Managing the Link between Academic Development and the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning: The Case of South African Universities Alfred H. Makura 1* and Noluthando Toni 2 1 Central University of Technology, 2 University of Fort Hare, South Africa KEYWORDS Academic Development. University. Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL). Qualitative. Questaview. South Africa ABSTRACT The link between Academic Development (AD) and the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) in the South African Higher education quality context is as blurred as the conceptualisation of the terms. Academic development is a relatively ‘young’ discipline. It has come into being due to a wide variety of education pressures and needs locally and worldwide. Currently in South Africa, there appears to be no unified understanding of the purpose, role and practices among Academic Development practitioners. As such, managing AD practices is still quite ‘ad hoc’ and needs driven to the extent that even in one institution there are possible differences in how the practitioners conceptualise their roles and practices as data herein will show. Using three South Africa Universities and the ‘Best Practices’ frame of reference, this paper attempts to reveal the assumptions and perceptions that underline AD practitioners’ understanding of their (AD management) roles which ultimately shape their (scholarship of) teaching and learning practices. The intention is to establish if respective AD models and practices influence significantly on teaching and learning within respective institutions. Five purposively selected AD practitioners responded to a questaview that sought to unravel these assumptions and perceptions. Data were qualitavely analysed to discern trends if any. Recommendations and implications on higher education quality and access and teaching and learning policy are discussed within the context of the results. * Address for correspondence: Dr. A.H. Makura Central University of Technology, Free State, Faculty of Humanities, Department of Teacher Education P. Bag X 20539, Bloemfontein 9300 South Africa E-mail: alfrednyandoro@yahoo.com OR amakura@cut.ac.za INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND In 2004, the University of Fort Hare (UFH) through its Institutional Operational Plan (IOP), identified the Academic Development Pro- gramme and the Staff Development and Train- ing Programme among others, as projects that were at the time described as ‘vital interven- tions’ (Woods 2007: 2). These projects were to be located in the Teaching and Learning Centre (TLC) which was established in the same year. The strategic priorities of the Centre from the foundational years ranged from providing aca- demic support to both staff and students, ad- vancing curriculum renewal initiative through to the development of policies that promote teaching and learning excellence. The strategic priorities were further espoused in the structure/ organogram of the Centre. The practical impli- cations of the organogram were such that staff and teaching development activities were located in one unit, the Teaching Development Unit (TDU) whilst student support and learning were placed in another unit, the Learning Advance- ment Unit (LAU). The Teaching Development Unit (TDU) focused on capacitating academic staff on matters of teaching and learning. The then Learning Advancement Unit was born out of ‘well established Supplemental Instruction principles and processes’ (Skead 2006) that in- tegrated academic initiatives such as language and subject matter programmes in traditionally difficult courses (Makura et al. 2011). It used a peer collaborative strategy in offering academic support to students. The third unit, eLearning Unit, was conceived as a hub for blended learn- ing where electronic media initiatives would be explored and integrated into teaching and learn- ing. The units have since been amalgamated into a unitary entity. While the Unit system has been discontinued administratively (and replaced by a unitary/homogeneous one), the Teaching and Learning Centre’s mandate has not fundamen- tally changed. Academic staff continues to be capacitated on issues around teaching and learn- ing. The intention is to enable them to offer aca- demic support to some ‘lowly qualified and dis- advantaged’ students enrolled in a former Black university (Makura et al. 2011). Most of the stu- dents in the South African higher education © Kamla-Raj 2014 Int J Edu Sci, 6(1): 85-93 (2014)