Abstract:

Postgraduate studies are vital for any higher education institution as far as funding and reputation are concerned. It is therefore important to ensure that the success rate of postgraduates is monitored on a continuous basis. However, a number of higher education institutions are currently unable to deliver a sufficient number of students to meet the national targets set by the Department of Education. This is especially the case at open and distance learning (ODL) institutions. The current paper focuses on the low number of postgraduate students that specialise in Information Technology (IT) – a matter of great concern as IT skills and competencies are crucial to ensure that South Africa remains internationally competitive in the economic sector.

A framework for postgraduate supervision for IT is proposed, based on data related to headcount, throughput rate, completion time and dropout rate of postgraduate students in the School of Computing at an ODL institution (South Africa). The aim of the framework is to propose how postgraduate students in ODL should be assisted by supervisors to increase postgraduate success. The main focus will be on the different supervisory roles and the responsibility of these roles in the attempt to increase postgraduate success within an ODL environment.