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04 December 2018 | Story Lacea Loader | Photo Stephen Collet
Regional confrence read more
From the left: Prof Henk de Jager, Vice-Chancellor and Principal, Central University of Technology; Prof Yunus Ballim, Vice-Chancellor and Principal, Sol Plaatje University; Mrs Dipiloane Phutsisi, Principal of Motheo TVET College; Prof Puleng LenkaBula, Vice-Rector: Institutional Change, Student Affairs and Community Engagement at the UFS; Prof Nicky Morgan, Coordinator of HERDIC, and Mr Mr Brian Madalane, Principal of the Northern Cape Urban TVET.

Five post-school education institutions in the central inland region have established an initiative to collaborate in a number of focus areas to the benefit of communities in the region.
 
Established during an inaugural meeting in Bloemfontein on 14 November 2018, the Higher Education Regional Development Initiative of Central South Africa (HERDIC - SA) will collaborate in a manner that delivers operational and academic benefits to each institution, increase benefits to communities in the region, and responds to the need for high-level learning opportunities in South Africa. The collaboration with critical stakeholders in support of development in the region, as expressed in the partnership of teaching, learning, research, and engaged scholarship aspirations and the pursuit of mutually beneficial synergies and benefits of scale in critical support structures, was highlighted.

During the inaugural meeting, it was unanimously agreed that working together for enhanced access to higher education, staff development, and student welfare initiatives, as well as regional collaborations with the wider public sector and business, could have a transformative effect on the capacity and sustainability of the communities in the central inland region. The five institutions that form part of the initiative are: Motheo TVET College (Bloemfontein); Northern Cape Urban TVET College (Kimberley); Sol Plaatje University (SPU) (Kimberley); University of the Free State (UFS) (Bloemfontein and Qwaqwa Campuses); and the Central University of Technology, Free State (CUT) (Bloemfontein and Welkom).
 
During the meeting, the importance of collaboration between higher-education institutions and colleges of technical and vocational education training in creating synergies and leveraging joint capabilities to enhance development, was highlighted. The focus areas that HERDIC – SA will work on, include operational efficiencies (including shared services), articulation between the institutions (including teaching and learning), research and innovation, community engagement (including marketing and communication), and staff development.
 
The operational model will consist of task teams for each of the focus areas, consisting of representatives from each member institution. The task teams will report to a steering committee. It is envisaged that HERDIC – SA will be operational by March 2019.


News Archive

UFS appoints Jansen as rector
2009-03-15

The Council of the University of the Free State (UFS) is pleased to announce that it has agreed to offer the post of Rector and Vice-Chancellor of the UFS to internationally renowned academic Prof. Jonathan Jansen, making him the first black Rector and Vice-Chancellor of the institution in its 105-year history.

This decision was taken by an overwhelming majority, signalling the commitment of the UFS to continue as a world-class university that will at the same time pursue the objective of transformation in the interests of the entire university community.

Announcing the decision today (Friday, 13 March 2009), the Chairperson of the UFS Council Judge Faan Hancke said the UFS was privileged to have had candidates of the highest calibre apply for the position. An international executive search agency specialising in academic appointments had assisted the UFS Council in its search for top quality candidates.

“This has been a truly vibrant, transparent and participatory selection process, which has resulted in our institution being able to make this historic appointment,” said Judge Hancke.

“I appeal to the entire UFS community, staff, students and alumni to support the new Rector and Vice-Chancellor in his endeavour to lead this institution to greater heights. This is an important moment in the life our institution. We should celebrate this achievement as a united university community,” Judge Hancke said.

“As a council we are now unanimously behind Prof. Jansen and want to assure him of our full support,” Judge Hancke said.

In response to his appointment, Prof. Jansen said it was a great privilege and that he would really do his utmost best to be of service to the UFS.

In his statement of intent which was submitted earlier as part of his application for the post, Prof. Jansen indicated that if appointed he “would be deeply honoured to lead one of South Africa’s great universities”.

“The University of the Free State has gained a national reputation for three things: [1] its turnaround strategy in terms of financial stability in a context where external funding has been uncertain; [2] its research strategy which has seen a steady and impressive growth in research outputs; and [3] its managerial decisiveness in the wake of the Reitz incident,” Prof. Jansen said.

Regarding the challenges facing the UFS, Prof. Jansen said in his statement of intent: “The UFS has to find a way of integrating classroom life while at the same time ensuring the promotion of Afrikaans, an important cultural trust of the institution, as well as Sesotho and other indigenous languages. It has to bring academic staff, administrative staff, workers, students, as well as the parent community behind a compelling vision of transformation that works in the interest of all members of the university community. And it has to rebuild trust and confidence among students and staff in the mission of the university.”

Prof. Jansen is a recent Fulbright Scholar to Stanford University (2007-2008), former Dean of Education at the University of Pretoria (2001-2007), and Honorary Doctor of Education from the University of Edinburgh. He is a former high school Biology teacher and achieved his undergraduate education at the University of the Western Cape (BSc), his teaching credentials at UNISA (HED, BEd) and his postgraduate education in the USA (MS, Cornell; PhD, Stanford).

He is also Honorary Professor of Education at the University of the Witwatersrand and Visiting Fellow at the National Research Foundation.

His most recent books are Knowledge in the Blood (2009, Stanford University Press) and his co-authored Diversity High: Class, Color, Character and Culture in a South African High School (2008, University Press of America). In these and related works, he examines how education leaders balance the dual imperatives of reparation and reconciliation in their leadership practice.

Media Release
Issued by: Lacea Loader
Assistant Director: Media Liaison
Tel: 051 401 2584
Cell: 083 645 2454
E-mail: loaderl.stg@ufs.ac.za  
13 March 2009
 

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