Focus Group report

Findings and recommendations

Below is the content of the email sent to Ms. Erasmus as a result of the Focus Group activity held on the 6th February 2018

 

Dear Ms Erasmus

 

Thank you very much for allowing us to present you a proposal for the reformulation of the criteria for special leave for the MARC students.

We were tasked with obtaining information about the current problem of special leave in the context of the Master of Arts in Research Consultation (MARC) programme. The MARC programme consists of a classroom-based learning programme that addresses the needs of the HPSCA for the training of registered research psychologists and stipulates certain requirements in terms of activities completed and hours presented in the classroom.

In the context of this study, ‘management’ refers to Programme Coordinators directly responsible for the MARC programme and ‘students’ refers to the registered participants of the MARC course in 2018.

The management of the MARC programme have not been able to enforce a consistent policy applied to special leave, causing problems –  in some cases, in attaining HPSCA requirements and in other cases causing discontent because of the inconsistent application of the policy.

In order to formulate an equitable policy that addresses both the needs of management and the needs of the students, a focus group consisting of students currently registered in the MARC course was undertaken.

We felt it was justifiable to undertake a focus group among cohorts who know each other well, discussion was encouraged, and issues and opinions came to light that would not have been discovered through other means such as a questionnaire or individual interviews.

The focus group

The focus group took place on the 6th February 2018 in room  7-154 at 1:30 to 2:30 pm in the Theo Van Wyk building on the main campus of UNISA in Pretoria. The facilitator was Christine Bothma assisted by Thandi Ndaba. All participants signed a consent form – a copy of which is attached in Appendix A. Several issues were discussed on the subject of special leave and what follows is a summary of what transpired to be a very positive and useful discussion.

  1. Special leave was defined as leave for circumstances outside of ones’ control and linked to one’s study or career (for example supervisor meetings, conferences, external workshops or job interviews)
  2. The need was expressed for management to clarify to the students, the rules of the HPSCA and of the university, and what is expected of students in terms of attendance of classes so that an understanding can be gained why special leave is granted or not granted
  3. It was emphasised on several occasions that communication between management and the students was inadequate. Students were not familiar with all the requirements of the course, and this linked up to point 2 above.
  4. It was felt that management should create a schedule and adhere to it so that students can make arrangements to undertake the activities which fall under the ambit of special leave (eg arranging appointments with supervisors) outside of this schedule. If a schedule is set and adhered to, special leave may become redundant in many cases. Special leave will then truly become special leave according to the definition in point 1.
  5. The students felt that some time should be given to them to work on their proposals which form a large part of their studies. It was suggested that perhaps one or half a day per week (consistently the same day and time) be made available to use for proposal work. This time could also be used to schedule additional activities that would otherwise fall under the auspices of special leave.
  6. Special leave should be granted on a case-by-case basis.
  7. A recurring topic was the fact that students felt they should be treated as adults with the concurrent responsibilities that go with this. It was felt that management should give the students the respect to recognise that they are adults. It was also acknowledged that misuse of special leave is to one’s own detriment, but as adults, the abuser would then face the consequences.
  8. It was agreed that the class as a whole would support any of their fellow students who required special leave by assisting them to catch-up with their work.
  9. It was suggested that it be up to the class to vote on whether special leave be granted as it was pointed out that it would be up to the fellow classmates to assist with missed work.

Please note that due to confidentiality requirements, a transcript of the discussions in this focus group cannot be supplied.

RECOMMENDATIONS

Management should consider the following when formulating new criteria for special leave:

  1. Possible changes to the course structure may obviate the need for special leave in some cases. Ensuring that a firm schedule is in place with consistent- and adhered to- start and end times results in students that can be sure that if they make appointments or attend events after hours, they can fulfil these obligations
  2. Giving student some time within the weekly class structure to work on their required proposals would also reduce the need for special leave as this time can also be used to attend to other commitments that may have required special leave.
  3. This class is small enough that it can be controlled and can help each other. Perhaps one criteria for special leave should be that back-up from classmates be required In other words, the class vote on whether special leave should be granted as they will be the ones to help the person with special leave catch-up on work missed. It would be a class effort
  4. Special leave should be granted on a case-by-case basis and not on the basis of “refusing one – refusing all”.
  5. It was felt that management should give the students the respect to recognise that they are adults and are aware of their responsibilities.

We trust that this information is of value to management and look forward to working together with you on future projects.

 

Kind regards

The research team