We Commit Ourselves To

Student

Transformation

Charter

Last updated:

19 August 2004

CHAPTER 1.

VALUES

We commit ourselves to:

1. Truth, fairness, consistency and integrity in both academic and other work and in all personal and institutional relationships;

2. Compassion, generosity and concern for the needs of the Aspirations of others, and in particular to the challenges faced by the less privileged in our society;

3. Respect and tolerance for cultural, religious, political and other differences and acknowledgement of the value of diversity in society;

4. Respect for individual privacy, dignity and the right to personal choice;

5. Intellectual honesty, vigour in debate, openness to alternate ideas and respect for other view, beliefs and opinions;

6. Commitment to high standards, personal fulfilment and the pursuit of excellence;

7. The protection and responsible use of the university assets and resources;

8. Concern for the personal safety, health and welfare of all members of the community and

9. The protection and conservation of the environment and natural resources.

CHAPTER 2.

Student Governance

Noting that:

1. The student parliament and the University Council have adopted the new student governance model that seeks to align student governance with the Higher Education Act (101) of 1997, as amended, after seven years of reviewing;

2. Much progress has been achieved in implementing this new constitution including the election of the 2003/4 SRC in the framework of this constitution;

3. Many student governance sub-structures have, however, not aligned themselves within the new framework;

4. Generally, student leadership structures have not aligned themselves into the new student governance model in theory and practice.

Believing that:

1. The reasons for the under-maximisation of student capacity in student governance can be ascribed to the nature of the student governance transition process, and the fact that a new vision for a transformed student governance has just been forged;

2. The weakening of student governance structures since 1994, and the resulting reduction in accountability of student leadership structures, has contributed to our under-maximisation of student leadership capacity in the institution;

3. Student leaders have not always had the benefit of clear programme of action to guide them;

4. The new vision of transformed student governance should be utilized as measure to guide student leaders, and to hold them accountable to their constituencies and uphold its principles and programmes.

This Student’s Transformation Summit therefore resolves:

To ensure that:

1. Student leaders meet on a regular basis as a caucus;

2. Caucus positions are taken in line with the student interests and aspirations and mandates of the relevant constitutional structures;

3. Every student leader should be properly equipped, trained and appropriately educated on the role of a student leader;

4. Student leaders who have been found guilty of misconduct as defined in the Code of Conduct and the Student Representative Council constitution should be barred from contesting any of the student governance positions at all levels.

All student leaders shall strive to achieve the following within each students’ leadership structure:

1. regular report backs and consultation with the relevant student constituency and affected stakeholders;

2. the eradication of gender discrimination within all student structures and empowerment of women student leaders;

3. the reorientation of student governance structures operation to the needs and interests of the disabled amongst us;

4. the promotion of clean administration and the prevention and eradication of all forms of corruption and nepotism;

5. The application of the principles of cooperative governance in regard to relations with the SRC, SRC sub-structures and Development Agencies.

Student Representative Council

Noting that:

1. The Higher Education Act recognizes the SRC as the statutory body in all institutions of higher learning;

2. Noting that the SRC is the primary governing body in relation to all student governance matters;

3. The SRC is democratically elected on a campus –wide election process that includes all student constituencies;

This Student Transformation Summit resolves that:

1. the SRC must be empowered to represent all students in the university in all matters affecting them;

2. the SRC must ensure that it represents all students, irrespective of their race, gender, creed, social status, physical or any other form of disability

3. the SRC must promote and uphold principles of transparency, accountability and democracy in student governance;

4. the SRC must ensure that the social, cultural and academic aspects of student life are promoted and upheld by all sectors within the institution;

5. the SRC must promote social and racial integration of students in all residences, faculties and other avenues in which students are found and participate;

6. The must promote and uphold democracy in all student structures in particular on matters relating to the election of leadership.

Student Assembly

Noting that:

1. the Student Assembly is a student structure established according to the SRC constitution to advise the SRC on policy matters and to ensure a collective voice of students in all matters relating to them;

2. the Student Assembly has binding powers to the SRC on decisions taken by two-thirds majority of the membership of the members;

3. The SRC must account to the Student Assembly on its activities, campaigns, programme of action and finances.

This Student Transformation Summit resolves that:

1. the Student Assembly must be empowered to ensure that views of all student structures are equitably represented in its deliberations and resolutions;

2. the Student Assembly must ensure that it represents all students, irrespective of their race, gender, creed, social status, physical or any other form of ability;

3. the Student Assembly must ensure that it promotes the involvement of women and disabled students in the all student structures;

4. the Student Assembly must continually engage the SRC and other stakeholders on the implementation of the SRC Constitutional structures;

SRC Sub-Structures

Noting that:

1. SRC sub-structures are house committees, undergraduate and postgraduate faculty committees, student societies, sport clubs, day houses and the respective sub-councils;

2. SRC sub-structures interact with students on day-to-day basis on matters affecting the respective student constituency;

3. The current SRC sub-structures continue, however, to be untransformed to meet the needs of a diverse student population in UCT.

This Student Transformation Summit resolves that:

1. SRC sub sub-structures must derive their mandate from the SRC and be accountable to the SRC;

2. all these structures must ensure that their leadership is democratically elected by students in the respective sub-structures and that all issues taken up by these structures are a reflection of the students voice;

3. the SRC sub-structures must promote involvement of women and disabled students in each of the student sub-structures, particular in leadership positions;

4. training and capacity building be consolidated to ensure a student leadership that represents students and is empowered to do so with excellence.

SRC Development Agencies

Noting that:

1. SRC development agencies are UCT RAG, SHAWCO, Varsity Paper and UCT Radio as prescribed in the SRC constitution;

2. SRC development agencies are not necessarily representative structures, however, they serve and relate to a diverse student population; interact with students a on day-to-day basis on matters affecting the respective student constituency;

3. The current SRC development agencies continue, however, to be untransformed to meet the needs of a diverse student population at UCT.

This Student Transformation Summit resolves that:

1. development agencies must ensure that their activities and focus serves the student population in its diversity;

2. past practices and activities of these structures must be reviewed to ensure that they promote inclusivity and general ownership by the student population;

3. the appointment of the leadership of these structures must ensure sufficient representation of women in particular and be reflective of campus student demographics in general;

4. these structures are accountable to the entire student body through a democratically elected SRC;

5. training and capacity building of the office bearers in these structures must be consolidated to ensure that the services and/or products of these structures are professional;

6. media organisations that are defined as development agencies must focus on promoting UCT student’s issues in aspects of academia, culture, social activities, sports and student leadership;

7. these SRC development agencies are accountable to the students through the SRC.

Student Development Office

Noting that:

1. the Student Development Office offers a wide variety of opportunities for student leadership development that complement the classroom experience to ensure lifelong learning;

2. the Student Development Office is entrusted to build organizational capacity in student structures;

3. the Student Development Office is a key support structure for student structures and student leadership;

4. the Student Development Office does not possess the human resource capacity to fulfil its mandate;

This Student Transformation Summit resolves that:

1. the Student Development Office must be an overall student development academy for all student governance structures in the university;

2. human resource capacity must be increased to ensure that this office is equal to the task put forth by student governance structures;

3. the Student Development Office must play a critical support role in ensuring that the SRC constitution is implemented at all levels;

4. the Student Development Office must transform its student development ethos and ensure that both theoretical and experiential organizational and/or leadership lessons are provided to equip student leaders;

5. the Student Development Office must ensure that there are annual capacity building programmes.

Student Resources and Student Treasury

Noting that:

1. there is lack of resource accountability by student structures and university student treasury;

2. there is lack of capacity for both student structures and the SAT (Student Affairs Treasury) to hold each other accountable for resources;

3. There is lack of transparency about who audits the statements of finances made available for student activities and when they are audited;

4. there is lack of clarity as to how much students are levied for student governance;

5. some residences have bigger budgets than that of the SRC;

6. the SAT does not apply the generally accepted accounting practices (GAAP);

7. the SRC is not aware of the size of its budget until the remaining days of its term;

8. the SRC is not aware of the resources that fall under its control because they are controlled by the Head: SAT;

This Student Transformation Summit resolves that:

1. the SRC should be capacitated to do its work according to the HE Act and the new constitution of the SRC;

2. since the SRC is directly elected by students, it should account to students;

3. a mechanism in line with the Public Finance Management Act (PFMA) should be established to deal with financial matters in the student sector;

4. students are informed of how much they are levied so that they can develop an interest in student governance;

5. the SRC should be seen and act as the superior student governing body that it is;

6. a properly resourced and capacitated SAT is established;

7. the SRC and the SAT should complement rather than antagonize one another;

8. it should be the responsibility of the SRC to allocate budgets to other student governance structures

CHAPTER 3.

Curriculum, Research and Academic Matters

Noting that:

1. education is not a neutral phenomenon, but an ideology;

2. education can both be an instrument of oppression and of liberation;

3. education can only be transformed through a people driven process;

4. teachers are both educators and part of the working class movement;

5. the only vehicle to transform education is national legislation;

This Student Transformation Summit resolves to ensure that:

1. Student leaders and progressive staff members should lead a debate on the question of values and ideology in our education system;

2. A key challenge in implementing our educational policies is that of seeking to turn our education system into an instrument and mechanism for the total liberation of our people;

3. We investigate the academic curriculum needs, e.g. standards, Africanisation, Globalisation, Research needs, Market needs and critical enquiry by leading a crusade for political perspective and creating high quality public institutions.

4. Students and teachers become co-constructors of knowledge to shape societal values and to deal with narrow managerialist tendencies;

5. The education system should be responsive to the needs and challenges of our society.

Language Issues

Noting that:

1. The future, stories and interests articulated within our curriculum are not sufficiently representative of our country and continent

The Student Transformation Summit resolves to ensure that:

1. we preserve, teach and educate people about our history

2. ensure the proficiency and fluency in English by all students

3. to equip students to succeed in a multi-lingual society

4. that ceremonies of the institution and communication reflect multi-lingualism

5. the distinction between high and popular culture and language is rejected so as to make curriculum knowledge responsive to the everyday knowledge that constitutes peoples' lived histories differently;

6. the primacy of the ethics in defining the language that teachers and others use to produce particular cultural practices is illuminated.

African Scholarship:

1. Resolves that African Scholarship is incorporated into research, teaching and curriculum of the university

2. A way of reading history as part of a larger project of reclaiming power and identity, particularly as these are shaped around the categories of race, gender, class and ethnicity is provided.

HIV/AIDS Teaching and inclusion into the curriculum

Noting that:

1. HIV/AIDS has been relegated to health (medical) sciences where instruction can be clinical and boring;

2. HIV/AIDS is both a local public health issue and an international plague;

3. Students do not make a distinction between rumours and facts about AIDS;

4. The behaviours of young people, particularly adolescents, can make them vulnerable to HIV infection and AIDS;

5. there is an increasing number of infections in the institutions of higher learning;

This Student Transformation Summit therefore resolves that:

1. since HIV/AIDS is the monster that it is, it should be taught as part of any and every subject if we are to overcome it;

2. HIV/AIDS is dealt with at society level in empowering oneself to fight the disease.

CHAPTER 4

Student Access, Success and Staff Equity

Noting that:

1. The student body does not reflect the national demographics of our country

2. Imbalances do exist in the success rates and graduation rates of students

3. Black and women students continue to be under-represented in the sciences, engineering and technology

4. There are continued academic exclusions every year

This Student Transformation Summit resolves that:

1. the admission policy be reviewed and changed

2. support structures be put into place that will ensure output and success of previously disadvantaged students