Reviewing progress and documenting processes

used by the UFH to implement the

ABASA/Nkuhlu Subvention – UYF ChallengeFriday, 14 November 2008

Presentation Outline PROJECT OBJECTIVES EXPECTED DELIVERABLES AIMS AND OBJECTIVES OF THE

REVIEW METHODOLOGY FINDINGS DISCUSSIONS RECOMMENDATIONS

PROJECT OBJECTIVES Provide funds to two historically disadvantaged Universities

(University of Fort Hare and University of Limpopo) to employ six black CAs as lecturers in the Accounting Departments for a period of three years.

Enable approximately 450 previously disadvantaged accounting students per annum at UFH and 300 similar students per annum at UL with an opportunity to access an accredited CTA qualification.

Deploy the six CAs who will assist the Universities to develop a CTA programme that is accredited by SAICA.

Place accounting professionals to serve as mentors and role-models to students who face similar socio-economic and cultural challenges as the CAs themselves had to overcome.

Support junior lecturers and/or tutorial facilitators to develop their abilities to educate and teach students.

EXPECTED DELIVERABLES Development of an academic programme

towards assisting UFH and UL to offer an accredited CTA qualification.

Teaching and training of 750 historically disadvantaged undergraduate accounting students per annum over a period of three years.

Delivering a pass rate in accounting of 60% per annum.

At least 50% of the final year students will be eligible to enrol for an accredited CTA qualification

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES OF THE REVIEW Provide a comprehensive assessment of the processes used by the

institution in the development of the CAs programme; Provide a comprehensive method used by the institution in

development of the curriculum of the CAs in the institution; Provide in depth analysis of processes used by the institution in

selection of learners, support and mentorship, including assessment of their competencies and academic progress;

Provide a comprehensive assessment on the approach and processes used by the institution to build its own capacities to deliver high quality competitive CA programme in the institution; including plans of retentions of high quality lecturers;

Provide assessment on performance of learners enrolled in the CA programme in the institution; and

Obtain key lessons on how to develop an accredited CTA academic programme and how other Universities can learn in the future.

METHODOLOGY

Developing the Capabilities

Registration of an accredited CTA

academic programme

Curriculum development and/or updating

Recruitment of experienced lecturers

Development of learning materials

Recruitment of students

Training and development of

students conducted

Students’ registration for CTA

examinations

University strategy or motivation to offer an

accredited CTA qualification

Stage 1: Strategy to offer CTA qualification

The strategy or motivation used by the university was scrutinised, looking at the reasons for doing so, examining the overall objectives, reviewing the targets, reviewing the role and functions of the team that put together the strategy, funding required and how it was raised, timeframes and how they dealt with the lacking resources.

Stage 2: Registration of the CTA qualification Mapping this stage made it possible to examine

how the University went about with putting together a credible application form to the South African Institute for Chartered Accountants and the FASSET SETA. The mapping also exposed how other universities can learn when submitting applications of this kind. The approach followed by the Nkuhlu Department for Accounting Studies was unpacked in terms of the roles of staff members who were involved in the submission of the registration.

Stage 3: Developing the capabilities

This stage examined how the University recruited the best Accounting lecturers and other staff members for developing a credible curriculum and training material in line with all the requirements from SAICA, FASSET SETA and SAQA.

Stage 4: Recruitment of students

The aim of mapping processes used during this stage, assisted to examine what criteria were used, determine the importance of selecting appropriate learners and assess the impact that it has on the performance of the department. The framework used by the University to establish the needs of the students prior to enrolment were examined.

Stage 5: Training and Development of students

The processes mapped out from this stage, were used to inform how effective the University resources (financial and non-financial) were applied towards developing best Accountants. The learner-lecturer ratio, pass rates and other ratio’s were analysed to determine benchmarks and possible best practices. The methods used to deliver the content were scrutinised and the success level was determined.

Stage 6: Registration for CTA Examinations

The processes applied in this stage were documented to determine the preparation of the student for the examinations, assess what role the University was playing in supporting the students, and documenting any other mechanisms of ensuring a high success rate in the CTA examinations.

FINDINGS The feasibility study was completed on

6 February 2006. The project concept document was

approved by UYF Management Committee on 26 April 2006.

The Memorandum of Agreement between UYF and ABASA was completed on 10 January 2007.

The Subvention Agreement between UYF, ABASA and UFH was completed on 5 February 2007.

FINDINGS (Cont… The activities imply that the implementation

started before the formal documents and agreements could be entered into by the parties involved.

SAICA awarded a conditional accreditation to the University of Fort Hare already from the beginning of 2006. The project was supposed to have started in January 2005, which means it was almost two years behind schedule as the agreements were formalised at the beginning of 2007.

FINDINGS (Cont… The University of Fort Hare offer the

following qualifications in the field of accounting: 60001= B.Com Accounting 3 year

programme 60006= B.Com Accounting 4 year

programme 60505= Post Graduate Diploma Preliminary

1 year programme 60506= Post Graduate Diploma in

Accounting (Final year) 1 year programme

FINDINGS (Cont… There are differences in the targets

specified and interpretation in the Concept Document and the Subvention Agreement.

The concept document indicated that one of the objectives is to enable approximately 450 previously disadvantaged accounting students per annum at UFH with an opportunity to access an accredited CTA qualification.

FINDINGS (Cont… The subvention agreement outlined one of the

objectives being to ensure that the deployment of the accounting lecturers will promote the educational development of 1000 previously disadvantaged accountancy learners for the duration of the contract period.

On the other hand, the feasibility study conducted by Research Focus indicated that the objective of the project is to Provide 5 000 previously disadvantaged learners (over three years) with an opportunity to access an acceptable accounting qualification in order to improve their chances of obtaining access to the CTA qualification.

FINDINGS (Cont…

2005

Qualification No. Reg No. Passed No. Cancelled Did Not Sit Exam and Not Canc.

60001 1572 984 274 106

60006 4931 3707 483 354

60505 92 27 16 12

60506 63 18 196 4

Total 6658 4736 969 476

FINDINGS (Cont…

2006

Qualification No. Reg No. Passed No. Cancelled Did Not Sit Exam and Not Canc.

60001 1474 1018 194 68

60006 4292 3229 315 180

60505 171 55 115 34

60506 51 16 4 1

Total 5988 4318 628 283

FINDINGS (Cont…2007

Qualification No. RegNo.

Passed

No. Cancelled Did Not Sit Exam and Not Canc.

60001 2144 1456 237 120

60006 4163 3037 351 186

60505 266 89 100 40

60506 192 53 8 28

Total 6765 4635 696 374

FINDINGS (Cont… Accreditation with SAICA requires firstly that the

university provide evidence from the Department of Education in terms of the Programme and Qualification Mix (PQM) that they are able to offer a specialised BCom (Accounting) programme.

Thereafter there are a number of criteria which have to be met and aligned to the Higher Education Quality Committees (HEQC’s) programme accreditation criteria.

It is best for SAICA to come and explain the rigour in the process before embarking on this extensive exercise.

FINDINGS (Cont… When SAICA started working on the project on 1

Jan 2002 there was not really a functioning department of Accountancy.

The University of Fort Hare had huge staff shortages, the material was out-dated and in some instances non-existent.

They had no computer laboratory available to students.

SAICA had to find an alliance partner which was the University of Johannesburg.

SAICA signed an agreement with University of Fort Hare where their lecturers would fly into East London and drive for two hours to Alice and give class each day on the required subjects.

FINDINGS (Cont… All the students, being University of

Johannesburg and University of Fort Hare wrote examinations on the same day and time and all used the same material.

SAICA managed to obtain funding for a computer laboratory for the students and the tutorials were done via webcast.

As the project progressed and UFH was in a position to start taking over certain of the functions, these were handed over.

It started off with all the first year courses and then progressed to the final year courses.

FINDINGS (Cont… With the merging of the Rhodes

University-East London Campus into University of Fort Hare SAICA were able to hand the whole programme over.

SAICA virtually had weekly project management meetings wherein specialists were brought in to assist with reading and writing skills as well as numeracy.

FINDINGS (Cont… SAICA indicated that with regard to the

conditional accreditation that was granted to UFH, the university is able to offer the CTA programme subject to them continuing to address and then meet certain criteria. 

A candidate wishing to write Part I of the Qualifying Exam (one of the steps towards qualifying as a CA) must have a CTA from an accredited programme.

FINDINGS (Cont… The CTA programme requires

lecturers with relevant experience at the CTA level.

This is currently a significant problem in SA generally as there are insufficient people with this experience to go around to the currently accredited 13 universities.

Requesting this at the currently non-accredited universities may cause an even bigger crisis in the shortage of accounting academics.

FINDINGS (Cont… The other issue is that of salary. 

Accounting academics are typically CA's who command high salaries in commerce.

The Nkuhlu Department of Accounting must be given the autonomy to pay higher salaries to its accounting academics.

FINDINGS (Cont… The issue of research is also

problematic for accounting academics.

They do not typically perform research due to the nature of the work they do.

FINDINGS (Cont… SAICA cited that the full

accreditation will be conferred as soon as they meet the key issues outlined in their accreditation report.

FINDINGS (Cont… SAICA pointed out that the annual

reviews submitted by UFH are definitely of a satisfactory nature. SAICA actually engaged with UFH more than once a year at the moment given the "conditional" accreditation status.

FINDINGS (Cont… It was indicated that in 2007, a

total of 22 students wrote and 11 passed, leading to 50% pass rate.

During 2006, a total of 21 students wrote and 8 passed, leading to a 38% pass rate.

DISCUSSIONSPositive issues: The university had established the

strategy to offer an accredited Certificate in the Theory of Accounting qualification before requesting support from their partners.

The University of Fort Hare took the initiative through an empowered champion to initiate the CTA accreditation from SAICA even before the agreements were concluded.

DISCUSSIONS (Cont…Positive issues: When the agreements were entered

into, UFH had already achieved progress on its own, identified the shortfalls, developed solutions and established necessary partnerships that would assist them in the process.

The relationship with SAICA was formed and it assisted UFH to obtain proper guidance and coaching regarding the requirements to register an accredited CTA qualification.

DISCUSSIONS (Cont…

Positive issues: UFH achieved a conditional

accreditation to offer a CTA qualification and some of their students already managed to pass the SAICA Part 1 Qualifying Exams.

UFH established the requirements for accreditation and built the necessary capacity and procured the resources.

DISCUSSIONS (Cont…Positive issues: UFH forged partnerships with other

Universities to share experiences of lecturing, development of the curriculum, strengthen the teaching material and continuously improve the teaching methods of Accounting Lecturers.

The feasibility study to test a framework for implementation was conducted to inform the implementation.

DISCUSSIONS (Cont…

Positive issues: The use of appropriate partners

assisted to capacitate UFH during the period of transition.

The majority of the targets agreed with UFH were surpassed.

UFH arranged funding for students with limited financial difficulties.

DISCUSSIONS

Negative issues: The agreement should have been put

in place between the different partners before commencement of the project.

The project would be exposed to risks if the implementation goes ahead without the contractual agreements as accountability could not be clearly assigned.

DISCUSSIONS (Cont…Negative issues: Buy-in and commitment of

stakeholders seems to be questionable in the beginning of the project.

Other Universities may require guidance and extensive support to make sure that the essential requirements for success are in place before entering into contractual agreements.

DISCUSSIONS (Cont…Negative issues: It is not clear how the steering

committee was operating and how effective it is since no evidence has been provided.

It is evident that the process for determining the target of students for enrolment in the accounting field by the University of Fort Hare was not well defined as evident in the project documents.

DISCUSSIONS (Cont…Negative issues: A process of mentoring students is not

clearly defined on how the CA’s deployed as Accounting Lecturers in UFH would play that role effectively.

It is apparently evident that a framework required to be followed by students who would like to be Lecturers in the Nkuhlu Department of Accounting was lacking.

It was not clearly demonstrated how quarterly reporting was used to measure project progress and address any issues that were outstanding.

RECOMMENDATIONS The minimum success factors for a

project of this nature can be drawn to include: There must be evidence that the

management of the university have started to develop a strategy to offer Certificate in the Theory of Accounting.

Availability of a competent and committed project champion.

The University must establish working relationship with SAICA to be capacitated on the requirements for registering an accredited CTA qualification programme.

RECOMMENDATIONS (Cont… The project champion must understand the

requirements for registering an accredited CTA qualification.

The university must establish partnerships with other accredited universities to be capacitated on lecturing methods and utilisation of course material.

The university must understand the CTA curriculum outlined by SAICA.

RECOMMENDATIONS (Cont… UYF must conduct a readiness study

based on but not limited to the above listed minimum success factors first before any agreements can be entered into.

Shortcomings in the readiness test must be made available to the university to address them. The willingness of the university to register an accredited qualification will be assessed through the ability to take responsibility.

RECOMMENDATIONS (Cont… Once the success factors have been satisfied,

UYF can then enter into agreements with the university, ABASA, SAICA and other relevant partners.

The university must report on the number of students who register based on the following variables: study stream, course, and year of study. Further to this, it must be reported on: number of students registered, number of students who wrote examinations, number of students who cancelled, number of students who passed, number of students who failed, number of students who completed the yearly courses, and number of students who graduated.

RECOMMENDATIONS (Cont… It must be clear as to how the CA’s

recruited as lecturers will mentor students apart from lecturing in class and this must be included in their contracts.

The university must develop a plan in which it outlines how students with potential would be retained, coached to become junior accounting lecturers.

The parties must establish a steering committee that meets regularly to review the progress achieved by the project and address any challenges.

THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION!

Time for questions or issues that require clarification.