Academic advising is a proven high-impact practice, shown to have the potential to help increase students' prospects of academic success, increase their sense of belonging and integration at their institution of higher learning, and provide unique insights into the lived realities and experiences of higher education students. For this reason,…

This study aims to explore the role of a doctoral supervisor in doctoral candidates' state of methodological preparedness within a specific disciplinary and institutional context. The number of doctoral graduates per million is commonly used as an indicator of progress to high-level competence and growth, and has become a global policy priority.…

This paper offers a critical review of the adopted academic advising strategies at the Durban University of Technology. It is worth acknowledging that academic advising as a scholarly practice is in its developmental stage at South African tertiary institutions. The paper draws on the experiences of the authors as academic advisors to reflect on…

The structural and material factors affecting the lived realities and prospects of tertiary success for South African students are complex and manifold. Inexorably, these lived realities impact the work of academic advisors who guide and support students throughout their higher education journeys. The purpose of this article is to contribute to…

The Carnegie African Diaspora Fellowship Program (CADFP), which commemorated its 10th anniversary in 2023, epitomizes the enduring commitment of Carnegie Corporation of New York to higher education in Africa. CADFP has bridged continents, enabling African-born scholars residing in the United States or Canada to contribute significantly to their…

The role of student support in enabling successful student outcomes is widely acknowledged. However, student support functions and the structures within which they reside often emerge independently at universities, and are seldom designed with integration in mind, leading to systemic inefficiencies. This paper draws on systems thinking to develop…

Universities promote social justice by improving student success; a university degree is one of the most powerful tools to change the economic prospects of students, their families, and communities. For students to succeed, it is vital that they are connected to the wide range of support services in a meaningful way. Unfortunately, many students…

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…

This article explores the use of the AutoScholar Advisor System (Auto-Ad) to provide useful learning support analytics for self-mediated student academic support. The study is part of a pilot project for enhancing student success in a four-year undergraduate degree (BEd) programme. Adopting students' self-authorship as an organising framework and…

This is the first in a series of papers that emanate from the author's doctoral research. This research explores academic advising as a profession and academic advisors as practitioners in the South African Higher Education sector; it focuses on advising within the Faculty of Commerce, Law and Management (FCLM) at a research-intensive public…

Academic advising, if done effectively, can play a significant role in supporting student retention. However, as a relatively new field in South Africa, there is limited locally contextualised research into advising interventions and their effectiveness. So, there is a need for evidence-based approaches that will lead to more intentionally…

This paper reports on the findings of a study which sought to investigate the impact and efficacy of technology-based counseling offered by the University of South Africa (Unisa), an Open and Distance Learning (ODL) institution. The study focused specifically on student perceptions of the services they had received from professionals based in the…

The purpose of this study is to explore the perception of subject advisers on curriculum change and delivery in secondary schools. The survey design which adopts quantitative research approach was used. Random sampling procedure is used to select b samples of 300 respondents in the study who are subject advisers. Questionnaires were administered…

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…

In South Africa, the Western Cape government (WCG)'s current broadband strategy aims to ensure that all schools will be connected to broadband service within a reasonable time-frame. According to the WCG integration of ICTs and the broadband will remove the digital divide and enhance curriculum delivery in schools. To achieve this, sensible…