HIGHER EDUCATION AND TRAINING (HET) STUDENT

HIGHER EDUCATION AND TRAINING(HET) STUDENT HANDBOOK2020

ContentsMessage from the CEO . 1Our Vision and Mission . 2Core Values . 4iQA Past, Present and Future . 5Structure of the Student Handbook . 6PART ONE: INSTITUTIONAL INFORMATION . 71.Contact Details. 82.Registration and Accreditation . 8Legal Name and Company Registration Number of iQ Academy . 83.Partnership Agreements . 84.Institutional Governance, Management and Staff . 9Committees of the Academic Board . 9The Management Team . 9Full-Time Academic Staff . 10External Examiners/Moderators . 105.Communicating with iQ Academy . 106.Mode of instruction . 137.Language Policy . 13PART TWO: STUDENT INFORMATION . 141.Definition of Terms . 152.Registration Information. 182.1 Registration . 182.2 Compliance with programme requirements . 182.3 Concurrent registration except by permission of the Academic Board . 182.4 Limitation of registration . 182.5 Registration/concurrent registration with another institution . 182.6 Compulsory registration of last outstanding module . 192.7 Module re-registration . 192.8 Module re-registration fee . 193.Programme Rules . 193.1 Offering of modules . 193.2 Academic Board Exemption . 193.3 Minimum credits for Higher Certificate qualifications. . 193.4 Minimum credits for Diploma qualification. . 193.5 Minimum time spent towards a Higher Certificate qualification. . 203.6 Minimum time spent towards a Diploma qualification. . 203.7 Credits of module/s. . 203.8 Special prerequisites and ancillaries for particular modules . 203.9 Change of programme and interruption of study . 203.10 Academic progression and exclusion . 20Page i

3.11 Appeal against academic exclusion from the institution . 213.12 Extension of studies . 223.13 Amendment of rules and rule breaches. 223.14 Module participation requirements . 224.Academic Support . 234.1 Student Retention. 234.2 Technology Mediated Learning . 244.3 What can students do on iCan? . 244.4 The iQA Library . 254.5 Electronic Resources . 254.6 Technical Support . 254.7 Study Tips . 254.8 Student Policies . 254.9 Student Code of Conduct . 264.10 Student Complaints / Grievances . 264.11 Student Health & Wellness . 264.12 Policy on Disability . 275.Information Relations to Assessments . 275.1 Assessment Participation . 275.2 Plagiarismm . 275.3 Formative Assessments . 275.4 Submission of Formative Assessments . 28Higher Certificates . 28Diploma . 285.5 How to submit a Formative Assessment. 28Higher Certificates . 28Diploma . 285.6 Failing to Submit A Formative Assessment . 285.7 Late Submission of Formative Assessments . 285.8 Release of Formative Assessment Results – Higher Certificates . 285.9 Release of Formative Assessment Results – Diploma . 285.10 Class Mark . 285.11 Leave of Absence from formative assessment . 295.12 Examination Requirements . 295.13 Leave of Absence from the final examination. 295.14 Assessment Dates & Venues . 305.15 Rules applicable during examinations . 305.16 Release of final marks . 315.17 Final mark, pass mark, examination mark and distinction . 315.18 Awarding of qualifications cum laude . 315.19 Supplementary Assessment . 31Page ii

5.20 Re-assessment . 325.21 Special Examinations . 335.22 Re-marking of examination scripts . 335.23 Condonation of rule breaches . 335.24 Appeals Process. 345.25 Examination Timetable – Higher Certificates Only . 355.26 Examination Timetable - Diploma . 356.Information Relating to Fees . 366.1 Rules regarding fees . 366.2 Outstanding Fees. 366.3 Cancellations. 366.4 De-registration and acceptance of any deals . 376.5 De-Registration Process. 376.6 De-registration Mandate: . 386.7 Deals with DMC . 386.8 Withdrawal from individual courses or modules . 386.9 Remissions . 386.10 Liability of Students . 386.11 Schedule of fees . 386.2 Address details . 396.3 Method of payment . 407Key Dates for 2020 . 406Conclusion . 417Annexure A: Terms and Conditions . 42Page iii

MESSAGE FROM THE CEOWe believe that education holds the power topositively impact our nation and change the worldwe live in, for today and for future generations tocome. Simply put, it is one of the central factors forour nation’s success. Access to quality education atall levels will see us eradicate inequality and reducepoverty in South Africa. The longer-term goal weshould be driving towards is improving thesustainable economic capacity of our citizens to helpus grow and develop a great nation.Moreover, education is a key driver of social changewithin our communities. It empowers people to takepersonal ownership of the change they want to seein themselves and in their communities. Itcapacitates people with the ability to move from aplace of dependence to the destination of freedomand independence. The power to change is withineach of us, and it is our responsibility to realise thispower through lifelong learning and personalgrowth.iQ Academy (iQA) is a specialised distance PrivateHigher Education Institution that servesour communities throughout South Africa,empowering them to Ukwazi Ukuzimela! We aredriven by our passion and our understanding ofwhat our vision means in people’s lives. Webelieve that cultural agility is critical to thesuccess of a modern South African citizen; whereempathy and understanding of differences driveprosperity. We value the diversity of our peopleand our students’ needs and backgrounds, and weappreciate how the quest for independence is afundamental human truth in everyone’s lives.The independence we aim for is a freedom fromthat which is holding you back; the freedom ofhaving choices, the freedom to give back to theworld.South Africa remains challenged on manyfronts; however, the positive reality is that SouthAfrica is a country filled with people andorganisations that want to make a difference andunlock her potential to benefit all people. We atiQA align ourselves with those that believe and arewilling to sacrifice to drive the change we dream of.We have gone from strength to strength andeach year we add a new ring of experience to ourtree. On our journey as a young Institution ofHigher Learning, we have delivered academicperformance which reflects our growing staturewithin the Higher Education arena. We arecontinuously strengthening our curricula todeliver our core student value proposition ofbetterment, access and relevance.In 2020 we will take in our inaugural class forour NQF 6 Diploma in Business Management, whichis afully accredited Higher Education qualification of 360credits. We are immensely proud of ourachievement. To be accredited to offer thisqualification reiterates the confidence in ourInstitution. We are also launching three new, fullyonline short courses, namely Good Governance,Resilience and Sustainable Development in Africa,Human Resource Administration and Tourism.Unlike most online offerings presented by many inthe education sector, these new courses are not justpdf documents on a portal claiming to be onlinelearning. They offer the experience of online learningin the truest sense. If these new online careerenhancing curricula or our new Diploma fits into yourdevelopment plan, we invite you to connect and findout more.Our continuous pursuit of growing academicexcellence and relevance is reaching new frontierseach year and our people continue to inspire us togrow and develop. In 2019 we have added a numberof new Doctorates and Masters to our academicfaculty, and as a relatively young and upcomingInstitution of Higher Learning our academic researchoutput has grown considerably in the last 18months. More than 25% of our own people arestudying towards a formal qualification orprofessional development short course.We have a passion for technology and recognise thepotential it holds for doing great things we neverdreamed possible. Our investment strategy focuseson future technologies aimed at driving the superioracademic success of our students and providing ourpeople with the capacity to deliver on our vision. Wewill be launching the upgraded version of ourlearning platform, iCan in January 2020. Our newplatform will enhance the student experiencethrough a mobile friendly, cloud-based design thatwill be faster and more intelligent.In 2019 we launched our student lifestyle and wellbeing programme called DO Life. The programme isa range of micro-courses which are freely availableto our students. It is aimed at providing an onlineand interactive way to navigate life just a little bitbetter. Our students’ responses have exceeded ourwildest expectations since its launch. We have had2200 module completions in seven short months,and we continue to grow week by week. We haveachieved over 90% student satisfaction rate overthe 11 modules launched thus far. A message to ourcurrent and potential students: we are listening towhat is being suggested by you and we will belaunching at least 12 new modules in 2020.As we embark on expanding our impact on the SouthAfrican society and economy, we will be developingcorporate partnership programmes. Our goal is todisrupt the aged model of how corporates drivestrategic skills development and how they grow andnurture the human capital capacity within theirorganisations.We hope that our communities end 2019 off ona positive note and we wish students, parents,employees and collaboration partners asuccessful and impactful 2020.Ernst KriekPage 1

OUR VISION AND MISSIONVisionWe believe in our country and its people, and we believe that education is a cornerstoneto strengthen each one, to take their place to build a great nation.Our vision for our people is Ukwazi Ukuzimela. Stand strong, together.Ukwazi Ukuzimela impacts three significant areas of life: Free from being dependent Ability to have choices Capacity to give backMissionOur mission is to deliver education that is relevant and accessible so that UkwaziUkuzimela.Education to better lives. Ukwazi Ukuzimela.Page 2

CORE VALUESBettermentUnderstanding the reality that our students face on a daily basis, drives us to create aneducation experience that truly makes a difference in our people’s lives. We understandthat true empowerment is not something that comes from the outside, but rather it is aquality that is nurtured and enabled within the individual. For this reason, we createcourses that are designed to expand our people’s world by giving them access to purposefuleducation. This education provides tools to make the journey from a place of dependenceand being confined by circumstance to ultimately having increased agency. For each of ourstudents, we seek to offer an education that will increase their ability to choose who theycan be, where they can go and what they can achieve for themselves and theircommunities.AccessIn the current economic climate in South Africa, there are often many barriers to getting agood education. At iQA, we work hard to innovate solutions to remove these barriers. Weserve our students by ensuring that quality education is affordable and adaptable toaccommodate each student’s circumstances and needs. For both the Short Courses andthe Higher Certificate Courses, iQA offers payment plans, where students can manage theireducational investment in a consistent and transparent way. Our goal is to make thejourney of studying as seamless as possible, creating systems and processes that allowour students to learn in their own time and at their own pace. We continue to invest inin

within the Higher Education arena. We are continuously strengthening our curricula to deliver our core student value proposition of betterment, access and relevance. In 2020 we will take in our inaugural class for our NQF 6 Diploma in Business Management, which is a . fully accredited