Presentation during OOFHEC2018 Conference at Aarhus University in Aarhus, Denmark

1. Challenges of ensuring the viability and
sustainability of a South African
institutional Short Courses Division within
an ever-changing educational landscape
Presented by:
Carol Kat
Head: Copyright & Short Courses

2. Introduction
1918 -2018
Theological Seminary – old
Drostdy Building
2017 - Education Building

3. • THEN: 1918 = four faculties, 503 students and 40 lecturing staff
• NOW: 2018 = 10 faculties, more than 30 000 students and 3000 staff
members, across five campuses
• Currently ranked among the top 50 universities in the BRICS countries &
Ranked 3rd in Africa (QS World University Rankings: 2018)
• New Vision 2040 and Strategic Framework 2019–2024 document, launched
mid-2018 with 6 core strategic themes:
o A transformative student experience;
o Networked & collaborative teaching & learning;
o Research for impact;
o Purposeful partnerships & inclusive networks;
o Employer of choice; and
o A thriving SU
Who are we?

4. • Over the past 11 years, SU’ Short Courses Division (SCD) has expanded
SU’s short learning programmes (SLPs) for career-oriented learning &
specialised personal skills development
• NOW: SCD needs to foster institutional economic growth & ensure the
viability and sustainability of its SLP environment = technology-enhanced
learning
• Mid 2017 SCD started exploring expanding the mode of delivery for its
SLPs to:
o Increase SU’s geographic SLP distribution beyond its current
boundaries;
o Include more student markets;
o Facilitate flexible, networked and collaborative learning; & YET
o Still comply with the applicable regulatory & university policies and
academic quality assurance regulations

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http://www.supercoloring.com/silhouettes/africa-map
Objectives
Current reach of SU's SLPs into
South Africa and Africa

6. In Numbers……….
0
100
200
300
400
500
600
700
2015 2016 2017
NumberofRegisteredSLPs
Academic Year of Presentation
Total No of SLPs No of Blended and/or Online SLPs
• SU’s SLPs mostly been presented as contact (face-to-face) in SA and parts of
Africa
• Total number of registered SLPs (face-to-face/blended/online) increased by
7,3% for three year period 2015-2017
• Blended/online SLPs only forming little under 10% of all SLPs for 2017

7. 0
2000
4000
6000
8000
10000
12000
14000
16000
18000
2015 2016 2017
TotalNoofSLPEnrollments
Academic Year
Total No of SLP Student Enrollments No of Blended/Online Enrollments
• From 2015-2017, total number of students enrolled for SLPs (face-to-
face/blended/online) increased by 36,6 %
• Number of blended/online enrollments still only forming just on 8% of the total
number of SU’s SLP enrollments for 2017

8. SU’s SCD with Centre for Learning Technologies (CLT) & Information
Technology (IT), initiated an internal SLP online project proposal mid 2017
to:
• Optimise its SLP offering & expand its student market;
• Deliver a transformative SLP experience with flexibility – candidates
choose when & where they want to study to enhance industry-
specific skills;
• Alleviate unfavourable profit-sharing, academic quality assurance,
accreditation, certification & intellectual property issues that arise
with external commercial platform providers;
• Provide agile and responsive in-house online SLP platform as cost-
effectively as possible to SU; and
• Increase SU’s 5th stream income & to ensure sustainability &
viability of the institution’s SCD

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Changes, Deliverables & Challenges

10. Systems in Technology
Environment
Currently High-level Changes and Deliverables
• Short Course Registration
System
No indication of type of course & if access is
required
IDM process currently manual process
System to indicate delivery mode
Activate automatic electronic access for candidates
to LMS & e-Library
• Standard SLP Budget Form Full cost approach = no provision for technology
& user support fees
Budget to include LMS & e-Library access fees as
line item
Integration with SU’s Fin system for automatic fees
allocation
• SUNLearn (LMS) Access to blended/fully online SLPs, manually
created
No distinctive SLP portfolio within SUNLearn
Web Services Engine extended for automated LMS
access
Create SCD integrated theme/category within LMS
= brand management
• Student Registration System Manual process of registration on 1st day of
contact
Self-registration option for online SLP candidates
& login instructions with created electronic ID
Opportunity to reset password
• Course & Facilitator
Evaluation System
Evaluation paper-based = neither practical nor
achievable in online environment
Provide a web-based online solution
Must be stable & scalable across different devices
Anonymity
• Certification In hard copy only
No electronic verification
Automated electronic verification on completion
Indicate on application if hard copy is required

11. Challenges
• Institutional Funding Development & maintenance costs
Additional staff salaries required = online support
• Staff Capacity HR needs to consider flexi-time staff appointments
Staff training and coaching in support
• Technology Limitations Hardware, software & expansion of current technological applications =
additional costs
• Connectivity User-access from different devices
Speed & availability of internet connections in remote areas
• Academic Quality Assurance Online SLPs criticised for apparent lack of quality control
Rethink content = adaptable & appropriate = all cultures & beliefs
• Ownership of IP
• Academic Honesty
Third party content = potential copyright infringement risks = preventive
measures
T & Cs of licensed content
Provide plagiarism-detection tool for students
• Institutional culture & perceptions Potential resistance from staff
Innovative qualities within presentations

12. Conclusion

13. SCD has embarked on ensuring achievement of SU’s Vision 2040’s strategy:
• Work-integrated learning
• Collaborative and interactive online teaching and learning model
• Change the size, shape and mix of SU’s student population
Though initially daunting, drivers of this project have been the potential to:
• Increase scope & reach of SU’s accredited SLPs
• Decrease the development & hosting costs with an internal platform
• Minimise the challenges of using external hosting platforms
• Increase students’ capabilities of using web-based tools and
technologies

14. Projected Critical Performance Measurements
• At least 80-90% improvement in seamless SLP registration & access processes
• At least 30% improvement in number of SU accredited online SLPs
• At least 50% improvement in student registrations for SU accredited online
SLPs
• Increase in the total income generated by SU’s SLPs
• Improvement in the viability & sustainability of SU’s CLT (online design and
support service) & SU’s SCD (Short Courses Division)
End 2019:
SU will be hopefully able to fully measure the effectiveness of this SLP
online project against these identified critical success factors:

15. THANK YOU
Contact details:
Tel: +27 021 808 2992
Email: carolk@sun.ac.za
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