Every year Stellenbosch University’s (SU) Responsibility Centre (RC) for Operations and Finance hosts an awards event to celebrate the accomplishments of its staff. This year, two exceptional staff members from the Innovation and Commercialisation Division (Innovus) have been honoured for their commitment and hard work in their respective environments. Dudley Meyer, Cluster Coordinator at Residence Services, at SUNCOM, and Nadine Price, Operations Coordinator at SU LaunchLab (LL) was nominated by their managers to recognise their contributions.
Dudley Meyer started his journey with Residence Services in December 2009 as a Residence Service Coordinator at the Tygerberg campus. His calm, professional and friendly demeanour made him a trusted pillar amongst colleagues, students and other stakeholders.
After seven years in this role, Meyer was appointed as Cluster Residence Service Coordinator on 1 September 2024. Prior to his new appointment, he was given an interim role from 2022 to help implement a new best practice workstyle, ensuring that the Tygerberg residences are aligned with the overall SU values. He accomplished this with ease.
Geraldine Minnaar, Manager of Residence Services, commended Meyer for his work ethic stating that “he is always eager to assist and to go the extra mile for anyone who asks. He is dependable and naturally calm in stressful situations. Overall, his positive attitude is extremely contagious.
Dudley is one of the most dedicated and hardworking people I have had the pleasure to work with and the feedback received from other internal stakeholders reflects this as well. We are truly thankful and fortunate to have him as part of our team.”
Nadine Brink, often referred to as the heartbeat of SU LaunchLab (LL) by its residents, has only been with the division since 2021. She has, however, taken strides to deliver exceptional results in ensuring residents of the co-working space are well taken care of, and that incubatees of their entrepreneurial programmes walk away with the knowledge they need to thrive. Brink manages all day-to-day operations of the facility, finances and events. She is also now assisting with secretarial tasks that form part of the concierge services made available to SU spin-out companies. Brink is respected and well-liked by both internal and external stakeholders of SU LL.
In his motivation for Brink’s nomination in the RC Awards, Brandon Paschal, Deputy Director of Spinouts and Funds and manager of SU LL, commends Brink for stretching herself professionally to take on additional responsibilities while excelling at her actual role.
“Nadine has provided respectful and constructive feedback to help us continuously improve our offerings to spin-outs and students. She has been a great champion for our Matiepreneurs, giving after-hours input and care as they move towards winning the Entrepreneurship Development in Higher Education (EDHE) Intervarsity competition.
She has been a proactive thinker and activator, ensuring that loose ends are tied up and maintaining a standard of excellence at all of SU LL’s events and programmes.”
At the awards ceremony on 20 November 2024, the entire RC gathered at the Adam Small Theatre, to celebrate the award recipients. Dudley and Nadine were warmly welcomed by Prof. Stan du Plessis, Chief Operating Officer of the RC Operations and Finance, to accept their well-deserved awards, along with seven other colleagues whose respective divisions also nominated for outstanding performance.