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Economic factors and institutional finances
Dennison (1984) made an analysis of the approach of educationalists towards financial matters within education. His analysis is mostly within the context of the British educational system but it is apparent how much relevance there is to the South African context.
Dennison finds that there is indeed a core factor in the understanding of education and financial resources. According to the author, educators, from all sectors of education and also specifically those in management and decision making positions tend to practice their profession in « non-cost » terms. By this he means that major expenses are paid “elsewhere”, e.g. in Britain, municipal accounts are covered by local authorities, books are provided by the Department of Education, salaries are provided by Central government. There are more such sponsors that provide infrastructure and resources in the British educational system. This implies that the actual financial implications of the daily services are distanced and the practitioners including higher education,
are not thinking in terms of business principles.
In South Africa the scenario may have been very similar for the higher education sector, within public education during the pre-transition phase (pre 1994). Academics became increasingly aware of the resource management implications of their teaching activities, post 1994 and since the redistribution of educational funds despite the increased spending on education by government (Department of Education South Africa, 2001). The changes in educational funding, setting up of funding frameworks and establishment of new funding criteria, forced educators and managers to be increasingly aware of and move towards effectively managing aspects such as current and capital budgets, setting financial priorities, investigating funding options and opportunities and generally linking activities to financial implications.
The National Plan for Higher Education (Department of Education South Africa, 2001) unambiguously states the intention to steer the implementation of the goals of the plan through « a planning process with funding and an appropriate regulatory framework that will be the main levers ».
A report by the Centre for Higher Education Transformation (CHET) indicates that higher education institutions acquire (on average) 50% of its income from public funding. The system of governance requires the institutions to be accountable for the use of public money and achieve demonstrable results in the public interest with it. CHET maintains that on the one hand the funding mechanisms provide the state with a way to fulfil its obligation to support higher education but on the other hand it provides government with a powerful instrument for steering the system in the direction of specific national policy goals and targets.
It is stated in the discussion document on the funding of public higher education, that funding will be planned and structured to address the transformation goals and the 1982/1983 funding framework is considered inadequate to this purpose. In a report on the Implications of changes in higher education (Centre for Higher Education Transformation, 2004) the pilot study group, mandated by CHET, highlighted that the subsidy formula was applied to both historically white (HWI) and historically black institutions (HBI) without a needs analysis to determine the needs of the historically black and disadvantaged institutions. The report also lists complicating factors such as
the relatively low fees base at HBI; resistance from students to pay higher fees and increased demand for access.
In a defining statement, National Government in SA declared their approach by positioning the funding framework as a « steering mechanism ». It is a given then that national and specifically transformational goals will be directed by this most critical aspect, i.e.. state funding of the public institutions. The goal oriented funding approach realised through a system of:
« block grants » or general purpose grants based on full time equivalent (FTE) student enrolments;
« earmarked funds » designed to achieve specific purposes.
The funding framework document makes specific reference to funding of what is called, “support activities”, including academic development and foundation programmes. The beneficial outcomes intended by funding these activities are stated as being:
significantly lowering first-year dropout rates;
higher first and subsequent year pass rates;
more effective utilisation of facilities for second- and third-year students;
improved utilisation of staff, particularly with respect to senior students.
Pilot-project participants felt that further to this, successful strategies in financing and implementing academic support, as a financial investment, would require:
Redesigning some of the curricula to build in necessary academic support mechanisms;
Making some academic development courses (e.g. language) credit-bearing;
Introducing special foundation or bridging programmes (e.g. in science, engineering and technology).
In addition, the current formula distinguishes between two broad academic categories (once again against the backdrop of national goals and labour needs). The two categories with separate funding factor loadings are:
natural sciences (which includes health sciences, engineering, life and physical sciences, agriculture, mathematical and computer sciences);
humanities (a catch all category for all other disciplines), (Department of Education South Africa, 2001).
The following table provides a summary of financial redress strategies in higher education in South Africa and indicates the shifts in funding priorities.
CHAPTER 1 BACKGROUND AND INTRODUCTION
1.1 Orientation.
1.2 Concept clarification.
1.2.1 Higher education and higher education institution.
1.2.2 Student development and support services (SDSS)
1.2.3 Management of student development and support services.
1.2.4 Academic policy (Teaching and Learning Policy).
1.2.5 National education policies and strategies
1.2.5.1 National education strategies.
1.2.5.2 National education policies
1.2.6 Institutional policies and strategies relevant to the academic contexts
1.2.7 Programme and qualification mix (PQM)
1.2.8 Outcomes-based education
1.2.9 Educational funding framework
1.2.10 Mergers in higher education
1.2.11 Developing country
1.3 Defining the topic.
1.4 The research design.
1.5 Ethical and credibility considerations for the study
1.6 Personal motivation
1.7 Conceptual background and theoretical framework
CHAPTER 2 FACTORS IMPACTING ON STUDENT DEVELOPMENT AND SUPPORT SERVICES IN HIGHER EDUCATION IN A DEVELOPING COUNTRY
2.1 Introduction
2.2 Higher education in a developing country.
2.2.1 Factors impacting on higher education in a developing country
2.2.2 The relationship between government and higher education institutions.
2.2.3 Transformation challenges from a student development and support perspective
2.2.4 Overview of political factors impacting on higher education
2.2.4.1 Politically driven transformation in higher education in South Africa.
2.2.5 Economic factors and institutional finances
2.2.6 Social change and higher education
2.2.7 Educational systems and priorities
2.2.8 Education and political socialisation.
2.2.9 The utilisation of educational technology.
2.3 Management perspectives in higher education relevant to student development and support
2.3.1 The context of university management and governance
2.3.2 A comment on managerialism in higher education: organisational versus university management.
2.3.3 Accountability, quality assurance and performance evaluation
2.4 Practices in student development and support.
2.4.1 Environmental scan for current student development and support in higher education
2.5 Conclusion8
CHAPTER 3 A CONCEPTUAL ORIENTATION FOR THE STUDY OF FACTORS IMPACTING ON
THE MANAGEMENT AND PROVISION OF STUDENT DEVELOPMENT AND SUPPORT
3.1 Introduction
3.2 Philosophical departure
3.3 A re-constructed theoretical framework for student development and support
CHAPTER 4 INVESTIGATION INTO THE FACTORS IMPACTING ON THE PROVISION AND MANAGEMENT OF STUDENT DEVELOPMENT AND SUPPORT
4.1 Research approach
4.1.1 Research design
4.2 Social network system, sampling and data collection strategy.
4.2.1 Selecting research venues.
4.2.2 Sampling and participant selection
4.3 Report on qualitative data collection.
4.4 Integration of knowledge constructed from the study: relating the findings from the three sources of knowledge
4.5 Review of issues of trustworthiness, credibility and triangulation of data and findings
4.6 Summary of findings: factors impacting on the provision and management of student development and suppor
CHAPTER 5 SYNTHESIS OF RESEARCH OUTCOMES AND RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE STUDY
CHAPTER 6 CRITICAL REFLECTION ON THE PhD-STUDY EXPERIENCE
