You can count on us

As the country continues to grapple with funding issues in higher education, the University of Pretoria (UP)’s Accounting programme has developed an innovative student support programme called FIT. The programme involves the synergy of three funding and bursary programmes – FASSET Bursary Scheme, Ikusasa Student Financial Aid Programme (ISFAP) and the Thuthuka Bursary Fund (hence the acronym FIT).

The structure of the financial support provided by the funders differs slightly between these programmes, but they all include tuition fees, textbooks, accommodation, food, pocket money and wrap-around support.

According to Aneesa Carrim, Senior Lecturer and FIT Programme Coordinator: “The vision of the FIT team is to establish and maintain a reliable, approachable and exemplary support system for FIT students; thereby being a positive catalyst for these students to achieve academic success and become ‘FIT-for-life’. This effectively also means that we want to produce UP alumni who are well-rounded individuals, and employees who can function independently and effectively in the workplace.”

She adds that these programmes have chosen to work together and pool resources in order to optimise their reach. “We use the strengths of each team member to have a maximum support impact on our students. The FIT team is managed by four programme managers and is supported by an administrator and academic trainees.” While previous UP support programmes provided students with several additional academic interventions, 2017 marked a change in approach, sparked by the FIT vision and values, together with an acknowledgement that UP’s core offerings were more than sufficient to ensure students’ academic success. Instead, students required wrap-around (psychosocial) support.

As part of this wrap-around support, the FIT team now offers essential life skills sessions, which students on the programme are expected to attend regularly.

These include:

The 7 Habits course is one of the foundational pillars of support at UP. “It has been a game-changer for our students,” says Carrim. “Students receive their own 7 Habits textbook/

Aneesa Carrim

workbook, and there is also an app with many handy features. All the FIT team managers have been formally trained to present the course. Teaching the 7 Habits has enabled the team to establish a common skills language that can be used throughout the students’ time on the FIT programme. We believe the 7 Habits course helps students prioritise, plan and manage themselves better and gives them overall good life skills that will assist them even after their studies.”

These sessions are scheduled a few weeks before an exam or test series. These sessions are sometimes presented by the FIT team and at other times assistance is provided by other people at the University.

An internal UP provider called Enterprises UP presents these courses at a third-year level and keeps them basic. The course is intended to give students a good start rather than being fully comprehensive.

These sessions are presented by FIT managers and trainees and cover things like sleeping habits, physical activity and eating healthily. At times there are gender-specific sessions.

These motivational sessions are provided by chartered accountants who have branched out into different career paths. By sharing their journey they hope to inspire students to create their own inspirational path.

Leana du Plessis, Senior Lecturer and UP Thuthuka Programme Manager, adds that their priority is students’ academic responsibilities, such as tests and assignments, and that they plan their support initiatives around this. “We monitor all their class and test timetables and will never schedule an intervention which we don’t believe is essential for the development of the students.”

“As a team we believe our support to students is a constant work-in-progress,” Carrim says. “Every year we re-think our core support offering and try to be innovative and move with the times and student needs. We strive to make our students our first priority and we know that there is always room for improvement and learning. We believe that, like our students, we are also on our journey to become ‘FIT-for-life’.”

Authors: Aneesa Carrim and Leana du Plessis

The FIT team wants students to have and develop certain values in line with the FIT vision.