Francois Strydom

Francois Strydom is the Senior Director of Teaching and Learning (CLT) at the University of the Free State. and is an advocate of technologically enhanced engagement. Professor Strydom's focus is on students and advocates strongly for making evidence based decisions, using digital tools. Strydom is also a member of the Higher Education Quality Committee (HEQC), a permanent sub-committee to the Council on Higher Education (CHE), who are responsible for the contested term “quality assurance”, as laid out in the Higher Education Act of 1997. Strydom's work aligns well with South Africa's National Development Plan.

Since 2007, Strydom has acted as the project leader for the South African Surveys of Student Engagement (SASSE), funded by the The Kresge Foundation. With a Doctorate of Philosophy, from Oxford University, Strydom has championed an evidence-based approach to the development and integration of graduate attributes into the curriculum. Since 2007, Strydom has worked on a student success project, entitled Siyaphumelela (we succeed) - in association with Dr Jenniffer (Jenny) Glennie, the founding executive director of SAIDE. This approach has proved very popular, with 20 out of 26 public universities, now adopting this data-informed approach to student success.