In order to monitor the higher education system, the Advice and Monitoring Directorate of the Council on Higher Education (CHE) collaborates with local and international higher education experts and with South African stakeholders. Information is collected from as many sources as possible. The Monitoring and Advice Directorate draws on national databases, research projects initiated to investigate particular issues, the work of researchers in higher education and on information gathered from private higher education providers.

1. National databases
   Information about the higher education system is collected from national databases including those held by the Department of Education, the National Research Foundation, the South African Qualifications Authority, and the Department of Science and Technology.



2. Research projects
   The Monitoring and Advice Directorate initiates research projects to investigate areas of particular concern in higher education.
   
   The undergraduate student engagement project began in 2008 and commences with a pilot project at eight South African institutions. The research is being led by Dr JF Strydom and the University of the Free State. It will investigate student engagement, defined as "the amount of time and effort students spend on academic activities and other activities that lead to the experiences and outcomes that constitute student success" and "the ways in which institutions allocate resources and organisation of learning opportunities and services to encourage students to participate in and benefit from such activities." The research draws on the work of Prof. George Kuh, a leading international researcher on student engagement, and makes use of the South African Survey of Student Engagement which adapts a survey instrument widely used internationally. For more information about this project, click here.
   
   LLB Curriculum Project
   
   The CHE is currently investigating the effectiveness of the South African LLB degree. Some employers and academics have expressed concern about the knowledge and skills of recent law graduates, but we don’t know if these are isolated views or if the problem is widespread. In addition, law graduates follow a range of different professional career paths that require different sets of knowledge and skills. It is not clear to what extent the current LLB degree properly prepares students for these different career paths. The CHE was approached by the South African Law Deans Association (SALDA) and asked to undertake this research in order to improve legal education.
   
   The LLB Curriculum Project will investigate what law graduates learned during their studies and the extent to which they were prepared for their different professional career paths. This study will also provide an opportunity to assess the impact of changes made to the LLB curriculum since 1998, particularly the introduction of the 4-year undergraduate LLB. The project includes a review of the LLB programmes at the 17 South African universities offering the degree; an electronic survey of law professionals, employers and university law faculty; interviews with key stakeholders; and a review of the international literature on LLB curriculum development.
   
   For further information about the project, click here. To register your interest in this project, click here.



3. Researchers in higher education
   The CHE is committed to collaborating with the community of higher education policy analysts and researchers within and outside higher education institutions. We invite analysts and researchers in the area of higher education to make the Directorate aware of the work that they are doing by sending details to the librarian. Analysts and researchers who would like to be informed of the Directorate's activities should send their contact details and their area of interest to the secretary.



4. Private higher education institutions
   In order to have an accurate picture of the provision of higher education in South Africa, the Directorate would like to collect information about private higher education institutions. As these institutions do not normally submit data to the national databases, we invite them to contact us to discuss how their data can be added to the monitoring system.