Laying the ground work: setting up a student mentoring programme

Abstract

Universities in South Africa take the issue of student success and progression from one year level to the next seriously. A high number of the 2011 cohort of first time entering students who were repeating their first year modules in 2012 at one university in South Africa prompted the conceptualisation of a mentoring programme to assist these students to pass their modules. The purpose of this paper was to establish lecturers’ impressions on this proposed programme and to lobby for buy-in before implementation. Designed in the qualitative research paradigm, the researchers held conversations with academics to obtain their impressions and recommendations on the proposed programme. Data were analysed through content analysis and revealed that some lecturers had positive views on the introduction of a mentoring programme while others saw it as an unnecessary burden. The paper recommends that there be extensive consultation with all affected stakeholders before introducing new interventions.