UNIZUL application

Hi all,

Haven't been here in a while, but wanted to let you know that I am in the process of applying for a PhD program from the University of Zululand (UNIZUL) in Human Movement Science. First step is for UNIZUL to determine equivalency of my master's degree. Once that it done, then I work up my research thesis proposal with my promoter, then off to South Africa to present it. After that, I get my research under way here in the good old USA.

It was a long process for me to make my decision as to where to apply. Thanks to all of you here who were wise enough to steer me toward looking at the b & m South African programs. I really did not think there were any exercise science programs available and had been looking at health studies as an alternate. Now I can have my cake and eat it too!

I'll check in and keep you posted as time allows!

Thanks again,

Matt

 

"off to South Africa to present it (thesis proposal)" is it mean that studying in Unizul is not 100% DL?

And, how to compare Unisa and Unizul?

Thanks

 

Technically the program is not "DL" at all. But since there should be no class room work involved, it is an academic point; this will be a doctorate by research. In the Commonwealth model, doctoral level work follows on the master's degree and therefore they assume the student was prepared properly and needs no further classwork (this assumption is confirmed by equivalency check with master's transcripts). So, as long as the student confirms that he has the proper research facilities available, he can complete his research off campus (be that across town or in another country).

Originally my promoter believed I would not need to go to SA at all, but other faculty requested I present the thesis proposal in person. I had planned to go over anyway, since I think it is important to meet everyone face to face and feel more like part of the program and university. Depending on cost, I would also like return for graduation and a reward vacation (it is safari country). I should be able to defend the thesis over the phone. My employer is very generously supporting me by paying my tuition, so that should help me save the money for travel.

As far as comparison to UNISA, I would say that UNISA is set up to offer DL and that seems to be a big part of their mission. I looked long and hard at UNISA, but they did not have the program I wanted. UNIZUL probably does not offer much in the way of DL at the lower degree levels as far as I know, and again even the doctoral programs are not considered DL. Unlike UNISA, UNIZUL does not seem to promote themselves as DL or go out of their way to recruit foreign students. I have the feeling I may be rather unique as a US student enrolling in the HMS program at UNIZUL. There are some posters here who graduated from UNIZUL's doctoral theology program so you may want to do a search to read their posts.

 

Thanks Steve. It has been an interesting process, weeding through all of the US DL programs - too expensive, wrong programs for me -, the UK and Aussie ones - too expensive and not willing to take on DL in my area of study -, and finally being steered toward SA - low tuition and availability of exercise science degree.

My potential promoter at UNIZUL is very experienced in my area of research interest and has been enthusiastic right from the first enquiry response.

Now I am waiting on my darn US passport renewal to be returned in the mail so I can submit my passport number on the application. Remember kids, write down your passport number before you mail it out; it is a sloooow process!

Interesting differences: they are requesting a "certified copy of my degree certificate"; this would be I assume my diploma, which proves nothing. How easy would it be to fake a diploma? It's just a peice of paper! I have sent transcripts directly from my alma maters' registrars' offices and requested they be signed across the seal, so hopefully they will realize that this is how we prove degrees were earned in the US. Apparently in SA they use the "certificate" as proof, and for some reason degree fraud is rampant. But I photocopied my diploma and had a notary sign it, so I'll fax that too. They said I could always bring the original with me when I visit - just the thing to pack for a long trip, a framed diploma! They also need my national identity number - uh, I don't think we have those in the good old USA; thus the passport number will have to substitute 'cause I sure won't be giving out my SSN!

I'll let you know how things progress.

Matt

 

Thank you for your detail information. US/UK's DL Doctorate is very expensive, so I am seriously considering UNISA. As my Australia's master degree is coursework only, do you think that UNISA would accept me to study at Doctorate level? Or, is there any other alternative?

Thanks

 

Matt R,

Thanks for the informative posts, I too am very interested in completing my final degree, at UNISA, a Doctor of Commmerce. I hear they may change the title of the award to a PhD so that would be easier for those of us in Canada to follow along!

The hardest part of applying for this program is finding a thesis topic, I've read 100's of thesis's and joined the American Society of Engineering Management and the American Society of Cert. Eng. Tech.s to try and come up with a suitable topic that equates my MBA (UK complete with dissertation) to Engineering management practice. So far I haven't been able to come up with a topic and this has held me up for 6 months now.

Did you provide a topic of interest or did you work with your sponsor to fine tune a topic? If I could get past this hurdle I would be on my way!

Thanks and great posts!
Morgan

 

Hi Morgan,

I am in the fortunate position of being a professional researcher, so it is not difficult for me to come up with research ideas. I work in a private osteoarthritis research institute as an exercise physiologist. I think the major study I have underway would have qualified for a thesis. But I did not come up with the idea, I just refined it and developed the exercise protocol (I have been in my position less than 1 year and this study idea was in the works before I was hired).

I had been working on the back ground for a study of exercise and knee osteoarthrits and realized that it would make a great thesis topic. I attached a rough draft of the outline with all of my e-mails to each school (along with my CV) and my (potential) promoter at UNIZUL took an interest in the subject and informed me it was workable and within his area of expertise.

Finding a topic is obviously not as easy for most people. In my field, ideas hit me all the time as I am reading the literature - others always point out "this is a topic that needs further study" and I think "I'm just the guy to do that!". I would hope the same would be true in your field; I suggest you grab a big ol' stack of journals and start looking for 'gaps in the literature'. A doctoral thesis needs to generate something new, something that hasn't been studied before or hasn't been studied the way it should be. Surely there is something in your engineering area(s) of interest that needs to be validated; for example in my field, I find that there are exercise treatments that physical therapists use with their patients that have never been shown to be effective in a scientific study (at least for OA patients). They use the treatment 'because I've seen it work'.

I think you should make a list of potential topics, with some background summaries to tell why each is important, and submit that with any enquiries. Perhaps a promoter will latch onto one of them and offer to help you with it...and away you go!

I think one other important thing is to make sure you have the time and resources to do the study; I am lucky in that I can "double dip" and make the thesis part of my work. Otherwise I would not be proposing an exercise study since they take a long time to complete. Something more along the lines of a one-shot study in the lab would have been more feasible. I will also be able to use work resources to get the thesis done. (I know, I can't believe it myself sometimes).

Best of luck!

 

http://www.iaci-canada.com/

Most likely if it is in the same field and equates to their masters degree then you would move on to doctoral work. UNISA has contract folks who help foreign students apply, etc. In north America it is http://www.iaci-canada.com/ and they were very helpful for me. I would have done everything through them had there been a proper program for me at UNISA.

 

Also - don't limit yourself to UNISA in your search for SA schools; many programs at the bricks & mortar schools at the PhD level are basically "DL". Others will require course work on campus. It just depends on the field of study, the department, and the school (for example I would have had to do 6 months on campus at Cape Town - but that might not be true of other departments there).

Try this link to see if the schools have the program you are looking for: http://www.unixl.com/info/south-africa.htm

Good luck!

 

Congrats!!

Congratulations on acceptance to Uzulu, Matt.

Through the twists and turns of life, I am still a doctoral condidate with Uzulu myself -- though I recently came very close to transferring to Unisa.

Turns out.... my under-informed concerns about the Dept. of Theology at Uzulu were misplaced. All is still well there, though the department has been re-shaped a bit in recent months.

Would like to visit the campus someday myself.

Welcome aboard and best wishes in your studies!!

 

Haggai12

Thank you. But just to be clear, I am in the application process and have not been accepted yet!

Glad to hear things are working out for you there!

Be Well,

Matt Rogers

 

Thanks for the correction Matt....

You caught me skim-reading!! Sorry!!

What ever direction you wind up going, I wish you the best!!

 

update/fees

I thought you all might like to see the reply I just received from my promoter at UNIZUL; it occured to me that I had never asked about the fees and assumed they would be about the same as UNISA (i.e. about USD 2000 per year)....read on!


"Total fees for year one will be about US$ 900 (depending on the exchange rate) and the second year about US$ 150. Our university has a programme of attracting students from the SADEC countries which is supported by our government via subsidy. For some reason other foreign students were not excluded from this arrangements. Thus the lower fees are to your advantage."

Wow! And I thought the $2k was a great deal!

Otherwise, I am still technically in the application phase of the process - my transcripts, etc. will be sent off to a SA governmental agency for approval. In the mean time I am working on the research thesis proposal.

Matt

 

Re: update/fees

WOW! That's a really good deal.

Thanks for the update.

How is the proposal going? Does UNIZUL provide assistance and/or examples on the proposal or are you on your own?

 

Re: Re: update/fees

I already had a rough draft of my idea, and now I am refining it with input from my promoter. We are in the early stages and so far he has essentially just told me what the format should be. I have been e-mailing him questions on my study design, methods, etc. When I have finally nailed down the details of how I want to conduct the study, I will send him a 10 - 20 page proposal draft. He will then give me feedback, I will make changes, and eventually it will be ready. Then I will make arrangements to travel to campus to present it.

It's good to be underway, but I would like to hear back that step 1 - the governmental equivalency determination - is done!

Matt

 

UNIZUL PhD update

Hi all,

Busy, busy, busy! Just dropped by to update you on the Zululand progress. The university faculty has recommended my provisional admission to the PhD program in Human Movement Sciences, but alas we are still awaiting a decision from the governmental agency in charge of determining the 'equivalency' of my master's degree. I continute to narrow down my research testing protocol and my promoter has been a great help with this.

So, still working on the thesis proposal and awaiting a decision from the South Africa government before arranging travel over there to present the proposal.

Take care,

Matt

 

Matt,

Thanks for the update. Three months later and you are still working on getting accepted and you are still getting your proposal together. That seems to coincide with everything that I’ve read about SA universities from this forum: SA universities move very slowly. Other than that, I find it very encouraging that your promoter has been [is] a great help.

 

Re: UNIZUL PhD update

Wow! I wish you the best Matt! How Exciting!


Take care,

Abner

 

Well, of course I can't really blame them for moving slowly; I could have probably hunkered down and finished a nearly final draft of my proposal by now. But such is the life of a professional researcher; I still have to keep up with all the other research and non-research aspects of my job. On the bright side, I did get an abstract accepted for presentation at a large medical conference and have submitted the full article for publication. So this is great real world experience. My boss, a PhD, and I joke that I am doing a "pre-doc" (as opposed to a post-doc) since I am building up my CV with new manuscripts and presentations. Should be ready for tenure somewhere by the time I finish the PhD!

Other than the fact that living in Florida is killing me financially (due to ever rising utility and home insurance rates), I really did find a great job.

But as far as the SA government's part, yes I was warned by my promoter that it would take them some time. I'm not sure if this is due to inefficiency or (hopefully) their desire to end the academic fraud I have read about. But it takes the pressure off of me to rush anything. Plus, I don't have to pay tuition fees until after I am fully accepted so I am essetially learning for free right now. What a deal!