Exploring the benefits of digital student support services

Understaffed and frequently under-resourced, student services divisions in African universities have much to gain by looking beyond their traditional methods of service delivery to the use of digital platforms, according to a range of African academics interviewed by University World News.

Goski Alabi, president and co-founder of Laweh Open University College in Accra, Ghana, and former president of the African Council for Distance Education, said universities could use comprehensive online platforms for a range of key support functions such as registration, course selection, teaching and learning support, grade viewing, transcript requests, academic advising, payment systems, counselling, career services and even mental health support.

“Providing the convenience of digital services to students who can access them in their own space and time allows them to effectively manage their schedules, reduce stress and achieve a better balance between academic, personal and professional responsibilities,” Alabi said.

Timely support

“In the era of distributive educational systems and distance learning environments, there could be nothing as stressful as a student who is stuck on a technical issue that needs immediate resolution but with no one to assist because it is out of working hours,” she said.

“This is where a 24-7 support comes in handy. Digitisation of support services can allow for such timely support.”

Alabi said that, in Africa, digitalisation could make a big impact in the area of payment systems interoperability, which would require university-financial service providers and governments to collaborate. “The challenges and stress of payments by students are sometimes overlooked in student services,” she said.

Universities should go so far as to begin rethinking the support provided to students in the use of generative artificial intelligence (AI) as part of their support systems, a move that would require the “reskilling and retooling of staff (administrators and academics) as well as students”, she said.

Alabi’s optimism about the benefits of digitalisation of student services – and the possible use of AI – is supported by a range of higher education stakeholders.

Dr Birgit Schreiber, vice-president of the International Association of Student Affairs and Services and an associate member of the Higher Education Leadership and Management programme at Universities South Africa, told University World News a research consortium involving herself and colleagues from the European Union, United States and Africa was busy exploring the use of AI within student affairs to see how it is used – “and how best we can utilise this medium for better enhancement of student and institutional success”.

Autonomy and flexibility

For Dr Dumile Gumede, Durban (South Africa) University of Technology’s Faculty of Health Sciences research coordinator, digital platforms “provide users with autonomy in the use of student services and offer flexibility in the geographic location of the users, along with helping in the faster and wider distribution of student services”.

Lamese Chetty, academic adviser and educational psychologist at the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Stellenbosch University, also in South Africa, told University World News digital student support services could “provide access to information for students by the click of a finger rather than their waiting for an appointment – depending on the information needed.

“If a chatbot is used, pre-populated information (prepared by a professional) can be provided to a student allowing them to get the needed information and be able to make decisions in a timely manner.

“This will assist student support services, largely as they are understaffed and under-resourced, to reach the entire student population,” Chetty said.

Resource constraints

Asked about challenges to digitalisation of student services, Gumede said poor internet connectivity and limited technological skills could pose challenges for digital student services in resource-limited settings, due to inadequate supporting infrastructure.

“Digital literacy and proper infrastructure development are needed to deal with such challenges,” Gumede argued.

Chetty added that chatbot or digital platforms require constant checking and updating of data and information.

“This requires funding, designated IT systems or server to run such a system and training for staff … in student support services,” she said.

Chetty said strategic planning with student support staff should be conducted to plan for the specific resources and funding required to operate a digital service for support.

Guidelines for best practice

“I believe digitalising student support services will be a great benefit to student support staff as there is simply not enough staff in these spaces.

“However, it must be agreed on what information should be offered in a digital space compared to a one-on-one consultation as, often, students want to be heard and appreciate a confidential space to share and this cannot be constituted with a digital platform,” Chetty said.

Pointing to the benefits and limitations of digitalisation, Schreiber, who is also a member of the Africa Centre for Transregional Research at the Albert Ludwig University of Freiburg in Germany, said digital platforms provided “avenues for support and development and enable a much wider reach”. They were also “more affordable and convenient”, which could lead to an increase in engagement and contact.

“However, the quality of engagement is ‘digital’ and, thus, not quite as comprehensive as an in-person engagement,” Schreiber stressed.

“To ensure, that digital avenues are meaningful, we need to observe a number of principles and practices that ensure that the digital connection is impactful,” Schreiber said.

“We have a number of guidelines for good practice – for instance, the European Framework for Digital Competencies, but this is not entirely suitable for the African continent.

“We in Africa need to develop a framework that enables our best use of the digital world,” she noted.