Conference Agenda

Problem Statement and Purpose

Public Administration as a discipline concerns itself with the training of potential public servants through streamlined educational pedagogies related to government and its administration. In the last decade, the debate on curriculum relevance in higher education has gained prominence in various sectors. Such debates have also widened the space for students, academics and practitioners in South Africa to compound the curriculum dialogue through the lens of ‘decolonisation’. Public Administration is no stranger to the decolonisation debate, as scholarly evidence continues to surface on the need to develop relevant, decolonised public administration education. While the focus of this paper is not to present a philosophical stance on both the existence of westernised public administration and the purported need for decolonisation therewith, current scholarly contributions to the subject are studied and analysed through a qualitative lens. The objective of such analysis is to arrive at an understanding of whether it is possible for current scholars to decolonise a long-standing, systemic existence of westernised educational content and pedagogies. Among others, the paper asks the following question: can the colonised decolonise? In response, an argument is brought forward for scholars of public administration and higher education in general, to pursue a more ontological aspect of the subject, which is to ‘Africanise’ educational content. The recommended approach to “Africanisation”, is through merging existing ontologies and epistemologies within the discipline, in search of a solid pedagogy. This will enable the development of various curricula that is contextually relevant and based on the lived experience of the South African student.

Methodology

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Findings

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Proposals

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References

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Problem Statement and Purpose

In recent years, academic advising, and consequently, academic advisors, and the services that they render have become a topic in the foreground of Higher Education conversations in South Africa. Student retention rates indicate that degree completion is still problematic in South Africa (Strydom 2016). Students not graduating on time and dropping out of higher education results in large cost implications for the state, the student, and the parents (Tswanya, 2017).

With the core function being to improve student retention and success, academic advisors aim to help students plan their academic path from entering university to graduation (Strydom, 2016; Keller, 2005), placing academic advising as one of the cornerstones of academic success in the higher education sector (Oriano, 2013; Grites, 2013; King & Kerr, 2013; Keller, 2016). I addition, obtaining a university qualification is still seen as one of the key factors improving the career and financial prospects of a student for themselves and their community (Strydom and Tiroyabone, 2021).

To strengthen the university’s mission and strategic direction, establishing professional and effective advising practices is crucial. Without developing an established competency framework for professional advisors in South Africa, the field is underdeveloped, and questions persist on the competencies necessary for professional advisors in this context to be effective in their jobs. The main aim of this study was, therefore, to develop a competency framework for academic advisors in the South African milieu.

Methodology

Being qualitative, this study takes a closer look at advising as a profession in the South African context and aims to identify the core competencies needed for advisors at the University of the Free State. The study was designed to identify the core skills, knowledge, attitudes and behavioural attributes of academic advisors in creating work performance standards, training programmes, and advising practices to further develop and enhance the competencies professional advisors need to perform their duties successfully. This was done through a process of competency modelling according to the steps identified by Dalton (as cited in Keller, 2016). Literature studied concerning advising and the professional development thereof, and existing competency frameworks and models of occupations related to advising were studied. A job analysis was then completed on academic advisors at the UFS to identify competencies related to professional advising. Data were triangulated, and a competency framework for academic advisors at the UFS was presented.

Findings

The results firstly argued that academic advising cannot be classified as a profession in South Africa at this stage, despite many efforts to professionalize this occupation.

The results further showed consensus on what literature identifies as essential competencies for academic advisors, and what are critical competencies for academic advisors at the UFS. These competencies include knowledge, skills and attributes in the five components of advising, namely conceptual, informational, relational, technological, and professional. The study further identified three possible abilities related to advising, namely emotional intelligence, language ability, and reasoning ability. Recommendations for future research are made.

Proposals

The findings of this study may help inform the development of professional advising practices at the UFS and in South Africa, as the need for professional academic advising persists. This competency framework may also guide the recruitment, selection, training, and development of professional academic advisors at the UFS, and promote professional and effective advising practices. Professional and effective advising practices may increase the likelihood of students connecting to campus support networks and succeeding in their studies.

References

Grites, T. J. (2013). Developmental academic advising: A 40-year context. NACADA Journal, 33(1), 5-15.

Keller, S. J. (2016). Competencies for the community college advisor: a crucial job in the student success mission. (Doctoral Dissertation). University of Nevada. Las Vegas.

King, M. C., & Kerr, T. J. (2005). Academic advising. In M. L. Upcraft, J. N. Gardner, & B. O. Barefoot (Eds.). Challenging and supporting the first-year student. Jossey-Bass.

Oriano, A. (2013). Effective advising: learning from students' experiences. In T. O’Banion (ed.) Academic advising: the key to student success. Rowman & Littlefield.

Strydom, J. F. (2016). Academic advising: A “missing link” between access and success in South African higher education? Proceedings of the Siyaphumelela Conference 2016. Retrieved from http://www.siyaphumelela.org.za/conf/2016/data/Keynote6.pdf

Strydom, J.F. and Tiroyabone, G. W. (2021). University of Kwazulu Natal. Teaching and Learning office Seminar.

Tswanya, Y. (2017, December 13). Varsity students drop like flies. IOL. Retrieved from https://www.iol.co.za/capeargus/news/varsity-students-drop-out-like-flies-12394882