TOMA DE PROTESTA DE LOS

Thank you very much for agreeing to participate in this study concerning access and the recognition of prior learning at the Master‟s degree level at Rhodes University. Through this study I am aiming to:

 explore the formal and informal access routes available to enter Master‟s level study at Rhodes, in South Africa, and internationally, as well as the motivation for offering alternative access;

 consider Rhodes University‟s policy and implementation thereof in this area

 find out how students admitted via the AEG (ad eundem gradum) route at Rhodes fare compared to those admitted „conventionally‟;

 identify the generic attributes (skills, knowledge, values, attitudes etc) which RU academic staff assume or expect graduates to possess in order to undertake Master‟s level study;

 consider whether and how the process for evaluating eligibility for alternative access to Master‟s level study at Rhodes could be enhanced.

The majority of postgraduate students, both in South Africa and internationally, enter higher degree studies directly from undergraduate qualifications which enable straightforward vertical access to the next level of qualification. However, alternative or non-formal entry to postgraduate studies has historically been a feature of many countries‟ higher education systems although this practice does not have a universal framework or terminology and is generally not widely advertised or researched. Alternative access to any level of credit-bearing education is usually obtained by the recognition of prior learning (RPL), a concept which is used in South Africa both for the purpose of awarding formal credit for prior learning, and also for the purpose of granting access to a particular field or level of study (Thomen 2000; SAQA, 2004). Key research into RPL policies and practices at South African higher education institutions indicates however, that much of the focus has been on RPL at the undergraduate level and very little attention has been given to non-formal access to postgraduate study (Breier and Burness, 2003). In addition, institutional and national RPL policies concentrate largely on using RPL to award academic credit rather than as a means of providing access to formal programmes of study.

This research will focus only on the use of RPL for the purpose of access to a particular field and level of study, in this case, specifically the Master‟s degree level. Rhodes University uses the term ad eundem gradum (AEG) to describe admissions to Master‟s level study where the student does not meet the minimum formal admissions

170 criteria. The normal requirement for admission to a Master‟s degree at Rhodes is “a four-year qualification of an acceptably high standard, i.e. usually a three-year Bachelor‟s degree, plus a good Honours degree in a relevant subject, or a satisfactory pass in a four-year degree such as BPharm, BFineArt etc.” (RU Higher Degrees Guide, 2010: 7)

Where a candidate has extensive experience and/or is judged to have considerable potential as a researcher, but lacks the formal qualifications normally required for registration for a Master’s degree, admission to a research programme as an ad

eundem gradum candidate may be possible. (RU Higher Degrees Guide, 2010: 5)

Some of the issues I would like to explore during our interview are:

1. Your understanding of and personal attitude to the concept of alternative admissions to Master‟s level study, including the circumstances under which you think alternative access should be considered.

2. The awareness within your Faculty and amongst potential students of the existence of an alternative access route.

3. The process followed in your Faculty for applying for alternative access. 4. Your personal experience of students admitted via alternative routes

compared to those students who have an honours or 4 year degree (i.e. conventional admission) in terms of preparedness, motivation,

commitment, likelihood of succeeding etc.

5. Are AEG students treated any differently to students who enter via the conventional route? (eg additional support given or additional requirements needing to be met such as research methods courses)? 6. Your opinion on the fact that the HEQC recommends that a maximum of

10% of any programme‟s cohort should be admitted on the basis of RPL (HEQC, 2004)

7. Your response to the national education policy statement that

RPL/alternative access is intended to be an effective and viable method of „redressing past unjust educational practices that prevented people from furthering their learning”? (SAQA, 2005).

8. Your comments on the claim in Rhodes University‟s mission statement that it aims to “ensure that appropriate corrective measures are employed to redress past imbalances” and its RPL policy where the University commits itself to “the careful and responsible use of RPL to improve access to higher education in accordance with quality assurance objectives. 9. Looking more broadly at the concept of „graduateness‟, your thoughts on

171

about to enter Master‟s level study (regardless of their formal or informal background).

Once all the interviews are concluded, I propose to contact you again electronically and ask you to consider (and possibly rank) various

criteria/attributes which are identified in the literature and which may also arise from these interviews, and which could potentially be used to evaluate

172

APPENDIX 7

ACCESS TO MASTER’S DEGREE STUDIES AT RHODES UNIVERSITY:

INTERVIEW SHEET (EXECUTIVES)

Name: Position:

Years employed at RU: Date of interview:

1. What is your understanding of, and personal attitude to, the concept of alternative access to Master‟s level study?

2. Under what circumstances, if any, do you think alternative access should be considered?

3. What is the process for alternative access at Rhodes?

[SLS follow up Q: Do you believe such students should be treated any differently, ie

because they are AEG students]

4. How is information on alternative access to Master‟s level study provided to potential students by Rhodes?

5. What level of awareness do you believe there is amongst staff and potential students of the existence of an alternative access route?

6. Do you have any personal experience, of students admitted via alternative routes, and if so, how do they compare to those who have an honours or 4 year degree (i.e. conventional admission) in terms of preparedness, motivation, commitment, likelihood of succeeding etc.

[SLS follow-up Q: Do you think any AEG students should ever be admitted based only

on a paper application (ie not personally known in some way to the potential supervisor)?

7. The HEQC recommends that a maximum of 10% of any programme‟s cohort should be admitted on the basis of RPL (HEQC, 2004). What is your opinion on that?

8. What is your response to the national education policy statement that RPL/alternative access is intended to be an effective and viable method of „redressing past unjust educational practices that prevented people from furthering their learning”? (SAQA, 2005).

173

9. In its mission statement, Rhodes University aims to “ensure that

appropriate corrective measures are employed to redress past imbalances” and in its RPL policy the University commits itself to “the careful and responsible use of RPL to improve access to higher education in accordance with quality assurance objectives.‟? Do you have any comments to make on this?

10. Looking more broadly at the concept of „graduateness‟, what are your thoughts on the attributes which could be expected or assumed of someone who is about to enter Master‟s level study (regardless of their formal or informal background)?

174

APPENDIX 8

RU SCHOOL OF JOURNALISM AND MEDIA STUDIES