Orientation is truly a momentous time for all first-year students, especially at the University of the Western Cape (UWC), where the newbies are introduced to the campus in unique uDubs style.
After a week of intense training, knowledge sharing and role-play, more than 150 senior students who voluntarily sacrificed two weeks of their summer vacation,welcomed new first-year students with aplomb in the Jakes Gerwel Hall on 5 February 2024.
This event, led by UWC’s Career Services, followed the official welcome by the Rector and kicked off a week-long compulsory Orientation Programme.
The senior students known as Peer Facilitators (PFs) were selected from a pool of more than 2000 students for their personal skills, co-curricular activities, academic performance and leadership potential.
Kitted in lime green t-shirts, the PFs were assigned a primary group of 15 to 25 first-year students based on their degree programme. The goal was to ensure that the transition from school - or work - to student life would be as anxiety-free and enjoyable as possible. The new students were introduced to the campus surroundings, resources and facilities.
Furthermore, PFs ensured that first-year students understood their timetables and tutorials, the demands of their first year of studies and, most importantly, facilitated the development of supportive peer networks.
Each PF focused on easing new first-year students into the UWC culture and environment. This seminal relationship in the primary group starts during Orientation Week. It will mature over time to establish a safe connection not only with the said senior student but also with a peer group facing similar challenges and anxieties. It will assist in understanding how university studies differ from high school and, in some instances, how to adapt to living away from home for the first time.
More than 80% of first-years attended all five days of Orientation Week. This is a 20% increase in in-person orientation attendance since 2020. Having most of the first-year students registered before the commencement of orientation allowed them to focus solely on their orientation. The University is indebted to the PFs.
We hope the experience was not only fun but rewarding. Orientation Week allowed PFs to learn more about themselves, customer care, communication, group dynamics, facilitation, diversity, time management and success in higher education. The role is geared at developing key graduate attributes that will set PFs apart in the world of work.
Former PFs have included this role in their CVs and have received job offers on and off campus.
On behalf of the Deputy Vice-Chancellor: Student Development and Support, Professor Matete Madiba, and UWC’s Career Services - a heartfelt thank you for making the UWC Orientation Programme an overwhelming success.
Our new students were able to form a positive impression of our great institution through personal contact with you. At UWC, you proved that we strive to be a place of quality, a place to grow – from hope to action through knowledge!
Are you a first-year student who missed Orientation or needs a refresher on orientation activities and resources? Join us at #OrientationCatchUp! Check our Orientation site on iKamva for more details.
After a week of intense training, knowledge sharing and role-play, more than 150 senior students who voluntarily sacrificed two weeks of their summer vacation,welcomed new first-year students with aplomb in the Jakes Gerwel Hall on 5 February 2024.
This event, led by UWC’s Career Services, followed the official welcome by the Rector and kicked off a week-long compulsory Orientation Programme.
The senior students known as Peer Facilitators (PFs) were selected from a pool of more than 2000 students for their personal skills, co-curricular activities, academic performance and leadership potential.
Kitted in lime green t-shirts, the PFs were assigned a primary group of 15 to 25 first-year students based on their degree programme. The goal was to ensure that the transition from school - or work - to student life would be as anxiety-free and enjoyable as possible. The new students were introduced to the campus surroundings, resources and facilities.
Furthermore, PFs ensured that first-year students understood their timetables and tutorials, the demands of their first year of studies and, most importantly, facilitated the development of supportive peer networks.
Each PF focused on easing new first-year students into the UWC culture and environment. This seminal relationship in the primary group starts during Orientation Week. It will mature over time to establish a safe connection not only with the said senior student but also with a peer group facing similar challenges and anxieties. It will assist in understanding how university studies differ from high school and, in some instances, how to adapt to living away from home for the first time.
More than 80% of first-years attended all five days of Orientation Week. This is a 20% increase in in-person orientation attendance since 2020. Having most of the first-year students registered before the commencement of orientation allowed them to focus solely on their orientation. The University is indebted to the PFs.
We hope the experience was not only fun but rewarding. Orientation Week allowed PFs to learn more about themselves, customer care, communication, group dynamics, facilitation, diversity, time management and success in higher education. The role is geared at developing key graduate attributes that will set PFs apart in the world of work.
Former PFs have included this role in their CVs and have received job offers on and off campus.
Our new students were able to form a positive impression of our great institution through personal contact with you. At UWC, you proved that we strive to be a place of quality, a place to grow – from hope to action through knowledge!
Are you a first-year student who missed Orientation or needs a refresher on orientation activities and resources? Join us at #OrientationCatchUp! Check our Orientation site on iKamva for more details.
