Welcome to the Centre for Higher Education Professional Development (CHEPD). The establishment of this center is a response to national policies urging higher education institutions to enhance the quality of university teaching. Notably, the Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET) and the Council for Higher Education (CHE) have outlined a framework, "Enhancing Academics as University Teachers," aiming to elevate the standard of university teaching.

At the core of this framework is the objective to foster the professional development and recognition of academics as university teachers, ensuring more consistent and equitable access to professional development opportunities. There are indications that future developments in higher education may necessitate discipline experts to be formally equipped with relevant pedagogies, potentially leading to a qualification for university teachers as a prerequisite for appointment and/or promotion.

In response to these dynamics, CHEPD offers academics across post-school formal education institutions the opportunity to acquire formal and structured professional qualifications for teaching at the tertiary level. These qualifications incorporate the latest insights from cutting-edge scholarship in the field of higher education studies.

In collaboration with the North-West University’s (NWU) Centre for Teaching and Learning (CTL), CHEPD provides leadership, expertise, support, and resources for formal and structured academic programs and professional development opportunities. This collaborative effort aligns with the NWU Teaching-Learning Strategy, where the professional development of academic staff holds a central focus.

The goals of CHEPD are as follows:

• Oversee and manage the development and offering of formal and structured academic professional development qualifications and programs to professionalize post-school educators as tertiary education teachers.
• Promote knowledge production and sharing.
• Establish and enhance networks of higher education expertise at faculty, institutional, national, and international levels.
• Utilize expertise in higher education across faculties and the CTL to enhance post-school educators as tertiary education teachers.
• Develop a range of credit-bearing short learning programs (SLPs) that may articulate to a PGDip in Higher Education (HE).
• Develop related higher education programs integrated into the Center's overall program planning.

Once again, we extend a warm welcome to all future participants. We are prepared to provide you with high-level, quality academic input, professional and respectful treatment, always upholding dignity and an ethic of care.