Alcohol consumption is a well-known public health problem, particularly among university students. Students experience many challenges in life that may lead them to consume alcohol. The aim of this study was to explore student's perceptions of reckless alcohol consumption at a university of technology in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. The study…

This article reports on a qualitative study that explored self-care practices among first-year students in managing stressors related to the first-year experience in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. Qualitative data were collected using a purposive sample between March and June 2022. A total of 26 first-year students registered at a…

The shortage of nurses is a global crisis, particularly in remote and rural communities. Contributory factors are retirements, resignations, recent increased deaths due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and the reduced production of nurses because of high attrition rates. This article's purpose was to investigate the provision of student support in the…

Student affairs practitioners and researchers are well positioned to contribute holistically to student success and as such could play a strategic role in the transformation of higher education. The aim of this article is to illustrate that a key strategic objective of student affairs is to contribute significantly towards student success. This…

Student engagement is a widely researched and utilized concept to enhance student experiences and outcomes. Most research on student engagement, however, focuses on curricular engagement with relatively little emphasis placed on the co-curriculum. This study utilizes Case's theory of relational engagement to analyse findings from three focus…

There has always been pressure on higher education institutions to enhance the employability of graduates and to instill knowledge, skills, and attributes that will be beneficial to future employers. The impact of COVID-19 on a global, national, and local level is placing even more pressure on the topic of employability. Graduates are uncertain…

A critical area of debate in an era of evolving university support systems is how best to offer support to students in challenging disciplines. This study examines the effectiveness of current frameworks in addressing the needs of engineering students. This research employs a mixed-methods approach to identify the experiences of final-year…

Students' psychological well-being constitutes a critical issue that necessitates support and dedicated intervention from student affairs professionals. Positive psychology, focusing on future-oriented prospective thinking, offers valuable insights and methods relevant to student affairs. This article leverages the principles of positive…

The COVID-19 pandemic has changed the face of higher education institutions in profound ways. After the restrictions of movement under lockdowns imposed in response to the pandemic from 2020, higher education institutions were forced to think creatively and quickly about how to respond to arising challenges of completing the academic year and…

This article stemmed from discussions related to residence committee members and their role as leaders within their communities. The ideas presented during these conversations gave rise to a research interest for a conceptual exploration of collaborative and progressive social transformative brokering within a complex context. In particular, the…

The quality of services rendered to stakeholders at Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) is of critical importance to the esteem of these institutions. Perceptions of the quality of such services can be measured in various ways. This study assesses the extent of service quality as evaluated in students' satisfaction with services received at…

Every year, class representatives are elected at the University of Cape Town to represent students on academic matters in relation to a specific academic course. A vital element of this representative role is to advocate for an enabling learning environment that promotes learning excellence. In preparing class representatives for their leadership…

Most first-year university students experience serious academic and adjustment challenges, which remain undetected until it is too late to provide meaningful intervention. Universities are therefore developing academic support systems that can assist in identifying students who experience learning challenges early on, and provide quality…

Higher education administrators often speak of the value of collaboration between student and academic affairs yet there is little empirical evidence of such collaboration. As such, graduate school services and programmes traditionally receive less attention and support than undergraduate programmes. Arguably, deficiencies in those services and…

More South African research is needed that examines the application of positive psychology to assist students in navigating the stressful first-year experience by identifying, developing and applying signature strengths. This article reports on a mixed methods study that investigated the efficacy of a strengths-based development programme…