TUITION COMMUNIQU 01 COLLEGE OF ECONOMIC AND MANAGEMENT SCIENCES 1 INTRODUCTION

This is the first communiqu on tuition-related issues which we wish to share with all academic staff members in CEMS. It is our intention to publish the Tuition Communiqu on a regular basis. 2 2.1 NEW DEVELOPMENTS Admission requirements

Towards the end of 2010 Senate had approved new admission requirements for admission to both undergraduate and postgraduate qualifications. These requirements will be applicable in 2012. Please consult the Senate documentation on the intranet for more detail. Subsequently, Senate also approved additional College-specific admission requirements that will apply to programmes to be offered by CEMS. Details of the undergraduate and postgraduate admission requirements including alternative pathways to admissions are available in each academic department. The new admission requirements to undergraduate study include a requirement for an Achievement Rating (AR) of 3 (40 49%), in the case of the diploma, and an AR of 4 (5059%) in case of the degree, in the language of teaching and learning. In addition to this, CEMS has specified minimum requirements for Mathematics and Mathematical Literacy in the case of both diploma and degree studies which will come into effect only in 2013 when we introduce the new College Higher Certificate. The additional CEMS postgraduate admission requirements will be valid from 2012. All applications for admission to masters degree studies in the School of Economic Sciences and the School of Management Sciences will require a 60% or better on average in the preceding qualfication (for example, honours degree or postgraduate diploma). This requirement will not apply to doctoral degree apllications.You need to be aware of the alternative pathways for which these admission requirements provide. In short, your department may receive requests for appeal from students who do not comply with the requirements. Each department is obliged to consider these appeals and provide written motivation to the Executuve Deans office on acceptance/rejection of each appeal. The College Higher Degrees and Tuition Committees will determine the procedures and criteria to be applied. 2.2 Higher Certificate in Economic and Management Sciences

Subject to approval by Senate and by the Department of Higher Education and Training (DoHET) and accreditation by the Council on Higher Education (CHE), the College of Economic and Management Sciences will be offering a new access programme for potential students who do not meet the Unisa and the College requirements for admission to diploma and degree programmes to be offered by CEMS. This access programme will be offered as a higher certificate with ten modules at NQF level 5. Two of the modules will focus on proficiency in the English language and two modules on Mathematical Literacy. The INM 1

modules that are currently offered as part of the first year modules of the BCom degree will be discontinued with effect from 2013. However, a new re-designed INM module is being developed for this higher certificate. 2.3 Status of qualifications to be offered under the new PQM

CEMS has made major progress during the last two years with the development of both new and changed qualifications which have to be aligned with the new Higher Education Qualifications Framework (HEQF). Many of the new qualifications have been approved and accredited and many of the changed qualifications have been approved. Although there are a few outstanding issues with some of the qualifications CEMS is extremely well positioned to kick off with the larger majority of the newly aligned qualifications in 2012. 2.4 BCom status

The so-called BCom status which has applied for many years for admission to postgraduate programmes will abolished with effect from January 2012. BCom status required potential candidates, who are in possession of bachelor degrees, other than the BCom degree to successfully complete certain prescribed modules before they would be admitted to, for example bachelor honours degrees offered by CEMS. In future anyone with an appropriate (appropriate to the discipline) bachelors degree could be admitted to a postgraduate qualification provided such candidates meet the other admission requirements of that qualification. 2.5 Honours degrees

The new bachelor honours degrees to be offered with effect from 2012 must contain a compulsory research component, in terms of the new HEQF. The research component will comprise a module of 12 credits in research methodology, a research proposal module of 12 credits and a research report of 24 credits. Students will not be allowed to register for the research report unless they have passed both the research methodology and research proposal modules. If a student fails to submit an acceptable proposal during the year but the department has indicated student activity during that year, he/she would be permitted one additional opportunity to register for the research proposal module. 2.5 Masters and Doctoral degree studies

With effect from 2012 candidates who wish to enrol for masters degree studies must first enrol for a research proposal module which they have to pass before they would be permitted to enrol for the dissertation. In the case of doctoral degree studies the same principle would apply but only with effect from 2013. The existing doctoral degrees offered by CEMS, for example DCom, DCompt and DAdmin, are to be phased out over the next couple of years. With effect from 2013 all new doctoral degree students will enrol for a PhD degree (Doctor of Philosophy). 2.6 Second examination opportunity: Honours and postgraduate students

On 18 July 2011 the Senate Tuition and Learner Support Committee resolved that the following be recommended to Senate for approval:

That honours and postgraduate students be granted a second examination opportunity. That the main examination be scheduled in October/November and that the supplementary examination be scheduled in May/June of the following year. That students be advised to register for the affected module(s) at the beginning of the year and, if successful in the second supplementary opportunity, the student be refunded in full.

However, subsequent to this resolution it was decided that the issue of the second examination opportunity for honours and postgraduate students be referred back to the Colleges for inputs. The College proposals/inputs will serve at the next Senate meeting. This means that for 2012 there will be no changes in the examination and registration periods communicated in the Academic Planning Calendar. 2.7 Reregistering modules for non-degree purposes to improve the outcome of the undergraduate degree On 13 July 2011 the Senate Higher Degrees Committee resolved that in order to prohibit the practice of requiring students to reregister for modules already passed to improve the outcome of the undergraduate degree, the following registration rule be introduced: Students will not be permitted to reregister for modules already passed for non degree purposes in order to improve the average outcome of the undergraduate degree or result of a module. 3 CONCLUSION

Since this communiqu is the first of its kind we wish to urge the reader to let us know of any particular tuition-related issue about which they would like to receive more information. Kindly refer such requests to Ms Magda Swanepoel at swanemm@unisa.ac.za.

PROF TRUIDA OOSTHUIZEN MANAGER, TUITION CEMS