Help! South African guidance necessary

Discussion in 'General Distance Learning Discussions' started by chris, Nov 26, 2003.

Loading...
  1. chris

    chris New Member

    As many of you know from my postings on this thread I had applied to the University of the Free State (PHD in Public Administration) and Stellenbosch (PHD in Business Administration). I am awaiting their answers on my apps. I am impressed with Stellenbosch but am concerned they may require too many trips. I like my contact at the UFS but have always considered the Public Administration degree my second choice. Now another factor emerges, last week the Durban Institute of Technology responded to my original emails with apologies for taking so long to get back with me. They indicated no travel would be necessary . They requested my transcripts and further clarification on my dissertation proposal. I sent those out in a PDF document as I hate to close doors prematurely if you know what I mean. Today, they have emailed me and offered me candidacy status in their Doctor of Technology in Business Administration program and want to set up the initial telconference. I would hate to offend them by delaying until I know the status of the other apps but I wish to have all of my options on the table when I make a decison. In the US it is customary to apply to several programs w/o offending anyone. What is the protocal in SA. Any other advice?

    I have an MBA with a concentration in Information Technology Management and I teach MIS part time and work in it full time.
     
  2. walter

    walter New Member

    Tech

    My opinion based on limited exposure to these places is that the schools rank in terms of repuation as follows: Stellenbosch (best), Free State, Durban Tech (previously a Technikon)(worst). The Durban program is prob brand new. Stellenbosch has the fancy MBA accreditation (Equuis), and is a very pretty town.

    I don't think there would be any bad feeling if you disclosed that you had applied to various schools.
     
  3. angela

    angela New Member

    Ranking

    Stellenbosch has an elistist rep, but Free State is a good university, I hear. Durban is still very new, and ha a long way to go to match the others, at least in the eyes of South Africans.

    But at a distance, these differences may fade away!
     
  4. chris

    chris New Member

    thanks so far

    for your help. Any other ideas guys? Really looking for some ideas. Thanks.
     
  5. Jack Tracey

    Jack Tracey New Member

    I don't know what the SA protocol might be but I can tell you that prior to my enrollment at UFS I had a number of very frank discussions with Dept. Heads at a number of SA universities including UFS, Stellenbosch, UNISA, Natal, Port Elizabeth, blah, blah, blah. They were equally frank with me and gave no indication of reticence or offence in these negotiations. Please remember that many of these universities have been in operation for upwards of 150 years. There's a very good chance that they know a lot more about Illinois than you do about Matieland. Deal in good faith.
    Jack
     
  6. chris

    chris New Member

    Thanks guys

    I'll let Durban know of my situation and let them go from there. And Jack, I always planned on telling them I just needed to know how to broach it. If it was a violation of protocal it would have been from the "excuse my ignorance of SA customs" approach rather than "I want to review all of my options". We in Illinois aren't exactly such rubes that we are unaware of SA. I teach at a school which has been a college longer than all but one in South Africa and I have been a student of SA since about 13, but no amount of books can relate such information. That is why I asked.
     
  7. Jack Tracey

    Jack Tracey New Member

    I'm afraid you may have taken some offense to my last post. Perhaps the wording was unfortunate but no offense was intended. I was merely trying to point out that because these schools have been around quite a while, and because their faculty have a substantial level of international sophistication, that you can deal with them in a direct, straightforward manner. They will not be surprised to learn that you are considering more than one school. You may even want to enlist them in your efforts to make a decision by asking them about their impressions of the differences between your prospective choices. In any case, best of luck with your studies.
    Jack
     

Share This Page