Page 26 - DUT Annual Report 2020

DURBAN UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY ANNUAL REPORT 2020
PERFORMANCE ASSESSMENT REPORT
Key Performance Indicators
Target Year 2019
Audited 2019
Target Year 2020
Achieved 2020
Perfor- mance
Reasons for Deviation
ACCESS
First-time entering undergraduates
8 314
8 032
8 536
8 204
Deviation range is 4%. The enrolment plan was based on the expectation that many of the undergraduate programmes would have been accredited by the Council on Higher Education (CHE) and professional board where applicable. Seventeen programmes were affected and could thus not be offered.
Headcount enrolments
30 070
35 442
30 219
34 035
Deviation range is 12%. Following the phasing- out process of non-aligned programmes in December 2019, DUT enrolled as many students as possible in the programmes that did not have equivalent replacement programmes, especially in the BTech programme. However, 2021 is the last year of offering the BTech programme. This is exacerbated by the unexpectedly high number of returning students in other programmes.
Headcount enrolments (Foundation Provisioning)
1 718
1 777
12 891
1 458
Deviation range is 13%. The University made a strategic decision in line with DHET requirements when the enrolment plan was approved, to increase the enrolment of Foundation Programmes beyond the approved targets. As such, this indicator is shown as satisfactory progress.
Headcount enrolments total undergraduate (UG)
28 645
33 652
28 295
32 203
Deviation range is 14%. Following the phasing- out process of non-aligned programmes in December 2019, DUT enrolled as many students as possible in the programmes that did not have equivalent replacement programmes, especially in the BTech programme. The last year of seeing though pipeline students in the BTech programme is 2021.
Headcount enrolments total postgraduate (PG)
1 425
1 790
1 924
1 832
Deviation range is 5%. Although there is also a high demand for M and D qualifications at DUT, postgraduate enrolment was affected by lack of supervision capacity in some departments.
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This Report considers the University’s performance against the targets set for the year in question. A positive achievement – meeting the target or exceeding it positively – is reflected as an upward arrow; an achievement that is within 2% of the target is reflected as a horizontal arrow; while a deviation of greater than 2% is reflected as a downward arrow. The University’s challenge of managing enrolments is reflected in the numerous instances of over-enrolment below. As indicated in the reasons for deviation, this is something the University is taking seriously; a strategic Enrolment Planning and Management Committee has
been established to help guide DUT towards achieving the correct balance in its enrolments. Where there is a deviation exceeding 2%, this is reflected as a poor achievement, as we have not met our commitment made with the Minister of Higher Education and Training.
In brief, the details below show that the University performs well in relation to its student success and research output measures. Areas for improvement relate to enrolment (as indicated above) and staff/ student ratios. The latter is part of a longer-term plan to improve these ratios.