Student success is not coincidental and access without support is not a true opportunity for students in our universities. This was the message from Dr Birgit Schreiber, Programme Leader at Higher Education Leadership and Management (HELM), within Universities South Africa (USAf) and the programme lead of a new capacity development programme for universities’ Student Affairs, Student Development and Student Support professionals.
The programme, named SASS (Student Affairs and Student Success), is a direct response to a national Training Needs Assessment (TNA) survey that HELM carried out among student support professionals working in Student Affairs, Student Development and Student Support services across the 26 public institutions in November 2021. The study found that 86% of the surveyed sample (N=362) was keen to take part in a capacity building intervention to enhance their impact on student success.