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12 February 2018

The University of the Free State (UFS) has an enrolment plan for 2007–2019 that was approved by the Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET). The university is compelled to adhere to these enrolment targets, as over-enrolment poses a risk to the academic integrity, financial sustainability, and student success of the university.
 
The UFS received 47 000 applications for admission in 2018, of which 17 000 applicants received final admission. All admission letters clearly stipulate that admission is subject to availability of space during registration. The enrolment target for new first-time entering students for 2018 is 8 000, therefore only 8 000 students can be registered across the university’s three campuses during this intake period.
 
The Executive Management of the UFS welcomes the fact that President Jacob Zuma’s announcement on 16 December 2017 about free education for the poor and working class has allowed many more students the opportunity to register. Several meetings between the Executive Management and the Student Representative Council (SRC) have taken place since the beginning of 2018 to discuss the implications of the President’s announcement. Engagement with the SRC regarding the registration process is also continuously taking place.
 
Online registration for all students opened on 8 January 2018. The UFS has put several measures in place to assist new first-time entering undergraduate students. Furthermore, students who have moved into residences and participated in the university’s Gateway Programme, as well as students who arrived on campus, were assisted to register for programmes with available space. In cases where the first option of study was full, students were redirected to other programmes with available space within the specific faculty or other faculties, provided that they comply with the relevant admission criteria. Only mainstream programmes in the Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences now have space left. The rest of the undergraduate programmes in all faculties on all the campuses are full.
 
Students who could not be accommodated in any of the programmes due to limited space are being directed to the Central Application Clearing House (CACH).

News Archive

Report card outlines major achievements
2005-02-04

Staff at the University of the Free State (UFS) have received above-inflation increases in remuneration averaging 18,2 percent since the year 2000, according to the Rector and Vice-Chancellor, Prof Frederick Fourie.

Delivering a keynote speech at the Official Opening of the UFS today, Prof Fourie gave a report card for the UFS which he said indicated significant progress in salaries and promotions as well as capital expenditure and infrastructure development on the campus.

“The aggregate extra earnings of staff (money in their pockets above inflation) from 2000 to 2005 amount to R75 million in salaries. This is the result of the hard work of all staff and we pay tribute to them,” he said.

Prof Fourie said that several categories of staff are better off than before the financial turn-around strategy was implemented in 2000 which aimed to make the UFS a financially sustainable campus.

The lowest paid workers and professors had received an additional structural correction, which gave professors at the UFS a 27% above-inflation increase (on total remuneration package) since 2000.

He said there had also been a dramatic increase in promotions to associate professor and full professor during the last 6 years.

From 1999 to December 2001, there were only 9 promotions to associate professor. From January 2002 to January 2005, there were 37 such promotions to associate professor, four times as many.

Regarding promotions to full professor, from 1999 to December 2001 there were 7 promotions. From January 2002 to January 2005, there were 31 promotions to full professor, more than four times as many.

“We have also created a new category of senior professor to give due recognition to the outstanding work of our leading academics in many fields,” Prof Fourie said.

The UFS has introduced numerous new and innovative learning programmes, together with an increasing number of community service modules which enhanced the UFS as a leader in service learning and helped to make it a university engaged with its surrounding community.

According to Prof Fourie the number of support staff had also grown along with the professionalisation of the support services.

He said management was aware that there still several challenges regarding staff overload and staff development but that these were being addressed

Issued by: Lacea Loader
Media Representative
Tel: (051) 401-2584
Cell: 083 645 2454
E-mail: loaderl.stg@mail.uovs.ac.za

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