Merging Academic and Career Advising to Offer Holistic Student Support: A University Perspective

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. We 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.

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The Centre for Multilingualism and Diversities Research at the University of the Western Cape, South Africa

Multilingual Margins A journal of multilingualism from the periphery ◽

10.14426/mm.v1i1.25 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 1 (1) ◽

pp. 90

Author(s):

Christopher Stroud

Keyword(s):

South Africa ◽

South African ◽

Western Cape ◽

South African Context ◽

The South ◽

African Context ◽

A Priority ◽

The University ◽

Multiple Languages ◽

The Way

There is an urgency in theorising howdiversity is negotiated, communicated,and disputed as a matter of everydayordinariness that is compounded by theclear linkages between diversity, transformation,voice, agency, poverty andhealth. The way in which difference iscategorised, semiotised and reconfiguredin multiple languages across quotidianencounters and in public and media forumsis a central dynamic in how povertyand disadvantage are distributed and reproducedacross social and racial categorisations.In the South African context,finding ways of productively harnessingdiversity in the building of a better societymust be a priority.

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The Missional congregation in the South African context

HTS Teologiese Studies / Theological Studies ◽

10.4102/hts.v70i1.2648 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 70 (1) ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Attie Van Niekerk

Keyword(s):

South African ◽

Local Community ◽

South African Context ◽

The South ◽

Local Congregation ◽

Reformed Church ◽

University Of Pretoria ◽

African Context ◽

Global Church ◽

The University

The term missional has come into use over the last years in the Dutch Reformed Church in South Africa and the Department of Science of Religion and Missiology of the Faculty of Theology at the University of Pretoria. This term refers to the role of the local congregation in the local community or communities and is used with, or in the place of, the term missionary, which traditionally referred to the sending out of a missionary to some or other place. The use of the term missional includes specific views on the goal of mission, what mission is and how it should be done. In this article it is argued that this approach can be seen as a new wave of mission within the South African context, and that it is related to developments in many parts of the global church.

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Preliminary development of the Higher Education Hindrance Demands Scale amongst academics in the South African context

SA Journal of Industrial Psychology ◽

10.4102/sajip.v45i0.1595 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 45 ◽

Author(s):

Nelesh Dhanpat ◽

Roslyn De Braine ◽

Madelyn Geldenhuys

Keyword(s):

Higher Education ◽

South Africa ◽

South African ◽

Online Teaching ◽

Academic Staff ◽

South African Context ◽

The South ◽

Cross Sectional Survey ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

African Context

Orientation: Over the past two decades, since the advent of democracy in South Africa, the country has undergone transformation in virtually all sectors of society. Education is no exception, with higher education institutions (HEIs) also experiencing change. The transformation of HEIs has brought about many new challenges, demands and stresses that may hinder the work performance of academics.Research purpose: This study seeks to determine the ‘hindrance demands’ unique to the South African context by developing and validating the Higher Education Hindrance Demands Scale (HEHDS). This scale includes a set of demands placed on academics’ experiences in this context.Research approach, design and method: Data were collected from 184 academic staff members from HEIs based on a quantitative research design using a cross-sectional survey. Data were analysed through exploratory factor analysis (EFA), while the reliability of the scale was obtained through Cronbach’s coefficient alpha.Main findings: The results produced, as anticipated, a six-factor model consisting of: (1) workload, (2) higher education unrest, (3) change management, (4) decolonisation, (5) online teaching and learning and (6) psychological safety. The findings indicated excellent reliability, ranging between 0.74 and 0.90.Practical and managerial implications: Taking into consideration the context in which HEIs operate in South Africa, it is noteworthy that the recommendations in this article will assist in identifying the hindrance demands placed on academic staff. Researchers in the field are therefore called to validate the instrument developed through the use of confirmatory factor analysis.Contributions or value-add: This study adds to the limited research on hindrance demands placed on staff in HEIs.

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Pro Pent: A project for the study of the Pentateuch in South Africa

HTS Teologiese Studies / Theological Studies ◽

10.4102/hts.v68i1.1277 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 68 (1) ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Jurie Le Roux

Keyword(s):

South African ◽

International Study ◽

Study Group ◽

South African Context ◽

The South ◽

Joint Project ◽

International Study Group ◽

University Of Pretoria ◽

African Context ◽

The University

This article focused on Pro Pent (or the Project for the Study of the Pentateuch) which was established in August 2000 after professor Eckart Otto from the Ludwig Maximilian University (LMU) of Munich visited the University of Pretoria (UP). Pro Pent is a joint project of UP and the LMU and since 2001 annual seminars drive the initiative. These seminars are held in Pretoria and sometimes in Munich. Pro Pent is now an established international study group on the Pentateuch. In order to understand Pro Pent in the South African context, the article briefly discussed the work of previous South African Pentateuch scholars like John William Colenso, Johannes du Plessis and Ferdinand Deist. Their contributions were firstly assessed before Pro Pent’s contribution to the study of the Pentateuch was discussed and its relevancy for the South African context assessed, and highlight Pro Pent’s intention to be relevant.

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Kan die NG Kerk vandag nog iets vir Suid Afrika beteken?

Verbum et Ecclesia ◽

10.4102/ve.v29i1.3 ◽

2008 ◽

Vol 29 (1) ◽

pp. 32-44

Author(s):

A Boesak

Keyword(s):

South African ◽

Dutch Reformed ◽

South African Context ◽

The South ◽

Reformed Church ◽

Political Tension ◽

African Context ◽

The University ◽

The Church ◽

Dutch Reformed Church

This article is the edited version of the presentation held at the University of Pretoria’s “Theological Day” on January 31, 2008. It seeks to answer the question: “Can the Dutch Reformed Church still make a difference in South Africa today?” This article places this question within the wider world and African contexts, then focuses on the South African situation. It describes the South African context as one of spiritual uncertainties and confusion, political tension, economic inequalities and social unravelling, which each in the their own way and together put particular challenges before the church. This paper answers the question the affirmative, provided that the Dutch Reformed Church meets its own direct challenges, the most important of which is the challenge toward reunification within the Dutch Reformed family of churches.

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