Stellenbosch University
Stellenbosch University is a public research university situated in Stellenbosch, a town in the Western Cape province of South Africa. Stellenbosch University received full university status in 1918 and is known for designing and manufacturing Africa's first microsatellite, SUNSAT, launched in 1999.
Stellenbosch is organised in 139 departments across 10 faculties offering bachelor's to doctoral degrees in the English and Afrikaans languages. Across five campuses in the Western Cape, the university is home to 32,000 students.
The students of Stellenbosch University are nicknamed "Maties".
Although the source of the term is unknown, it likely arises from the Afrikaans word "tamatie". An alternative theory is that the term comes from the Afrikaans colloquialism maat, originally used diminutively by the students of the University of Cape Town's precursor, the South African College.
History
The origin of the university can be traced back to the Stellenbosch Gymnasium, which was founded in 1864 and opened on 1 March 1866. The first five students matriculated in 1870, but capacity did not initially exist for any tertiary education. However, in the 1870s, the Cape Colony's first locally elected government took office and prioritised education. In 1873, four of the five 1870 matriculates became the institution's first graduates by attaining the "Second Class Certificate" through distance learning, and the gymnasium's student numbers rose to over a hundred.In 1874, a series of government acts provided for colleges and universities, with generous subsidies and staff. A personal intervention by the Prime Minister in the same year ensured that Stellenbosch qualified, after initially being allocated to be purely a secondary school. Later in 1874, the institution acquired its first professor and, in the following few years, its capacity and staff grew rapidly. Its first academic senate was constituted at the beginning of 1876, when several new premises were also acquired. The first MA degree was completed in 1878. That same year, the Gymnasium's first four female students were enrolled.
The institution became the Stellenbosch College in 1881 and was located at the current Arts Department. In 1887, this college was renamed Victoria College; when it acquired university status on 2 April 1918 it was renamed once again, becoming Stellenbosch University. Initially, only one university was planned for the Cape, but after the government was visited by a delegation from the Victoria College, it was decided to allow the college to be a university if it could raise £100,000. Jannie Marais, a wealthy Stellenbosch farmer, bequeathed the money required before his death in 1915. There were certain conditions to his gift, including that Dutch/Afrikaans have equal status to English and that the lecturers teach at least half their lectures in Dutch/Afrikaans. By 1930, very little, if any, instruction was delivered in English.
In December 2014, specialists at the university performed the first successful penis transplantation on a 21-year-old man.
Stellenbosch University was the first African university to sign the Berlin Declaration on Open Access to Knowledge in the Sciences and Humanities.
Name
Although the university was originally named the University of Stellenbosch, it nowadays uses two forms: the English version Stellenbosch University and the Afrikaans version Universiteit Stellenbosch.Facilities
Location
Stellenbosch is located about 50 kilometres from Cape Town, and is situated on the banks of the Eersterivier in the famous wine-growing region and is encircled by picturesque mountains. Teaching at Stellenbosch University is divided across five campuses.- Main campus in Stellenbosch
- Bellville Park Campus
- Saldanha Campus
- Tygerberg Campus
- Ukwanda Rural Clinical
Faculties
- AgriSciences
- Arts and Social Sciences
- Economic and Management Sciences
- Education
- Engineering
- Law
- Medicine and Health Sciences
- Military Science
- Science
- Theology
Sports facilities
Stellenbosch University has the facilities for the more than 30 competitive and recreational sports that are supported by the university include Danie Craven Stadium, Indoor and Outdoor Swimming Pools, the Coetzenburg Centre, a multi-purpose center for ceremonies and indoor sports, playing fields, including two artificial hockey fields, a gymnasium, and a new football complex.Sporting codes
The university offers several sports to its students. Some of them are athletics, bouldering, badminton, basketball, canoeing, cricket, cross country running, cycling, fencing, golf, gymnastics, field hockey, judo, kendo, netball, rowing, rugby union, soccer, squash, surfing, swimming, taekwondo, tennis, underwater hockey, volleyball, water polo, and yachting.Facilities and services
Libraries
The Stellenbosch University Library has collections scattered around the campus outside of the main facility, and all of which are catalogued on a computerized database, using the university's original mainframe, a UNIVAC. There are several other satellite libraries servicing the different faculties, including the Theology Library, Law Library and Tygerberg Medical Library.University facilities
Stellenbosch University also has a Conservatory, with two concert halls. The Conservatory is the home of the internationally acclaimed Stellenbosch University Choir, who, along with being the oldest South African choir have received numerous awards overseas. The university also has a 430-seat theatre, known as the HB Thom Theatre and an open-air amphitheatre. Accompanying these facilities is the university's own Drama Department, under the guidance of the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. The department regularly puts on plays, dramas, productions, cabarets and musicals.Botanical garden
The Stellenbosch University Botanical Garden is the oldest university botanical garden in South Africa.Student center
The Langenhoven Students' Centre houses the Student Representative Council, a food court, a cinema, a post office, a shopping centre, an advice office and all the student societies' offices. Student bands and various entertainment and activity promotions usually appear in the main food court during lunch hour.Campus radio
The university has its own radio station known as MFM, situated in the Neelsie. It broadcasts a mix of music, news, entertainment and campus news over the entire Stellenbosch area at 92.6 FM.Campus newspaper
The university also distributes regular publications, Die Matie for its students and Kampusnuus for its staff. An official yearbook, Stellenbosch Student, is published annually and presented to all graduating students. Matieland is the name of the official alumni magazine. It is published twice a year and distributed to some 100 000 alumni and friends of the university.Language
Stellenbosch University has historically been a predominantly Afrikaans-medium university. However, as the student body grew more diverse, demand increased for more classes taught in English. Today, the university's language policy promotes multilingualism as a means to increase equitable access for all students and staff. Afrikaans, English and Xhosa are used in academic, administrative, professional and social contexts, and classes are offered in Afrikaans and English.In 2021, the university reported that 48.7% of its students stated English as their home language, 37.4% stated Afrikaans, 6.8% stated another of South Africa's official languages, and 7.1% stated an international language as their home language. Between 2017 and 2021, the percentage of undergraduates who preferred English as the language of learning and instruction increased from 68.2% to 80.8%. At postgraduate level, the language of instruction is determined by the composition of the class, provided all students are suitably proficient in the chosen language. Most advanced postgraduate courses are taught in English.
The language policy is an ongoing issue for the university, since it is one of the few South African tertiary institutions offering instruction in Afrikaans. It is situated in the Western Cape province, where 41% of the population state Afrikaans is their home language per the 2022 census, and it is the only one of four universities in the province to offer degree courses in Afrikaans. The university annually hosts the SU Woordfees, a predominantly Afrikaans-language festival of the written and spoken word.
Student profile
Student housing
Stellenbosch has 34 residence halls in configurations for women only, men only and mixed gender. Each residence is supervised by a resident head assisted by a House Committee of senior students. The House Committee assists students with security, maintenance, and social programs. Each first year student on campus gets access to a be-well mentor who assist them with their social-emotional transition from school to university. Each residence for undergrads incorporates a laundry room, a common living room and a dining hall where meals are provided for which students book beforehand on their student account.The number of available rooms in university residences is limited, which requires some students to find private boarding. Students in private lodgings are assigned to one of 6 Commuter Student Organisations, also known as Private Wards. These CSOs give private students exposure to the same campus experience as students residing in residences. The oldest residence is Wilgenhof men's residence, established in 1903.
The CSO wards along with the Residence Halls are grouped into six clusters with nearby residences to form student communities. For each of these clusters, a hub facility is being built, of which three have already been completed, namely amaMaties, Wimbledon and Victoria. In this way, commuter students can enjoy the same benefits as residence students, such as mentor support, meals and a well-appointed place to go to between classes.