University of Cape Town Accreditation

I have been talking with our state department of education's person-in-charge of teacher certification about the acceptability of a postgraduate degree from the University of Cape Town, South Africa. He said he could not find any evidence of this school's accreditation; I told him it was the oldest university in South Africa and was government-approved and acredited, under an act of Parliament, as are other SA universities.

Is there anything else I could/should tell him or point him to that would convince him?

 

UCT is arguably South Africa's top university.

You say that it's South Africa's oldest university, but this is questionable. UCT was established in 1829, but at that time was primarily a secondary-level institution (South African College) that also provided some tertiary education. The South African College focussed increasingly on tertiary education during the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and in 1918 formally became the University of Cape Town through an Act of Parliament (University of Cape Town Act, Act 14 of 1916). This act has been amended and replaced several times. The current Act can be read in the Government Gazette of 21 April 1999.

 

UCT

Your accreditation issue seems to be a problem within the USA. You might try pointing the Dept of Education to the relevant part of the ACU (Association of Commonwealth Universities)web site. It will show the necessary details.

Most universities will show their historical founding as the first moment of legal parliamentary approval, or institutional commencement. UCT would be correct in using 1829 since it was incorporated under the parliament of the Cape of Good Hope when the Cape was a separate colony, just as Unisa uses 1873. Unisa was originally the University of the Cape of Good Hope until the name change in 1916 and the move to Pretoria. Université Laval in Canada uses two dates, 1663 as the founding by Bishop Laval of the parent institution and 1852 as the date of Royal Charter of the university. But everyone claims 1663. The older South African universities were founded under the parliaments of the colonies when they were autonomous (until the Union of South Africa in 1910).

 

The Catholepistemiad: What's in a name?

Hello Brad, et al.

I am sorry we did not connect via email. The story below makes the point made earlier regarding points of origin, etc.

The Catholepistemiad

Within a few years, on August 26, 1817, Woodward saw to it that "an act to establish the catholepistemiad, or university, of Michigania" was signed into law. An original copy of the act in Woodward's characteristic handwriting is, according to a former librarian of the University, "one of the prized possessions of the University Library." The Michigan State Supreme Court and the University itself recognize the date of the act as the founding of the University of Michigan, which is why 1817 appears on the seal of the University. Michigan was not admitted to the Union until 1837. The seal depicts a lamp, which is symbolizes the University being a "lamp in the wilderness" or a place of enlightenment.

The act created thirteen departments, each known individually as didaxia, which encompassed much of what Woodward outlined in A System of Universal Science. One of the thirteen was Ethica, which included philosophy, law and political science. The act also set out the structure and financing of the institution. General taxes were to be increased 15% and lotteries were to be held. Private donations were gathered, including a generous $3,000 from the citizens of Detroit. The act envisioned the university being a nucleus atop a system of colleges, academies, libraries, museums, botanical gardens and "other useful literary and scientific institutions consonant with the laws of the United States and of Michigan."

On September 24, 1817, Woodward presided at a ceremony laying the cornerstone in Detroit for a building to house what would grow to be today's University of Michigan.

The Nomenclature

Woodward's eccentric nomenclature met some severe backlash. The name itself - Catholepistemiad - was ridiculed. Governor Lewis Cass described it as "a pedantic and uncouth name." Justice Campbell said it was "neither Greek, Latin nor English . . . a piece of language run mad." Accordingly, Woodward's tongue-twisting terminology was revised by an act of April 30, 1821, which adopted a more functional moniker: The University of Michigan. In 1837, the legislature established the University in Ann Arbor.

However, the substance of Woodward's project was never rejected. It lives on today, striving to reach the summit he set as its goal and purpose. Almost 75 years after the original act of 1817, University President James Angell said, "In the development of our strictly university work, we have yet hardly been able to realize the ideal of the eccentric but gifted man who framed the project of the Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigan."

Quoted from:

http://www.law.umich.edu/JournalsandOrgs/rg/111301/name.html

What this discourse brings to our attention is issue of accreditation: Given its history, does the University of Michigan need a modern type of accreditation?

Kenneth K. A.

 

Unversity of Port Elizabeth Act

Greetings

Where would one obtain the UPE Act like the link above for UCT?

Kenneth K. A.

 

Re: Unversity of Port Elizabeth Act

Try the Cape Archives. Go to the government site of RSA RSA and look for the links to the provinces. Look for Western Cape. The reason I say Western Cape and not Eastern Cape where UPE is, is that the original Act would be housed in the Archives in Cape Town where Parliament meets. It might also be available through the Parliamentary archives. It might be worth doing an Internet search for South African legislation.

Brad

 

Thanks

Thanks, Brad!

I did. I found it.

Kenneth K. A.