Stellenbosch University
Welcome to Stellenbosch University
Student learning experiences count more now than ever before
Author: Charles Mackenzie / Division Student Affairs
Published: 15/05/2019

​Stellenbosch University (SU) is expanding its mission to provide a transformative student experience by formally recognising learning opportunities and university activities which go beyond the classroom. With its new Regulation for Co-Curriculum Recognition, activities that fall outside of the formal curriculum can now form part of students' academic transcripts.

“The objective of the Regulation for Co-Curriculum Recognition is to develop graduates who have enquiring minds, are engaged citizens and dynamic professionals, supporting them to become well-rounded individuals," Dr Ronel Retief, SU Registrar, said.

“At SU, graduates are prepared for a “VUCA" world: a world that is marked by volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity. Graduates will think effectively and critically, achieve some depth in their area of study and develop an understanding of the ways in which to acquire knowledge and understanding of the universe, society, and the self. More importantly, our graduates will be able to use their knowledge and understanding to find creative solutions for pressing local and global issues."

SU students are offered the opportunity to engage with a wide range of experiential learning opportunities through participation in leadership programmes, mentoring, tutoring counselling, sport, societies, volunteerism, awareness-raising initiatives, career advice and many other fields of interest. This new Regulation for Co-Curriculum Recognition ensures that all SU students are afforded the opportunity for recognition of co-curricular activities on their academic transcripts.

Sabelo Tyeku, a final year BEd student, is one of many students who will benefit from this new initiative. Tyeku has been a member of the social impact programme Ikaya Primary Tutoring programme for two years. The programme is focussed on Kayamandi and empowering young and primary school children with academic assistance, sustainability, arts and craft, reading and photography. When graduating, his academic transcript will include a summary of all formally assessed learning, awards and accomplishments that he obtained during his time at SU. Tyeku says that he will continue participating in the programme for as long as he studies at SU, but that his vision for social initiatives does not end there. In the future, he dreams of creating commerce-based social projects which will help South Africans further uplift themselves.

Incorporating co-curricular activities into transcripts broadens the ambitions of students in their pursuit of knowledge. Janco Marais, a BCom student, has managed to juggle five co-curricular programmes since the start of his studies and is currently involved in the Dempers Meyer Mentor Programme, one of many co-curricular offerings at Stellenbosch University. This programme aims to holistically develop students and empowers them to have an impact on people from different backgrounds so that, when graduated from SU, they can be citizens with impact in the South African society.

“Many of us initially partake in these programmes to receive recognition on our academic transcripts or CVs, but we learn that we leave with something of much greater value than we expected: on a practical basis, we have gained skills and competencies that have been evaluated, enabling us to apply them elsewhere in society. We complete these programmes with much more that we started out with," Marais says.

The Co-curriculum Prospectus carries information about experiential learning opportunities students can access to develop their competencies towards the formation of the SU graduate attributes.

For more information about the co-curricular offering at SU, visit www.sun.ac.za/cocur or contact:

Pule Mochichane: pulem@sun.ac.za
Ruth Andrews: rutha@sun.ac.za