MARGEAUX ERASMUS
The Residence of the Year Competition will not be cancelled next year but will undergo certain changes.
Professor Roelf Visser, head of Residence Affairs and Accommodation, told Perdeby that a new model has been applied to the Residence of the Year Competition. In essence, the new model for the competition is a scaled-down version of the previous one. Only ten activities from all the current res activities will be taken into account for competition points and where Culture, Rag, Sport and Academic achievements used to count 25% each, Academics will now count 40% of the total points while Sport, Culture and Rag will only count 20% each. “Res or student life should focus on [the] social and academic,” Prof. Visser said. The remaining res activities will not fall away, according to Prof. Visser, but will receive individual recognition at a Residence Prestige Evening. “Now we will acknowledge each and every activity that you are taking part in,” he said.
Another change made to the competition is that it will now take place on a voluntary basis. In a proposal regarding the Residence of the Year Competition and Residence Prestige Evening, Prof. Visser states that, “Residences have the opportunity to decide in which events/activities they want to partake in and if they want to compete for the Residence of the Year or not. This ensures that no residence and/or student is forced or burdened by activities that are disliked and/or not value-add[ing] and/or not supporting the academic enterprise or culture of UP.”
Curlitzia Primaria Mignon du Toit told Perdeby, “We’re very pleased with Tuks Res’s decision to retain the Res of the Year competition. By the sounds of it, it will be better structured with reses having the option to only participate in the events they would like to.” She added that the fewer events needed for points in the competition would eliminate having to “scramble for participants in less popular events that we were previously ‘forced’ to take part in.” She also commended Prof. Visser’s decision to give recognition to individual events.
Similarly, Barend Taute, a third-year Boekenhout resident said, “I think it is great that the TuksRes followed the decision, made by the residence chairs, to keep Residence of the Year. The Residence of the Year award is one of the great tradition[s] we as residence students still have left.”
In contrast, Klaradyn HK for Internal Culture and Socials, Elmien Kellerman, said, “I think the amount of activities and participation of residences should not be voluntary. Everything should stay the same as previous years. The way Prestige was handled [in] previous years worked.”
SRC President Mthokozisi Nkosi told Perdeby that, “I am comfortable with the outcome under [these] circumstances. Residences have been given options, whichever option each individual residence [goes] for will be influenced by the value that that particular residence sees in competing for this award.”
See Prof. Visser’s 2013 Residence of the Year Competition proposal here.
