Journal for Students Affairs in Africa最新文献

{"title":"Exploring the Role of the Student Affairs Office in Enhancing the Cultural and Social Experiences of International Students in China","authors":"Robert Lucas Kaniki, Hilda Lukas Kaniki","doi":"10.24085/jsaa.v9i2.2200","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.24085/jsaa.v9i2.2200","url":null,"abstract":"Many universities are hosting and enrolling international students as an important aspect of their internationalisation mission of higher education. However, many international students experienced significant problems adjusting into a host culture and social milieu. Informing this qualitative study were 45 international students in a top-tier comprehensive research university in Southeast China. The study focuses on the experience of international students towards the role played by international Fu Da Yuans (Counsellors) in enhancing the students’ cultural and social experiences at the university. The results indicate that the four most significant adjustment issues for international students are the language challenges, social interaction with Chinese students, cultural orientation programmes, and counselling services for international students. Building on the U-Curve adjustment theory (Oberg, 1960), the study revealed the importance of international Fu Da Yuans to provide cultural and social support to international students for easy adjustment into a new culture and social setting. The study bears practical implications to providing international Fu Da Yuans with important insights that can help to create an environment conducive to enhancing the cultural and social experiences of international students.","PeriodicalId":336239,"journal":{"name":"Journal for Students Affairs in Africa","volume":"74 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-12-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"131856120","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Experiences of Students with Visual Impairments at an Open Distance and e-Learning University in South Africa: Counselling Perspective","authors":"E. Pitsoane, T. Matjila","doi":"10.24085/jsaa.v9i2.2197","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.24085/jsaa.v9i2.2197","url":null,"abstract":"The purpose of the qualitative study on which this article is based was to explore the experiences of students with visual impairments registered at an Open Distance and e-Learning University in South Africa, through a phenomenological research design. Literature was reviewed on student support in distance education and concepts from the critical disability theory, biopsychosocial model of disability, connectivism and affect theories formed the conceptual framework for the study. Telephonic semi-structured interviews were used as a technique to collect data from seven participants. Data were transcribed and then coded employing ATLAS.ti. The emerged themes centred on students’ counselling experiences, the synergy between the departments, and accessibility of services. It was also determined that students lose academic time due to the lack of resources and study materials in alternative and accessible formats. While policies and implementation plans were claimed to be in place, they do not address the reality on the ground due to a lack of coordination of disability issues, and late referral of students to counselling services. The study recommends the prioritisation of disability issues, and it needs to be incorporated in the wider university’s strategic plan to accelerate its implementation. This will translate to (i) training ICT staff on various computer software programs needed to support students with visual impairments, (ii) developing alternative formative and summative assessments, (iii) developing a graduateness and job readiness intervention programme to empower the students financially and add value to the university’s employment equity agenda, and lastly (iv) putting the disability unit at the centre of all disability matters for coordinating purposes.","PeriodicalId":336239,"journal":{"name":"Journal for Students Affairs in Africa","volume":"19 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-12-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"122747388","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Conceptualisation and Early Implementation of an Academic Advising System at the University of Cape Town","authors":"Ermien van Pletzen, Riashna Sithaldeen, Danielle L. Fontaine-Rainen, Megan Bam, Carmelita Lee Shong, Deepti Charitar, Simphiwe Dlulani, Juanitill Sebothoma, Dimakatso Sebothoma","doi":"10.24085/jsaa.v9i2.3688","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.24085/jsaa.v9i2.3688","url":null,"abstract":"Academic advising is a High-Impact Practice that supports better outcomes for all students, particularly those encountering structural barriers to success. This paper presents a case study of processes followed in a three-year project (2018–20) at the University of Cape Town (UCT) to conceptualise, design, and start implementing an academic advising system. Three goals were formulated:\u0000\u0000to develop conceptual capacity and a theory of academic advising;\u0000to develop an academic advising model responsive to institutional context and student need; and\u0000to develop structures, relationships, tools, and resources to implement a coherent system.\u0000An informed grounded theory approach was used to analyse baseline data of existing support and advising at the institution. Data was collected through document and desktop research, interviews with stakeholders,\u0000and student focus groups. A monitoring and evaluation framework was developed to track and reflect on progress against the goals. Iterative cycles of data collection, analysis, and reflection took place as implementation started. A key finding was that UCT’s advising structures incline towards a decentralised faculty-based model, complemented by centralised support services that encompass advising functions. Low levels of integration were found, as well as inefficient duplication of services. To address these challenges, the conceptual and operational capacity of the academic advising team needed to be advanced. This was done by assembling a multidisciplinary team, undergoing professional training, and by running a journal club. A promising theoretical approach that emerged was a capability approach to academic advising. A shared model of academic advising was found to be best suited to the institutional context and a three-tiered model operationalised by faculty, professional, and peer advisers, as well as by automated advising tools, was designed. Implementation started through pilot projects. During Covid-19, innovative concept and centralised systems development that connected students to institutional resources, enabling them to practise agency and supporting their ability to achieve despite unprecedented structural barriers, demonstrated the viability of the capability approach adopted for steering further development of the system.","PeriodicalId":336239,"journal":{"name":"Journal for Students Affairs in Africa","volume":"2375 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-12-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"130432100","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Pathways of Electoral Clientelism in University Student Elections in Ghana: An Exploratory Study","authors":"K. A. Busia, Alice Amegah, Francis Arthur-Holmes","doi":"10.24085/jsaa.v9i2.2204","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.24085/jsaa.v9i2.2204","url":null,"abstract":"Recent studies on student politics and governance have shown that electoral clientelism (EC) in university student elections is often facilitated by clientelist relations between student leaders and political parties. However, there is a dearth of empirical research investigating the various forms of electoral clientelism, as manifested through vote-buying practices in campus electoral politics in African universities. This article, therefore, investigates the multifaceted and changing dynamics of vote-buying in student electoral processes in Ghanaian universities. The study adopted a qualitative approach based on semi-structured interviews with 15 student leaders, 4 university staff working with student leadership, and 4 focus group interviews involving students at the University of Ghana and Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology. From our finding, we argue that electoral clientelism takes place in five crucial ways in university student elections in Ghana. These include the provision of direct cash payments, exchanging electoral support for student government positions and appointments, provision of food and beverage consumables, award of student-related business contracts, and provision of educational materials and souvenirs.","PeriodicalId":336239,"journal":{"name":"Journal for Students Affairs in Africa","volume":"1 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-12-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"130526600","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Advisors’ Perceptions of the Value of Advising Students During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Case Study at a South African University","authors":"R. Moosa","doi":"10.24085/jsaa.v9i2.3699","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.24085/jsaa.v9i2.3699","url":null,"abstract":"Traditional advising responsibilities are shifting to include a holistic, learning-based and developmental approach that favours advising of the entire university experience. A dearth of systematic empirical evidence exists on advisors’ perceptions of the value of advising students during the COVID-19 pandemic in the South African context. The purpose of this study is to elucidate advisors’ perceptions of the complexity and challenges inherent in their responsibilities during the pandemic. This case study draws on a qualitative research design; it is based on semi-structured in-depth interviews undertaken with nine advisors in 2020. The central research questions posed in this study are: how do advisors describe their perceptions of their responsibilities within the COVID-19 pandemic, and how might these contribute to future practices? The findings indicate that advising during the pandemic has transcended the typical transactional dissemination of information to include addressing contextual environmental and resource challenges, social justice imperatives, emergency remote learning, asynchronous advising challenges and data-informed advising. These responsibilities have encompassed a holistic approach to advising and to getting to know students as ‘whole people’. Adjustments and transitions to emergency remote learning have highlighted social inequalities in access to data, to internet and electricity connectivity, which have served as impediments to students’ learning, and to educational experiences. Some home environments were not conducive to studying but necessitated doing household chores and herding cattle. The findings also indicate that an institution’s advising delivery model should enhance advisors’ abilities to perform their responsibilities. A network of cascaded responsibilities that incorporates greater involvement of lecturers in advising could contribute to a shared responsibility between lecturers and central, faculty and peer advisors. Insights gained may lead to a more nuanced understanding of advisors’ responsibilities as they relate to student learning and to the overall educational experience to promote retention and student success in a post-pandemic era.","PeriodicalId":336239,"journal":{"name":"Journal for Students Affairs in Africa","volume":"10 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-12-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"129709558","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Proactive Student Psychosocial Support Intervention Through Life Coaching: A Case Study of a First-Year Chemical Engineering Extended Curriculum Programme","authors":"D. Mogashana, M. Basitere","doi":"10.24085/jsaa.v9i2.3752","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.24085/jsaa.v9i2.3752","url":null,"abstract":"Higher Education Institutions in South Africa continue to experience considerable dropout rates of students during the first year, especially those from previously marginalised population groups. The aim of this research was to evaluate how the use of life coaching interventions providing first year students with psychosocial support, influenced their first-year experience. Both quantitative and qualitative data was collected through a questionnaire at the end of the academic year, approximately four months after the intervention, to evaluate students’ experiences of the intervention. Results indicate that students felt that the intervention helped them avoid dropping out of university prematurely, respond better to failure during the year, and improve their self-awareness and academic performance. In conclusion, the results suggest that the use of life coaching intervention as a proactive means of harnessing student agency, may be beneficial to their academic performance, and in improving their lives in general. The study recommends that further research be conducted to explore the use of small group life coaching for providing students with psychosocial support, and also explore this intervention’s cost-effectiveness in different contexts.","PeriodicalId":336239,"journal":{"name":"Journal for Students Affairs in Africa","volume":"28 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-12-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"132117637","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Developing Successful Transition Support for Students in Africa: The Role of Academic Advising","authors":"Birgit Schreiber, T. Luescher, Teboho Moja","doi":"10.24085/jsaa.v9i2.3751","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.24085/jsaa.v9i2.3751","url":null,"abstract":"The demand for professional student support and transition programmes is increasing unabatedly while higher education in Africa proceeds on its trajectory of rapid expansion and massification even in the context of the changing circumstances presented by the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. At the same time as participation in higher education widens, there is also increased pressure for efficiency, relevance, and success, to ensure that students are equipped with relevant knowledge, skills, and competencies, develop personally and socio-culturally, and succeed academically, by making successful transitions into and through higher education and into the world of work and livelihoods. An evidence-based development of high-impact interventions using multiple methods, including student engagement surveys and action research approaches, is a proven strategy (Strydom et al., 2016). The development of context-relevant, high impact cocurricular programmes, support services and interventions by means of a reflective scholarship of Student Affairs and Services (SAS), institutional research and reflective practice, is also an imperative in the professionalisation of SAS in Africa. Transition support for students with various identities and the intersectionality of their identities with other factors such as coming from disadvantaged backgrounds, being first-","PeriodicalId":336239,"journal":{"name":"Journal for Students Affairs in Africa","volume":"18 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-12-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"125125257","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"The Academic Advising Issue","authors":"Gugu Wendy Tiroyabonei, François Strydomii, F. Strydom","doi":"10.24085/jsaa.v9i2","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.24085/jsaa.v9i2","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":336239,"journal":{"name":"Journal for Students Affairs in Africa","volume":"1 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-12-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"129097603","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Student Support and Transition Through a Buddy Programme to Foster Social Integration","authors":"A. Naidoo, H. Byles, S. Kwenaite","doi":"10.24085/jsaa.v9i2.3698","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.24085/jsaa.v9i2.3698","url":null,"abstract":"The University of Pretoria (UP) began offering formal academic student support in 2011 when the first faculty student advisor (FSA) was appointed. Although many more FSAs were subsequently appointed, assistance to all the students in need of support remained insufficient. However, financial assistance through the collaboration grant received from the Department of Higher Education and Training in 2018 made it possible to explore new areas of support. The UP was able to pilot four innovations due to the availability of additional funds. These included generic workshops across faculties; the creation of a hub in the library, which served as a common contact point for students requiring assistance; the appointment of peer advisors; and a Buddy Programme for first-year students. This article explains the Buddy Programme as perceived by the senior students who mentored the first-year students. The mentors are known as “big buddies”. Our work on this programme is based on Tinto’s (1975) ideas about social integration. The Buddy Programme was introduced to assist first-year students in their transition from school to university life. This paper highlights the challenges that first-year students faced and it explains how the concepts could become institutionalised once university activities have been normalised in the post-pandemic future.","PeriodicalId":336239,"journal":{"name":"Journal for Students Affairs in Africa","volume":"8 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-12-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"125256724","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Merging Academic and Career Advising to Offer Holistic Student Support: A University Perspective","authors":"M. Schoeman, S. Loots, L. Bezuidenhoud","doi":"10.24085/jsaa.v9i2.3700","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.24085/jsaa.v9i2.3700","url":null,"abstract":"Higher education in South Africa has focused extensively on widening access to further inclusivity and to economic development. However, as students need to persist and succeed in their studies, access alone is not enough. Furthermore, the responsibility of higher education to help students succeed does not end with graduation; institutions need to produce graduates who are ready to enter the labour market. Therefore, it is important to integrate career information and concepts into these practices when conceptualising holistic academic advising. Since academic advising is still developing as a professional practice in the South African context, no clear, practical framework has been used uniformly at universities. Career advice is also not necessarily integrated into academic advising in a conscious manner. This may result in students who are struggling to integrate all the academic and career information provided to make informed decisions regarding their studies and career paths. This paper argues that the 3-I Process is an appropriate framework for the integration of career and academic advising in the South African context. In this case study, we draw from the experiences of nine advisors from the central advising office, faculties, and the career office at the University of the Free State to understand the extent to which they have been incorporating the elements of the 3-I Process into their existing academic advising practices and how they view the possibilities of following a more integrated approach.\u0000\u0000We also map how the framework can be adapted to the broader South African context to inform and develop more holistic and professionalised advising practices, as well as to contribute towards students’ success beyond university.","PeriodicalId":336239,"journal":{"name":"Journal for Students Affairs in Africa","volume":"72 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-12-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"121594543","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}