Cape Town - UCT’s student representative council (SRC) has called on the institution to ensure that its disciplinary and anti-bullying policies are fair and applied without fear or favour.
The policies were approved by the university council at a meeting on June 19, and came into effect on Sunday, to ensure a smooth transition from the previous policies.
UCT SRC chairperson Declan Dyer said the student council noted the implementation of the disciplinary policy and the policy addressing bullying.
He said the policies would ensure that all stakeholders of the institution were safeguarded from bullying and would contribute to the efforts of shifting the institutional culture.
“As always, this is a beautiful policy on paper but we call on the institution to ensure its fair implementation without any fear, favour, or matters falling through the cracks of institutional bureaucracy,” said Dyer.
Writing to students and staff, UCT’s chief operating officer, Dr Reno Morar, said the policies would be applicable to both professional, administrative and support services (Pass) and academic staff members.
UCT spokesperson Elijah Moholola said the university's human resources (HR) department had planned a series of implementation-related activities and interventions for stakeholders.
Moholola said those engagements were to ensure that the new policy would be implemented successfully across the university.
“All disciplinary matters initiated prior to August 1 will be dealt with in terms of the current Pass and academic disciplinary policies,” said Moholola.
He said human resources would follow a similar approach with the policy addressing bullying in respect of the planned implementation-related activities and interventions to ensure its successful implementation.
Morar said the employee relations directorate within UCT HR would oversee matters until the implementation plan and necessary training with HR had been completed.