CHE pilot audit at VUT
CHE pilot audit at VUT
CHE Pilot auditors and VC Professor Gordon Zide
Nontobeko Zondi
The Council on Higher Education (CHE) held a pilot audit at the Vaal University of Technology (VUT) from Monday, 18 March to Wednesday, 20 March 2019.
In his welcoming address, the Vice-Chancellor and Principal: Gordon Zide said that this is a dream come true as he wanted an evaluation on Quality Assurance for VUT when he took up his new role. He further said that he wants to both live a legacy and leave a legacy during his tenure.
Prof Zide said that the audit was a dip-stick of the current situation regarding quality management and quality assurance at VUT. The audit is an evidence-based exercise, proof of documents for claims made should be available for scrutinizing by the panel. The approach to the audit is developmental and not punitive, therefore, “this is not a personal attack, but institutional growth and development,” he said.
The audit will cut across the institution – it will not only focus on the academics – as the right hand needs to know what the left hand is doing, he explained.
Ms Bella Sattar, the panel chairperson, acknowledged the welcoming by the VC and informed the members that the pilot audit would focus on the quality assurance systems at the VUT. The panel will give feedback on Wednesday, 20 March and a final report will be given to the institution. The outcome of the audit will inform institutional remedial activities which will be coordinated by the Quality Promotion Unit (QPU). The pilot audit forms part of an integrated quality assurance process and a preparation for the CHE audit within the next 3 years. The institutional support units’ reviews start in April 2019 and will be facilitated by the QPU. The institutional reviews will be informed by the outcome of the CHE pilot audit results and the ongoing academic programme reviews.
VUT was selected as one of a number of institutions by the CHE for the pilot audits. As already mentioned it is a developmental exercise which will enable the CHE to issue a report on the coherence and effectiveness of the VUT quality assurance system in a manner that enables student success. It is also an opportunity for the CHE to pilot test their processes and procedures before they start with the next cycle of national audits with institutions of higher learning.
Information and Communication Technology (ICT) and Electrical Engineering have been selected to test the effectiveness of the quality assurance system at a programme level. At a systemic level, all departments and support units will be used to test the coherence of the VUT quality assurance system and its integration into institutional planning and resourcing in relation to student success.