Rhodes University Investec Top 100

Rhodes University Investec Top 100

Investec Top 100

The annual Rhodes-Investec Top 100 awards are prestigious awards made to current Rhodes students in recognition and endorsement of their achievements across a range of categories. The aim of these awards is to honour and recognise significant achievements and to encourage students to aim for excellence in all that they do. It is hoped that in receiving these awards, students will undertake to mentor and network with fellow students and new graduates wherever they should find themselves in the future – whether in South Africa or elsewhere in the world. Awards are in the form of a certificate jointly signed by the University and Investec. The award winners will be featured in a special edition of The Oppidan Press and the awards are presented at a formal dinner (by invitation only) to be held on 19 October 2024 – sponsored by Investec.
Applications open July 2024 click here: Top 100 Application form
Referee report
Applications close 31 August 2024.
Students or University staff members may nominate students for these awards by encouraging students to apply for these awards.
A nomination does not strengthen an application in any manner. Each award is based on the information supplied by the applicant.
The 7 categories of the Rhodes-Investec Top 100 Awards are as follows:

  1.      Student Leadership Award
  2.      General Excellence Award
  3.      Arts, Culture, Media and Society Award
  4.      Sports Award
  5.      Community Engagement Award
  6.      Academic Excellence Award  (Note: Students do not need to apply – refer to page 7)
  7.      Commerce and Finance Award

A panel of judges for each Award is convened for the purposes of judging applicants in each category. The final decision rests with this panel. Two awards, The Student Leadership and General Excellence Award are allocated points using specific scoring rubrics whilst the remaining awards are judged qualitatively based on the information supplied in the application.  Unsuccessful applicants can request feedback from the Career Centre.
Criteria for Nominations and Applications
All students applying for or being nominated for an award under all categories MUST fulfil the following basic criteria:

  1. The applicant must be a registered student of Rhodes University for the year.
  2. All DP requirements for the academic year and the previous year must have been met – i.e. DP has not been removed for that year or the previous year. An applicant may not have failed more than one semester credit in the current year. (Please note this will be checked for every applicant)
  3. All applications must be accompanied by an academic transcript. Any failure recorded on the transcript for any credit  – including a semester credit will be noted by the panel. These failures are considered in evaluating whether the applicant is considered as having a solid academic record or not.
  4. An applicant may not normally have a disciplinary record that resulted in a fine of more than six hours compulsory service. In the case of higher sanctions, students may put a case forward for consideration. Sanctions “expire” after 2 years. For example, if a student received compulsory service hours exceeding 6 hours in their first year and are now in their third year, they may be eligible for an award. Please note – it is vital that you declare any disciplinary record regardless of how small it was or when it was. This permits the panel to make a decision regarding the suitability of your application for the awards.

Previous Rhodes Top 100 recipients
In the case of applications for re  awards in successive years, earlier service that was credited for a previous award is disregarded.
The only exception to this rule is the Leadership Award – all past achievements while at Rhodes University may be taken into account (at the discretion of the judges)
 

Please ensure that you complete the relevant application form for the award for which you are applying.
 

          Award Categories
1.     Student Leadership Award (maximum 25 awards in this category)
The Leadership Award recognises leadership potential as well as evidence of high performance in leadership positions at Rhodes University.
Students applying or being nominated for this award are to note that the final allocation of points is at the discretion of the judges and that the criteria table found below serves as a guideline.
CRITERIA
Academic
All applicants must have a solid academic record, and normally the student must be on track to complete the degree in the standard time, with no DP refusals. Take note of point 3 under the criteria for the awards.
Disciplinary
All criteria regarding disciplinary sanctions must be adhered to as in point 4 above.
Leadership
A successful applicant must achieve a minimum total of 10 points or more over the period during which they have been registered at Rhodes University. In categories where more than 1 point could be awarded, the judges will use referees reports to determine whether to award the maximum points. Contact details of these referees must be provided. Please ensure that the referee provided is suitable to comment on the areas you need evidence of excellent performance.  In each category listed below, a second or third year of service will earn additional points. More than one sports club or society will be counted separately. Judges will use referee reports and their discretion in allocating points.
POINT ALLOCATION

AREA LEADERSHIP ACTIVITY (Per year) Maximum points
SRC President and Vice Presidents 5
Executive member 4
Member 3
RESIDENCES Hall Senior / Head student 2
House Senior / Head student 2
Sub-warden 2
House Committee member (regardless of number of portfolios) 1
SRC Hall Representative 1
SPORT Chair of a Sports  Club 2
Captain of a 1st team 1
Club Committee member 1
National / provincial player 1
RU team player 1
Coach of a Rhodes Sport 1
CULTURE Chair of Society 2
Society committee member 1
National / provincial event participant 1
Participant of Moot competition 1
COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT CE certificate as volunteer 1
Wellness leader, Sharc or HIV peer educator 1
Mentoring programme – Ncedana or 9/10ths Mentoring Programme 1
ACADEMIC Tutor / Demonstrator 2
Class or faculty Representative 1
Presented an academic paper at a national/international conference 2
Participant of Moot competition representing faculty or academic department (national/international level) 1
A solid academic record with a point for each first obtained. No subjects have been failed in any academic year. 1 point per 1stobtained
On Dean’s merit list 1
MISCELLANEOUS Assistant Prosecutor for Rhodes 1
Other: provide details E.g. Get Home Safe driver, mentor (formally trained and appointed) 1

 1.1.     General Excellence Award (Maximum 10 awards in this category)
 The General Excellence Award is presented to candidates who have excelled in many avenues available to a Rhodes University student, specifically for those students who have many talents and who manage to juggle several aspects of student life, excelling in each.
Applicants may use the following rubric to determine whether they are eligible for a General Excellence Award. A minimum of 7 points is required to be considered for this award.
POINT ALLOCATION

AREA LEADERSHIP ACTIVITY (Per year) Maximum points
SRC President and Vice Presidents 5
Executive member 4
Member 3
RESIDENCES (including Oppidans) Hall Senior / Head student 2
House Senior / Head student 2
Sub-warden 2
House Committee member (regardless of number of portfolios) 1
SRC Hall Rep 1
SPORT Chair of a Sports  Club 2
Captain of a 1st team 1
Club Committee member 1
National / provincial player 1
RU 1st team player 1
Coach of a Rhodes Sport team 1
CULTURE Chair of Society 2
Society committee member 1
National / provincial event participant 1
Participant of Moot competition 1
COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT CE certificate as volunteer 1
Wellness leader or Sharc or HIV/AIDS peer educator 1
Mentoring programme – Ncedana or 9/10ths Mentoring Programme 1
ACADEMIC Tutor / Demonstrator 2
Class or faculty Representative 1
Presented an academic paper at a national/international conference 2
Participant of Moot competition representing faculty or academic department (national/international level) 1
A solid academic record with a point for each first obtained. No subjects have been failed in any academic year. 1 point per 1stobtained
On Dean’s merit list 1
MISCELLANEOUS Assistant Prosecutor for Rhodes 1
Other: provide details E.g. Get Home Safe driver, mentor (formally trained and appointed) 1

 3.    Arts, Culture, Media and Society Award (Maximum 10 awards in this category)
The Arts, Culture, Media and Society Award is aimed at recognising those students who display excellence, talent and/or leadership roles in the cultural sphere at Rhodes University – ranging from performing arts to visual arts, including Journalism, Music and other relevant cultural societies at Rhodes. These are the students painting a bright and inspiring future for South African entertainment and media.
The Applicant must have served exceptionally well for at least one year in any THREE of the following areas and provide evidence of this:

  • As an elected member of office on the SRC as the Media Liaison Officer
  • As an active Media Liaison Officer (or similar position) of a registered SRC society (more than one society will be counted separately)
  • As an active Media Liaison Officer (or similar position)/Entertainment Representative of a registered campus Sports Club (more than one sports club will be counted separately)
  • As an active Media Liaison Officer  (or similar position)/Entertainment representative of a Hall committee or Residence House or Oppidan committee
  • As an active member of the Editorial team of a registered SRC society newspaper/CUE newspaper/Grocotts Mail (online and print)
  • As an exceptional achiever at National or International level in a cultural society
  • As an exhibiter of art work at a regional, national or international level.
  • As a host or producer of a radio show on RMR or Radio Grahamstown
  • As an active volunteer in Community Engagement
  • As a performer in a Rhodes Drama Department production or Society production (more than one performance will be counted separately)
  • In a Leadership position in a cultural society (i.e. Toastmasters, Wine Tasting, etc.

4. Sports Award (Maximum 10 awards in this category)
The Sports Award acknowledges those students who not only excel physically on the Rhodes sports scene, but who also show leadership qualities in their chosen sport or in a sports society as a whole.
To receive this award, applicants must have served exceptionally well and provide evidence of this in any THREE (3) of the following areas within the period of at least one year while being registered as a student at Rhodes University.

  • Participated in the Olympics
  • Member of a Provincial, National or International sporting team (more than one sports club will be counted separately)
  • Member of a committee of Provincial, National or International sport federation
  • Half/full colours for sport (more than one sports club will be counted separately)
  • Recipient of the Rhodes Sportsman/woman of the year Award
  • Member of a First team for sport (more than one sports club will be counted separately)
  • As an active committee member of a registered campus Sports Club (more than one sports club will be counted separately)
  • As an active Sports Representative of a Residence or Oppidan Committee.
  • Actively involved in coaching a sport to the wider Grahamstown community, as part of a Rhodes Community Engagement initiative (more than one sports club will be counted separately)
  • As a  participant in more than 75% of inter-residence sporting events

5     Community Engagement Award (Maximum 10 awards in this category)
The Community Engagement Award is awarded to those students who go above and beyond their academic duties in order to improve the lives of those around them. These students are actively involved in the upliftment of the Grahamstown community and are leaders in positive change.
Please note:

  1. Community engagement that is performed outside of a registered University Society or the Rhodes Community Engagement Centre may not be considered for this award.
  2. Compulsory or credit bearing community engagement run by departments may not be considered for this award

 To receive this award, applicants must have performed exceptionally well and provide evidence of this in at least THREE (3) of the following areas within the period of at least one year while being registered as a student at Rhodes University:

  •   As an elected member of office on the SRC as the Community Engagement Officer
  •  As an active Community Engagement committee member of a registered campus Sports  club (more than one sports code will be counted separately)
  •  As an active Community Engagement Officer of a registered SRC society (more than one   society will be counted separately)
  • As an active Community Engagement Officer of a Hall committee or residence House or Oppidan committee
  •  As an active student leader in community engagement through Rhodes University
  •  As an active participant in a residence/departmental/society community engagement project
  •  As an active volunteer in the Student Volunteer Programme, Siyakhana eMakana Programme, or the 9/10ths Mentoring Programme

 6      Academic Excellence Award
The Academic Excellence Award is awarded to students who are top achievers in their faculty. Deans of each faculty nominate FOUR candidates who receive the highest marks in their respective faculties.
Please note: Students do not need to apply for this award.
 7  Commerce and Finance Award (Maximum 10 awards in this category)
The Commerce and Finance Award is a special award from Investec recognising outstanding performance in the Commerce faculty.
To receive this award, applicants must have performed and served exceptionally well and provide evidence of this in at least THREE (3) of the following areas within the period of at least one year while being registered as a student at Rhodes University:

  • Excellent academic performance (i.e. – June/November exam results minimum 70% in each academic year or since 2nd year of study)
  • As a tutor in the Commerce faculty who has performed well in this role – as supported and verified by the course co-ordinator for that year.
  • As a Ncedana mentor, class representative, residence mentor or faculty representative in the Commerce faculty.
  • As a committee member of a registered University Society, preferably as a treasurer or in another recognised financial role.
  • Has displayed adequate evidence of entrepreneurial flair (i.e. may have run a successful business for at least 9 months, or shown evidence of taking initiative for starting a club, NGO, NPO etc.)
  • As a student in the Commerce faculty that shows evidence of being a well-rounded individual with participation in other extra-mural activities (i.e. sport and/or community engagement)