The mandate of the Institutional Planning and Quality Enhancement (IPQE) Unit is to direct, manage and integrate academic planning activities and mandates at institutional and faculty levels. This mandate is aligned with Vision 2030 as well as strategic imperatives, goals and key performance areas of the Central University of Technology, Free State, as a leading university of technology in Africa through innovation and entrepreneurial education and training.
Management Information System Unit
This Unit is responsible for the collection, analysis, interpretation, and dissemination of accurate and timely information on all aspects of the university's activities in support of institutional planning, decision-making and reporting.
Management Information System Is a Unit in the IPQE Section with a purpose to:
- Create an evidence-based environment for monitoring institutional performance and informing strategic direction. through processes that include data collection, analysis, synthesis, storage, and reporting.
- Fulfil the University’s statutory reporting obligations.
- Fulfil internal and external stakeholders’ information requirements, by providing high-quality, up-to-date, relevant, and easily accessible information.
- Conduct research focused on student and staff perceptions and experience, academic student performance, and institutional climate and culture.
- Provide of sound evidence of institutional performance, of socio-economic trends to which CUT should respond, and performs regular "customer" opinion and experience surveys on relevant themes.
- Facilitate and administer CUT timetable as well as venue bookings for lecture rooms, auditoriums and halls support operational and strategic management decision-making across the institution.
- Fulfil the University’s statutory reporting obligations.
- Fulfil internal and external stakeholders’ information requirements, by providing high Quality, up-to-date, relevant, and easily accessible information.
- Institutional research into key university activities and outcomes.
- Collating, interpreting and explaining information, and making recommendations to decision-makers.
- Institutional benchmarking and external analysis activities, such as environmental scanning.
- Analysis of institutional and other data to support university planning, management, operation, evaluation, and decision-making.
- Monitoring student load and co-ordinating load planning activities.
- Further developing and embedding the university’s business intelligence capability.
- Preparing reports on performance indicators, trends, and benchmarking.
To co-ordinate the university’s HEMIS reporting:
- To manage the updating of the university’s academic structure.
- To provide management information, including responses to ad hoc queries.
- To promote the standard of data quality within the institution.
- To maintain the necessary web infrastructure to deliver management information.
- To provide training to staff members on MIS-related matters.
- To participate in MIS-related university projects, as required.
The Institutional Research office supports strategic planning, based on analysis of institutional and other data to support university planning, management, operation, evaluation and decision-making. This function involves regular surveys among staff and students in order to produce useful information about the institution so as to aid planning and point to areas where there is a need for action. In addition, IR develops and maintains planning support models.
The MIS commits itself to:
- Use modern techniques and tools as well as cost effective spend on existing systems
- Ensuring continuity exists within the team and eliminating resource risk
- Accurate data
- User friendly front ends
Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation
Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation sub-section is responsible to facilitate strategic planning, monitoring, reporting and evaluation on the achievement of institutional strategic goals and strategic objectives. Effective planning and continuous review and follow ups on the implementation of predetermined objectives including planned priorities and reporting to various stakeholders, has resulted in improved institutional performance, guided decision making and promoted accountability. Continuous progress tracking and analysis also assisted Executive, Senior and Operational Managers on areas where corrective action is required as well as introduction of interventions timely, to assist with the smooth implementation of the institutional strategic goals. Worth-noting, Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation Sub-section achievements include:
- Planning, Monitoring, Reporting and Evaluation Framework has been developed to:
- Provide a logical structure that assists and guides how the institution will undertake its performance planning, monitoring, reporting and evaluation.
- Improve reporting through the provision of reliable, accurate and timely performance information reports, accompanied by appropriate portfolios of evidence).
- Enable informed decision making aimed at optimising the institution’s performance; and
- Ensure compliance to the Regulations for Reporting by Higher Education Institutions issued in terms of the Higher Education Act (Act No. 101 of 1997).
- 2021-2025 Strategic Plan has been developed through consultations with various stakeholders to encapsulate the University’s aspirations over a period of five years. This plan outlines the institution’s preferred future direction underpinned by the seven strategic goals to realise Vision 2030 which states that “By 2030, Central University of Technology, Free State will be a leading African University of Technology, shaping the future through innovation.”
Rolling out of the 2021-2025 Strategic Plan
On-going roadshows and information sessions are continuing within Divisions/Departments/Units to facilitate the achievement of the set institutional strategic goals. These engagements with Divisions and heads of units enhance shared vision and enable managers to understand the importance of providing portfolio of evidence with reported results.
Unqualified Audit Report on Performance Information
Controls in ensuring the successful implementation of the Annual Performance Plan, pre-determined objectives were put in place to manage numerous internal and external audit findings of prior and current years through consultations with Executive, Senior and Operational Managers. These controls assisted the university to obtain an unqualified audit opinion performance report from 2020 to-date, The teamwork and commitment within the Divisions and Units assisted in the University obtaining unqualified audit opinion on performance information.Quality Enhancement Unit
Quality Enhancement develops review systems, in line with the Higher-Education Quality Committee (HEQC) directives, and carries them out in the form of Institutional, Academic Program and Support unit audits and reviews, which include peer evaluation. These give rise to Quality improvement plans, the outcomes of which are monitored and updated where necessary. Furthermore, IPQE helps to ensure that quality improvement is entrenched within all academic work at CUT to continuously increase effectiveness and efficiency.
Internal Programme Reviews
A self-assessment process is an integral component of any quality system, through which an institution undertakes its own assessment to determine whether products, services and management processes meet the quality criteria. Therefore, the process facilitates continuous improvement, and fosters a “learning organisational culture”. It is not a checklist of compliance; rather, it focuses on reflection.
The internal review process of academic programmes operates on a five-year cycle determined by Senate. The primary purpose of the five-year reviews is to determine programme quality, programme viability and the future direction of departments.
Eighteen academic programmes have been internally reviewed during the last five-year cycle period: 2013 - 2018, in terms of the following mandates specific to the Quality Enhancement unit in the Institutional Planning and Quality Enhancement Section:
- Ensure that HEQC-directed institutional and academic programme reviews are conducted;
- In co-operation with faculties, conduct regular internal reviews of programmes and support units according to guidelines transformed to meet strategic and statutory demands;
- Provide complete support in terms of information, processes and logistics for all internal reviews;
- Ensure that the post-audit improvement plans are approved by Mancom (if there are resource implications) and Senate; and
- Monitor and report on the implementation of the approved improvement plans.
Reviews of Support Divisions
The overall objective is that all divisions/sections/units evaluate themselves by reflecting on their current operations; identify their strengths and weaknesses; and, together with a review panel, consider the way forward for purposes of improvement. The goal is to develop and assess the relevant support services divisions’/sections’/units’ strengths and weaknesses, meet clients’ needs, formulate action plans for improvement, and enhance divisions’/sections’/units’ contributions to the mission and strategic direction of the university.
Rating process of Support Divisions
The reviews came up with recommendations which were conveyed to Heads of Departments, Directors and Senior Directors.
Quality Improvement Plans
Recommendations from the reviews necessitate the development of the Quality Improvement Plans (QIPs). QIPs propose appropriate development and support interventions followed by systematic improvements across all relevant criteria. It is important that the Heads of Departments, Directors and Senior Directors ensure that the faculties and support divisions develop, approve, implement and monitor such improvement plans. Moreover, the IPQE will monitor the developments made in implementing the recommendations made in the QIPs.
Curriculum
This section of the Quality Enhancement unit serves to improve teaching and learning in a continuous process through planning, designing, implementing, monitoring, reviewing, evaluating and managing curricula and learning programmes in line with national Higher Education legislative framework such as the Higher Education Qualification sub-framework (HEQSF) and regulations, HEQC standards, professional bodies and institutional priorities such as CUT’s Vision 2020, strategic plan, the CUT Academic Plan and the STEPS Directions document key principles.
CUT’s primary impact on regional and national human capital development in support of socio-economic development would be through its programme-and-qualification-mix (PQM). Its PQM is, therefore a primary avenue for facilitating and delivering the impact/outcomes of Vision 2030.2022 Institutional Audit of the CUT
Institutional Audits are used to determine the extent of an institution’s capability to use integrated quality management systems and processes to improve the quality of its learning and teaching, its research and the institution’s integrated engagement with the community. The scope of the Institutional Audit is informed by the vision and mission of the institution, previous audit findings, sectoral trends, as well as other HEQC findings, for example, in national reviews. The scope will be discussed with each institution at the start of the institutional audit.
The principles of the upcoming round of standard Institutional Audits are as follows:
- The institution is the main unit of analysis.
- Institutions are responsible for assuring quality through their internal quality assurance system.
- External quality assurance, in the form of institutional audits, is based on a review methodology, consisting of self-reflection and peer evaluation.
- A differentiated approach is followed in which institutions are evaluated in terms of their own vision, mission and goals, as well as their identity, context and location, and their quality assurance maturity.
The Focus Areas of Institutional Audits direct the evaluations undertaken by the audit panel members who conduct site visits, and their subsequent compilation of the audit report. Moreover, the Focus Areas guide institutions in the preparation of the entire Self-evaluation Report (SER) which consists of the Institutional Profile, the Self-Evaluation and the Portfolio of Evidence (PoE).
The following are the Focus Areas of this round of Institutional Audits:
Focus area 1: Governance, strategic planning, management and leadership support the core academic functions.
Focus area 2: The design and implementation of the institutional quality management system supports the core academic functions.
Focus area 3: The coherence and integration of the institutional quality management system supports the core academic functions.
Focus area 4: Curriculum development, learning and teaching support the likelihood of student success.
Four Task Teams were established and each was tasked with collecting the evidence and writing the narrative for each focus area. The IPQE then consolidated the work of the Task Teams into an institutional Self-Evaluation Report (SER) with the assistance of the retired Prof. Rudolf Britz. The IPQE drafted the Process Map for CHE Institutional Audit to coordinate the preparations and outline the internal institutional arrangements in preparation for the national CHE Institutional Audit.- Mahleko Masabata
- Tel: +27 (0)51 507 3304
- bmahleko@cut.ac.za
- View details
- Mokhele Ike
- Tel: +27 (0)51 507 3054
- nmokhele@cut.ac.za
- View details
- Wiese Laurika
- Tel: +27 (0)51 507 3016
- lvstraat@cut.ac.za
- View details
- Reginald Nyokong
- Tel: +27 (0)57 910 3628
- rnyokong@cut.ac.za
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- Mphumela Selina
- Tel: +27 (0)51 507 3383
- mphumelan@cut.ac.za
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