Building universities for the future is a multifaceted process. It necessitates a continuous interrogation of assumptions about the role of universities in society, as well as critical, evidence-based reflection on their own processes and practices. Through its commitment to student success and quality teaching and learning, the Centre for Teaching and Learning (CTL) at the University of the Free State (UFS) is supporting the university in not only transforming the lives of its students but also contributing to a more just, equitable, and responsible societal future for all.
Prof Francois Strydom, Senior Director at CTL, believes that student success in the South African context is a social justice imperative. University education and qualifications are tools and enablers of social mobility for greater equality and is one of the most powerful ways to change the economic prospects of students, their families, and communities.
This aligns with South Africa’s National Development Plan (NDP), a long-term strategic plan that serves as the roadmap for securing the future of South Africans. The NDP views education as a key driver for achieving the country’s goals of eliminating poverty and reducing inequality. It emphasises a quality education system that spans from early childhood to tertiary education, which focuses on building human capabilities and providing equal opportunities, particularly for those previously marginalised in society.
The NDP aims to align educational and skills development with the needs of the economy, in highly competitive and increasingly globalised markets.
The aspiration of the NDP is for South Africa to have over 10 million university graduates with a minimum of a bachelor’s degree by 2030 – a 300 % increase from 2001. The majority of these new graduates need to be in the critical skills categories, such as engineering, actuarial science, medicine, financial management, and chartered accountancy. Higher education, as stated by the NDP, is thus the major driver of realising this vision as a major contributor to social and economic development.
Since the formation of CTL in 2012, its mission has been scholarship-driven innovation that promotes excellence in learning and teaching for student access with success. In this regard, the driving force behind CTL’s work has always been the pursuit of social justice. As an academic support service, CTL has a rare hybrid design that combines academic staff development with student success interventions. External reviewers have commended CTL for the excellence with which it delivers on its mission.
As a scholar in the multidisciplinary field of higher education, Prof Strydom’s leadership has focused on innovation driven by the latest research on how to build higher education environments in which academics and students can thrive and realise their potential. Co-creation and collaboration are integral to CTL’s foundational philosophy, which is reflected its ongoing engagement and responsiveness to the needs of academics and students.
Universities are complex organisations that have evolved but retained their basic raison d’être for centuries. They are comprised of talented individuals who require critical engagement and rigorous research to participate in change and innovation. In light of the complex challenges that face higher education data, evidence, and research are vital to be agile in the face of rapid, disruptive change.
Prof Strydom has been the principal re-searcher for the South African Surveys of Student Engagement (SASSE) since 2007. He has worked with George Kuh of the Center for Postsecondary Research at Indiana University in the US to contextualise the student engagement instruments in South Africa.
Student engagement research has helped create a multidisciplinary lens through which one can analyse the complex challenge of student success. It provided a research-driven approach that would put a data-driven student voice as a central pillar in institutional design while providing monitoring and evaluation data that could be used for evidence-based decision-making by universities. Change in universities could therefore be led using evidence instead of anecdote or opinion.
The SASSE project has helped make South Africa part of what is today a global community of student engagement higher education researchers. This has helped to ensure that student engagement and evidence-based decision-making are now regarded as critical components of the leadership, management and governance of universities today and in the future.
The SASSE project forms part of several research projects within CTL under the rubric of Evidence Based Change (EBC). These include the national blended learning research, bi-annual digital identity studies, student journey mapping, and more recently the use of AI in learning and teaching. The EBC also conducts research for the Department of Higher Education and Training, the Council on Higher Education and Universities South Africa as well as various international and local philanthropic foundations.
The SASSE informed the development of a contextualised framework for student success. A key component of enabling student success at scale is the introduction of high-impact practices (HIPs). HIPs are practices that enable students, especially those from disadvantaged backgrounds, to succeed and develop graduate attributes that make them more employable and critical citizens.
These high-impact practices have been scaled and linked to rigorous monitoring and evaluation tools using data analytics.
The CTL of the UFS has also been cited in the influential EDUCAUSE Horizon Report – Teaching and Learning Edition (2025) for the development of the self-paced, competency-based Digital Skills learning pathways for all students to become digitally literate.
This is critical as technological change, together with geoeconomic fragmentation, economic uncertainty, demographic shifts and the green transition – individually and in combination – are among the major drivers expected to shape and transform the global labour market of the future, according to the 2025 Future of Jobs Report. One of the key findings of the report indicates that expanding digital access is seen as the most impactful trend, with 60% of employers expecting it to change their business by 2030. Key technologies, such as AI and data processing (86%), robotics and automation (58%), and energy systems (41%), are also expected to bring about major changes. These trends will impact jobs in various ways – some roles will grow rapidly, while others may become obsolete. As a result, there will be strong demand for technology-based and technical skills, especially in AI and big data, cybersecurity, and general technology knowledge, which are expected to be the fastest-growing skill areas.
