The First term has been a learning period for me as the President of the SRC. I arrived on the 8th January before the team to ensure that my council was ready as of the 14th January to deal with appeals and the preparation of O-week.
As president, my role is to ensure communication occurs between the Student Representative Council and members of the 老虎机游戏_pt老虎机-平台*官网 especially management. I had engagements around Financial Appeals with the Deputy Vice-Chancellor. I engaged with the Registrar around the issue of the return of Zimbabwean students. Registration came with challenges that were not anticipated. A communique issued by the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) had created some confusion around late applications that had been resolved through the assistance from the South African Union of Students (SAUS). This allowed for more NSFAS students to register at our institution. One of my roles is to also deliver a welcome address to the first years and their parents, guardians, and sponsors.
Rhodes 老虎机游戏_pt老虎机-平台*官网 welcomed its new Sports Manager, I recognized this was an opportunity for the SRC to partner with Sports Admin especially with the institution adopting sports as a new pillar. This introduction with the manager raised matters that the SRC could assist with. We hope this will be a step in creating a healthy relationship with Sports Admin.
The Centre for Higher Education Research, Teaching and Learning (老虎机游戏_pt老虎机-平台*官网) extended invite to the SRC to speak on students learning experience with the new academics. I attended this session with the Treasurer General and the Activism and Transformation Councillor. As the SRC we saw this engagement as an opportunity to engage with academics on the changing demographics of the student body.
The SRC is based under the Division of Student Affairs and my role as President is to ensure I raise student matters with the Director and the Manager: Student Services. I have frequent informal meetings and consult with them to ensure matters that concern students are resolved quickly and efficiently before being escalated to the DVC. This year's SRC recognized a relationship needed to be built with the wardens as they engage with students as well and I hope this will be the beginning of a working relationship between the SRC and the wardens. We also welcome a working relationship with Hall Administrators as they assist in our communication with the student body.
In accordance with the Constitution of the Students, I am required to ensure that the SRC has a good public relation and liaise with relevant stakeholders to ensure this responsibility is fulfilled. The Vice-President and I attended two meetings with the three other tertiary institutions of the Eastern Cape. We discussed the future of Intervarsity and finalizing the Intervarsity Constitution. This document will guide future SRCs and Sports departments and formalizing this important event. Also, part of liaising, the SRC has agreed to partner with the International Peace Youth Group, we hope this partnership will provide fruitful engagement and an opportunity to engage with the wider Makhanda community.
The Treasurer General and I attend weekly Financial Cluster meetings with the SRC Financial Administrator to ensure that we keep within our budget of 2019. The Vice-president and I were part of the Societies Chairs’ Training and we conducted a presentation on Student Governance structure which is part of our mission of student leadership development.
I delivered a report at Council on the state of NSFAS at Institutions of Higher Education. This was based on Rhodes SRC Involvement with SAUS on the issue. Our SRC was working tirelessly using internal processes to mitigate and resolve the various issues that brought many institutions to a standstill. The Minister of Higher Education has since made funds available to assist with historical debts. We continue to raise issues within the institution around matters that impact students that come from marginalized backgrounds. The Oppidan Councillor and I have been involved in engagements with 老虎机游戏_pt老虎机-平台*官网 authority around the issue of transportation for Oppidan students. The Activism and Transformation Councillor and I attended a meeting of the four institutions of the Eastern Cape on the launch of an Anti-alcohol campaign where we represented Rhodes 老虎机游戏_pt老虎机-平台*官网.