Planning the imaginary: assessing the marketing of lifelong learning and its impact on institutional change. Paper presented at the 15th International Conference on Assessing Quality in Higher Education 14-16 July 2003, University of the Western Cape

Abstract

In August 1999 UWC launched its first marketing campaign “It is Never too Late to learn” which mainly targeted Adult Mature learners with an interest for part-time studies. In those days many people perceived Lifelong Learning as being equivalent to part-time studies and part-time studies as being equivalent to after hours studies. From the ensuing campaigns since 1999 a lifelong learner emerged who was part-time as well as full-time, was a mature learner of an average age of 27 years for women and 23 years for men, who wanted good services and high quality programmes during all working hours of the university. The marketing campaigns solicited many queries from prospective and current students, queries that hint at the need for institutional change. The paper assesses areas of enquiry and contestation embedded in 262 email queries and shows how they point towards the need for institutional change.