The University of Zambia, Students Affairs Unit (SAU) was founded in 1966 by an Act of Parliament No. 66 of 1965 that legally created the University of Zambia. The Students Affairs Unit derives its mandate from the Act No. 23 of the Higher Education Act of 2021 and is responsible for the organisation, coordination, and administration of various non-academic aspects. The Students Affairs Unit is located in Lusaka within the University of Zambia, Great East Road Campus, next to the Goma Lakes. It also has an Office at Ridgeway Campus located in Long Acres, opposite the University Teaching Hospital (UTH).
The University (SAU) has accommodation for 3,431 students at the Great East Road Campus and for 721 at the Ridgeway Campus, giving a total of 4,152 bed spaces. Student accommodation is on a shared basis with two students occupying each study room, or four, where there are bunk beds. The University does not guarantee accommodation to every student. This is so because the total student enrolment each academic year exceeds the available hostel accommodation.
The hostels are organised into a number of halls of residence. Hostel residents in each hall elect a representative each year to run the day-to-day student governance and to deal with minor organisational and disciplinary challenges that involve members of the hall. Each hall of residence is manned, on a 24-hour basis, by Hall Attendants whose duty is to assist students with any immediate residential challenges.
The University, through SAU, offers students various facilities for sport, recreation, and cultural activities. These include such facilities for football, cricket, tennis, basketball, volleyball, netball, and several other indoor sports activities. A full-time Sports and Recreation Officer assists students in the organisation of sporting and recreation activities.
The University is affiliated with the National Sports Council (NSC), the Confederation of Universities and Colleges Sports Association (CUCSA), the International University Sports Federation (FISU), and the Zambia Federation of University and College Sports (ZAFUCS).
General Counselling is provided to students who experience psychosocial challenges or any difficulties while at the University. Counselling services are entirely voluntary, and students may discuss their problems with qualified professional counsellors in total confidence and privacy. The other services provided at the Counselling Centre include: career guidance and placement, encounter groups, and HIV/AIDS counselling. Grief counselling is intended to help students cope with the loss of a beloved colleague or relative in the case of funerals.
There are many other services provided to enhance student welfare. For instance, the laundry service offers cleaning facilities for clothes and beddings; the Student Board of Discipline exercises disciplinary control over all students registered in the University; and security needs are serviced by a sub-contracted security firm that works in close liaison with the University Department responsible for internal security at both the Great East Road Campus and the Ridgeway Campus. Whereas cleanliness and campus hygiene are maintained by sub-contracted firms, and the horticultural Department maintains the general surroundings of both campuses.
Functions and Structure of the Student Affairs Unit
Functions
Specifically, the unit is responsible for providing social welfare services for students registered in the University, including the following:
- Accommodation;
- Student governance;
- Counselling and career guidance;
- Student orientation;
- Students’ discipline;
- Sports and recreation;
- Students’ health and security;
- Laundry and hostel cleaning services;
- Campus hygiene and sanitation, and
- Refuse collection and the environment.
Operational Structure and linkages
The Student Affairs Unit implements various activities under five departments which are:
Administrative structure
Central Office
The Student Affairs has a clear and appropriate administrative structure. The Unit is headed by the Dean of Students and assisted by Deputy Dean of Students, Assistant Dean of Students for Students Welfare and residences department, and the Assistant Dean of students based at Ridgeway campus. SAU operational Departments are headed by Heads of Department.
The office of the Dean of Students, the Deputy Dean of Students, serves as the Central Office for the Unit with overall responsibility for student governance and personnel services, management of student registration and records, policy development, coordination of planned activities, supervision of members of staff, financial management and control, general administration and disciplinary control.
Counselling Centre
The Centre is headed by the Senior Counsellor. The office provides specialist services mainly to students and members of staff and operates drop-in-services for professional counselling, guidance, internship and placement, advisory information giving, career development and psycho-social support. It coordinates programmes in student orientation, social skills training, interpersonal relations, HIV / AIDS awareness and work-study/vocational employment. Students desiring to utilise these services may contact the centre on an individual or group basis and interaction is professional and confidential.
Sports and Recreation Department
The Department is headed by the Sports and Recreation Officer. This department is responsible for the planning, development and coordination of sporting, recreational and socio-cultural activities for students and members of staff. It is also responsible for the management and control of sporting and recreation equipment, facilities and infrastructure. It closely collaborates with the UNZASU Sports and Recreation Council and the Management Committee on Sports and Recreation in the implementation of sporting, recreation and socio-cultural activities for students and members of staff of the university.
Ridgeway Campus Office
The office is located within the Ridgeway area of Lusaka; adjacent to the University Teaching Hospital (UTH) Paediatric Wing. The office is headed by the Assistant Dean of Students. Its main function is essentially that of administrative liaison and coordination of the various non-academic and social welfare services for students registered in schools at Ridgeway Campus.
Student Welfare and Residences Department
The department is headed by the Assistant Dean of Students at Great East Road Campus (GERC). It is responsible for campus accommodation, hostel hygiene and sanitation, student health, security and student disciplinary control. These constitute the core activities to enhance student welfare and personnel service provision. The department coordinates the allocation of hostel accommodation at the commencement of each semester and during vacation, as well as administrative liaison for efficient management of this service.
Horticulture Department
Headed by the Horticulture manager the Horticulture Department is responsible for maintaining and cleaning of UNZA grounds, general sanitation, clearing of drainages, slashing and mowing of surroundings, litter picking and waste disposal, tree cutting, hedge trimming, Nursery and Nursery management, and the promotion of general green environment.