Higher education transformation in South Africa has necessitated an ambitious programme of action among the many competing priorities and interests. Quality and quality assurance mechanisms are firmly placed on the agenda for immediate attention by institutions of higher learning. This thesis attempts to respond to the research question as to whether the transformed institutional governance structures make an impact on the quality assurance mechanisms in HEIs. In order to provide a conceptual response to the questions, the study analysed various theories and findings of renowned 'quality gurus' on their understanding of quality.
Another dimension explored by way of responding to the research question theoretically, is the transformation of governance structures in HEIs, and how the legislative framework placed governance and quality on their agendas. International case studies on how the transformation of systems had impacted on the quality in higher education are discussed. This is done through a review and interrogation of literature in a bid to formulate a plausible hypothesis for this study, affirming that the transformation of governance structures do have an impact on the quality assurance mechanisms of HEIs the world over.
A unique feature, which is a finding of this thesis, is that the impact on QA needs to be historicised. Efforts towards transformation have located HEIs into two distinct categories of Historically Advantaged and Historically Disadvantaged Institutions. This classification further developed into the so-called 'emerging-stable', 'uncertain-unstable', 'entrepreneurial-expanding' and 'traditional-elite' HEIs that are unique to South African higher education. In a nutshell, the major finding is that HEIs in the 'entrepreneurial-expanding' and the 'traditional-elite' categories are affected differently in relation to the 'uncertain-unstable' and 'emerging-stable' categories.
To arrive at these findings the study triangulated both the quantitative and qualitative research methodologies with the aim of a broader understanding and in-depth analysis of the data.
On the strength of the findings, the study proceeds to formulate possible areas for further investigation as well as recommendations for quality enhancement in institutional governance structures. The study is a resource for all public HEIs, and especially those that have perennial governance problems that inadvertently derail the broader national quality goals.
