Effective Institutional Intervention Where It Makes the Biggest Difference to Student Success: The University of Johannesburg (UJ) Integrated Student Success Initiative (ISSI)

Abstract

Low levels of student success in South Africa have persisted as a seemingly intractable problem. Therehave been some gains in student success over time, but with a participation rate of approximately 18%,the current success rates still represent massive financial and human losses to the country. Internationallythere is a trend to move towards interventions that are more strongly data-informed at every step andthe available evidence indicates that these interventions are more likely to have the desired effect. Thisarticle reports back on the first 24 months of implementation of one such intervention, namely theIntegrated Student Success Initiative (ISSI), at the University of Johannesburg (UJ). The ISSI usesdata to inform every step of the process which includes planning, selection and targeted intervention andevaluating possible impacts. The ISSI is showing promise as an effective strategy for improving studentsuccess and is allowing the institution to focus its limited resources where they have the potential tomake the biggest difference.