Academic success and student success: A correlating framework

Many research papers and government reports have drawn a direct association between student success and teaching quality. In turn, effective academic development has been shown to improve teacher ability, and hence teaching quality. However, academic development and support is not routinely provided by universities and, when it is, it tends not to be systematically integrated into a comprehensive framework [Fraser, 2016; Chalmers et al., 2003]. This paper develops a coherent framework for enabling academic success by adapting Kift and Nelson el al.’s [2010] framework for student success to the context of academic work. Its central pillars include providing engaging curriculum, ensuring access to support, and fostering a sense of belonging. A fourth dimension is added: recognising and sharing good teaching practice. The resulting Academic Success Framework (ASF) can be applied to multiple contexts of academic staff capability building, however it is illustrated here in the form of a holistic program for sessional teachers: the Sessional Success Program (SSP) at an Australian university: Queensland University of Technology (QUT). Tracing the iterative extension and refinement of program elements, as they cohere around the ASF, the paper illustrates how a multifaceted and holistic program can be incrementally developed over time. Then, by drawing on immediate and longitudinal evaluations and other sources of institutional data, it presents evidence of the impact on participants’ ability to engage students in learning, foster an inclusive and supportive learning environment, facilitate student success, and enable retention. The paper concludes with a discussion on the return on investment and strategic benefits for universities in programmatically implementing the ASF. This includes gains in teaching quality; improved student satisfaction, success, and retention; and enhanced organisational culture and capital.