Responding to Covid‑19: Experiences of Ashesi University’s Student Affairs Team

• Main Authors: Millicent Adjei, Nina Nana Aba Pels, Vanessa Nana Darkoa Amoako
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Journal of Student Affairs in Africa 2021-06-01
• Series: Journal of Student Affairs in Africa
• Subjects: Ashesi University; Covid‑19; crisis management; remote learning; Student Affairs; student transitions
• Online Access: https://upjournals.up.ac.za/index.php/jsaa/article/view/1433

The Covid‑19 pandemic has revealed the abilities or lack thereof of many higher education institutions to adequately support the academic and co‑curricular needs of students in times of crisis. In this reflective practitioner account, Schlossberg’s Transition Theory is used to analyse the transitional experiences of students amid the Covid‑19 pandemic and how the Office of Student and Community Affairs (OSCA) team at Ashesi University successfully supported students as they navigated the academic semester. One-to-one interviews with department heads of the five OSCA units were conducted alongside focus group discussions with a cross-section of 17 students. The findings suggest that (i) advising, (ii) engagement, and (iii) timely online support interventions contributed immensely to students’ success in transitioning from in‑person to remote learning.