Rhodes University Transformation Summit 2024
Rhodes University Transformation Summit 2024 will hold a transformation summit on the 28th to the 30th of July 2024. The call for the summit came from the University Council in a meeting held in May last year where it was decided that an inclusive and open summit that would enable Rhodes University stakeholders to come together to seek solutions to transformation related problems should be held. Council also expressed the hope that the summit will also enable a systemic discussion of the future of the name of the institution where this issue will be discussed in the broader context of discussions on transformation.
Date: 28 July 2024 11:47 – 30 July 2024 11:47
Location: Rhodes University
Event Type: Conference
The Institutional Forum, which is the body legally mandated with the responsibility of advising Council on the Transformation of the Institution, has set up a task team that is overseeing the preparations for the summit. Under its supervision, a process for including all stakeholders in the build up to the summit has been designed. The build up to the summit involves the creation of spaces where discussions will be held. These spaces are created by twelve summit process facilitator groups each charged with the responsibility of enabling systemic dialogues on transformation to take place from a specific perspective. The process facilitator groups are made up of individuals who volunteered to take on this responsibility following a call out made on staff and students’ lists. The twelve groups are working to enable discussions on transformation from the following perspectives; Living and Learning Spaces, Community, Disability, Gender and Sexuality, The Budget, Student Funding, Research, Teaching and Learning, Visual Representation and Culture, Alumni, Language, and Labor and the Institution. The groups are made up of student and staff volunteers.
Dialogues from these different perspectives will take till the end of June. These events and other forms of engagement will be advertised widely and everyone is invited to participate. Some groups, such as the Teaching and Learning and Research process facilitator groups have already convened a few dialogues. For anyone who wants to contribute to finding solutions to transformation related problems that the institution has, participating in these dialogues is key. In these dialogues you have an opportunity of not only contributing to what is said but also to contribute towards making the process work more productively.
The summit itself will be held over three days on the last weekend of July 2024. The Institutional Forum is tasked with the responsibility of deciding who will attend the summit and what form the summit will take. In these decisions the Forum will be guided by the imperative to be inclusive and open.