An integrated project aimed at improving student success

Student academic success is an important issue in South African (SA) higher education (HE). The transition from school to HE is a critical time that a student must successfully negotiate in order ultimately to succeed at university. Tinto (1993) identified the first phase of the transition process as the separation phase during which the student starts the move away from the originating environment toward becoming integrated into the institutional community. Orientation programmes have traditionally been one way in which institutions have tried to assist students in adapting to the new environment. Orientation sessions have however not always had the practical effect of improving student success. This article reports back on a newly designed “true to life” extended orientation programme that was implemented during January 2008. The success of the programme was evaluated using student feedback and by tracking the academic performance of the students. After tracking student academic performance the performance of the students who took part in the orientation programme was compared with the academic results of those who did not attend. The extended orientation programme seemed to have positively contributed towards student success.