Australian University Teaching Award for Monash South Africa Foundation Programme

22 October 2009

Monash South Africa Foundation Programme

A prestigious Australian Award for University Teaching has been given to the Monash South Africa Foundation Programme (MSAFP) in the category: ‘Programmes that Enhance Learning :The First-Year Experience’,  by the Australian Learning and Teaching Council.

These awards recognise teaching excellence and outstanding contributions to student learning at the highest level. The programmes receiving these awards must have demonstrated their effectiveness through rigorous evaluation and will set benchmarks for similar activities in other Australian institutions.

Because many potential South African and international students lack the academic skills required for direct entry into a degree programme, the Monash South Africa Foundation Programme was conceived and implemented in 2002 to provide alternative access to Monash for students who show ability and potential, but who do not meet the requirements for direct entry into undergraduate university study.

According to MSAFP Manager, Debbie Lees, the outcomes of the programme have been outstanding: “Our pass rates are between 80-90 percent and statistical evidence shows that MSAFP students, once in a degree programme, progress at rates no different to those entering through direct entry.” 

“At the Monash South Africa graduation ceremony this year, 38 percent of graduates had begun their studies in the Foundation Programme.  These students are clearly being well equipped for successful higher education,” says Lees.

 “The MSAFP is part of a ‘1 + 3 year’ model at Monash South Africa, which prepares students for the pace and depth of undergraduate study, as well as the social transition into higher education and is evidence that an alternative pathway can successfully provide opportunities to succeed in higher education,” says Lees.

The MSAFP received a commendation in the Australian Universities Quality Agency (AUQA) audit which took place on the Monash South Africa campus in 2007 and the South African Higher Education Quality Council (HEQC) commended the programme’s highly successful tutor-mentor scheme after its 2007 campus audit.

Lees adds that: “Strategies to increase student engagement include a generic focus in the curriculum and degree credit-bearing units. Volunteering schemes which provide opportunities for students to acquire values such as equity and service also enjoy high participation rates.”

The Programme, Teaching, Prime Minister’s and Career Achievement Awards will be presented at a national event in Canberra, Australia on 24 November 2009 .