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Author biographies

Dr Olaide Agbaje is a postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Ali Mazrui Centre for Higher 
Education Studies at the University of Johannesburg and a part-time lecturer in the 
Department of Education Management and Policy Studies at the University of Pretoria, 
South Africa. Her research interests span across various aspects of higher education 
such as the internationalization of higher education, pedagogy in higher education and 
international student mobility in Africa.

Dr Ravichandran Ammigan, PhD, is the Associate Provost for International Programs 
and an Assistant Professor of Education at the University of Delaware, USA. With over 
20 years of experience in the field of international education, he currently directs the 
University of Delaware’s Center for Global Programs and Services and leads the university’s 
internationalization strategy and global engagement efforts. His main area of research is 
in international higher education, with a focus on student experiences and institutional 
support services. 

Ané Craven is a psychometrist at the Directorate of Student Development and Support 
and the Tshwane University of Technology in Pretoria, South Africa. Ané is actively 
involved in the Southern African Association for Counselling and Development in Higher 
Education (SAACDHE) in the portfolio of Regional Chair for the Gaunolanga Region. 
Her research interests include boredom and creativity in higher education, the contribution 
of non-cognitive factors to student success, and aligning career guidance and counselling 
with the demands of the 21st-century world of work.

Delecia Davids is a part-time lecturer in the Department of Curriculum Studies at 
Stellenbosch University, South Africa, and an Assistant Residence Head at the Academia 
residence on campus. She has presented work on Teacher Education as well as Student 
Affairs at national and international conferences. Delecia is a Mandela Rhodes Scholar, 
Ubuntu Dialogues Fellow, and a recipient of an honorary award from the International 
Golden Key Society for excellent achievement in Leadership, Service, and Academics. She 
is also a member of the SAERA Early Career Researchers committee.

Prof. Aslam Fataar is a professor in the Department of Education Policy Studies at 
Stellenbosch University, South Africa, and currently a Research and Development 
Professor in the university’s Transformation Office. He is a member of Stellenbosch 
University’s Council and of the Academy of Science of South Africa (ASSAf). Aslam is the 
Editor-in-Chief of the renowned journal, Southern African Review of Education.  He is HOD 
of the Department of Education Policy Studies at SU.

Megan Fredericks is a psychometrist at the Tshwane University of Technology in Pretoria, 
South Africa. Megan is a registered psychometrist with the Health Professions Council of 



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South Africa. She is currently the Administrator for the Southern African Association for 
Counselling and Development in Higher Education (SAACDHE), Gaunolanga Region. 
Megan’s research interests include self-regulation in online learning, 21st-century skills, 
students’ thinking and learning styles, career counselling, student risk and employability/
graduate skills and attributes.

Dr Paul Garton is a Visiting Assistant Professor of Quantitative Methods in the 
Department of Education Leadership, Management, and Policy at Seton Hall University, 
New Jersey, USA.

Thobile Hlengwa began practising child youth care in various residential settings from 
1991-1998. During this period, she obtained her first qualification in Child Care through 
UNISA. Since then, she has been actively involved as a practitioner and continually 
modernized her qualifications in Child Youth Care at institutions across South Africa, such 
as the Durban Institute of Technology, the University of Cape Town and the University 
of KwaZulu-Natal. Thobile has worked as a lecturer in Child Youth Care (CYC) at the 
Durban University of Technology in KwaZulu-Natal since 2007.

Dr Sophia Maria Holtzhausen is a senior lecturer and researcher with 26 years of 
experience in higher education studies, quality assurance, and policies. She obtained 
her second PhD (article option) in 2021. She manages and facilitates the Postgraduate 
Diploma in Higher Education and Life Skills teaching for Teacher Education students. 
Dr Holtzhausen is a coordinator and supervisor of inter-disciplinary master’s and doctoral 
students at the Department of Curriculum Studies and Higher Education in the Faculty of 
Education, University of the Free State, South Africa.

Ilse Karsten is a lecturer in the Department of Accountancy at the University of 
Johannesburg, South Africa, with 20 years’ experience in higher education student support. 
This also was the focus of her PhD, awarded in 2018. Most of her academic career has been 
dedicated to coordinating the Thuthuka Education Upliftment Fund at the University 
of Johannesburg. This initiative is run by SAICA (South African Institute of Chartered 
Accountants) and prioritises the promotion of transformation within the profession of 
charted accountancy.

Dr Jacob Lemon is the Interim Director of Assessment & Analytics within the Division of 
Student Affairs at the University of Utah, USA. He also serves as an Adjunct Professor in 
the Department of Educational Leadership and Policy at the University of Utah.

Prof. Thierry M. Luescher is the Research Director for Post-schooling in the Inclusive 
Economic Development Division of the Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC), 
Cape Town, and an affiliate Associate Professor in Higher Education Studies at the 
University of the Free State (UFS), Mangaung, South Africa. Before that, he was Assistant 



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Director for Institutional Research at the UFS, a Senior Lecturer in Higher Education 
Studies and extraordinary Senior Lecturer in Political Studies at the University of the 
Western Cape, and a Senior Researcher in the Centre for Higher Education Transformation 
(CHET), Cape Town. He has a Postgraduate Diploma in Higher Education from the UFS 
and obtained his PhD in Political Studies from the University of Cape Town. Thierry is an 
NRF-rated researcher with expertise in higher education studies, policy and governance, 
the student experience, student politics, student affairs, and higher education development 
in Africa. He is a founder and editor of the Journal of Student Affairs in Africa, and member of 
the editorial boards of the Journal of College Student Development, Makerere Journal of Higher 
Education and African Higher Education Dynamics. Thierry recently edited the books Student 
Politics in Africa: Representation and Activism (with M. Klemenčič and J.O. Jowi, 2016) and 
Reflections of South African Student Leaders, 1994-2017 (with D. Webbstock and N. Bhengu, 
2020). His publication list and links to open access downloads can be viewed at www.
thierryluescher.net.

Dr Henry Mason is a social science researcher at the Tshwane University of Technology 
in Pretoria, South Africa. He is registered as a research psychologist and psychometrist 
with the Health Professions Council of South Africa and holds a Y-rating from the 
National Research Foundation (NRF). His research interests include positive psychology, 
specifically emphasising purpose, meaning, and eudaimonic well-being in relation to 
student development theory, self-regulation applied to the learning process, and research 
methodology and ethics.

Andile S. Masuku is currently employed as a Student Development Officer in the 
Department of Student Governance and Development of the Durban University of 
Technology in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. He is also part of a Hlomisa Scholarship 
Programme for Postgraduate Studies and Leadership Development coordinated under 
the Office of the Vice-Chancellor Thandwa Mthembu. He is a coordinator of a Saturday 
tutorial education programme in the Department of Student Governance. In 2021, the 
programme was recognized as a top 10 community engagement project by the Office of 
the Deputy Vice-Chancellor: Research, Innovation and Engagement.

Siphesihle Mbhele is a PhD candidate in Criminology and Forensic Studies at the 
University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN), Durban, South Africa. His research interests 
include student movements, violence during student protest action, community safety and 
security, violence against members of the LGBTQIA community, and digital forensics. 
He is a member of the Criminological Society of Africa (CRIMSA) and the Community 
Engagement Committee of the School of Built Environment and Development Studies 
(SoBEDS) at UKZN.

Yonela Mlambo is a MasterCard scholar, and MA candidate completing the Theories of 
Justice and Inequality MPhil Programme in Sociology at the University of Cape Town, 



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South Africa. He also works as an academic tutor in the field of Sociology and his research 
interests lie in pedagogy studies.

Prof. Teboho Moja is Clinical Professor of Higher Education at New York University. 
She is also a Visiting Research Fellow, Centre for the Advancement of Scholarship at the 
University of Pretoria (South Africa), and an Extraordinary Professor at the Institute of 
PostSchool Studies, University of the Western Cape (South Africa) Her teaching experience 
includes high school and university levels. Teboho has held key positions at several South 
African universities, including being appointed Chair of the Council of the University 
of South Africa. She has held positions as Professor Extraordinaire at the University of 
Pretoria, the University of Johannesburg and the University of the Western Cape, and 
has been Visiting Professor at the University of Oslo (Norway) and the University of 
Tampere (Finland). She was instrumental in setting up the Centre for Higher Education 
Trust (CHET) in South Africa and is currently serving as Chair of its board. In addition, 
she has served on the boards of international bodies such as the UNESCO Institute for 
International Education Planning and the World Education Market. She has also served as 
Executive Director and Commissioner to the National Commission on Higher Education 
(1995-1996) appointed by President Mandela. Before joining New York University, Teboho 
served as a special advisor to two ministers of education in post-1994 South Africa. She has 
authored several articles on higher education reform issues in areas such as the governance 
of higher education, policy processes, and the impact of globalisation on higher education, 
and co-authored a book on educational change in South Africa. She is a founding member 
and Editor-in-chief of the Journal of Student Affairs in Africa.

Dr Sapna Naik is an Assessment Analyst in the Division of Student Success at the 
University of Texas at San Antonio in San Antonio, Texas, USA.

Dr Sylvia Kabumle Ocansey has over 15 years of counselling and teaching experience, 
specialising in adolescent and youth development. She is both a counsellor and a lecturer in 
the Department of Guidance and Counselling at the University of Cape Coast in Ghana. 
She also has several academic publications in counselling and other key social areas to 
her name.

Dr Birgit Schreiber is a member of the Africa Centre for Transregional Research at 
AlbertsLudwig-Universität Freiburg, Germany, and the vice-president of IASAS, the 
Executive Editorial for the Journal of Student Affairs in Africa, a consultant for Higher 
Education Leadership and Management, and for Stellenbosch University, where she is 
leading the Secretariat for the International Network for Town and Gown Universities. 
Prior to this, she was the Senior Director of Student Affairs at Stellenbosch University and 
the Director of the Centre for Student Support Services at the University of the Western 
Cape (UWC) in Cape Town. She holds a PhD from UWC. Birgit has published in national 
and international academic journals and books on student support and development, 



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has presented research papers and keynotes in national and international conferences, 
and has given lectures at UC Berkley, the University of Leuven, and the University of 
Oslo. She was a visiting scholar at the UC Berkeley, where she was involved in their 
Student Affairs department. She has been a member of the national executive of various 
professional organisations, including the South African Association of Senior Student 
Affairs Professionals (SAASSAP), and the Southern African Federation of Student Affairs 
and Services (SAFSAS).

Prof. Maximus Monaheng Sefotho has contributed to the development of the 
competency framework for career development practitioners. He works in career 
transitioning from home and into the world of work of differently abled persons. Prof. 
Sefotho is an Associate Professor specialising in Career Guidance and Disability in the 
Department of Educational Psychology at the University of Pretoria, South Africa.

Prof. Chika Sehoole is a professor of higher education and Dean of the Faculty of 
Education at the University of Pretoria, South Africa. His research interests can be found 
in the areas of higher education policy, internationalization of higher education, higher 
education in Africa and globalization of higher education. He has served in several 
international research projects focusing on higher education in Africa and providing 
expertise from the South African and African perspectives.

Prof. Ephraim Kevin Sibanyoni is a professor and researcher in the Department of 
Corrections Management at the University of South Africa (UNISA), Pretoria, South 
Africa. He is a member of the Criminological Society of Africa (CRIMSA); the All 
Africa Criminal Justice Society, and the International Criminology Society. His research 
interests include human trafficking and muthi murder (mainly of people with albinism for 
the use of their body parts in creating traditional medicine), gender-based violence, sexual 
offences committed by children against other children, male-on-male sexual violence in 
correctional services, victim profiling, and offender profiling.

André van Zyl is the Director of the Academic Development Centre (ADC) at the 
University of Johannesburg (UJ), South Africa. His career in higher education at UJ 
began in 2004 and has since been defined by roles related to first-year student integration. 
His research interests include first-year student transition and success in the South 
African higher education environment and the interface between the students and their 
institutional environments.

Nico Venter is a counselling psychologist in the Department of Student Counselling and 
Development at the University of the Free State. 



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Dr W.P. Wahl has more than 20 years’ experience in Student Affairs, with a scholarly focus 
on higher education student development, especially in developing countries. He currently 
serves as the Director: Student Life at the University of the Free State, South Africa.

Dr Matthew R. Wawrzynski is professor of Higher, Adult, and Lifelong Education in the 
Department of Educational Administration at Michigan State University, USA. Wawrzynski 
co-leads an international professional collaborative experience to Nelson Mandela 
University, South Africa. Also, he is Principal Investigator for the USAID Higher Education 
Career Development Initiative in Mozambique.

Dr Nomkhosi Xulu-Gama is a senior lecturer at the University of Cape Town in the 
Sociology Department and Honorary Research Affiliate at the Durban University of 
Technology, both in South Africa. Her recent publications include a co-edited book titled 
Migration in Southern Africa: IMISCOE Regional Reader. 


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