Philosophiae Doctor - PhD / This study is an investigation into the scope, role, and function of student development and support (SDS) within higher education in South Africa. The underpinnings and frameworks of SDS were explored during the research, as well as its integration into the institution and into organisational structures, the relationship between SDS and the policies of the Department of Higher Education and Training, and the influences from the national and international context of SDS. Policies emerging from the Department of Higher Education and Training heralded dramatic changes after the first democratically elected government in South Africa. The changes were amplified by the shifts in the international context of global explosion of knowledge production and neo-liberal influences on higher education in general and SDS in particular. The higher education system in South Africa has changed from an elite system to broad “massification”, which addresses issues of equity, access, participation and relevant skills development at medium and high level (DoE, 1997, p. 4). Changes have not only been in terms of governance and institutional mergers but also in terms of notions and discourses in education, teaching and learning, student development, and student support. The higher education system has become open, responsive, and relevant, and knowledge is understood to be relative and context-bound, co-created within the relationship to a heterogeneous group of students who have a range of capabilities and challenge traditional notions of inclusivity and diversity. The findings are extensive and liberal use of quotations from the participants substantiates the emerging themes. The key themes that emerged are clustered under the headings of: scope, role and function; theoretical framework; professionalisation; paradigms and alignments; SDS integration into the organisational structure; SDS in relation to the Department of Higher Education and Training; and SDS within the national and international context of globalisation. The discussion synthesises the findings and reveals that SDS is facing many challenges which require attention. Some challenges concern the lack of clarity around scope, role, and function, as well as issues around the lack of theoretical grounding and the paucity in local theory development. Challenges also surfaced regarding the integration of SDS into the academic life of the institution. Similar concerns appeared around the exclusion of SDS from governance issues. Tensions emerged from discussions on the need for a guiding framework for SDS, while preserving autonomy and acknowledging the heterogeneous character of institutions. The findings also suggest that non-elective operational standards and some kind of monitoring and evaluation systems for SDS are required. Despite these challenges, it appears that SDS is perceived as a key contributor to the shared goal of student success and that an expressed commitment to and alignment with national and institutional goals exists. This utilisation-oriented study, it is hoped, will make significant contributions to the understanding of the scope, role and function of student development and support within higher education. It may help illuminate the challenges and provide suggestions to enable more articulated contributions to the shared goals of higher education in South Africa. Recommendations include the development of an epistemic community which can generate contextual and constructivist paradigms for SDS in South Africa. This research study reveals the pressing need for a normative framework for SDS and identifies areas which need to be given serious consideration when developing such a framework.

With globalisation and the rise of the knowledge economy, there has been an increase in demand for higher education worldwide, which has resulted in the proliferation of private higher education institutions (PHEIs). Within this context, issues of quality and quality assurance processes, guided by national policies and frameworks, have become increasingly important. In South Africa, programme accreditation is one form of external quality assurance. Literature reveals several gaps in the understanding of the management of quality assurance in the private higher education sector, and the topic of programme accreditation in relation to PHEIs in South Africa has received scant attention. The research question for this study was: How do PHEIs manage quality assurance as they engage in the process of programme accreditation in South Africa? Exploratory, qualitative research methodology was deemed the most appropriate for this study and twelve semi-structured interviews were conducted with quality assurance managers at ten PHEIs in Gauteng. The conceptual framework, adapted from Zaki and Zaki Rashidi (2013), lists eight parameters relevant to the management of quality assurance within PHEIs in South Africa. The findings of this study indicate a general lack of sound governance and management structures at PHEIs, an absence of institutional capacity, and academic leadership that is often deficient. The availability of relevant higher education resources within PHEIs remains a challenge. Concerning external quality assurance, the complexity of quality assurance and higher education legislation and various process-based challenges are some of the most common barriers for South African PHEIs. Recommendations are presented. / Dissertation (MEd)--University of Pretoria, 2016. / Education Management and Policy Studies / M Ed / unrestricted

With globalisation and the rise of the knowledge economy, there has been an increase in demand for higher education worldwide, which has resulted in the proliferation of private higher education institutions (PHEIs). Within this context, issues of quality and quality assurance processes, guided by national policies and frameworks, have become increasingly important. In South Africa, programme accreditation is one form of external quality assurance. Literature reveals several gaps in the understanding of the management of quality assurance in the private higher education sector, and the topic of programme accreditation in relation to PHEIs in South Africa has received scant attention. The research question for this study was: How do PHEIs manage quality assurance as they engage in the process of programme accreditation in South Africa? Exploratory, qualitative research methodology was deemed the most appropriate for this study and twelve semi-structured interviews were conducted with quality assurance managers at ten PHEIs in Gauteng. The conceptual framework, adapted from Zaki and Zaki Rashidi (2013), lists eight parameters relevant to the management of quality assurance within PHEIs in South Africa. The findings of this study indicate a general lack of sound governance and management structures at PHEIs, an absence of institutional capacity, and academic leadership that is often deficient. The availability of relevant higher education resources within PHEIs remains a challenge. Concerning external quality assurance, the complexity of quality assurance and higher education legislation and various process-based challenges are some of the most common barriers for South African PHEIs. Recommendations are presented. / Dissertation (MEd)--University of Pretoria, 2016. / Education Management and Policy Studies / MEd / Unrestricted

As constraints on public funding become more prevalent and public policy devolves funding responsibility to the agency level in part, public organizations seek additional revenue streams. One identified private resource is philanthropy, which has seen a growth in importance over the past decade as individuals with vast sums of wealth commit a portion of their fortunes to aid society. The literature on philanthropy primarily seeks to understand donor motivations in order to aid organizational pursuit of these funds, with some scholars finding that giving is often undemocratic and can give private donors power relative to other stakeholders. What is far less understood are the effects donations have on organizational priorities. This becomes an important question for public administration as philanthropic donations to public agencies seeking additional funding. To better understand the effects of this phenomenon, this research undertook two replicative case studies in public higher education, an area where public organizations that have a long history of fundraising as well as decreased public funding. Through the lens of quasi-autonomous governmental organizations, rather than privatization, this study triangulates archival, historical, and interview data to study changes in salience of university priorities after a mega-gift is made. In the two cases studied, mega-gifts were found to have some limited effects on salience of priorities. Three different interpretations can be drawn from the findings. First, as loosely-coupled structures, higher education institutions guard against change. Second, control is a negotiated proposition and thus the potential for gifts to create change may be limited. Third, mega-gifts enable structural change, which allows some organizational actors to work with private donor to set agendas for otherwise public functions. These findings are particularly important for public policy makers, administrators, and citizens to understand and scholars to build upon as increasing numbers of public organizations seek to raise private monies. / Ph. D.

No description available.

No description available.

For the last 25 years, research on the effects of community colleges on baccalaureate degree attainment has concluded that community colleges drastically reduce the likelihood of attaining a bachelor's degree compared to the effects of four-year institutions on this likelihood. The thesis of this dissertation is that community colleges have been misjudged as institutions that tend to perpetuate social and economic stratification; what previous studies on the topic have found is based on systematic differences in the student populations. Community college students are consistently more at risk of failing academically than four-year students. Then, the positive impact that four-year colleges have on their students compared to the impact of two-year colleges is to a great extent due to the fact that four-year students tend to have more resources and means to handle college requirements than two-year students. The main challenges to analyze two- and four-year sector effects relies on identifying community college students who resemble four-year college students and then compare their outcomes. This dissertation expands on previous research that has only looked at the effect of community colleges on students' educational outcomes by including labor market outcomes. The analyses conducted in this study primarily relied on propensity score matching (PSM) and the Heckman two-stage estimation procedures to reduce bias in the analysis by accounting for non-random selection into the treatment. In addition, the analytic samples were disaggregated by gender and ethnicity. To estimate the effects of interest, a nationally representative sample that is longitudinal and panel in nature was used: The National Education Longitudinal Study of 1988 (NELS:88).Results revealed that neither the two- nor the four-year sectors were able to help students with very low probabilities of graduation from a four-year college. A new financial aid approach that bridges merit-based and aid-based perspectives is proposed. Community colleges, by welcoming a greater proportion of first-time, full-time undergraduate students, many of whom are underrepresented in higher education, and by helping their students to perform similarly than four-year college students in the outcomes analyzed, are conceptualized as engines for mobility helping surpass economic and social stratification of opportunities in American society.

This study is interested in defining new variables that contribute to the explanation of whether or not an individual applies to postsecondary institutions. Prior research has explained differences based on demographic variables, such as first generation status, income and race, and differences in information and social support that an individual possesses. While these variables have a significant effect on the decision, they do not completely explain why individuals decide to pursue postsecondary education. This research suggests that how an individual moves through the decision process, as well as how information is interpreted and used will have an effect on the ultimate decision outcome. The Sense-Making model (Dervin, 2003) is adapted here to define the differences in the decision process. A telephone survey was conducted with a randomly selected sample of 448 residents of the Commonwealth of Virginia asking them to describe their decision process regarding participating in postsecondary education based on the variables comprising the Sense-Making model. Stepwise logistic regression was used to determine the effect of the demographics-based and Sense-Making model variables on the likelihood that an individual applies to postsecondary education. The descriptive analysis of the survey findings indicated that respondents do not rely solely on a rational, information-based decision process. The resulting model produced by the stepwise process indicated that income and familiarity with postsecondary education had the strongest effects on the likelihood of applying, which is consistent with the existing literature. As for the Sense-Making variables, the analysis provided a set of variables whose presence makes a respondent less likely to apply. Feeling a lack of control over the decision outcome, perceiving information as not supportive to the process, using social support to make the decision and noting social support and school characteristics as a barrier all decreased the likelihood of respondents applying. The findings of the descriptive and predictive analysis defined the shortcomings of information and indicate that social support, like information, may not always facilitate the decision process. Recommendations are made to create information that is more supportive and will accurately portray the work necessary to prepare for postsecondary education and to create participatory programming to address misperceptions and acceptance of information. These findings provide the basis for additional research to define how information can support the decision process.

Esta dissertação busca analisar as particularidades do trabalho do(a) assistente social na universidade pública brasileira. A universidade vem sofrendo os rebatimentos das mudanças impostas pelos processos de reestruturação capitalista e de internacionalização da economia em ampla expansão desde o final do século XX e a Política de Educação Superior vêm apresentando submissão às regras e ditames do mercado. Nesse sentido, o presente trabalho procurou identificar as transformações da universidade pública brasileira na contemporaneidade; a análise da dinâmica da política de educação na área da educação superior; as particularidades do trabalho profissional no âmbito da política de assistência estudantil, já que essa é uma das principais requisições apresentadas aos assistentes sociais inseridos nesta área de atuação. Para tanto, tomou-se por referência de estudo a experiência da Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro que já possui uma marca histórica de desenvolvimento de ações na área de assistência ao estudante. Por essa razão, este trabalho buscou examinar, através de uma pesquisa documental e entrevistas semi-estruturadas realizadas com as profissionais da UERJ que atuam com ações de assistência estudantil, as novas configurações e particularidades para o processo de trabalho do(a) assistente social neste contexto. Os dois grandes eixos de análise que evolveram essa pesquisa foram: as condições e particularidades do trabalho do(a) assistente social no âmbito da política de educação superior na UERJ; Programa ou Política de Assistência Estudantil na UERJ? Os principais resultados dessa pesquisa apontaram que existem diferentes processos de trabalho nos quais se inscreve a atividade do (a) assistente social e esses processos são organizados a partir da função política, ideológica e econômica do Estado no formato da prestação de serviços sociais. Diante do contexto de redução dos direitos sociais conforme preconizado pela agenda neoliberal, a Política de Assistência Estudantil afirma-se no espaço universitário público, fazendo interface tanto com a Política de Educação quanto com a Política de Assistência Social, e, portanto, compartilha das mesmas características das referidas políticas, a saber: ações pontuais, seletivas e focalizadas. Apesar da existência de uma Política Nacional de Assistência Estudantil PNAES, a prática da Assistência Estudantil no âmbito estadual encontra limites para a sua operacionalização e apresenta necessidade de articulação com outras Políticas, que devem ser apreendidas a partir de uma noção ampliada de Assistência Estudantil. Desta forma, verificamos que o processo de trabalho do(a) assistente social na universidade pública não prescinde das determinações que incidem sobre o mundo do trabalho e das condições objetivas que particulariza a educação superior. / This dissertation explores the particularities of the work of (a) social worker in Brazilian public university. The university has been suffering the aftermaths of the changes imposed by the processes of capitalist restructuring and internationalization of the economy in broad expansion since the late twentieth century and the Higher Education Policy have presented a submission to the rules and dictates of the market. Accordingly, this study sought to identify the transformations of the contemporary Brazilian public university, the analysis of the dynamics of education policy in the area of higher education, the peculiarities of professional work under the student assistance policy, since this is one of main requests presented to social workers entered this area. Therefore, it has become a benchmark study of the experience of the State University of Rio de Janeiro that already has a milestone development activities in the area of assistance to the student. Therefore, this study aimed to examine through documentary research and semi-structured interviews with professionals who work with UERJ actions of student assistance, the new settings and circumstances for the worker process (a) social worker in this Examples. The two main areas of analysis that evolved this research were: the conditions and circumstances of the work of (a) social worker within the higher education policy in UERJ; Program or "Student Assistance Policy" in UERJ? The main results of this research show that there are different work processes on which is inscribed the activity of (a) social worker and these processes are organized function from political, ideological and economic state in the form of social services. Given the context of reduction of social rights as advocated by the neo-liberal agenda "Student Assistance Policy" states in space public university, interfacing with both the Education Policy with the Policy as Social Work, and therefore shares of the same characteristics of those policies, namely: specific actions, selective and targeted. Despite the existence of a National Student Assistance - PNAES, the practice of Student Assistance at the state finds limits to its operation and shows the need for coordination with other policies, which must be seized from an expanded notion of Student Assistance. Thus, we find that the worker process (a) social worker in a public university does not obviate the determinations that affect the world of work and the objective conditions that particularized higher education.

Il tema di fondo su cui si confronta la ricerca è l'esistenza di relazioni complesse - dirette e indirette, esplicite ed implicite - tra i diversi livelli di governance dell'istruzione superiore in grado di esercitare una crescente pressione sui sistemi nazionali e sulle singole università sino a modificarne le priorità. Più nel dettaglio la ricerca indaga il rapporto tra i modelli competitivi veicolati dagli organismi internazionali, nello specifico dall'Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development - OECD, e il modo con cui ciascun ateneo interpreta i propri obiettivi di formazione - nel quadro dei vincoli e delle opportunità del sistema d'istruzione superiore italiano. L'assunto di base è che tra l'OECD e il management degli atenei ci siano delle connessioni che sono la risultante di due tendenze complementari: da una parte l'influsso dell'Organizzazione sulle politiche nazionali, locali e degli atenei; dall'altra la propensione di questi ultimi ad avvalersi, in maniera differenziata, degli studi e delle analisi statistiche e comparative prodotte dall'OECD per interpretare i fenomeni globali della higher education e supportare le proprie strategie di intervento. / The research focus upon the existence of complex relationships - both direct and indirect, explicit and implicit - between different levels of higher education governance that can exert increasing pressure on national systems and universities up to changing their priorities. In further detail, the research investigates the relationship between competitive models promoted by international bodies, specifically by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development - OECD, and the way in which each university interprets its strategic goals - in the framework of the constraints and opportunities of the Italian higher education system. It is assumed that between the OECD and the university management there are some connections resulting from two complementary trends. The first one refers to the influence of the Organization on national policies and local universities; the second one regards to the use by the university management of the OECD's comparative studies and statistical analysis to interpret the global higher education phenomena and support their intervention strategies.