Western Cape staff volunteer to ease students’ registration journey

Staff members from various departments at the Cape Town Campus recently came together to lend a hand to assist with queue management during the busy registration period. The need for a plan of action for registration queue management became evident when the region was notified that fixed-term contract workers would not be appointed at the beginning of the year.

Staff from Facilitation of Learning, ARCSWiD, Library, Human Resources, Career Counselling and Development, and Corporate Communication, volunteered their time to maintain order and alleviate frustration among students who queued from the early hours to gain access to the Cape Town Campus.

Michelle Biederman engaging with queueing students

Working on hourly rotational shifts, these staff members were able to use their insight and knowledge of the registration processes on campus to accurately and timeously assist students. This led to the smoother processing of student queries and ensured that students did not queue in the incorrect area or wait in the queue unnecessarily.

Showing the true spirit of Ubuntu were, at the back from left, Nwabisa Veli, Musa Mavundla, Trixie De La Porte, Wilhelmina Zaal, Kimberley Hendricks, Michelle Biederman, Sivuyile Deyi and Mdu Ncongwane, and, front from left, Johnathan West, Claudia Rex, Ndimakazi Khumalo and Lee-Anne Davids

Acting Regional Director, Michelle Frauendorf, said that the Cape Town Campus team effort ensured the fair treatment and reduced the wait time of students. “The elements of this queue management approach embraced three main principles of queuing, namely fairness, engaging queuing and explained waiting,” she said. “The collaboration improved teamwork and problem solving. The experience led to innovation, improved efficiency, constructive feedback from stakeholders and improved communication.”

* By Vicky-Lee Lee Shew, Acting Communication Manager, Unisa Western Cape Region