Overview
Welcome to the new website of the Centre for Higher Education Development (CHED).
CHED is a unique structure in South African higher education. It has teaching and research responsibilities, producing research in a very wide range of disciplines, and contributing over R23 million to the university in fee and subsidy income. In addition, CHED provides specialist educational expertise and functions to assist faculties to meet UCT's educational and strategic goals: such expertise takes the form of academic staff development, the design and use of ICTs in the curriculum, academic writing support, and career development and graduate recruitment services, to name but a few.
We hope that you will find the website easy to use, and that it will answer any questions you might have about our exciting and worthwhile work.
CHED
The Centre for Higher Education Development (CHED) is headed by the Dean of Higher Education Development and has an organisational status similar to that of a Faculty. CHED currently comprises the following units: ADP (including the Alternative Admissions Research Project), Careers Service department (including the Careers Office and the Professional Communication Unit), Centre for Education Technology, Centre for Information Literacy, Centre for Open Learning and the Higher and Adult Education Studies Development Unit. CHED has been established by Senate and Council to focus on all matters concerning academic development.
CHED's brief is to be a cross-faculty unit that contributes to continual improvement in the quality of higher education through widening access, promoting excellence through equity, developing the curriculum in partnership with faculties, enhancing the competence of graduates by ensuring the provision of key skills and abilities, and enabling systemic improvement through the research-led development of informed policy options.
In the 2006 quality audit of UCT, conducted by the Higher Education Quality Committee, CHED was singled out for commendation, with the HEQC noting its national leadership role.
In view of its mission, CHED's strategic planning needs to be responsive to the faculties' requirements for specialised educational functions; UCT's general strategic planning and national HE policy, output and process goals.
CHED functions as a faculty, with six departments in addition to the Dean's Office:
- the Academic Development Programme
- the Careers Service
- the Centre for Information Literacy
- the Centre for Open Learning
- the Multimedia Education Group
- the Higher & Adult Education Studies and Development Unit
In addition, the Dean's Office houses several special projects, such as the Equity Development Programme, the National Benchmark Tests Project, and the Multilingual Education Project.
Photos by Mark Wessels