Globalization of Higher Education in South Africa

Despite being the smallest of the BRICS in population and having a relatively small number of public institutions of higher education (HE), South Africa (SA) has several world class universities and is the HE leader on the African continent. This paper presents an overview of various demographic aspect of HE in SA including types of institutions, popular fields of study, faculty demographics, government expenditures on HE, and the availability of financial aid. However, the focus of the paper is on globalization factors such as distance education, the presence of foreign university branch campuses, SA as a destination for international students (especially for students from southern Africa), and the regional and global rankings of SA universities. The research presented is informed by the author’s personal experiences as a doctoral student at the University of South Africa. The paper concludes with a brief critique

Georgia\u27s Senior Citizen Tuition Waiver Program: Literature Review, Pilot Study, Evaluation Proposal, and Recommendations for Future Research

Georgia\u27s Senior Citizen Tuition Waiver Program (SCTWP) became law in 1976. This program allows senior citizens age 62 and older to attend University System of Georgia (USG) institutions tuition free. With the ultimate aim of improving the current program, the purpose of the proposed evaluation of the SCTWP is to determine the ongoing implementation of the program including the status of the promotion of the program, the assistance being provided to seniors aimed at facilitating entry into the program, and the level of satisfaction of program participants. Preliminary research indicates that information about the program may be difficult to obtain or misleading, that the program is not actively promoted, that there is a relatively low rate of participation and graduation, and that USG institutions differ in the way they administer the program. Suggestions are provided for conducting a more thorough investigation of the SCTWP\u27s current implementation and efficacy: e.g., by acquiring data through individual interviews, surveys, and/or focus group sessions with current and former program participants and admissions officers; by reviewing the SCTWP content of all USG Web sites and catalogues; and, by determining the awareness by Georgia\u27s senior citizens of the availability of the SCTWP

USG’s Well-Being Policy Regarding Tobacco Product Use: A Proposal for Changing from Opt-Out to Opt-In

The University System of Georgia (USG) has a state-wide initiative aimed at increasing the well-being of faculty and staff by deincentivizing the use of tobacco products by employees who are covered by a USG healthcare plan. This incentive is positive in that aid in stopping tobacco product usage is offered to each member; and negative in that each member who is a tobacco product user is penalized. A healthcare surcharge is added to the monthly health insurance premium paid by each faculty/staff member for themselves and covered dependents over 18 years of age who are tobacco product users. The current policy considers covered employees and their applicable dependents to be users of tobacco products unless they annually opt-out. This paper includes summaries of the incidence of cigarette and tobacco product usage in the U.S., a summary of USG’s policies related to the current tobacco initiative, a brief literature review regarding opt-in and opt-out programs, and a discussion of the possible negative impact of the current USG tobacco use policy. Support is provided for the present tobacco surcharge penalty being either eliminated or its implementation changed, and for the current opt-out default being changed to an opt-in program

Bank Loan Agreement and CEO Compensation

Contrary to other forms of outside financing, the announcement of a bank loan agreement prompts a positive and significant market return. Throughout the literature, bank loans are deemed special and unique due to multiple benefits accruing to bank borrowers. The short-term positive market reaction is however inconsistent with the long-term underperformance of borrowing firms (Billet et al., 2006). We find that unlike shareholders, CEOs gain from the bank loan relation over the long-term. Specifically, we find that bank loan agreement elicits a significant increase in total compensation through an increase in non-performance based compensation components such as salary, bonus and other compensation. We also report a smaller proportion of performance based compensation following the bank agreement. Generally, the results suggest that subsequent to a major bank loan, CEOs seem to gain enough influence to shield their compensation from the firm \u27s underperformance. In particular this evidence supports the uniqueness of bank loan relations

Tick marks: the auditors\u27 ancient yet modern tool

After reminiscing on the personalized audit tick marks the lead author had used during his many years in public practice, he checked the Brief Accounting Dictionary for a formal definition. Surprisingly, this term was not defined

Voices of Experience Series: An Interview with Dale Flesher, Ph.D., CPA

Dale Flesher is the second contributor to the Voices of Experience Series

Georgia’s Senior Citizen Tuition Waiver Program: Current Status, Web Presence, and Web Content

Senior citizens are becoming a larger and more significant part of the workforce as they desire to work longer. Companies have found these individuals bring valuable skills to the workplace; however, they frequently need to update those skills or pursue new degrees. Since 1976, Georgia has had a law granting senior citizens tuition waivers in the state’s public higher education institutions, thus allowing them the ability to take courses to update their skills. This study assessed the current status of the tuition waiver program by reviewing web sites of the 26 institutions in the University System of Georgia to determine how well the program is publicized. It also reviewed enrollment data to determine whether senior citizens are taking advantage of the benefit. The results reveal that web sites vary widely in publicizing the program, very few sites are easy to navigate, and a very small proportion of senior citizens are utilizing the tuition waiver. It is recommended that institutions improve their sites to enhance awareness and enrollment. Also, chambers of commerce, workforce development agencies, and senior citizen support agencies are encouraged to market the program more widely, thus providing benefits to the individuals, employers, and the economy

How Do Business Students in the U.S. and in Cameroon Perceive Faculty Attributes? A Comparative Study

This study investigates student perceptions of ten selected attributes embedded in faculty behavior. These attributes are classified as primary and secondary attributes. The 4 primary attributes include effective communication (ability to communicate information effectively), ability to combine knowledge and application in real world cases and examples, high level of knowledge in presented materials, and substantial business experience in the area taught. The 6 secondary attributes include active association with the business community, active participation in academic organizations, active participation in business organizations, extensive publication of business research in scientific/scholarly journals, extensive publication of business articles in practitioner/trade oriented journals, and the college or university degree from which the faculty earned their highest degree. This study also investigates potential difference in the emphasis placed on the ten attributes between the surveyed business students in both countries. Utilizing two samples (graduate and under graduate students) from business schools (at public, private, and proprietary universities) in the United States and in Cameroon, Africa, the surveyed students revealed stronger support for the primary attributes than for the secondary attributes. The results of this study also indicated that the ability to communicate effectively, the application of knowledge to real world cases, substantial business experience in the discipline area taught, and knowledge of the materials being presented are considered the most important attributes in assessing teaching effectiveness. While students in both countries have similar mean rankings of the selected ten attributes, they significantly differ in their ratings of six attributes: actively participates in academic organizations, publications in practice/trade journals, actively participates in practice related organizations, college from which the professor earned their highest degree, and association with the business community. Further investigation using exploratory factor analysis revealed that students in both countries have moderate agreement with the two component conceptualized model: the primary and secondary business faculty attributes

Small and Large Faculty-size Adjusted Accounting Program Rankings Based on Research-active Faculty: A Uniform Approach

Prior studies have ranked accounting programs based on the use of various methodologies, many of which did not control for faculty size. Even in studies that controlled for faculty size, a common issue was the inclusion of faculty and PhD students who were not research active. To resolve these sample issues, this study uses a sample of top-6 accounting journal publications over the 2006-2013 period to demonstrate an innovative, efficient, and uniform approach for calculating faculty-size adjusted accounting program rankings. This approach can be modified to include more accounting journals. Specifically, the study controls for faculty size by including only active researchers at each school: that is, authors who published during this period in one or more of the top-6 accounting journals. Consistent with prior studies, the analyses reveal that controlling for faculty size results in statistically significant changes in program rankings. Other study innovations include separate rankings for large (over 13 faculty members) and small (from 3-13 faculty members) accounting programs. Small school rankings, which have not been the focus of prior research, may provide programs with limited size an important measure of their quality that is potentially useful in recruiting faculty and students

Support for the Inclusion of Personal Value Preferences in Decision Support Systems

We consider the important issue of including personal value preferences in decision support systems (DSS). Various personal differences have been shown to affect the acceptance, use, and effectiveness of DSS. Decision-making models offer a theoretical basis for the inclusion of various personal differences (including personal value preferences) in decision-making. Research in the field of psychology has long recognized the importance of values in both motivation and choice behavior. Other research has also found personal values to be relevant in decision-making. We posit that since personal values are important in the decision-making process, they should also be important in the support of decision-making and thus in decision support systems