Possible disruptions to Jammie Shuttle and other updates

Dear students and colleagues

This campus announcement aims to inform members of the University of Cape Town community about:

1. Possible disruptions to the Jammie Shuttle service

There may be disruptions to the Jammie Shuttle service due to public transport protest action, particularly in the minibus taxi industry. The protest action is not linked to UCT, but the service may still be affected. Please watch UCT?s internal communication channels and social media platforms for updates. We regret any inconvenience caused to any university community members by this situation.

2. Registration update and free laptop initiative

This month UCT registered a total of 24 743 students for the 2017 academic year. This is not the final figure, as postgraduate research degree registrations are still being processed. Once again, we extend a warm welcome to all new and returning students.

More than 800 first-year students on financial aid enjoyed a special welcome to UCT this month when they received free laptops and backpacks thanks to a campus-wide initiative spearheaded by Information and Communication Technology Services (ICTS). The project was first piloted in 2013.

• Read more about the laptop initiative...

3. Accommodation update

The Student Housing and Residence Life office has placed 6 726 students in on-campus housing, including 270 who were on the waiting list. Eleven students have taken up offers for off-campus housing arranged by the Off-Campus Student Accommodation Services (OCSAS). OCSAS received a total of 244 responses to the appeal for accommodation in homes in the southern suburbs. Unfortunately, only 47 of those responses were accessible to the Jammie Shuttle route, and OCSAS is processing these responses.

• Read the thank-you letter to residents who offered accommodation to students...

4. Security alerts on campus

UCT is an open campus that welcomes other members of the community to attend open lectures and use facilities such as the archives in the library. Unfortunately, some people come onto campus with dishonest intentions. We are aware of a group of people who have been asking to use students? mobile phones and then running away with the ?borrowed? phone. Please be cautious about lending out your phone or leaving it lying in the open where it might be taken.

• Read about phone safety guidelines...

We also need to alert you to some motor vehicle break-ins that have occurred in the P1 parking area on upper campus. Campus Protection Services (CPS) is investigating a number of recent thefts from locked cars in this parking area. To report a stolen or missing item, please visit a CPS office or phone 021 650 2222/3.

5. Executive vacancies

The advertisements for the posts of Dean: Humanities and Deputy Vice-Chancellor: Teaching and Learning have closed. The respective selection committees have met once and will meet again in April. The interviews and presentations for these posts are anticipated to take place in late May.

6. Nominations for the 2018 TB Davie Memorial Lecture

The Academic Freedom Committee invites UCT staff and students to submit nominations for the 2018 TB Davie Memorial Lecture. The lecture was established by UCT students to commemorate the work of Thomas Benjamin Davie, who was Vice-Chancellor from 1948 to 1955 and a defender of the principles of academic freedom. Previous speakers have included Noam Chomsky (1997), Kader Asmal (2002) and Max du Preez (2014). The deadline for nominations is Saturday, 15 April 2017. Nominations should not exceed three pages and should include a brief curriculum vitae of the nominated speaker and a motivation for the nomination. Nominations should be submitted by email or posted to Room 141, Bremner Building, Lower Campus, UCT. Further details will be circulated in due course.

• Read about previous TB Davie Memorial Lecture speakers...
• Email your nomination by Saturday, 15 April 2017.

Communication and Marketing Department