A Re-Imagined Institutional Student Retention and Success Framework to Enhance Holistic Student Support

Abstract

The focus on student retention and success is a core concern at higher education institutions world-wide. In the South African higher education system, the widening of access, high attrition, low throughput and low completion rates highlight the vast disparities with students entering university. Student diversity with regard to prior contexts influences the way students engage in the higher education environment. In addition, many South African universities are equally not prepared to cater for the diverse needs of their students. This paper highlights the development and implementation of a holistic institutional student retention and success framework. The framework places the student as the central focus and the institution as a key role player in supporting student retention and success. Quantitative and qualitative data were used to inform the development of the student retention and success framework. Data were collected from a cohort of students over a seven-year period (2010 to 2017). A trend analysis was conducted with 4 547 students, using quantitative data from the university management system; in 2017 qualitative data were collected from a purposively selected sample of 54 students to gain an in-depth understanding of how students navigate their university studies within the university systems. Bertalanffy’s general systems theory (GST) was used to analyse the data and bring into focus the significance of the interdependence and interrelatedness of systems, and structures which influence each other directly or indirectly. In the framework the phenomenon of student success is viewed holistically as a set of elements interacting with one another within the university as a system. The paper argues that each element in the framework has an important role to play in providing holistic student support, engagement and success.