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Corporate Affairs and Marketing (CA&M) Brand and Event Management
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STUDENT MENTORS:SUPPORTING LEARNING AND LIVING
AT TSHWANE UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY
TUT SEMINAR ON STUDENT SUCCESS
20 AUGUST 2014
Presenters:
PROF ELSABE COETZEE
(Acting Dean: Faculty of Humanities)
MR WELCOME MTHIMKHULU (student mentor)
MR LERATO MPHASHA (student)
Corporate Affairs and Marketing (CA&M) Brand and Event Management
FACULTY OF HUMANITIES
12 500 students
8 departments
Campuses: Soshanguve South and Soshanguve North,
Polokwane, Mbombela and eMalahleni
150 permanent academic staff
64 learning programmes
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STUDENT MENTORS:SUPPORTING LEARNING AND LIVING AT TUT
Does the following sound familiar?
“I know I must learn, but everything is too much”
My interpretation: (“everything” equals “life”)
Therefore “life is too much”
Same message – differently phrased – not really unknown or unexpected
Therefore my opinion: We are too quick to link poor academic performance to laziness, unpreparedness and mischievous
Corporate Affairs and Marketing (CA&M) Brand and Event Management
COMPREHENSIVEAPPROACH TO STUDENTS’ SUCCESS
(Biren, Gregerman, Jonides, von Hippel & Lerner, 1998); (Volkwein & Carbone, 1994)
This approach emphasizes
The impact of institutional structure, resources, and programmes on student learning and development
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Focus on-students’ interaction with the social structure and-Integration into the institution
Responses/Retention efforts concentrate on-living-learning setting that give student a “home-base”-Mentoring programmes (other students act as expert guides and models)-Students interact not directly with university, but through the intermediate peer environment
Corporate Affairs and Marketing (CA&M) Brand and Event Management
FACULTY OF HUMANITIES INTERVENTION TO ADDRESS POOR ACADEMIC
PERFORMANCE
2013:
Appointment of 2 student mentors for Success Rate Improvement
Increase after 3 months to 4 and for second semester 6 mentors due to enormous demand
2014:
Appointment of 8 student mentors for Success Rate Improvement
Another 3 appointments, Current total 11 student mentors
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Corporate Affairs and Marketing (CA&M) Brand and Event Management
MR WELCOME MTHIMKULU: A STUDENT MENTOR
• I am a 3rd year Education student• First Success Rate Improvement Mentor appointed in 2013• Strict conditions for us to qualify as mentors
All of us are distinction candidates in our programmes• We have 2 offices with the necessary equipment to communicate with
students• We report directly to the Dean, we cooperate with HODs and lecturers • We have regular discussions with the Dean and we must submit 4
written reports per year
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Corporate Affairs and Marketing (CA&M) Brand and Event Management
WHO ARE OUR TARGETED STUDENTS?
• Students who faced academic exclusion and were allowed back on probation
• Students who performed very poor after each assessment cycle
• Any other students who need our assistance
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Corporate Affairs and Marketing (CA&M) Brand and Event Management
TASKS OF STUDENT MENTORS
• Retrieve the list of students “on probation” from Faculty/Departmental administrators
• Contact every student• Introducing ourselves and explaining the purpose • Arrange personal conversations with individual student • Convince students to speak about themselves• Address the fear of “being labelled” and the quilt of poor academic
performance
UP TO THIS STAGE OUR MAIN AIM IS TO ESTABLISH A TRUST RELATIONSHIP AND GAIN BASIC INFORMATION
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Corporate Affairs and Marketing (CA&M) Brand and Event Management
TASKS OF STUDENT MENTORS (CONT)
• Decide on assistance needed by the student• Refer student to the Student Development and Support division • Stay in contact with the SDS coordinator• Receive reports from SDS on student’s progress• Monitor already identified student’s academic performance after each
test cycle• Contact “new” underperformers after each test cycle• Continuous conversations with all identified students• Be visible on campus as much as possible• Recommendation to HODs/lecturers regarding subjects in which
tutoring is needed
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Corporate Affairs and Marketing (CA&M) Brand and Event Management
FACTORS CONTRIBUTING TO POOR ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE
MOST IMPORTANT:•Interaction between students and the academic, social and support systems of the university
OTHER FACTORS:•Personal and financial circumstances
•Choice of student programme, academic literacy and preparedness
•Time management skills and approach to studies
•Students’ motivation and belief in own ability
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Corporate Affairs and Marketing (CA&M) Brand and Event Management
CHALLENGES THAT MENTORS ARE FACING
• Getting hold of a student
• Winning the trust of identified students
• Convince student to speak about themselves and their problems
• Address the fear of “being labelled”
• Handling large numbers of students
• Find sufficient private spaces for conversations with students
• Ensuring that students continue in the support programme11
Corporate Affairs and Marketing (CA&M) Brand and Event Management
NUMBER OF STUDENTS IN THE MENTORING PROGRAMME
• Number of students who were/are mentored by us and referred to SDS (Student Development and Support division of TUT) for specific training and development:– 2013: 230– 2014: 300
ONLY 300 OUT OF A TOTAL OF 12,500?? IS IT MAKING A DIFFERENCE?
WE TRULY BELIEVE THAT
“Every single student that is ‘saved’ by our efforts, is a LIFE and future career that is ‘saved’”
“YES WE ARE MAKING A DIFFERENCE!”
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SUCCESS STORY OF MR TONA LERATO MPHASHA
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Corporate Affairs and Marketing (CA&M) Brand and Event Management
CONCLUSION
FACULTY OF HUMANITIES
2013•Decrease academic exclusions with 46%•Overall success rate of 80%
We strongly believe that student success does not ONLY depend on effective teaching and learning
Focus should be on the whole learning and living environment
Using students as guides and role models is one effective way in addressing the problem of poor academic performance
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