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THE 2020 UFS Transformation Week: Call for Contributions
2020 marks the halfway point in the implementation of the UFS Integrated Transformation Plan (ITP). The university is taking this opportunity to celebrate the achievements, to reflect critically on challenges encountered, and to explore the lessons learned during the first years of implementation. 

During September 2020, the UFS will host an esteemed panel of external experts to conduct a formative mid-term review of the ITP. At the same time, the university will present a virtual Transformation Week, celebrating social justice, our common purpose, and our commitment to openness and engagement. Transformation Week will showcase the UFS as an institution that responds to the needs of the local community, while at the same time participating in global knowledge production – an institution that has engaged actively with its colonial and apartheid legacies and recognises its common humanity and the universal nature of the intellectual endeavour. 

The UFS invites all members of its community to contribute to this virtual Transformation Week, which will be presented on the university's website and digital platforms, the Blackboard teaching and learning platform, and social media. Contributions can take the format of recorded performing arts performances (e.g. a play, music or poetry reading), virtual visual art presentations, and written poetry or lyrics. Articles in the form of thought and opinion pieces and topical academic writings, which can also be published in mainstream media, are also invited.  These should comprise a maximum of 1 200 words. 

Please email your contributions  to Taabo Mugume at MugumeTJ@ufs.ac.za by Friday 28 August 2020.

UFS Transformation Week: 7 to 11 September 2020 

The Integrated Transformation Plan (ITP) articulates the transformation agenda of the University of the Free State. The ITP was developed through an extensive, consultative planning process starting in January 2017. The Senate discussed and supported the final Plan in August 2017, and the Council approved the ITP for implementation in September 2017.

Full-scale implementation commenced in January 2018. Therefore, 2020 marks the need for a formative mid-term review, to reflect critically on the achievements made, challenges encountered, and lessons learned during the first two years of implementation (January 2018 to December 2019).

The Transformation Week (07 – 11 September 2020) is positioned as a moment for the institution to pause and reflect on ITP implementation in the last two years. In this regard, the Transformation Week is set aside for the external mid-term review panel to engage with the various stakeholders including students and staff.   

The purpose of the mid-term review is to provide in-process feedback on how the ITP is being implemented, in order to facilitate adjustments to the process that will improve the ability of the ITP to achieve its goal. To this end, the review will assess the effectiveness of the ITP strategies aimed at widening and accelerating the scope of transformation. Therefore, the ITP document will serve as the departure point, emphasising progress in moving the UFS from the ‘case for change’ towards the ‘future state’ as articulated in the ITP, as well as a focus on the specified deliverables.

Review questions

The review will aim to determine the extent to which the ITP implementation process is widening the scope and accelerating the pace of transformation at the UFS. This very general question will be addressed through the following specific review questions:

1. How far have we progressed towards realising the deliverables specified in the ITP?
2. How effective is the process of implementation?
3. How does the implementation process affect the UFS community?
4. To what extent does the ITP contribute to the realisation of social justice at the UFS?