Page 53 - CAO 25th Ann Coffee Table Book

1993-1997
THE CONCEPTION, GESTATION AND BIRTH OF THE CAO
The possibility of a regional admissions office for entrance into higher education (initially into the universities and possibly the Technikons) by 1995 for the region of KwaZulu-Natal was approved by the Board of the Regional Institutional Cooperation Project (RICP) at a meeting held on 25 November 1993. A working group was established to pursue this matter. It was noted at the time that there had been previous initiatives on the establishment of a regional admissions service. A distinction was made that it would serve an application and not selection function. The overriding principle was to achieve “Maximum equity and efficacy in the redressing of historical inequalities in access to post-secondary education in the region”.
According to Mr Jonathan Gunthorp of the University of Natal and RICP secretary and, at the time, an enthusiastic supporter of a regional admissions office, they were close to putting together a proposal to establish such an entity.
Two workshops on the establishment of a central applications office, chaired by Mr Gunthorp, were held early in 1994. It is noteworthy that at both workshops, our present chairman, Mr S. (Mike) Naidoo was present. Participating institutions were: University of Natal (Durban); University of Natal (Pmb); Mangosuthu University of Technology (MUT); M L Sultan Technikon; Natal Technikon; University of Durban-Westville; University of South Africa (UNISA); and University of Zululand (UNIZULU).
These workshops clarified how the proposed CAO would function and the benefits and perceived drawbacks. At these workshops, a working group under the chairmanship of Mr C. Thompson of Natal Technikon was set up to investigate the feasibility of such an office and to prepare a report for the RICP
Board. The hope was expressed that should such a concept prove workable, it could be up and running in 1995 for applications to the 1996 academic year.
At the RICP Board Meeting held at the end of October 1994, it was decided to go ahead with the establishment of the CAO and the process of recruiting an interim Director on a 18-month contract was started.
During 1995, proposals for a computer system for the CAO were received. An observation at the time was that the National Education Department may be favouring the establishment of a National Applications Clearing House, but permission was nonetheless granted to the RICP by the Department of National Education to undertake the CAO project on a number of conditions, including that the KZN project would serve as a pilot for a national applications service.
At the Board Meeting of 1 September 1995, the appointment of Professor John F. Butler-Adam as Executive Director of RICP was announced. At the same time, the Board reaffirmed its decision to establish the CAO and Deloitte &Touche was engaged to conduct
a feasibility study. At the same time, the Board also approved that the name of the RICP be changed to ‘KwaZulu-Natal Association of Tertiary Institutions’.
At the end of October, the Deloitte & Touche Preliminary Draft Report on the financial feasibility of establishing a centralised applications office was tabled. The Board agreed to approve (in principle) the concept of the centralised applications office, subject to the submission of the final report by Deloitte & Touche, which was due in February 1996. After heated discussion, it was also agreed to drop KwaZulu-Natal from the ATI’s name and replace it with Association of Tertiary Institutions of the Eastern Seaboard, which then became known as the Eastern Seaboard Association of Tertiary Institutions (esATI).
At the meeting of 15 March 1996, the esATI Board accepted the recommendations of the Deloitte & Touche Report and established a small executive group, under the chairmanship of the Executive Director, to ensure that the concerns expressed by the working group and esATI Board were taken into account. The executive group
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