Call for papers and workshop: Student representation in Africa

STUDENT REPRESENTATION IN HIGHER EDUCATION GOVERNANCE IN AFRICA
Editors:
Thierry M Luescher-Mamashela (University of the Western Cape, South Africa),
Manja Klemenčič (Harvard University, USA) and
James Otieno Jowi (Moi University, Kenya)
Contact: thierryluescher@outlook.com

With this Special Call for Papers we seek proposals for original research articles, especially case
studies, that investigate the topic of student representation in higher education governance in
Africa. Accepted papers will be published in a special issue of the Journal of Student Affairs in
Africa and, in some cases, included in the 2014 African Minds book on Student Representation in
African Higher Education. Student representation is typically seen as one of the key aspects of
higher education governance across the globe, and it is essential for a full understanding of higher
education politics and policy-making.

Higher education governance operates a various levels: at supra-national or regional level, at
national or system level, and at institutional and sub-institutional levels. Representing student
interests may take different forms – ranging from protest action to student membership in formal
decision-making structures. At institutional level, student representation is typically formally
organised in structures of student government such as a Students’ Representative Council (SRC),
Student Guild or Student Union government. Members of these bodies may participate in the
formal university governance structures: as student representatives in council, senate/academic
council, various committees and other fora. In addition, they may have a special relationship with
the university top management, either directly through consultative meetings or mediated by
student affairs officers like a dean of students. SRCs and Guilds may provide student services
beyond representation and arrange student activities. The extent of student representation in
university governance is often formally provided for in a higher education act, a university private
law or charter, an institutional statute and the rules of the university.

At system level, national student political organisations, which usually take the form of a national
association or union, stand out because of their claim to the representation of all students. Their
representatives may participate in higher education governance in national bodies that deal with
quality assurance, student bursaries/funding, and the like. They may have special relationships
with actors in national government, or with certain political parties or other social groups, that may
enhance their influence but conversely compromise their independence. While there are
undoubtedly commonalities across countries, there are also significant historical differences
between countries and broad regions (e.g. Francophone vs. Anglophone Africa; North, East,
Central, West and Southern Africa), in terms of the characteristics of the student representational
systems: how many associations compete to represent students at national level; what are their
organisational characteristics; and which ones are accepted as representing the general student
body by formal sector bodies, government and institutional managements. Furthermore, the
structure and characteristics of the higher education policy processes differ significantly and with
them the legitimacy, role and influence of representative student associations. The extent of
student representation at system level may also be provided for in laws and regulations governing
the sector.

Students who aspire to become members of an official student representation structure like an
SRC or represent students nationally usually have to be elected into position. In some universities
and some national organisations, a potential candidate may need to be a member of a student
political organisation to be eligible for election; even where there is no such requirement, the
backing of a specific constituency or a student organisation may be a requisite to gain enough
votes. If a student political organisation is affiliated to a particular national political party, a complex
set of relations and mutual expectations may ensue; conversely, there are student organisations
that predominantly (or exclusively) represent a distinct local regional, ethnic or religious group.
Unpacking the complex relationships between national political parties and other politically relevant
groupings, on the one hand, and student political organisations and student leaders, on the other
hand, in so far as these relations impact on the representation of student interests, is among the
focal points of this Special Call for Papers.

Thus, the overall objective of the proposed Special Call for Papers is to map out and compare
across the African continent recent changes in the higher education landscape overall and the
different models of how students as a collective body are organised at both, institutional and
national levels; how their interests are aggregated, articulated and intermediated into institutional
and national policy processes; and what the role of political parties and other organised social
groups is in student representation.

Research Questions
In particular, the featured papers will engage with two specific questions:
- How has the expansion of higher education, the massification of existing public institution,
admission of private students (and in some institutions the creation of ‘parallel’ student bodies),
and the mushrooming in private higher education institutions, affected student representation in
different countries at systemic and institutional level in Africa?
- How do campus-based and national student representative organisations relate to political
parties and/or social cleavages in society (e.g. regional, religious, ethnic)? How do they uphold
their legitimacy to represent the student voice? How do they uphold their organisational
autonomy? Who are their members? Where do they get their financial and other resources
from? How many resources do they have? How do they fare in managing these resources to
the benefit of students?
These questions can be addressed as single-country/single-university case studies or using
multiple case studies. In each case it will involve outlining first the formal governance structures.
The proposed Special Call builds on current empirical and theoretical work in various forums:
- CODESRIA’s investigations into higher education governance in East, West and Southern
Africa
- the Special Issue of the European Journal of Higher Education on Student Representation in
Western Europe (EJHE 2(1), 2012) and the forthcoming Special Issue of Studies in Higher
Education on Student Representation in a Global Perspective (Studies in Higher Education
2014)
- Previous work by the HERANA Network on Higher Education and Democracy and the Centre
for Higher Education Transformation, Cape Town, on Student Leadership and Governance in
Africa.
The Special Call for Proposals offers an opportunity for further developing current frameworks for
studying student representation in the African context, taking into consideration the different
characteristics of higher education systems, institutions, and traditions of student representation in
this context. Overall, the Special Issue of the Journal of Student Affairs in Africa and the proposed
book on Student Representation will contribute to the re-emerging body of literature focusing on
students’ political agency, and especially on the institutionalised forms of student political
behaviour with a special focus on Africa.

Process and Timelines
Proposals for manuscripts containing an outline of the intended article (max 400 words) and a CV
or short biography of the authors should be sent by 30 November 2013 to
jsaa_editor@outlook.com or thierryluescher@outlook.com and mention in the subject line Special
Issue: Student Representation. Authors will be notified by 15 January. Final articles of approx.
5000 words are due by 31 July 2014.
Authors will be invited to a special 3-day authors’ workshop/colloquium in Cape Town, South
Africa, to present their pre-final papers in April/May 2014. Other events (e.g. book launches) may
be offered if funding permits.
Final papers will be published either in the 2014 African Minds book on Student Representation in
African Higher Education or in the Special Issue on Student Representation of the Journal of
Student Affairs in Africa. All papers to be published in the Journal Special Issue and the Book will
benefit from the author development workshop, undergo a rigorous editorial process, and doubleblind
review process.

About the Editors
Dr Thierry M Luescher-Mamashela is former Vice-President of the University of Cape Town
Students’ Representative Council (SRC) and a former N.E.C. member of the South African Union
of SRCs. He is Senior Lecturer in Higher Education Studies and Political Studies at the University
of the Western Cape and Senior Researcher/Project Leader at the Centre for Higher Education
Transformation, Cape Town. He has guest edited (with Ben Turok) the special issue on Youth and
Students of the New Agenda: South African Journal of Social and Economic Policy in 2013 and
written several articles on higher education governance and
student politics in Africa. He acts as journal manager and co-editor
of the Journal of Student Affairs in Africa (in 2013/14).

Dr Manja Klemenčič is former Secretary General of the European
Students’ Union. She is a Researcher at Harvard Graduate School
of Education and Associate Research Fellow at Centre of
Educational Policy Studies, University of Ljubljana. Her
publications include guest editing of two special issues on student
governance in Western European and in global perspective
(European Journal of Higher Education 2(1) 2012 and
(forthcoming) Studies in Higher Education) and several articles and book chapters. She is also coediting
an edited volume on Student engagement in Europe: society, higher education and student
governance for Council of Europe's Higher Education Series (forthcoming in 2014), and working on
a book manuscript entitled Student Power in Europe. She will be editor-in-chief of the European
Journal of Higher Education from 2014.

Mr James Otieno Jowi has been a student leader at University of Oslo, Norway, and Moi
University, Kenya. He is the founding Executive Director and Secretary General of the African
Network for Internationalisation of Education (ANIE). He teaches Comparative and International
Education in the School of Education, Moi University, Kenya. He has published on the
internationalisation of higher education in Africa, as well as on matters of student leadership,
management and governance in higher education.

Deliverables
3-Day Workshop with Researchers / Authors / Editors
It is proposed that a 3-day workshop will be held in Cape Town with up to 15 sponsored
contributors to the book from across Africa (and a number of self-paying contributors). The
workshop will address four main issues:
1. Presentations of pre-final drafts from authors in a seminar format with respondents;
2. General matters related to the publication of the finished papers and further projects;
3. General topical matters in African higher education, higher education governance, and
student representation; the field of higher education studies and student affairs;
4. Specific matters related to academic publishing, academic writing, writing for international
journals (e.g. open vs. closed journals; bait-and-switch) and related funding issues.

Tentative Agenda for the Authors’ Workshop
Day 1 – Arrivals & Evening Programme
- Dinner with Welcome and Introductions
- Panel discussion: “Academic publishing in Africa: Access, funding, success” (Keynote speakers: Routledge;
African Minds; Funding Representative)
Day 2
- Key note 1: “Topical matters in African higher education, higher education governance, and student
representation” (Keynote speaker TBC)
- Presentation of Draft Papers
o Session 1 – morning
o Sessions 2 & 3 - afternoon
- Closing Presentation:
o Reflections on Sessions 1 – 3 presentations
- Dinner at Guest House
- Evening tour at UCT & Drinks at UCT Club (including interaction with UCT members & address by UCT senior
leadership and SRC President)
Day 3
- Key note 2: “Developing HE studies and Student Affairs in Africa”
- Presentation of Papers
o Session 4 –morning
o Sessions 5 & 6 -afternoon
- Closing Presentations:
o Reflections on Sessions 4 – 6 presentations: Emerging commonalities and differences
o General matters related to the publication of the finished papers
o Ongoing and further projects
- Dinner at Guest House.
- Evening tour to UWC & Refreshments (including interactions with UWC members)
Day 4 – Goodbyes & Departure

Proposed Contents of Publications
All papers are carefully edited and double-blind peer reviewed. The book publication will be
compiled first to ensure a coherent and representative selection of papers for the book; papers
dealing with student representation with regard to specific policies or in specific governing
structures as well as other papers will be prepared for publication in JSAA.
Book (ca. 200 pages – ca. 15 chapters)
 Preface
 Editorial Introduction
 Global and theoretical perspectives in context
o African student representation in context: Global perspectives, regional and local
realities; conceptual frameworks, normative foundations, empirical gaps
 Comparative, country and institutional case studies
o 10-15 case studies (representative of the main regions and institutional types)
 Conclusion
o Student representation in African higher education: emerging commonalities,
differences, and challenges (including considering converneces and divergences at
regional levels and in terms of institutional types)

JSAA Special Issue (ca. 100 pages – ca. 6 articles) www.jsaa.ac.za
- Editorial Introduction incl. brief review of ‘state of the topic’ re: theory & research.
- Country and Institutional Case Studies (especially those that could not be included in the book
due to overlaps)
- Student Representation in a National Policy sector/Body
- Student Finances, Quality Assurance, National Policy Advice; etc.
- Student Representation in a specific Institutional Governance Structures/Policy sector
- Council, Institutional Forum (SA), Senate
- Student governance sectors: Teaching & Learning, Residences, Finances, Discipline
- Reflective student affairs practioners’ and student leaders’ accounts

This project is supported by the Carnegie Corporation of New York.