This research critically examines school support staff’s perceptions of strategic change within a post ’92 higher education institution. The need for effective communication as well as valuing and empowering employees during any change process is discussed. The research uses a mixed methods approach. Qualitative and quantitative data are obtained from questionnaires and emerging themes identified. Further qualitative data are gathered from diary logs, interviews and focus groups. This research represents the opinions of school support staff at a particular moment in time within a particular educational context. The results suggest some limitations to the change capabilities of the post ’92 institution, but also some areas of good practice. The production of a change framework and the change competencies workbook provides both the institution and its employees, with an opportunity to explore further the prospect of improving their ability to manage change. Both the framework and the competencies require an environment of trust for them to work effectively. The subject headings of identity, perception and communication are utilised in the change framework and the change competencies. The subject headings were chosen in order to assist the researcher to categorise various data covering areas of concern raised by research participants. This thesis suggests that the post ’92 institution has yet to establish a corporate change policy or embed a continuous change culture within its organisation. This thesis concludes that incorporating the following could assist the institution’s management of change: * create a culture of change by utilising the change framework and implement a corporate change strategy based on Kotter’s (1996) eight steps for change; * create an environment of trust through excellence in two-way communication by promoting Perkins (2008) supportive communication and listening skills; * create empowered and change sophisticated people by improving their change competencies using the workbook and regular targeted staff development.

Higher education institutions in South Africa are undergoing transformation because of increasing student numbers, government and the private sector relying on tertiary institutions to assist in solving problems in addition to the globalisation of knowledge. University staff is continuously faced major changes. Immense pressure is placed on academic institutions, including support staff. Support staff are constantly faced with increasing job demands and decreasing job resources. This imbalance and the increase of job stress over a prolonged period of time can lead to the devastating result of burnout. The objective of this study was to investigate the relationship between task characteristics, burnout, health and life satisfaction in a higher education institution in the North West Province. A cross-sectional design was used. The study population (N=334) consisted of support staff members of higher education institutions in the North West Province. The Job Demands-Resources Scale (JDRS), The Maslach Burnout Inventory - GS (MBI-GS), the Health subscale of the ASSET and The Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS) were used as measuring instruments. Descriptive statistics (for example, means, standard deviations and kurtosis) were used to analyse the data. Pearson correlations and multiple regression analyses were used to assess the relationships between job demands, job resources, burnout, physical health, psychological health and life satisfaction. The correlation coefficients indicated that exhaustion was positively related to psychological ill-health. Cynicism correlated negatively with growth opportunities. Multiple regression analysis showed that overload and growth opportunities predicted 26% of the variance for exhaustion and 29% of the variance in cynicism. Exhaustion predicted 24% of the variance for physical ill-health and 37% of the variance for psychological ill-health. Psychological ill-health predicted 16% of the variance of life satisfaction. Recommendations for future research and the organisation were made. / Thesis (M.A. (Industrial Psychology))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2007.

Educational institutions strive to stay on the edge of technological advances in response to stakeholders' desire to receive value for their investment. Rapid changes in computer technology present a dilemma to colleges and universities in the support and training arena. An important segment of the institutional population, office support staff are vital to the everyday running of departments with extremely diverse responsibilities critical to the institutional mission. Office support staff seem to be left out when support and training programs for new technology are being planned. With technology changing so quickly it is vital that organizations have support and training programs in place that will continually provide office support staff with updated skills. The developmental study used an implementation analysis method to develop an online support community (OSC) to provide a central location to find and contribute support for computer technology issues that affected productivity. A needs assessment comprised of literature reports, focus group feedback, and historical records as well as the results of a pre-survey and inventory ensured data triangulation and was used to define content areas for technology support and training. A Learning Management System was used to plan and design the OSC in the initial treatment and workplace software, SharePoint, for the second treatment. Discussion forums and content areas were created using the defined technology content areas. Office support staff participated in the study and data were collected using surveys, content postings, interviews and electronic reporting. The OSC was evaluated after the first and second treatments using an evaluation model of reaction, learning, behavior, and results. The results indicated that an OSC can be effectively used to provide technology support for office support staff. Elements necessary for design include: long-term documentation, content matter experts, medium that allows for open-ended login, evidence of knowledgeable participants sharing useful data, participant leaders, and IM for immediate answers. The need for support and training for office support staff is ongoing and necessary for the productive and efficient completion of their job and work responsibilities. The results will be useful in designing online support communities and for planning support and training events.

Thesis (M.A. (Industrial Psychology))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2007.

Thesis (M.A. (Industrial Psychology))--North-West University, Vaal Triangle Campus, 2005.

Higher education institutions in South Africa are undergoing transformation because of increasing student numbers, government and the private sector relying on tertiary institutions to assist in solving problems in addition to the globalisation of knowledge. University staff is continuously faced major changes. Immense pressure is placed on academic institutions, including support staff. Support staff are constantly faced with increasing job demands and decreasing job resources. This imbalance and the increase of job stress over a prolonged period of time can lead to the devastating result of burnout. The objective of this study was to investigate the relationship between task characteristics, burnout, health and life satisfaction in a higher education institution in the North West Province. A cross-sectional design was used. The study population (N=334) consisted of support staff members of higher education institutions in the North West Province. The Job Demands-Resources Scale (JDRS), The Maslach Burnout Inventory - GS (MBI-GS), the Health subscale of the ASSET and The Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS) were used as measuring instruments. Descriptive statistics (for example, means, standard deviations and kurtosis) were used to analyse the data. Pearson correlations and multiple regression analyses were used to assess the relationships between job demands, job resources, burnout, physical health, psychological health and life satisfaction. The correlation coefficients indicated that exhaustion was positively related to psychological ill-health. Cynicism correlated negatively with growth opportunities. Multiple regression analysis showed that overload and growth opportunities predicted 26% of the variance for exhaustion and 29% of the variance in cynicism. Exhaustion predicted 24% of the variance for physical ill-health and 37% of the variance for psychological ill-health. Psychological ill-health predicted 16% of the variance of life satisfaction. Recommendations for future research and the organisation were made. / Thesis (M.A. (Industrial Psychology))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2007.

Higher education institutions across the globe have been confronted with a series of complex changes. These include changes in management style and structure, increased competitveness, mergers with other institutions, changes in working conditions, increases in student numbers in the context of decreased expenditure per student, higher student-staff ratios, modularization of courses, and the introduction of quality monitoring systems. Tertiary institutions in South Africa are experiencing a similar transformation that is necessary because of changes in the political, economic, technological and social environments. As a result of these transformations support staffs operating within such environments are likely to experience a sense of powerlessness, to report feelings of anxiety and insecurity, including a lack of confidence in their abilities and uncertainty about their future in their organisations, resulting in occupational stress and strain. Possible uncertainties that these same employees may be faced with are lack of job security, decreased career prestige and professional recognition, scarcity of resources, difficulty in understanding the changing values of the organisation, increased centralisation of authority, increased bureaucracy and an increased demand for accountability. Many tertiary education support staff will now be involved in greater interaction with other people, either students or co-workers and would therefore be more vulnerable to occupational stress and strain. Furthermore the workload of support staff is increasing and the nature of the support work is changing. Support personnel groups are being asked to take on more duties and do work for a greater number of people. They are also required to use new technology, sometimes without adequate training, resulting in high stress levels. It is well documented that high levels of occupational stress, if left unchecked and unmanaged, undermine the quality of employees' health, wellbeing and morale, as well as a reduction in productivity and creativity. Therefore the objectives of this research are to determine the levels of occupational stress and strain of support staff at a higher education institution in the North-West province, to investigate possible demographic differences and to determine whether perceived organizational commitment moderates the effect of occupational stress and strain. A stratified sample (N= 3 15) of support staff at a higher education institution in the North-West province was taken. The ASSET Organisational Stress Screening Tool was used as measuring instrument. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used to analyse the results. The results of the study showed that the support staff has fairly poor physical and psychological health indicating that support staff experience stress-related strain which could be mainly attributed to their work relationships and job characteristics respectively. The levels of the stress were relatively low, while high levels of both individual commitment to the organisation and perceived commitment from the organisation were found. Furthermore, differences in terms of occupational stress levels were found for different biographical groups. Practically significant positive relationships were found for job security, job characteristics and control. This means that in order for employees to feel secure about their jobs, they need to have perceived control over the aspects of their jobs. Work relationships were significantly related to job characteristics, overload and control which means that employee's relationships with others depended to a large extent on the element of control that they have of their jobs and the amount of work that they have. Contrary to the findings in the literature, organisational commitment did not moderate the occupational stress-strain relationship of support staff in the present study. Organisational commitment was significantly negatively related to occupational stress, while occupational stress was significantly positively related to ill-health (strain). Occupational stress explained 18% of the variance in ill-health (strain) and 23% of the variance in organisational commitment. Recommendations for the organisation and future research are made. / Thesis (M.A. (Industrial Psychology))--North-West University, Vaal Triangle Campus, 2005.

Higher education institutions across the globe have been confronted with a series of complex changes. These include changes in management style and structure, increased competitveness, mergers with other institutions, changes in working conditions, increases in student numbers in the context of decreased expenditure per student, higher student-staff ratios, modularization of courses, and the introduction of quality monitoring systems. Tertiary institutions in South Africa are experiencing a similar transformation that is necessary because of changes in the political, economic, technological and social environments. As a result of these transformations support staffs operating within such environments are likely to experience a sense of powerlessness, to report feelings of anxiety and insecurity, including a lack of confidence in their abilities and uncertainty about their future in their organisations, resulting in occupational stress and strain. Possible uncertainties that these same employees may be faced with are lack of job security, decreased career prestige and professional recognition, scarcity of resources, difficulty in understanding the changing values of the organisation, increased centralisation of authority, increased bureaucracy and an increased demand for accountability. Many tertiary education support staff will now be involved in greater interaction with other people, either students or co-workers and would therefore be more vulnerable to occupational stress and strain. Furthermore the workload of support staff is increasing and the nature of the support work is changing. Support personnel groups are being asked to take on more duties and do work for a greater number of people. They are also required to use new technology, sometimes without adequate training, resulting in high stress levels. It is well documented that high levels of occupational stress, if left unchecked and unmanaged, undermine the quality of employees' health, wellbeing and morale, as well as a reduction in productivity and creativity. Therefore the objectives of this research are to determine the levels of occupational stress and strain of support staff at a higher education institution in the North-West province, to investigate possible demographic differences and to determine whether perceived organizational commitment moderates the effect of occupational stress and strain. A stratified sample (N= 3 15) of support staff at a higher education institution in the North-West province was taken. The ASSET Organisational Stress Screening Tool was used as measuring instrument. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used to analyse the results. The results of the study showed that the support staff has fairly poor physical and psychological health indicating that support staff experience stress-related strain which could be mainly attributed to their work relationships and job characteristics respectively. The levels of the stress were relatively low, while high levels of both individual commitment to the organisation and perceived commitment from the organisation were found. Furthermore, differences in terms of occupational stress levels were found for different biographical groups. Practically significant positive relationships were found for job security, job characteristics and control. This means that in order for employees to feel secure about their jobs, they need to have perceived control over the aspects of their jobs. Work relationships were significantly related to job characteristics, overload and control which means that employee's relationships with others depended to a large extent on the element of control that they have of their jobs and the amount of work that they have. Contrary to the findings in the literature, organisational commitment did not moderate the occupational stress-strain relationship of support staff in the present study. Organisational commitment was significantly negatively related to occupational stress, while occupational stress was significantly positively related to ill-health (strain). Occupational stress explained 18% of the variance in ill-health (strain) and 23% of the variance in organisational commitment. Recommendations for the organisation and future research are made. / Thesis (M.A. (Industrial Psychology))--North-West University, Vaal Triangle Campus, 2005.

<p>Primary care multi-disciplinary teams were central to recent reform plans for Canadian primary care, in response to limited resources and increasing demands. Health Information Technology was also an integral part of those plans as supporting infrastructure for the modernization of healthcare services, facilitating coordination, collaboration and access to services. As provider-centric Health Information Technology matures, attention turns to the patient. The hallmark of patient-centered applications is the electronic Personal Health Record System (PHR). These systems have grown beyond simple repositories of personal health information, extending to a range of information collection, sharing, self-management and exchange functions.</p> <p>The implementation of PHRs in primary care multi-disciplinary teams involves many stakeholders including patients, physician, allied health professionals and support staff. There is significant literature on physician and patient perspectives on all PHR functions. However, little attention has been given to the other stakeholders: allied health professionals and support staff.</p> <p>In this study, we explored the views of Allied Health Professionals (AHPs) and support staff, working in a primary care clinic adopting a patient-centered, multi-disciplinary model called the Family Health Team (FHT) model. Participants provided their insight on benefits, concerns and recommendations regarding the implementation of MyOSCAR, a PHR, at their clinic. Qualitative data was collected through semi-structured one-on-one interviews that were analyzed to extract common themes and summarize participant views. Process diagrams were produced to highlight opportunities for improvement of current work processes through the integration of MyOSCAR functions.</p> <p>As more teams are created in primary care and they attempt to implement new technologies, it is important to get a complete picture of all stakeholder views. This is the first study that focuses on the views of AHPs and support staff, contributing to the literature on PHR implementations. Findings from this study can contribute to future PHR implementations by informing planning and implementation.</p> / Master of Science (MSc)

As stated in the Children’s Act 38 of 2005, learners with behavioural programmes are accommodated in child and youth centres (former industrial schools), and require professional and specialised support. These learners generally display challenging, unacceptable and anti-social behaviour, which must be addressed and handled by teachers and professional support staff. A holistic perspective is needed to meet these learners’ needs and in order to support learners with behavioural problems in child and youth centres, educational services, as well as medical, psychological and other support services must be available. These specialised support services are crucial in the efforts to address the behavioural problems of the learners. The aim of the support to learners with behavioural problems in child and youth centres is to improve the learning ability of the learners with behavioural problems, as well as to change their behavioural patterns in order for them to embrace opportunities in which they will be able to re-enter society successfully and live as well-adapted and functional individuals. Child and youth centres need to make interest groups aware of the challenges with which teachers and professional support staff are confronted on a daily basis in their efforts to support learners with behavioural problems. The aim of this study is to determine what the experiences are of the teachers and professional support staff with regard to the support to learners with behavioural problems in a child and youth centre. To reach the goal of this study, one research question was formulated: “What are the experiences of teachers and professional support staff with regard to the support of learners with behavioural problems in a child and youth centre?” A purposive sample was used, namely the teachers and professional support staff in a child and youth centre in the Ekurhuleni District, were chosen to participate in the research study. The teachers’ group includes the principal, the head of the department and teachers, while the professional support staff included an educational psychologist, a nurse, a social worker and a child and youth worker. The researcher used semi-structured individual interviews which were recorded with the consent of the participants. The recordings were transcribed, interpreted and refined to codes, themes, categories and subcategories. Ethical procedures were followed and approval of the Faculty of Educational Sciences’ Ethics Committee at the North-West University was obtained. Since qualitative studies, which investigates and describes the daily experiences of the teachers and professional support staff in supporting learners with behavioural problems in child and youth centres, are limited, a phenomenological approach, which included an interpretivist paradigm was used to investigate and describe the phenomenon. Meaningful factual conclusions related to the study’s findings, were identified, namely: learners with behavioural problems are provocative and several factors influence the support to the learners negatively; teachers and professional support staff experience uncertainty with regard to their respective responsibilities in the child and youth centre; verbal and physical attacks by the learners on the teachers and professional support staff; and lastly, positive experiences with regard to the support to the learners in a child and youth centre are few and far between. Conceptual findings are enlightened and supported by means of the radical behaviouristic theory, the cognitive social theory, the bio-ecological theory and the social capital theory. In conclusion of the phenomenological qualitative interpretivist study, the researcher offers valuable suggestions with regard to the support to learners with behavioural problems in a child and youth centre. / MEd (Learner Support), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2015