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10 December 2018 | Story Leonie Bolleurs | Photo Supplied
UFS CMD team at the MACE Awards
The team from the UFS which attended the Mace Excellence Awards function in Cape Town this year, are from the left: Rulanzen Martin, Valentino Ndaba, Lacea Loader, Lelanie de Wet, Maria Venter; back: Zama Feni, Vivek Daya and Eugene Seegers.

The Department of Communication and Marketing won seven awards during the 2018 Excellence Awards presented by the National Association of Marketing, Advancement, and Communication in Education (MACE), which took place in Cape Town on 29 November 2018. It is the third consecutive year the department has brought home seven and more awards for its work in communication and marketing.

Lacea Loader, Director: Communication and Marketing at the University if the Free State (UFS) says: “Being recognised by our peers for quality and innovative work is most rewarding. This year, 172 entries were received from 12 institutions across the country. Although the competition was tough the UFS also received the Severus Cerff Award, one of three special awards. This award is made to the institution with the highest success ratio and for consistent excellence.” Loader serves on the MACE Board of Directors as Excellence Awards Coordinator.

Promoting best practices

MACE plays a vital role in adding value to practitioners in marketing, advancement and communication through high-quality development programmes, facilitating networking partnerships and transformation, as well as promoting best practices among these professions at member institutions.

The awards ceremony is part of the MACE Annual National Congress, which took place from 27-29 November 2018 at the Cape Peninsula University of Technology, Cape Town. The MACE Congress is a platform on which experts from the fields of marketing, advancement, and communication share experiences and best practices.

This year’s programme included speakers such Thabang Chiloane (executive head of Nedbank’s Group Public Affairs), Dr Marina Joubert (senior science communication researcher at CREST), Karyn Strybos (Marketing Manager at Everlytic), Bruce Dube (Managing Director of Nine80 Digital Media) and Brendan Cooper (head of New Media’s internal communications division).

Recognising hard work and innovation

Lelanie de Wet, Manager: Digital Communication received the Platinum award in the Division Campaigns with her entry for the Website Re-launch Awareness campaign. The Platinum award is bestowed on the best entry in a specific division.

The Digital Communication Unit in the Department of Communication and Marketing walked away with four more awards. De Wet also received a Gold award in the Design for Digital Media category for her work on the KovsieLife student web design.

Moeketsi Mogotsi received a Gold award in the category Design for Visual Media for his entry: UFS Women’s Month Billboard.

Barend Nagel, who joined the department this year, received a Gold Award for his photographs for the Africa Month Awareness campaign in the category Photography: Feature and Documentary. Nagel also received a Bronze award in the category Videography Skills, for his video entry: UFS Exam Hack.

In the Unit: Internal and Media Communication, Valentino Ndaba brought home a Bronze Medal for her entry of the BSafe Take Action campaign which was entered in the Issue Management Campaigns category.

IABC Gold Quill Merit Award

The Department of Communication and Marketing earlier this year also received an International Gold Quill Merit Award for the Website Re-launch Awareness campaign.

“The fact that we were also again acknowledged by the International Assocation for Business Communicators  is also commendable. "I am immensely proud of the national and international recognition my team received this year,” said Loader.

MACE Awards. Photo by Sonia Small
MACE Awards. Photo by Sonia Small
2018 Africa Month photographs
2018 Africa Month photographs
2018 Africa Month Photographs
2018 Africa Month Photographs
UFS Womens Month Billboard
UFS Womens Month Billboard
BSAFE Safety week day 2018 2
BSAFE Safety week day 2018 2
BSafe Safety week 2018
BSafe Safety week 2018

News Archive

Early diagnosis of hearing loss is important
2017-09-11

  Description: Magteld small Tags: birth defects, hearing loss, Dr Magteld Smith, Department of Otorhinolaryngology

Dr Magteld Smith, lecturer in the
Department of Otorhinolaryngology
at the University of the Free State (UFS)
Photo: Supplied


One of the most common, misunderstood and neglected birth defects in developing countries is hearing loss, which can most severely impair and have a dramatic impact of the quality of life the of the person with hearing loss. 

This is according to Dr Magteld Smith, lecturer in the Department of Otorhinolaryngology at the University of the Free State (UFS). 

“Hearing loss refers to all the different types and levels of hearing loss, from slight to profound hearing loss,” she said. 

Derived from a number of retrospective studies in South Africa, it was found 17 people a day are born with hearing loss. More than 95% of those children are born to hearing parents. This estimate excludes children and adults who lost their hearing after birth. 

According to Dr Smith, hearing loss strikes at the very essence of being human, because it hinders communication with others. To enable people to communicate with those with hearing loss, the university’s Department of South African Sign Language teaches students sign language. This year, the department enrolled 230 students. A number of these students are from the Faculty of Education. These students could from 2017 for the first time choose sign language as a subject.

“Studies have shown that important language skills are learned before the age of three because hearing and learning language are closely tied together. Brain development of the auditory pathways and language cortex is occurring in young children as they respond to auditory and visual language. In families that are part of deaf culture, these parents automatically sign from day one, so the baby is learning visual (sign) language, and the appropriate brain development is occurring.

Beskrywing: Doof readmore Sleutelwoorde: geboorte-afwykings, gehoorverlies, dr Magteld Smith, Departement Otorinolaringologie

About 230 students are enrolled for the subject, South African 
Sign Language, at the UFS. As an assignment some of the students 
were asked to design posters to create deaf awareness among 
others on campus. From the left are: Poleliso Mpahane, 
Masajin Koalepe, Ntshitsa Mosase, and Zoleka Ncamane. 
Photo: Leonie Bolleurs

“However, if a child has an undiagnosed hearing loss and the parents are unaware, the child will not receive the needed language stimulation — and the hoped-for development won’t take place. It is critical to understand that children with hearing loss have their own talents, different levels of intelligence, socioeconomic circumstances and different abilities, just like hearing children. Therefore, one size does not fit all,” Dr Smith said. 

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