Relationship building: DVC Prof Crain Soudien (second front, from left) and student affairs executive director Monira Khan (second front right) mixed with SRC members from UCT and the University of Botswana.
The Students' Representative Council (SRC) hosted their counterparts from the University of Botswana last week to look at the challenges they each face, and to discuss possible ways to overcome these obstacles.
The three-day benchmarking visit saw student leaders tackling various issues such as student governance, the problems facing the higher education sector, and the challenges of integrating international students.
"I felt that this was one of the most constructive sessions as we critically considered the value of a more integrated orientation programme, rather than separate programmes for semester-abroad students and full time international students," noted Jessica Price, the SRC's vice-president: external.
The idea of creating an intellectual culture at the two institutions, and the problem of student apathy were also discussed.
The visit was an eye-opener for UCT SRC's members.
"While we have a long and strong history of student leadership, we still have much to gain through interactions with other SRCs, and it is reassuring to see that many of the issues we face are not unique to our institution," Price added.
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