

In conclusion, admissions to Extended Programmes are hugely problematic. The

University is currently developing an Admissions Policy. As this Policy is developed,

care needs to be taken to ensure that it captures the specialised nature of admissions to

Extended Programmes.

6. Recruitment

Recruitment of all students is carried out by a dedicated recruitment office located in

the Registrar’s Division. In Grahamstown this amounts to one person who is

responsible for the whole of the Eastern Cape. Recruitment of students for Extended

Programmes is a neglected area involving a special schools’ visit once a year where

the top 10 students of selected schools in the Eastern Cape are invited to attend an

open day at the University. Very few students invited to the open day come onto

Extended Programmes. As a result, recruitment for Extended Programmes is largely

incidental and often through word of mouth.

One way in which word of mouth is used to further recruitment is by handing out

admissions packs to Extended Programme students to take home in the course of their

first year. At least 150 admissions packs reach students’ home communities in this

way and are accompanied by explanations and recommendations from existing

students.

22

7. Programme Articulation

As already noted, Extended Studies Unit staff are involved only in the teaching and

design of the Foundation Phase of an Extended Programme which also involves

‘mainstream’ teaching. For the Foundation Phase to be effective, clearly it needs to

articulate with teaching which takes place elsewhere in the programme.

As also noted, the three Extended Programmes are designed in different ways. The

Science Programme effectively incorporates a ‘foundation year’ which prepares

students for mainstream study. The Commerce programme largely follows this model

with the exception of Economics 102 taken in the second semester of the first year. In

the Humanities Programme, however, students engage with first year courses from the

outset.

Extended Studies Unit staff try to work closely with faculty members teaching the

mainstream disciplines which articulate with each of the programmes. In some cases

this works well. Other cases are more problematic. The need for staff working on the

Humanities Programme to support students as they engage with mainstream study can

be particularly challenging in cases where course outlines and reading materials are

not available before the course begins. Students on the Humanities Programme also

experience difficulties when particularly complex reading texts are set. In such

instances, Extended Studies Unit staff spend a large amount of time supporting

students with their reading. While some staff teaching mainstream disciplines are

open to conversations with Extended Studies Staff members about the complexity of

the work, others are not. The potential for a dialogue between student development

specialists and academics to enrich all teaching and learning should not be

overlooked, however, and Extended Studies Unit staff would appreciate support from

Deans and Heads of Departments in encouraging such dialogue.

Other problems relating to articulation centre on the issue of credit. All Extended

Programmes carry a number of ‘supernumerary’ credits – credits which are focused

on development and which do not contribute to the total number of credits needed to

earn a Rhodes degree. These ‘supernumerary’ credits are incorporated into the

curricula of Extended Programmes by:

Offering a semester course over an entire year without reducing the number of

hours of tuition offered per week. This means that students effectively receive

double the amount of tuition needed to earn credits as on regular courses. In such

courses, developmental work is closely incorporated with credit bearing work and

no distinction is made between the developmental work for DP and other

assessment related purposes. Examples of this approach can be seen in the

Mathematics 1L course and the Computer Skills for Science course.

Augmenting regular courses. This means that an academic department teaches a

course and this teaching is ‘augmented’ by developmental work offered by

members of the Extended Studies Unit. In such cases, learning in the regular

course is treated separately for DP and other assessment related purposes from

developmental learning. This can be problematic as it allows students to dismiss

the developmental learning as ‘unimportant’ with the result that assessment tasks

are not treated as seriously as tasks set in regular courses or are even ignored.

23

Examples of this sort of inclusion of supernumerary credits are found in the

Humanities Extended Programme – Sociology, Politics, Journalism and

Anthropology are all ‘augmented’ courses.

Given the problems associated with learning in augmented courses, an approach

which links developmental learning with regular academic learning is clearly

desirable. This would require that academic departments involved in augmented

courses should incorporate the developmental learning into the overall assessment of

the course for DP and other purposes. This would have the effect of giving the

developmental learning more credibility in the eyes of students.

8. Staffing Issues

As already noted in sections describing individual programmes, nearly all Extended

Studies Unit staff are employed on a contract basis. This is problematic for a number

of reasons:

Staff members employed on contract often feel financially insecure and, when

opportunity presents, may move on to permanent positions in other institutions or

to other posts. The Extended Studies Unit has lost the services of one black

member of staff because of this phenomenon.

The potential for development for staff members of the Extended Studies Unit is

compromised by their temporary appointments which make taking sabbatical

leave difficult. At least three members of the Unit have indicated their desire to

study for doctoral degrees in the last year and have identified 2009 as a time when

it would be possible to take sabbatical leave for this purpose. Although one

member of staff has been granted sabbatical leave to complete a doctorate, the fact

that the contracts of other staff members wanting to take leave expire at the end of

2009 means that leave will not be possible until 2010 at the earliest.

The failure of the Academic Development movement to develop a cadre of

professionals who are experts in student development and have the academic

credentials and expertise in research to further their work has long been noted (see

Boughey, 2005 for an overview). If Rhodes University is serious about developing

expertise in student development work and teaching and learning more generally, then

it needs to commit itself to offering permanent employment so that capacity can be

built.

The shift from cost based funding to formula based funding has already been noted in

Section 2 of this document. One of the reasons behind the shift to a formula was the

possibility of future funding being possible on rolling MTEF cycles. In November

2008, the DoE raised the option of providing funding on MTEF cycles with the

Ministerial Reference Group on Foundation Work. The Reference Group agreed that

this would be a desirable move. Due to the difficulty of introducing rolling MTEF

cycles in relation to Foundation Programme Funding, the DoE has indicated that one

more round of Grant based funding (for the years 2010 – 2012) will be used. Given

the recognition of the need to move Foundation Programme Funding onto rolling

MTEF cycles, there would appear to be little reason to keep Extended Studies Unit

24

staff members on contract should a decision be made to continue the programmes for

the long term even though their work will be funded on a Grant based basis for the

years 2010 – 2012.

9. Relationship of the Extended Studies Unit to CHERTL

The relationship of the Extended Studies Unit (ESU) to CHERTL relates back to 2004

when the first major Foundation Programme Grant was awarded. When the Grant was

received, a decision was made to place all Extended Programmes under the guidance

of the Director, Academic Development Centre (ADC). Early in 2008, the ADC was

transformed into the Centre for Higher Education Research, Teaching and Learning

(CHERTL) and the Director, ADC was appointed to the position of Dean, Teaching

and Learning in addition to her appointment as Director, CHERTL.

The relationship of the ESU to ADC/CHERTL has not been without problems.

Initially the relationship of the Programme and Programme Co-ordinator to Faculty

structures emerged as an issue with the Faculty of Science, for example, appointing

the co-ordinator of its programme without any reference to the Director, ADC. Other

problems related to the fact that co-ordinators of the older programmes had come to

enjoy a relatively free rein in their work context. This autonomy was then dissonant

not only with the need to work under the guidance of the Director, ADC but also with

the need of those working in the newer programmes to form a coherent whole and to

work as a team. By and large, the relationship of the Dean, Teaching and

Learning/Director, CHERTL and the Deans of Faculties in relationship to the

Programmes has been worked out through trial and error and discussion although

problems related to communication continue to arise. Broadly speaking, the Dean of

Teaching and Learning provides guidance with regard to Programme structure,

funding, curriculum issues and day to day running whilst Deans of Faculties are

responsible for the overall assurance of quality in each Programme. Faculty Deans are

also responsible for admissions to each Programme.

When the Extended Studies Unit was first formed, staff, with the exception of Ms

Coetzee, Commerce Programme Co-ordinator and one other person teaching on the

Commerce Programme, were housed in an open-plan office beneath what was then

ADC. In 2006, offices in the Box Theatre Building were found for staff members

previously housed in the open plan office. This means that the Extended Studies Unit

is split with the majority of staff members housed in the Box Theatre Building and Ms

Coetzee and Ms de Vos housed in offices beneath what is now CHERTL. To some

extent, this split location detracts from the potential of building a community of

practice around the work of the unit. Ms Coetzee, however, is reluctant to move from

her current office space. The location of the rest of the ESU in the Box Theatre

building then contributes to the communication problems between the rest of

CHERTL and ESU.

The Unit holds staff meetings once per month which are usually attended by the

Dean, Teaching and Learning. The Dean adopts an open-door policy at other times

and ESU staff members are usually able to see her whenever needed. The ESU has

expressed a desire for the new Head of Department of CHERTL, Dr Quinn, to attend

at least some of the staff meetings held by the Unit. Dr Quinn is amenable to doing

this with a view to exploring ways in which work with Extended Programmes falls

25

into the ambit of her new position. Both ‘halves’ of the CHERTL then attempt to have

tea together at least once per term. In addition, there are links between those members

of the ESU who participate in a research into teaching and learning interest group to

which other CHERTL staff members also belong.

In 2008, ESU staff members used staff development funding provided by the DoE to

fund a weekend writing retreat. The Dean, T&L accompanied ESU staff members on

the retreat in order to provide feedback on writing in progress. One publication in a

very prestigious journal has resulted from this exercise (Reynolds, in press2) although

the main benefit was in the overall experience provided by the retreat.

10. TAI Mentoring Programme

In the course of the 2004 centenary year, a substantial amount of money was raised

for a mentoring programme named the ‘Trojan Academic Initiative’ thanks to the

efforts of a single Council member. Since that time, the TAI programme has been

housed within the Extended Studies Unit and mentoring has been incorporated into all

Extended Programmes. In spite of the fact that the programme has been enormously

successful and that great effort has been expended in efforts to do so, more funding

has not been secured. As a result, sufficient funds are only available to run the

programme, on a reduced budget, for the first half of 2009. If more funds are not

secured (and in the current financial climate, the likelihood of more funding

materialising is looking increasingly low), the programme will need to end at the end

of the year.

11. Conclusion

As data presented in Section 4 of this report show, Extended Programmes clearly

have the potential to contribute to the number of students who are able to gain

admission to and succeed at Rhodes University. As already indicated in this report,

questions about the target audience for the programmes have impacted on admissions

decisions and on pedagogy. Clearly it is now time for the programmes to be

considered within overall size and shape plans and within considerations of the sort of

institution the University wants to become. Guidance from the Review Panel on these

issues is therefore sought as a matter of priority since a response to questions about

the aims of the programmes will inform other decisions about their future related to

funding, the status of staff and will also inform decisions about admissions criteria.

Whether the Programmes are able to maximise their potential to do this is

questionable given some of the issues raised above. The Dean, Teaching and

Learning and the staff of the Extended Studies Unit are committed to developing the

Programmes so that they do come to fill this potential and this document has been

prepared with the aim of doing so with the help of the Review Panel.

The Panel is requested to explore the following issues in particular:

The role of the Programmes in relation to the strategic direction of the University;

Admissions to all programmes;

2

26

The relationship of the foundation phase to the mainstream curriculum in the

Humanities programme;

The status of Extended Studies Unit staff;

The extent to which the University is willing to contribute to the Programmes

given that funding from the DoE is unlikely to cover all the costs of the 2010 –

2012 triennium.

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