Thesis (MTech (Marketing))--Peninsula Technikon, 2002. / The challenges presented by the restructuring of higher education through The National Plan for Higher Education and the implementation of the National Qualifications Framework will create new possibilities for tertiary institutions. Tertiary institutions will have to be creative and innovative over the next five years to meet these challenges. The National Qualifications Framework will endeavour to provide learners with mobility and easier access to education and training. Competition will be intense and tertiary institutions will have to market themselves effectively. This is exacerbated by the fact that an increased number of private education service providers have entered the market. The successful implementation of the National Plan will require tertiary institutions to develop marketing communication strategies in order for them to attract the desired profile of students. In a restrictive financial environment, tertiary institutions will have to assess and reassess their marketing communication strategies aimed at attracting first-year students. A proper assessment will enable them to allocate funds more efficiently and effectively. In an attempt to address the above concern, this research focused on determining the effectiveness of marketing communication tools employed by Universities and Technikons in the Cape Peninsula with specific reference to career exhibitions and open days in attracting first-year students. The sub-problems that were identified were: • Appropriateness of marketing communication tools attracting desired first-year students and • The impact of marketing communication strategies on the student's decision to study at a chosen tertiary institution. An intensive literature study was conducted followed by an empirical study carried out in two phases.

D.Comm. / South African universities (SAUs) will be facing two main challenges in the next decade, namely: continuous change and decreasing predictability of the future. The urgency for change in SAUs flows mainly from conditions of turmoil and pressure, which in turn, emanate from public issues as they emerge within the macro-environment of SAUs. Decreasing predictability stems to a great extent from a lack of foreknowledge of how such emerging macro-environmental public issues will develop, and how they can influence SAUs through the public policy process. Management of SAUs therefore need to rely on crucial intelligence and foreknowledge concerning events, trends and developments of public issues that affect the future strategic viability of their institutions. They also need to rely on an agenda for understanding change as well as a means of marshalling participation in the public policy process, in order to manage public issues impacting on their institutions in a pro-active manner. At the onset four management concepts and processes were emphasised in this study, namely the concept of issues management within a macro-environmental context, issues management from an offensive environmental management perspective, strategy from an issues management perspective, and the concept of strategic change management within an issues management context. A proposed public issues management structure indicating the flow of information and actions within and outside the organisation, and how they could combine in public issues management programmes was also proposed. A macro-environmental perspective of universities in general and SAUs in particular was furthermore presented. It included the nature and function of universities, the history and management of SAUs and public issues impacting on SAUs. The practical aspect of this study was firstly based on an analysis of the different mission statements and mission goals of SAUs. The analysis was done to determine the management mode of management in SAUs; that is, whether management in SAUs operates in a pro-active management mode with regard to public issues in the public policy process. Secondly, models developed by Human & Horwitz (1992) as well as Ashley & Morrison (1995) and Theron (1994) were used to empirically determine the manner in which SAUs cope with change and to analyze the quality of the management of public issues in SAUs respectively. Descriptive data indicated that management in SAUs exhibit a proactive management mode with regard to public issues and a reasonable ability to cope with macro-environmental change. The management of emerging public issues and consequently pro-active change is, however, approached with bland commitment, a lack of strategic orientation and inadequate facilities and skills. It was concluded that, in view of the need in SAUs for a structured means of managing emerging public issues and consequently pro-active change, and in view of issues management constituting such a process, there is relevance for the implementation of issues management programmes in SAUs. In this regard a number of general recommendations were made with respect to managing the dynamic aspects of change, the implementation of strategies, and the implementation of an issues management strategy in SAUs. A framework was furthermore suggested for the implementation of an issues management strategy in SAUs in the belief that this framework, and the overall research reported in this thesis could be of theoretical as well as empirical value for managers in SAUs

D.Ed. / This thesis provides an analysis of the essentials of effective and efficient management of the curriculum for Further Education and Training (FET) colleges in South Africa through the examination of the effective management of FET. The aim of the research is to explore the perceptions of FET councils, principals and educators on the management of FET colleges. It is believed that these perceptions have far-reaching implications on the aspirations of the stakeholders with regard to the implementation and success of the curriculum for FET colleges. The literature revealed that the legislation, namely, the FET Act 98 of 1998, the Employment Equity Act 55 of 1998, the SAQA Act 58 of 1995 and the Skills Development Act 97 of 1998 form an indispensable part of the FET sector and also that the new legislation provides all the stakeholders (councils, principals and educators of FET colleges) with a stance, frame of reference and guidelines to manage the curriculum for FET colleges in South Africa effectively and efficiently. The study also revealed that a success in FET sector will be achieved by closing the gap between "education and training" and also "theory and practice". Removal of the fragmentations in education through a co-coordinated, flexible and high-quality FET system will result in employability and employment opportunities for FET learners of the future. It emerged that the above objective may best be achieved by strengthening cooperation between the Department of Education and Department of Labour, in which case a new system of learnerships was identified as a mechanism to enhance collaboration between the aforementioned departments. In order to gain a comprehensive understanding of the perceptions of the aforementioned FET stakeholders on the dynamics of management of the curriculum for FET colleges, the research design is qualitative, exploratory, descriptive and contextual (Mouton & Marais, 1991:43-44, 51). The literature study; individual and focus group interviews, observations and field notes; and site analysis were employed as research methods. From the analysis of the data, four major themes, namely, transformation of FET sector, redress of the past injustices of the FET sector, ensuring equity in all respects regarding FET matters and ensuring equality in all aspects within the FET sector. Categories and sub-categories were also obtained from the analysis of data and they were used as strategies to achieve the objectives of the themes in question. The important findings were discussed at length and thereafter, conclusions, shortcomings, recommendations and guidelines

M. Tech. Public Management / Granting admission to students using various entrance requirements in Further Education and Training (FET) colleges presents a huge challenge. The criteria have proved to be inadequate to meet this challenge. According to the Department of Higher Education and Training, the aim is to develop economies of scale and create capacity within colleges, to reach more students and offer a wide range of programmes, thereby positioning them to meet social and economic demands. However, the challenge still exists. The demand to produce skilled youth is escalating rapidly, hence some students opt to further their studies at FET colleges even if they have completed grade 12 and when, on completion, they will receive the same National Qualification Framework (NQF) level 4 certificates. The study is aimed at investigating the effects of using various admission requirements at FET Colleges, as well as to recommend measures which could be taken to overcome the challenges.

Thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirements of the Degree of Master of Technology: Marketing, Durban University of Technology, 2012. / Due to the competitive environment, the changes in the higher education landscape and limited financial resources, higher education institutions are forced to evaluate and review their marketing strategies in order to recruit suitably qualified students. This study will examine the impact of the current promotional tools at public higher education institutions in the Tshwane metropolitan region. The main objective of this study was to evaluate the promotional tools used by public higher education institutions in the Tshwane Metropolitan Region from a student perspective. Furthermore, the study strived to establish whether the demographics of the students played a role regarding the value they attach to choice factors when selecting a higher education institution. Prospective students will benefit from the study because promotional tools were identified to make informed decisions about their institution of choice. The study also identified the effect of the existing promotional tools used as sources of information by students and identified the most appropriate promotional tools to enable proper allocation of the promotional budget. An empirical study was conducted using a questionnaire adapted from Wiese (2008) study. Likert scale was used to structure questions. Non-probability sampling was used to select first year students from two public institutions in the Tshwane Metropolitan Region. Data was captured into a software package and analysed using SPSS Version 18. Descriptive statistics summarised the results of the research questions, namely; socio demographical profile of respondents, factors influencing students’ decision making process, the information sources used by students and the effectiveness of promotional tools. The results of this study showed that students preferred higher education institutions to use personal communication tools for student recruitment. Interestingly, students rated social media as one of the most important communication methods. Furthermore, emphasis on the core product and specific aspects of the tangible product and augmented product was found. It was also noted that students from diverse backgrounds and provinces used different sources of information during their search for enrolment at a higher education institution. The study limitations were that the survey was only restricted at two higher education institutions in the Tshwane metropolitan region. It was noted that marketing practitioners at higher education institutions may renew their existing promotional tools (open days and career exhibitions) to gain competitive advantage.

Thesis (MTech. degree: Organisational Leadership) / Determines the relative importance of various factors that influence students in their choice of a private higher institution. In addition to an extensive literature study of the higher education landscape and its peculiarities, as well as student choice behaviour, a quantitative survey was conducted on 600 full-time students at three different private higher institutions.

D.Ed. / Die herstrukturering van Tegniese Kolleges tot Verdere Onderwys- en Opleidinginstellings in Gauteng, en in Suid-Afrika as 'n geheel, moet gesien word teen die agtergrond van transformasionele veranderings wat in die hele land plaasvind. Sedert 1994 het die hele land 'n transformasieproses ondergaan nadat 'n nuwe demokratiese regering oorgeneem het en verander het van 'n apartheidstelsel tot 'n verenigde demokratiese samelewing. Onderwys is ook nie onaangeraak gelaat deur die transformasieproses nie. Die hele onderwysstelsel, wat hoer onderwys, algemene onderwys en verdere onderwys insluit, is hierdeur geraak. Die fokus van hierdie navorsing is the Verdere Onderwys- en Opleidingsektor wat Tegniese Kolleges insluit. Met ander woorde, Tegniese Kolleges is net deel van die wyer Verdere Onderwys- en Opleidingsektor. Ander voorsieners van Verdere Onderwys- en Opleiding (VOO) sluit hoerskole wat Grade 10 to 12 aanbied, private voorsieners en indiensopleiers in. Seksie 29 (1) (b) van die Grondwet van die Republiek van Suid-Afrika (SA, 1996) maak voorsiening daarvoor dat almal die reg tot verdere onderwys het wat die staat, waar redelik moontlik, meer en meer sal voorsien en toeganklik sal maak. In 1998 is die VOO Wet No. 98 (SA, 1998) aanvaar wat as die wetlike basis vir die transformasie van die VOO-sektor dien. Hierdie Wet bemagtig onder andere Lede van die Uitvoerende Rade in elk van die nege provinsies van Suid-Afrika om hulle VOO landskappe te herstruktureer. As deel van hierdie proses kon hulle Tegniese Kolleges tot Verdere Onderwys- en Opleidingsinstellings verklaar, laat saamsmelt of sommiges self sluit. Die 33 Tegniese Kolleges in Gauteng is verklaar tot Verdere Onderwys- en Opleidingsinstellings en later het 32 van hierdie kolleges saamgesmelt tot 8 groter kolleges. Om suksesvol te wees het die hele herstruktureringsproses behoorlike bestuur vereis. Die proses is op verskeie vlakke bestuur, naamlik op nasionale, provinsiale en instellingsvlak. Hierdie navorsing ondersoek die bestuur van hierdie herstruktureringsproses.

Limited research has been conducted on financial performance indicators in South Africa. In European countries, Australia and the United States of America, literature has shown that there has been extensive research and implementation of performance indicators, to measure the achievements of objectives. A literature study was conducted for this research on the usage of PI’s, with a view to pinpointing the financial indicators. The literature study was used to develop a questionnaire. The questionnaire was distributed to universities and Technikons in South Africa, to obtain a measure of relevance and agreement on the performance indicators. The findings of the questionnaire culminated in a model that only consists of those indicators with a high level of concurrence among respondents. Performance indicators can serve as a management tool to measure performance and as a means to enhance transparency and accountability.

Please read the abstract in the section 00front of this document / Thesis (DCom (Human Resources Management))--University of Pretoria, 2006. / Human Resource Management / unrestricted

Submitted in fulfillment for the Degree of Doctor of Technology: Public Management, Durban University of Technology, 2010. / In South Africa, the transformation of public higher education has placed much emphasis on the accountability and performance of individual institutions. Various indicators are used to assess institutional performance, as is the case internationally. Examples of such indicators include teaching and learning, research outputs, graduate employability, financial sustainability and productivity and the use of resources. This case study which is predominantly qualitative, examined: i) Performance by a selected South African University of Technology, the Durban University of Technology (DUT), in specific performance indicators as determined by policy on student enrolment planning. Student enrolment planning is an important strategy adopted by government to address a number of distortions in the higher education system which had been developed over a number of years within the ideology of apartheid. ii) The measures taken by the institution to give effect to the policy. The case study utilised multiple methods of data collection within three units of analysis. The three units of analysis of the case are: Unit of analysis One: The practices used at the DUT for marketing, student recruitment, student selection and admission to achieve the input indicators of the student enrolment plan. Unit of analysis Two: implementation strategies for meeting the output (success) indicators of the plan. Unit of analysis Three: The problem of low student retention. The original contribution made by this research study is that it provides detailed insight into the implementation of policy of student enrolment planning, using the Durban University of Technology as an example. In so doing, the researcher has identified critical areas that impact on student enrolment planning in South Africa, as well as specific weaknesses in the implementation of the policy at the DUT. A part of the study’s findings is that the DUT is well–placed to meet the performance indicators of the enrolment plan. However, the addressing of weaknesses in the areas of student selection, marketing and recruitment could improve the DUT’s ability to exert more influence over its enrolments. The study determined that the problem of low student retention is a factor that threatens the DUT’s throughput and graduation rates. Broad and specific recommendations are made for implementation, including the adoption of the organisational framework of enrolment management supported by institutional research.