TuksRes manager Lanché van Tonder has been selected as Globalisation Director of the Executive Board of an international fraternity of university housing officers. His appointment will see UP in the driving seat of internationalisation in the higer education housing arena.

The recent election of Lanché van Tonder to the Executive Board of the Association of College and University Housing Officers International (ACUHO-I) marks yet another milestone in the life of TuksRes and the University of Pretoria (UP).

Home to more than 17 000 professionals representing 3,2 million on-campus students from nearly 1 000 institutional members in 23 countries, ACUHO-I is the leading organisation of choice for campus housing and residence life professionals.

The appointment of Van Tonder – who is Manager: Residence Management and Student Life in UP’s Department of Residence Affairs and Accommodation (also known as TuksRes) – as Globalisation Director from 2023 to 2025 is the second appointment of a TuksRes official to ACUHO-I’s Executive since UP joined the international fraternity in 2006. Previously, Professor Roelf Visser, founding director of TuksRes, served as President of the ACUHO-I Southern African Chapter (2015 to 2017), while Bes Liebenberg, Manager: Student Support and Leadership Development, served as Globalisation Director (2017 to 2019) and is serving as the South African ambassador of ACUHO-I.

ACUHO-I is the oldest and largest association of university housing officers in the world. It saw its inception at a national conference of campus housing officers hosted at the University of Illinois in July 1949, and expanded internationally in the 1980s. This led to the “I” being added to its name, to signal its international status, having developed regional chapters such as the ACUHO-I SAC (Southern African Chapter). Participants from around the world participate in ACUHO-I conferences, with delegates coming from 23 member countries. In 2022, ACUHO-I launched its Ambassador Programme and appointed ambassadors in Australia/New Zealand, Botswana, Canada, China, Denmark, the Middle East, Poland, South Africa, the UK and the US.

Closer to home, 2004 ACUHO-I president Jack Collins attended the first Student Housing Conference in March 2006 at the then Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University in Port Elizabeth, now the Nelson Mandela University in Gqeberha. As a result, the relationship between ACUHO-I and ACUHO-I SAC was strengthened through an Interim Executive Committee headed by UP’s Prof Visser. In 2007, a memorandum of agreement was signed by the 2007 ACUHO-I president, Connie Carson, and Prof Visser. The first elected ACUHO-I SAC Executive Committee took office in May 2009 and the first Chief Housing Officer Forum was held in October 2009 in Cape Town. Since it was founded in March 2006, ACUHO-I SAC has grown to be the leading student affairs association in Southern Africa.

In 2011, UP won the ACUHO-I Presidential Service Award for being an exceptional member institution that has supported ACUHO-I over many years; that same year, the ACUHO-I SAC head office at TuksRes was launched.

While TuksRes leadership has held senior positions on the ACUHO-I Executive Board, these colleagues have brought to the organisation South Africa’s experiences in the higher education student accommodation sector with a view to contributing to international thinking and activity, while bringing home lessons learned from working alongside their peers in the international arena. Consequently, TuksRes colleagues have made remarkable contributions to thinking in the higher education residence and accommodation space.

With the COVID-19 pandemic having affected the university housing experience globally, ACUHO-I has engaged with the challenges this presented to its members and the sector. Through TuksRes’ involvement, the experiences in South Africa will now become integrated into discussions and deliberations on life after COVID-19. Other important developments, like gender-neutral admission practices and their concomitant implications for residence applications and placement, should also assist member institutions to engage with current challenges, seeking to make university residences reflective of contemporary sensibilities and respond to the ever-evolving needs of incoming student cohorts.

UP should expect greater visibility in these debates and embrace the opportunity to lead thinking and action both locally and internationally. With Van Tonder responsible for the globalisation portfolio on the ACUHO-I Executive Board, UP will be in the driving seat of internationalisation at a global level. This is an opportunity that needs to be utilised to the full in order to give South African higher education more visibility and reach among its peers in the university and college residence accommodation arena.