Approval of the interim SRC and other updates

Dear colleagues and students

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

1. Council approval of the interim SRC

On 25 May Council approved the recently elected top 15 candidates as an interim Students’ Representative Council (SRC). That was preceded by recommendations from the University Student Affairs Committee and Student Parliament that the top 15 elected candidates form an interim SRC. The constituting meeting was held on Monday, 29 May.

See the list of portfolio allocations for the interim SRC…

2. UCT appointing a task team to respond to Cape Town’s water shortage

Deputy Vice-Chancellor Professor Loretta Feris has convened a new UCT Water Crisis Task Team. Dr Kevin Winter is chairing the team, which is made up of staff and student representatives. The initial meeting was held on 25 May 2017. The purpose of the task team is to establish how the university can immediately work to conserve more water and to consider long-term sustainability plans for water security on campus. The City of Cape Town warns that dam storage levels are now at 19.7%, which is 0.8% down from a week ago. With the last 10% of a dam’s water being mostly unusable, dam levels are effectively at 9.7%. Disappointingly, the average water use for Cape Town this past week remains at 666 million litres per day, which is above the target of 600 million litres set by the City of Cape Town.

Read the City of Cape Town’s critical warning on water usage…

3. The DVC: Teaching and Learning recruitment process

The members of the selection committee for the position of Deputy Vice-Chancellor (DVC): Teaching and Learning have decided not to recommend any candidates for appointment. Council will review the way forward on this role and the next steps will be communicated as soon as a decision has been taken.

4. The arrest of a man on campus

After a student complained about being harassed by a man who was persistently asking for money on campus, Campus Protection Services (CPS) officers arrested the man, who was positively identified by the complainant. He was turned over to the South African Police Service, which arrested him for dagga possession. Your reports and complaints can help increase campus safety. Please report any suspicious behaviour to the nearest CPS officer or phone 021 650 2222/3.

Review campus safety information on the staff and student websites.

5. A letter from the IRTC Chair

The Chair of the Institutional Reconciliation and Transformation Commission (IRTC) Steering Committee has submitted a letter on the committee's facilitated workshop of 20 May 2017.

Read the Chair’s letter…

6. Warming up your brain at Winter School

Winter School 2017 is a new offering from the Centre for Extra-Mural Studies (EMS). More than 40 lecturers will be presenting courses on subjects that include literature and writing, Heidegger’s phenomenology, philosophy of religion, genetics, evolution, ageing, the physiology and politics of hair, South Africa’s women anthropologists, and the history of finance. Winter School 2017 offers an opportunity for working people to attend courses on Antarctic birds, Gondwanaland, the dark universe, JM Coetzee, Henry Morton Stanley and the songs of Leonard Cohen and Bob Dylan. For further information please email the Centre for Extra-Mural Studies or phone 021 650 2888.

Read more about EMS programmes…

Read the Winter School brochure for the exciting line-up of courses…

7. The introduction of UCT’s smoking policy

The World Health Organisation has designated 31 May 2017 as World No Tobacco Day. The focus this year is on the various ways that the negative impacts of tobacco can be reduced. Tobacco kills more than 7 million people globally every year. The effects reach beyond health to economies and development. Therefore tobacco threatens us all, not just smokers. UCT has introduced a new smoking policy, which comes into effect on 30 June 2017, to provide a safe environment for working and learning and to inform and educate staff and students.

Familiarise yourself with the new UCT smoking policy…

Communication and Marketing Department

Read previous communications:

• From the UCT Executive
• Campus Announcements