Oppidan Hall Report

2017

Hall Committee 2017

Participation in Committee Structures of the University

The Hall Wardens and student representatives of the Oppidan Union were involved at the Board of Residences, DSA/Hall Wardens Committee and Student Forum. Topics discussed at these meetings are mainly directed towards students living in Residence and are not pertinent to the Oppidan Union.

Governance:

The governance of the Hall is managed by the Hall Wardens, Hall Administrator and the Hall Committee Chair. Ms Karen van Heerden is the Hall Administrator. Her input and assistance given to the Hall Committee and students has had a huge impact on the Hall. Students and staff were impressed by her dedication to the Hall, and the manner in which she interacted with everyone on a daily basis.

The Hall has adopted the Rhodes University Policies and Procedures for receipts, payments and petty cash, as the Hall funds and suite of accounts are managed and contained in the Rhodes General Ledger. Excess funds not required for the day to day running of the Hall are transferred to an investment account within the Rhodes General Ledger.

Committee Structures:

The Oppidan Committee shall normally comprise the following members:

a. The Oppidan Hall Warden

b. Oppidan Sub-Wardens

c. The Hall Administrator

d. The Chairperson who will also act as the Head Student

e. Treasurer

f. Sports Representative

g. Community Engagement Representative

h. Student Welfare Representative

i. Entertainment Representative

j. Website Representative

k. Public Relations and Marketing Representative

l. The Student Representative Council (SRC) Oppidan Representative

A word from our Vice- Chairperson Tsungai on the year:

Throughout the year of 2017, several events occurred that cannot be simply described by one word. As of February 2017, the Oppidan Committee hit the ground running with the NSFAS crisis, all hands were on deck as we worked tirelessly on the ground to ensure that no student was left stranded. The committee had several talks with the incoming students engaging them in conversations that gave the students an idea of what to expect as a first year Oppidan. However it was not all seriousness lunch and dinner were provided for all during the week to allow the first years to mingle and adjust accordingly to their new routine. In addition to this the Oppidan committee held different events such as an afternoon picnic, Grahamstown tour and games night in an attempt to cultivate friendships amongst the incoming students. Towards the end of orientation week, the Oppidan committee opted out of RUJamming and decided to have a more intimate talent show with the Oppidan which allowed us to create a welcoming and inclusive environment for all.

As the year went on, the Oppidan Hall community engagement went over and above by creating two toy libraries and by volunteering at the SPCA. This exceeded all expectations and their efforts did not go unnoticed as the Oppidan Hall won the community engagement award. Community engagement was not the only expertise where the Oppidan Hall succeeded in , but also in sporting, as both the Oppidan netball, basketball and soccer teams where forces to be reckoned with . The sub-wardens worked endlessly by assisting Oppidans with the different issues they experienced whether on campus or off campus 24/7. For women’s day the committee got together and distributed roses for 2 days to all Oppidan women at the dining hall and at the bus station. At the end of the year the Oppidan committee opted to have an Awards evening as opposed to an Oppidan Ball. The awards evening recognized Oppidan students who excelled in Academics, Community Engagement and Sports.

We look forward to welcoming the First Years of 2018.

Vice Chairperson Tsungai

ACHIEVEMENTS FOR THE YEAR 2017

Give 5

For Give 5 campaign for the Oppidans we decided to sell donuts and have henna hand painting done for the students.

Trading Live –

For Trading Live Jessie took the children of the Toy Library and some students to the SPCA for their 67 minutes and taught the children how to look after their dogs and love them. They then had snacks afterwards. The other project was with the maintenance staff of Rhodes where they along with the Oppidan Comm constructed a tyre tower for the children of the toy library to play on.

Forum – we called a student forum on the 10 August. We discussed what we have done during the year and answered any questions the students had.

THE OPPIDAN HALL AWARDS EVENING

This took place on the 6 October 2017 in the Oppidan Dining Hall. We chose the top 3 students in each faculty to get an academic award and we gave awards to the students that partook in sport and Community Engagement. The Oppidan committee member of the year award went to Jessie Ditshego and the Dean of Students leadership award went to Leroy Maisiri. It was a great night that was enjoyed by all.

SPORT

The guys ended about 8th on the log overall and the girls ended in 4th place too which was great for the Hall. We are super proud of the efforts that were put in by all our Oppidans that participated to get us to these positions.

COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT

Jessie worked with the DCC prepping for the opening of the Toy library. They have made walkways. Planted some things and made a sandpit with tyres. The official opening was on Friday 12 May for the public.

Jessie also constructed a Tyre Tower with the help of the maintenance staff at Rhodes as part of her Community engagement and 67 Minutes for Mandela. She also took the children of the Toy Library along with some students to he SPCA for 67 Minutes to teach them more about dogs and how to look after them.

Due to Jessie’s dedication and hard work the Oppidan Hall received the Community Engagement Hall of the Year award for 2017.

Mentor Programme

Hike with packed meals- 1st semester

Movies and games night-2nd semester

Boerwors/build a burger- 3rd semester

Picnic- 4th semester

The Oppidan Sub-wardens

We had 5 sub-wardens this year and their case load consisted mainly of Lease issues, Noise Issues, Digs mates not getting along, depression, para suicides etc. This year as far as sub-warden cases were concerned was one of the busiest years yet. The Sub-wardens have done a great job in solving their cases and being of great help to the students and supporting them through troubled times.

Discipline

2017 proved to be a quiet year where discipline was concerned as we had no discipline cases.

We are looking forward to another great year with our New Committee for 2018 and endeavour to make an even bigger impact on our students next year.