Liaison with external regulatory bodies
The South African regulatory environment for higher education requires Universities to fulfil the following conditions before enrolling students in any programme i.e.; approval of the programme by the Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET) to form part of the institution’s Programme and Qualification Mix (PQM), accreditation of all higher education learning programmes by the Higher Education Quality Committee (HEQC) of the Council on Higher Education (CHE), and registration of qualifications with the South African Qualification Authority (SAQA) on the National Qualifications Framework (NQF).
The QAPO serves as the institutional liaison with external bodies in relation to registration and accreditation of new academic programmes and qualifications.
QAPO also plays a coordinating role of institutional audit process in collaboration with the CHE and internal stakeholders (staff and students).