Goodbye to Unisa...

So many questions, so few answers...
All that I can tell you is that I've recently discovered that Rand Afrikaans University is now offering some DL programs. It's a relatively small offering, mostly certificate programs, graduate diploma programs , etc.
It does seem to indicate, however, that other South African schools are moving into the DL world. It will be an interesting evolution to watch.
Jack

 

I’m no expert on any of this, but here is my take…

The plan is to provide a single state-subsidized predominantly distance education institution. Unisa and TSA, and VUDEC are currently the big three. Technical College of South Africa (Technisa) is also primarily a DL institution (ca. 9,000 students). But in South Africa the Technical Colleges are trade schools at a lower level than Technikons, and this is perhaps why Technisa has not been included in the merger.

South Africa had a moratorium on new DL programs from approximately Feb 2000 to Feb 2001. At that time, the government noted that the distinction between “distance” and “contact” (SA term for what in U.S. is often called residential) education is blurring – many of the technologies and approaches used for distance education are also valuable in the contact institutions. So the state-subsidized contact universities can introduce distance programs, but they need to include such programs for approval in their routine 3-year plans submitted to the government. The government will approve such programs provided they meet an educational need without unnecessary duplication, and provided the university can demonstrate that it has the necessary resources (human and technical) and has the necessary quality monitoring and control mechanisms in place. There is a concern that distance education programs not be rolled out primarily as a means to generate revenue.

The government also has regulations and guidelines for private institutions (e.g Azaliah, INTEC) and for private-public collaborations. But IMHO only the state-subsidized institutions are interesting players at the tertiary level, so I won’t comment further.

 

[http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?click_id=105&art_id=qw1011204001154B262&set_id=1]Unisa cites TSA and Vista (in addition to Minister of Education, Kader Asmal) as co-respondents in its court action[/url].

 

Sorry, should have been:
Unisa cites TSA and Vista (in addition to Minister of Education, Kader Asmal) as co-respondents in its court action.

 

I'm afraid that I can claim to have only the most superficial understanding of all these events and wish there was someone who could help explain some of the underlying dynamics. It does seem to be a very contentious relationship between the Minister and Unisa although having TSA and Vista join Unisa in the court cation goes a long way towards dispelling this idea of Unisa as the "bad child" wjo can't play nicely with others.
Gert - do you think that Asmal is deliberately trying to oust the Unisa administration related to the previous charges of their taking money for meetings never attended, etc.? These are the two big Unisa stories in the news lately and it's hard to believe that they're not somehow related.
Jack

 

Of course, the BIG benefit of this court action is, if Unisa is correct, that Asmal doesn't have the legal authority to give the merged entity a new name...maybe we won't get stuck with OLUSA after all.
Jack

 

Nope -- other way around. Unisa have cited TSA and Vista as co-respondents (along with Minister) not as co-complainants.

 

Now you know why I'm looking for someone to lay this all out for me
Jack

 

Here's another update. Apparently it's a letter from the Students Representative Council at UNISA to the Minister of Education. It details numerous facets of this not-so-smooth merger process. Together with the previously cited information, it begins to make the Minister look like he has a hidden agenda (a politician with a hidden agenda??? NO WAY!!! http://www.unisa.ac.za/about/src_pp.html
Jack

 

Since Jack has brought this thread back to life, here's another link: Asmal abused his powers, says Unisa council.

(Personally, I am rooting for Asmal in all of this, despite my reservations about merging university foundational education with vocational training.)

 

Unisa and Asmal set to bury the hatchet

Unisa and Asmal avert court showdown

 

Unisa and South African Ministry of Education face each other in court.

This is a current news page, and will soon change. So here is a snippet:

• 
  Months of hostilities between Unisa and the Ministry of Education reached boiling point this week when they faced each other in court on Thursday after negotiations to reach a settlement failed.
  
  There is now mounting alarm within the university that the turmoil Unisa's court application has generated is obscuring, and worsening, a long-standing governance crisis centred on the university's controversial council, in particular chairperson McCaps Motimele. "Motimele is pulling the strings," says a senior academic, "and [new vice-chancellor Dr] Barney Pityana is his puppet."

I will try to post a link to archived story later.

 

I don't know if this is a reflection of the "merger issues" at UNISA. However, I contacted the UNISA representative here in the US via email and they have not even responded. I wanted to get information about doctoral programs at the school. I also read in another post on this board that another person dropped their interest in UNISA because the representatives in the US failed to respond.

This raises a serious issue about American learners dealing with foreign schools. I'm sort of hoping that the situation merely reflects the current problems and does not represent how they routinely do business.



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David F

 

Last year I also tried the U. of South Africa rep. in the USA and never got a response. I sent both snail mail and email. I did get a response from the rep. in Canada (and a very prompt response). but he said he had to get special permission to work with someone south of the border. I live near the Canadian border and I told him it was far easier for me to go to Montreal for any orientation than to Boston or New York (which it is). The Canadian rep. did report back that he could work with me, but the Canadian system was not yet set up to support doctoral work. He said to check in again in a year or two or contact unisa directly.
All the best!

 

I too got no response from that office. Some people have made excuses for this guy (he's so busy, he's really a nice guy, blahblah blah) but it seems clear that he can't deliver the service that his website offers and so he should fold up his tent and go away. I also contacted the Canadian agency who gave me a very prompt reply that did nothing to answer my questions (fill out the registration form and submit it to blahblahblah) Unlike irat, I got no indication that it would be a problem for a US citizen to use their services. I have yet to follow through due to other irons in the fire getting the attention.
P.S. Thanks Gert for the continued updates.
Jack

 

This is just the latest statement from UNISA about the merger: http://www.unisa.ac.za/about/news_merger.html
Jack

 

To contact the US agent, use email [email protected] (not the [email protected] email address on the website). Or contact Michael Esselen at [email protected]. The agents in US and Canada have an agreement to coordinate, so I would think it's OK to contact Canadian agent.

 

Dr. Michael Esselen runs the Vancouver office of IACI-Canada. I have found him to be extremely cordial and helpful (and prompt). This may be partly because I live in Vancouver, but having met him once, I can say that I'm sure he would be as helpful as he is able in a given situation.


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Election of Unisa head 'engineered'