CENTRE FOR STUDENT LIFE AND LEARNING

The Centre for Student Life and Learning aims to give students a holistic living and learning experience. The social dimension of community life is harnessed to support Stellenbosch University’s (SU) academic mission. Under the directorship of Mr Pieter Kloppers, the Centre has several focus areas centered around the clusters.

Residences and Commuter Student Communities (CSC) are grouped together to form a cluster. These are the organising structures of the student community at SU and play a significant role in the integration and support of newcomer students on campus, particularly by means of mentor groups. Mentors are senior students that are appointed to support newcomer students with adjusting to university life.

The Listen, Live & Learn (LLL) initiative places students together in one of the themed houses with the express aim of engaging with each other around themes. The CSLL also facilitates the Welcoming Programme for newcomers.

It is the primary belief of our Centre that students’ learning and living environments should be integrated and should not function separately. As such, residences and CSCs form part of the ResEd or cluster system.

The University residences and CSCs are student communities in which community principles are applied to integrate students’ academic and living environments. The social dimension of community life in residence, CSCs and the cluster is harnessed to support SU’s academic mission. In doing so, one of the University’s objectives is pursued, namely to provide students with a university experience in which their living spaces are an extension of academic life in the faculties; to establish a university environment that would create a well-rounded and transformative educational experience for students, in line with Vision 2040 and the Strategic Framework 2019-2024​.

Our aim is building a student culture that promotes student success; a culture in which students not only have pleasant social experiences, but are also serious about being effective role players within and beyond South African borders. In line with SU's institutional objectives, the residences and CSCs​​, as student communities, are encouraged to start applying their newly acquired knowledge now already, both in their communities as well as beyond, in order to make a difference.