amaMaties.net
About amaMaties.net
amaMaties.Net is a community for senior and postgraduate students which is grounded in four themes: Welcoming and Integration, Bridging the Gap, Connecting, and Support.
Welcoming and Integration:
We understand that moving from an undergraduate to a postgraduate program is not straightforward or trivial, especially when arriving at a new institution for your postgraduate degree program. As such we have designed a welcoming and orientation programme that will provide you with key information about campus life, as well as introduce you to other postgraduates who are embarking on this step of your journey with you.
Bridging the gap:
Starting a postgraduate program requires an entirely different set of skills, where exams are replaced by research and dissertation writing. As such, this theme addresses the new skills that you will need to develop as a postgraduate student by facilitating various workshops and short courses which will help bridge the gap between undergraduate and postgraduate studies. The skills obtained will also assist in the transition from student to working individual.
Connecting:
Networking with leaders and peers in your field helps you obtain tips and advice from others who have achieved the success you are after. Networking also helps you stay in the loop on the latest developments and employment opportunities in your field and can help you learn how to properly engage with others. Based on this, the connecting theme will facilitate opportunities for networking with industry leaders, academics, alumni, postdoctoral research fellows, and other postgraduates.
Support:
The shift from structured supported and clearly defined environment of undergraduate education to the ambiguously positioned and often forgotten middle ground of postgraduate studies can be challenging academically and emotionally. The 'supporting' theme aims to provide opportunities for you to build a social support structure of peers by facilitating fun, like the amaMaties.Net friends club! Additionally, we will also connect you to the various services and offerings from the university where resources are available to ensure your success.
amaMaties.net's vision and mission
To integrate postgraduate students into the Stellenbosch University ecosystem and to establish a network allowing postgraduate students to socialize, collaborate, and grow together.
amaMaties.net's values
Our values align with those of the amaMaties cluster, which include respect, individuality, unity, empowerment, and a sense of belonging. These values lie at the core of our community and guide our plans to create an inclusive and enriching environment for our members.
The history of amaMaties.net
Rubix.Net was a pilot community proposed by the Private Student Organization (PSO) task team in 2020. The community was established to cater to the attuned needs of senior students, specifically those not in senior residence who would otherwise not be fully represented by the existing university structures on campus.
After the successful launch of Rubix.Net in 2021, the .Net community was expanded to include amaMaties.Net and Wimbledon.Net.
amaMaties.Net specifically caters to students who were previously in the amaMaties or Vicmeyr cluster but are now busy with their postgraduate journey.
Activities and offerings
Our activities are rooted within our four themes.
- For welcoming & integration, we have a launch/ welcoming week to welcome new members into our community and to also expose them to fellow postgraduate students.
- Within the bridging the gap theme, we host events that address the new skills that you will need to develop as a postgraduate student by facilitating various workshops and short courses. These include events that help to develop your SU graduate attributes.
- Our connecting theme facilitates networking with leaders and peers, through speed networking and marketing yourself masterclasses.
- The supporting theme aims to provide opportunities for you to build a social support structure of peers by facilitating fun activities, such as games nights and the amaMaties.Net friend groups!
amaMaties.net's Executive leader Althea Carstens
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