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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).
How to interpret Centlec’s load shedding
2008-01-31
Everyone in South Africa is affected by power failures (load shedding). Centlec took certain measures to manage the situation. These measures are explained:
Time slots
See the following table for an indication of times when load shedding might be applied to specific areas: http://www.centlec.co.za/power_shed/PDF/time_slots.pdf
Groups
The city was divided into six groups. This document clearly indicates which area in the city resorts under which group: http://www.centlec.co.za/power_shed/PDF/groups.pdf
According to the document, the university resorts under group 4. In the table with time slots it is the grey area.
Stages
Eskom developed three stages for load shedding. (See stage table at the bottom of the page http://www.centlec.co.za/power_shed/PDF/time_slots.pdf)
- Stage 1: Less load shedding is applied in stage 1. E.g. the UFS resorts in group 4 and on a Monday, according to stage 1, the power will not be switched off during 12:00 and 14:30 (this time slot is not highlighted in orange).
- Stage 2: More load shedding is applied in stage 2. Load shedding will be applied during stage 2 between 12:00 and 14:30 on a Monday at the UFS.
- Stage 3: All time slots are highlighted in orange, which indicates that power will be switched off for the whole duration of stage 3.
Example
Today, Tuesday, load shedding was scheduled to take place from 10:00 to 12:00 at the UFS. Currently, according to Centlec’s web site, stage 1 is active. This time slot is not marked in stage 1, therefore load shedding is not applied. Centlec gives also additional information; “No load shedding in progress.”
Keep in mind that if an area is at risk it does not automatically imply that the power will be switched off. It all depends on the request from Eskom at that particular moment whether the actual shedding is required.