PROMOTING STUDENT RETENTION AND ENGAGEMENT THROUGH STUDENT PARTNERSHIPS IN A FIRST YEAR TRANSITION PROGRAM: A UNIVERSITY CASE STUDY S. Pather University of the Western Cape (SOUTH AFRICA) Abstract This paper examines one specific question: How students as partners have contributed to the First Year Transition Program (FYTP), student engagement and retention. The partnership with senior students as First Year Transition Officers (FYTOs), First-Year Mentors (FYMs), and staff in the academic space at the selected university created a shared responsibility to first year student retention goals. This paper describes the new First Year Transition Program (FYTP) piloted in 2019 at the selected university. It further describes how the student partnership enhanced first-year student engagement, transition and retention. An interpretivist approach was used to collect qualitative data from the First Year Transition Officers (FYTOs) who are postgraduate students located in each of the seven faculties. Literature on students as partners framed and guided the institution’s first year transition program. This paper includes examples of how the more personalised and interactive approach of the FYTP enhanced peer engagement and active participation in academic support. The program also empowered the FYTOs as it improved their self-efficacy and confidence which resulted in the student leaders (FYTOs) taking ownership of the transition program that elevated it to enhance first year transition. The findings of this study indicate that a carefully designed and intentional use of students as partners in the FYTP can achieve successful results. The study demonstrates that the sharing nature of the reciprocal partnership with student leaders and academics, and the peer-to-peer supportive relationships increased feelings of acceptance, trust and mutual respect that contributed to the students’ sense of connectedness and engagement to the university. Keywords: Students as Partners, First Year Transition, Peer Mentoring. 1 INTRODUCTION For the last few years, a lot of emphasis has been placed on constructing Higher Education in a more collaborative manner. The #RodesMustFall movement followed by #FeesMustFall protests in 2015- 2016 signalled that higher education institutions in South Africa were moving at a very slow pace in transforming their institutions but more importantly the voices and engagement of students in the transformation process was lacking. The Fallist movement called for the opening up of higher education spaces to involve a more inclusive society. This meant that it was time for universities to re- define the student’s relationship with the institution. The shift was from viewing our students as clients to viewing our students as partners in learning, teaching and student success. We can no longer view our students as passive receivers of knowledge and as a matter of urgency; they need to become active agents in their own learning and in the development of their learning environment. According to Ramsden [1], the success of higher education institutions is dependent on meticulous, deliberate and strategic participation of students in partnership with academics to improve teaching and learning and in this way; it will also promote a sense of ownership and becoming partners. The concept of students as partners as defined by [2] “…is a ‘collaborative, reciprocal process through which all participants have the opportunity to contribute equally, although not necessarily in the same ways, to curricular or pedagogical conceptualization, decision-making, implementation, investigation, or analysis”. In South Africa, the South African Government’s Education White Paper 3 [3] has long promoted the idea of students as partners back in 1997. The White Paper highlighted an important aspect to imagine a democratic relationship between higher education and those it serves. It states in section 1.19 that, “The principle of democratisation requires that… the system of higher education and of individual institutions should be democratic, representative and participatory and characterised by mutual respect, tolerance and the maintenance of a well-ordered and peaceful community life. Structures and procedures should ensure that those affected by decisions have a say in making them, either directly or through elected representatives….” Therefore, it is with this in mind that I intentionally collaborated with senior students to envisage a first year transition program. The transition program Proceedings of ICERI2020 Conference 9th-10th November 2020 ISBN: 978-84-09-24232-0 3424