Having joined Stellenbosch University (SU) in 2017, Khairoonisa Foflonker, manager of the Student Affairs Division on our Tygerberg campus, spends her days collaborating with various stakeholders to ensure that SU provides dignified, empowering and respectful student support services.
As we kicked off May commemorating Workers' Day, we dedicate this series of articles to our staff and their important contribution to the University. In the interview below, Khairoonisa tells us more about her work.
What does your role at SU entail?
The Student Affairs office at the Tygerberg campus was started when I joined the University in July 2017. I am primarily responsible for providing strategic direction and coordinating various student support and development functions, such as residence and commuter community, as well as psychosocial support. In essence, I offer a safe space and a central referral point for support services at the Tygerberg campus.
What does a typical day at work look like?
No two days are the same in my role. I usually deal with student support enquiries and try to find solutions that would empower students, and also improve institutional structures and processes. A student may ask for a consultation because they are failing at their studies. After a confidential discussion, I may discover underlying causes, such as domestic abuse, food insecurity, etc. I would then direct them to the relevant support services, such as the campus social worker, the Equality Unit, counselling services and/or tutoring.
I also work closely with many stakeholders, including programme coordinators, student leaders and support staff, to improve the student experience. This collaboration often results in issue-specific task teams being set up to address challenges such as food insecurity, review a policy, unpack important social justice concerns such as gender-based violence, or start a new campaign to raise awareness about key topics such as cyberbullying.
I am also responsible for crisis management. As the emergency liaison at the Tygerberg campus, I need to ensure that all stakeholders are aware of any emergency and take the necessary action. In addition, I facilitate intercultural humility workshops for students.
How did your education or past experience prepare you for this job?
I completed a BSocSci in Political Sciences and Psychology as well as an MPhil in Sociology, specialising in Diversity Studies, at the University of Cape Town (UCT). I also received a scholarship and exchange programme with the University of Oldenburg in Germany. I wrote my master's thesis there, focusing on everyday racism and xenophobia in the German education system.
As a student, critical diversity literacy, postcolonial theory and the social justice approach offered by Diversity Studies appealed to me. This specialised discipline within Sociology has enabled me to accurately identify and critique asymmetrical power relations, as well as to become a critically engaged, self-reflexive individual.
I also worked as a lecturer, researcher, trainer and facilitator of transformation initiatives at UCT's former Intercultural and Diversity Studies Unit, which later moved to Wits, and at their former Transformation Office, which has since been restructured into the Office for Inclusivity and Change.
My education and training have equipped me to engage with staff and students to enhance support services so as to offer dignity, empowerment and respect to all students.
What do you enjoy most about your role and working at SU?
I thrive when I can connect with people through mentoring or training. Leadership training in the higher education sector fuels my determination to shape a more inclusive future by building relationships between people from diverse socioeconomic and cultural backgrounds. I am in my element when I facilitate intercultural humility, diversity and inclusion workshops with our students and student leaders enrolled in the Facilitative Leadership course via the Frederik Van Zyl Slabbert Institute, as well as medical students in the Doctor as Change Agent module.
Tell us something interesting about yourself that few people would expect?
A few years ago, I challenged myself to try things that scare me. So, one day I went paragliding off Lion's Head. Recently, I started taking up mosaic classes as a form of artistic expression and stress relief.
Photographer: Wilma Stassen
