The focus of the Student Development Unit is leadership development and mentorship of students. Students are exposed to a wide range of opportunities to acquire additional life skills to equip them to perform optimally in all spheres of life.
The Unit oversees and manages various student structures which arrange organised student life activities and events. Each of these structures concentrates on different aspects of student life to enhance and add value to the student experience at UP. The Unit follows a carefully thought-out leadership and training programme that concentrates on developing those students who serve as committee members in each of the structures. At the end of their term, these students have developed leadership skills which equip them for the workplace and many of our students also use their skills and experience to become successful entrepreneurs and businesspeople.
All aspects of organised student life must be aligned with the vision and mission of UP, and based on the following values:
• Integrity • Accountability • Fairness • Excellence • Inclusivity • Diversity • Social Justice • Responsible citizenship • Community Service • Entrepreneurship
The unit is responsible for overseeing and managing the following organised student life leadership structures:
Day houses offer non-residence students the opportunity to take part in organised student life activities such as RAG, sport, cultural and social events. An annual membership fee is payable by students.
The official day houses on campus are Docendo, Dregeana, Luminous and Vividus.
By default, all students (day and residence students) belong to the faculty house of the faculty in which they are registered. Faculty houses have an academic focus and play an essential role in linking students and lecturers in the faculty.
There are no membership fees payable to join a faculty house, but students have the option to purchase items such as T-shirts or to attend camps and other events for which fees are charged. The faculty house also serves as a link with the sub-houses and the Class Representative System in the faculty.
The nine faculty houses are as follows:
PDBY is the official student newspaper at UP. Students on the editorial committee receive formal training on how to run a newspaper. Around 2000 copies of the newspaper is printed per edition apart from the digital content available on their website.
These committees are responsible to plan and execute the big organised student life events on campus in which all students can participate through their various leadership structures. The committees are:
Cultural events organised by this structure includes the annual first-year concert (1nSync), debate competition, UP Arts exhibitions such as Nothing but Vernac and the annual A Capella concert in which the residences, day houses and faculty houses competes.
The sport committee arranges various sport league tournaments in which residences and day houses compete. They also host an annual disabilities sport week and the UPLympics event.
The annual RAG of Hope day takes place at the start of the academic year and all organised student life structures take part to raise funds for their outreach projects. The committee also oversees the various outreach projects by the students and host a RAG Ambassador event towards the end of the academic year.
This programme train senior students to become mentors to first-years. The aim of the programme is to assist first-years mentally and emotionally with a view to improve their academic performance.
Golden Key
BOLD
To find out more about the Student Development model click on the following link:
//www.up.ac.za/media/shared/385/ZP_Resources/student-development-model.zp168944.pdf
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