About DIRAP

DIRAP’s primary focus is to support evidence-based decision-making at the UFS. Through rigorous research and reflective practice we endeavour to produce a valid, reliable and relevant body of institutional self-knowledge which informs both the human and academic projects of the UFS.

To this end the Directorate operates within the following functional areas:

• Data systems management
• Enrolment planning
• Institutional research
• Monitoring and reporting
• Quality enhancement
• The UFS Programmes and Qualifications Mix (PQM)

The Directorate’s activities are shared between its three functional units, namely Institutional Information Systems (IIS), Academic Planning and Systems (APS), and Monitoring and Institutional Research (MIR). These units collaborate to support the 2015 to 2020 Strategic Plan of the UFS, with a specific focus on the following objectives and strategies:

• Increasing student success by improving the quality and effectiveness of teaching and learning at undergraduate and postgraduate level;
• implementing strategic management of enrolments to achieve academic sustainability and to maximise our government subsidy in terms of teaching input and output, thereby reducing the UFS’s dependence on tuition fees, and
• improving student equity by narrowing the gap in success rates between black and white students.