Siyaphumelela RFP 2023

Proposal: Current Participants and Associates

Your proposal must include a narrative that addresses your institution’s capacity in the following areas:

A coherent approach to student success: The narrative should outline a comprehensive approach to enhancing student success that addresses all priorities listed below.
Institutional research infrastructure: Describe the existing infrastructure within the university for institutional research.
Data utilisation for student success: Explain the university's plans for using data to improve student success, including data collection, analysis, and action.
Alignment with national efforts: Highlight how the proposed effort complements existing national initiatives aimed at improving the quality of teaching and learning, as led by the Council for Higher Education and the Department of Higher Education and Teaching.

Please complete the online form. Once completed please create a PDF for your Vice Chancellor's signature and forward your Concept Document to info@siyaphumelela.org.za.

1.	Institutional Profile A summary of your institution within the South African higher education system and its responses to the challenges surrounding student success. You should give a brief introduction to the university and a candid assessment of the challenges it faces regarding student success given its unique context in a differentiated higher education system.
1.a.	Discuss the registered student profile for 2023, including the percentage of students from traditionally disadvantaged backgrounds (NSFAS funded and school quintiles 1 to 3, if available), the percentage of first-generation university students (if first-generation data is collected through surveys, or at registration, then include those percentages and state which surveys (BUSSE, SASSE, etc.) were used to collect the first-generation data), gender (male, female, unspecified) and the percentage of students in university-sponsored residence halls.
1.b.	Discuss what your university feels are its most significant challenges to student success, and how these challenges have been identified, including a discussion and analysis of audited student success data, including retention, success and throughput rates (n, n+1 and n+2) for 3- and 4-year diplomas and degrees.
1.c.	Detail the amount, activities and duration of support the university sought from the DHET’s University Capacity Development Grant, other funding entities, and the university itself, to support student success.
2.	Integration Plan and Stakeholder Agreement Describe how your institution would use this grant opportunity to make improvements to its data collection tools that can be of value to its own and other institutions to support student success. Your plan should take into consideration the activities suggested below. Indicators to monitor institutional development for student success need to be clearly articulated. How your university will strengthen, standardise and integrate data analytics, including data on high-impact modules and utilise data to design evidence-based student support interventions? What structures were put in place to oversee student success and include an analysis of its accomplishments and how it proposes to move forward in this regard? How your university will encourage typically disconnected Information and Communications Technology, Institutional Research, Academic Development, Student Services, Planning and Academic units to work together to improve student success and what incentives it will employ? How your university will sustain changes that occur during the life of the grant after it concludes? How your university will incorporate student views and voices into this work (this might include participation on a university student success task force, surveys and focus groups with students when evaluating high-failure courses)? How you will use open-source approaches to support the development of tools for the wider Siyaphumelela network. How your university will integrate a robust Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning framework to measure the impact of initiatives?
3.	Objectives Identify at least three or four student success objectives for the next three years. For each objective provide: Description and motivation Provide a description of the problems/challenges/developmental needs that the objective seeks to address and how the objective aims to address these challenges or problems. Goal/s and indicators Provide a succinct statement of the objective and what it wishes to achieve, and what activities will be undertaken in pursuit of the objective. Indicate how the activities will contribute towards the objective. Include indicators for knowing whether the objective has been met. Target group Provide a precise description of the intended target group or beneficiaries of the objective. Budget Include a three-year budget aligned to each objective.
3.a.	Objective 1 Budget 1
3.b.	Objective 2 Budget 2
3.c.	Objective 3 Budget 3
3.d.	Objective 4 Budget 4
3.e.	Other Budget Costs Other costs for achieving the overall aims of the Siyaphumelela Network. Would your institution require a Coach?

YesNo	Setting and achieving institutional targets and implementing strategies to improve retention, course success and throughput rates for degrees and diplomas, and to eliminate differences based on race, gender and socio-economic status.
YesNo	Providing annual data on the above disaggregated based on race, gender and socio-economic status, using provides templates.
YesNo	Participate fully in Siyaphumelela 3.0 Network activities by sharing data and experiences with other grantees on student success; providing unaudited student data to the National Student Data Warehouse to support reporting and the development of student success dashboards; and providing required reports and participating in evaluation and dissemination activities within the Network
YesNo	Include student success in your institutional strategic and operational plans.
YesNo	Establish a broadly representative student success committee or task force (if not already in-place) comprising representatives of institutional research, information and communications technology, academic development, student services, planning, academic divisions, students, and a senior member of the university’s executive team.
YesNo	Communicate and disseminate information about the student success initiative in your institution.
YesNo	Either the institution’s Vice-Chancellor or appropriate Deputy Vice-Chancellor will attend the annual student success conference.
YesNo	Set in motion plans to scale up student success efforts across the university based on evaluation and other evidence of effectiveness.
YesNo	Provide information on how the institution could support both the sub- and national networks, for example by providing services to the Siyaphumelela Network to build capacity in particular areas, developing new tools and resources for the Siyaphumelela Network, and leading or supporting a Siyaphumelela regional network that shares promising practices, and insights and learns how to support student success better.
YesNo	Present at least two short courses or workshops per annum.