Dear SPU Staff and Students
I want to wish all our staff and students well for this new academic year which began on Monday, 29 March 2021. We did not have a smooth start due to the disruptions related to the SAUS call for a national shutdown of the higher education sector, but I hope that the remainder of this year will be peaceful and productive.
Our SRC submitted several demands to the University Management which we have addressed. Both parties met to resolve a few outstanding issues and I am happy to report that we reached an agreement on the following matters:
- the University is not in a position to scrap students’ historic debt,
- there will be a more flexible payment arrangement for students of the upfront payment required for registration,
- there was agreement on the way forward in terms of the provision of data; replacement of laptop batteries or the device itself; and matters related to overall student support.
We will now proceed with the academic year as per the revised academic calendar that was approved by Senate last week.
We look forward to continuing the dialogue with the SRC so that Sol Plaatje University can continue to provide excellent student-centred services for our students to be academically successful.
Kind regards
Professor Andrew Crouch
Vice-Chancellor and Principal
