The Office for Inclusivity and Change (OIC) at the University of Cape Town, through its Disability Service (DS) and Disability Advocacy Portfolio, provides structured and sustained psychosocial, mentoring, and developmental support to students and staff with disabilities. The OIC’s work extends beyond academic accommodations, fostering inclusion through mentorship, guided engagement, counselling, and peer and professional collaboration.

1. Mentoring, counselling, and psychosocial support

  • The DS Psychologist, a registered educational psychologist within OIC, provides short-term counselling and psychosocial mentoring when students present in distress or require immediate support.
    • Examples include helping students manage academic pressure, navigate leave of absence decisions, or cope with exam anxiety and panic attacks
    • Students with mental health or neurodiverse conditions (e.g., panic disorder, ADHD) receive repeated short-term mentoring to build self-regulation skills.
  • The Psychologist also participates in a formal UCT Psychology Supervision Group, meeting weekly with OIC counsellors and faculty social workers to share best practices, debrief, and coordinate student support.
    This forum functions as peer mentoring for practitioners, ensuring consistent, trauma-informed care across UCT
  • A reciprocal referral system exists between the OIC Disability Service and Student Wellness Services (SWS) to ensure that students receive both academic and therapeutic support, while DS maintains focus on inclusion and advocacy.

2. Mentoring and support through meetings and collaboration

  • Round Table Discussions are a central mentoring and coordination tool used by the OIC Disability Advocacy Specialist.
    • In 2024, 27 individualised round tables were held for students with complex disabilities, designed to co-develop tailored academic, psychosocial, financial, and housing support plans.
    • These sessions bring together the student, OIC staff, faculties, and service units, ensuring holistic mentoring and collaborative case management.
  • The DS Manager and OIC team also hold internal round-table sessions to review complex student cases and mentor newer staff through interdisciplinary problem-solving. These provide peer learning opportunities within the OIC team itself
  • Structured Carer Support meetings (until end-2024) were held weekly to provide emotional and logistical debriefing for Carers and DS staff working closely with high-needs students, functioning as a form of staff peer support and mentoring

3. Advocacy and peer support development

  • The Disability Advocacy Specialist runs student awareness and leadership training to equip Orientation Leaders, residence mentors, and faculty student leaders to engage inclusively with peers with disabilities.
    These workshops encourage students with disabilities to self-identify and register with the OIC, helping to build peer networks and reduce stigma
  • Through advocacy mentoring, the Specialist also provides one-on-one guidance for students navigating NSFAS disability funding, housing challenges, and faculty integration, offering psychosocial encouragement and practical advice
  • The FirstRand Foundation First Job Internship Programme (2024–2025), coordinated by OIC, provided mentorship to young graduates placed within the Disability Service.
    Each intern was assigned a mentor and portfolio (advocacy, administration, or barrier-free access), offering structured learning, professional coaching, and inclusion leadership experience

4. Faculty mentoring and inclusion training

  • The OIC Disability Service team contributes to the New Academic Practitioners’ Programme (NAPP) — mentoring new UCT lecturers to embed disability inclusion in their teaching from the outset.
    These sessions model inclusive practice and foster mentorship relationships between OIC staff and new academics

Summary

UCT’s Office for Inclusivity and Change supports students and staff with disabilities through a multi-layered mentoring and psychosocial model, including:

  • Individual mentoring (psychological support and case-specific guidance);
  • Collaborative mentoring spaces (round tables, case meetings, supervision groups);
  • Peer mentoring and staff debriefing (carer and practitioner groups);
  • Developmental mentorship and training (internships, leadership workshops, and NAPP).

This system embeds inclusion into UCT’s culture of care and aligns with its Vision 2030 values of transformation, dignity, and social responsiveness - ensuring that support for people with disabilities goes beyond accommodation to empowerment.