Carin is extremely well-versed in the South African NQF and the post-school education system, including the regulatory and compliance context. She is passionate about granting people the opportunity to develop themselves, through education and training interventions, and knows how to best utilise the mechanisms available in the system to add to the bottom line of the company as well as the meaningful development of people.
Currently working as an independent consultant (since February 2018), her primary focus is on assisting education and training providers with navigating the NQF landscape, developing education strategies, and with compliance and quality assurance in the post-school education system. She is also involved in building capacity in these providers (governance as well as teaching.) She is also involved in quality reviews, advice and senior-level writing services. Some of her clients in the past year include SAQA, the QCTO, the Services SETA, Monash (South Africa), Cornerstone Performance Solutions (private provider in banking), Commerce Edge (private provider in Supply Chain Management), Inscape (private provider teaching design), Guest Resource Services (private provider in wholesale and retail), Plus94 (market research company). She has also been involved in student support through Grad Coach (an international student support company).
Carin worked at The Da Vinci Institute in various roles between 7 July 2014 and 31 January 2018 (3.5 years). She served as the Client Engagement Manager, Registrar, and finally as the Dean: Teaching and Learning. In this period, she built up expertise in the field of teaching and learning including the development of lecturing staff, research, as well as quality assurance in a higher education environment. She also had to oversee the design and development of new learning programmes, and chaired the Design Subcommittee of the Academic Board of The Institute.
Prior to her work at Da Vinci, she was employed by CIPS Africa as the Head of Professional Development and Education from 1 June 2011 for a period of three years. In this role, she established a good working knowledge of the regulatory environment of the countries in her remit (Sub-Saharan Africa). She was instrumental in the recognition of CIPS as the Professional Body for procurement and supply, and also initiated the establishment of the Independent Professional Body Forum of South Africa. She initiated learnerships in the Supply Chain Management fraternity, which are still running today.
Before she joined CIPS, Carin held the position of Deputy Director in the Executive Office of SAQA for 7 years (from 2003 to 2010), where she reported directly to the Deputy CEO and the CEO. In this role, Carin accumulated substantive knowledge of the South African education and training sector as well as an extensive network in the NQF fraternity, which still stands her in good stead. The knowledge and skills that she developed in this role also include good corporate governance, strategic planning, and performance reporting.
Carin holds a PhD from the Da Vinci Institute. Her thesis is titled ‘Non-Traditional Postgraduate Student Success: The Development of an Institutional Framework’, while her Masters dissertation dealt with ‘The Role of Professional Bodies in the South African Education and Training System’.
Her key strengths include an astute insight into strategic matters, managing large teams, networking and building relationships. She is gifted in obtaining cooperation from people not directly reporting to her, through positive engagement. She is also keenly interested in teaching and learning and in assessment practice.
Of late, Carin has been actively involved in research, including a recent major evaluation study of the CIE-Thabiso’s skills centres (first half of 2019). She has also been involved in supervising Masters students, and has been producing papers on a number of learning-relevant matters, including a learning pathway for the banking sector.
Carin chairs the Academic Advisory Board of Commerce Edge, a private provider of education and training in the Supply Chain Management field, as well as the Academic Board of Cornerstone Performance Solutions, a private provider of education and training in the Banking sector. She also serves on the Academic Board of Guest Resource Services (an award-winning private provider in the Wholesale and Retail sector). In addition, Carin also serves as a member of the Hoërskool Oos-Moot School Governing Body, where her twin daughters are attending.