Advancing student affairs to transform higher education in South Africa
What is relevant, effective and impactful Student Affairs, Student Support and Development for holistic student success, and how does it look like across South Africa’s varied university landscape?
These are some of the questions that were explored at the Student Affairs and Student Success (SASS) Colloquium held at the Southern Sun at OR Tambo International on 6 December 2024. The colloquium, which gathered practitioners in the Student Affairs, Student Development and Support Services sectors from across the South African university landscape, was a culmination of a 10-module course started on 14 August 2024, seeking to professionalise student support services.
The Class of 2024, of 47 participants, were a second cohort in a programme launched in 2023.
The SASS programme is being offered under the auspices of the Higher Education Leadership and Management (HELM) programme of Universities South Africa (USAF) – thanks to financial support from the University Capacity Development Directorate of the Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET). SASS was accredited as a Short Learning Programmes (SLPs) under the Deputy Vice-Chancellor: Academic at the University of the Free State (UFS), and the programme is being hosted within the UFS’s Business School.
Professor Birgit Schreiber (left), the SASS Programme Leader and Facilitator who delivered the welcome address, said the provision of higher education isn’t just about students’ academic success and qualifications. “Education is a process of transformation, it’s not just students leaving three years older than when they arrived at university. We want them to be three years different,” she said.
“When they go back to where they come from in three years, we want people to say: ‘You’ve grown, you understand dynamics and that things are complex and that we don’t work in binaries but bring things together and try to work our way through difficulties. We want our students to be really understanding, mature people to come through our degrees.”
This holistic growth beyond academic qualifications, she said, requires higher education institutions to provide professional support services that will see to students’ psychological, emotional, socio-economic development and physical wellbeing.
Professor Schreiber noted that the sector— nationally, regionally and globally – is characterised by poly-crises, global social justice and geo-political issues, among others. She said it is important to acknowledge and be aware of this context because creating a conducive environment for students is about addressing challenges in the contexts they’re in. “Higher education is full of challenges… helping students is not just about them, but it’s about changing the context in which they live and learn, changing the context for everyone,” she said.
The growth of South Africa’s Student Affairs sector
These evolving dynamics, and the recognition that practitioners within South Africa’s Student Affairs sector needed to be further and cautiously capacitated to address and service student needs, led to the establishment of SASS as a national capacitation programme for university staff who are in student affairs, development, support and services across the sector.
“What informs our professional development is, first, competency development. You need to have competencies around diversity, assessments, document keeping, research, facilitation, programme design, budgeting… whatever it is. You need to have competencies. You also contribute to develop the profession; establishing who we are as a collective is part of professional development,” Professor Schreiber said.
She said the Student Affairs sector is beyond the instrumental stage where staff simply do something in the service of the students. “We’re at the point where we’re taking leadership of our vision. We envision what we want for our sector, our institutions and our students and we’re bold about that.”
Mr Chief Mabizela (left), Director: Operations and Sector Support at Universities South Africa (USAf), also spoke at the colloquium opening. He said the fact that the student support services sector is being intentional about professionalisation in 2024 is to be applauded. “This is long overdue” he said.
“We had an era of massification of higher education in the late 1980s into the 1990s, which was meant to dismantle the notion of universities as ivory towers — only accessible to the elite few. This massification didn’t just happen in South Africa, it was a global phenomenon. In doing that, we missed out on what it is that we needed to do; our focus was on academic development and support. We did very little to change the cultures of universities and dare I say, we’re still doing very little. #FeesMustFall was a cry that our universities had not changed.”
“Universities exist because of students… it’s unimaginable that in the 21st century, we’re still talking about professionalising student affairs and that we haven’t yet focused on this long ago. How were students support services left out when all other divisions were catered for within universities?”
Mabizela said in terms of policy, student support services in higher education are covered. “We don’t need to go back and say ‘let’s establish a policy that is going to give us the muscle to professionalise student services’. That is covered. The policy in place has also sought to institutionalise the practice of student support. I don’t think we can ask for more than that. We need to explore how we take this forward and implement it, and that’s what we’re talking about today.”
Using data to anticipate student needs and tailor support
Ms Mandisa Cakwe (right), Director: University Capacity Development within the national Department of Higher Education and Training, was also in attendance. She spoke about the national government’s role in student support, something done through the University Capacity Development Programme that she heads.
She said in order for the higher education sector to service and support students effectively, the sector must be aware of the students’ needs before they enrol in university. Cakwe said universities receive a lot of data on each student when they apply, and that gives institutions insights into, among other things, the students’ academic subjects, their performance in these subjects and support that they might need, in their chosen field.
“It is your responsibility, as a student support services practitioner, to ensure that you advise the student based on the data you have. Don’t wait until the student is in second or third year. Advise them immediately when they join the university and provide them with the necessary support.”
Cakwe also emphasised the importance of consciously monitoring and measuring the successes of student support services. “What’s important for us as the department is to make sure that the sector evaluates the impact of the support measures that it is providing to students.”
She said in addition to having student data, universities also conduct research and publish reports and academic journals on student support and needs. However, that data, evidence and the recommendations, remain in the journals and don’t get implemented.
Cakwe also highlighted the national government’s main priorities which are to: drive inclusive growth and job creation, reduce poverty and the high cost of living and to build a capable, ethical developmental state. She pointed out that these priorities are all interlinked with the functions of a university.
“So, please keep in mind that as the government, we rely on you to make sure that we achieve those priorities,” she said.
From left: Advocate Shirly Hyland, Director: Short Learning Programmes under the Deputy Vice-Chancellor: Academic at the University of the Free State (UFS). Hyland, who led the SASS accreditation process, also coordinates and facilitates the programme certification; Ms Mandisa Cakwe, Director: University Capacity Development in the DHET; Mr Chief Mabizela, Director: Operations and Sector Support at USAf; Professor Birgit Schreiber, SASS Programme Lead and Facilitator; Professor Denise Zinn, SASS Programme Facilitator; and Dr Tebogo Tsebe, Senior Manager: Student Success and Collaborative Forum within HELM.
In closing the opening session of the colloquium, Professor Schreiber latched on the notion of government’s priorities being aligned with those of higher education. “In some countries, government and universities don’t see eye-to-eye. It’s good to see a government official speaking in the same tone as ours in the sector.”
Nontobeko Mtshali is a contract writer for Universities South Africa.
