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19 March 2018 | Story Eugene Seegers | Photo Charl Devenish
UFS collaborates with Wits UWC to present higher education PhD Conference
Prof Merridy Wilson-Strydom (UFS, Prof Patricio Langa (UWC), Prof Melanie Walker (UFS), and Prof Stephanie Allais (Wits) at the keynote address delivered by Prof Allais.

The higher education sector in Africa has seen dramatic shifts over the past few years, and has attracted renewed attention from global funders and national policy-makers. In turn, country-wide challenges of poverty, inequalities, and university histories and stratification in South Africa and elsewhere on the continent offer rich opportunities for critical, theoretically-informed research to investigate and understand the conditions of possibility for change nationally and comparatively.

In particular, three centres at universities in South Africa have decided to build an organic collaboration, starting with research by doctoral research fellows at these universities, who presented papers at a two-day conference. The conference was jointly organised and hosted under the umbrella of the SARCHi (South African Research Chairs Initiative) Chair in Higher Education and Human Development at the Bloemfontein Campus of University of the Free State (UFS). Two keynote addresses on significant issues in the sector were presented by Prof Stephanie Allais, Director of the Centre for Researching Education and Labour (REAL, University of the Witwatersrand) and Prof Patricio Langa, Associate Professor of Sociology and Higher Education Studies at the Institute for Post-School Studies (IPPS, University of the Western Cape).

HE researchers collaborate
This ongoing collaboration between the three universities was initiated by Prof Melanie Walker at the UFS, in partnership with Prof Allais and Prof Langa and their institutions, with each institution taking a turn to host similar conferences. The conference at the UFS not only brought together doctoral researchers from these three centres to share their research, but it also offered the opportunity to engage with other early-career and experienced scholars. 

The conference was themed Critical Higher Education Studies: Theories and Research and aimed to build research relationships and stimulate debate among scholars. It was jointly organised by postdoctoral fellows: Ntimi Mtawa and Faith Mkwananzi (UFS), Bothwell Manyonga (Wits), and Patrick Swanzy (UWC).

Significant benefits for conference-goers and presenters alike

Conference-goers, as well as the presenters, reported great benefits as a result of their attendance and participation in the event. The research papers were important and central. However, the broader value of the conference was the platform it offered to young, emerging scholars to showcase their research projects, receive critical comments, listen and learn from one another, in addition to engaging with experienced scholars. 

Secondly, the variety of PhD research fellows who presented their research further enhanced critical academic engagement and the exchange of ideas. Presenters reported that the quality of feedback and comments on their projects had especially enhanced their current work. The focus of the stimulating keynote addresses also challenged participants to think well and critically about the field of higher education. Practical skills development also featured on the programme in the form of learning how to present a TED-style talk.

“The conference was especially valuable in bringing together early-career researchers working on critical and theorised approaches to higher education,” said Prof Walker. She added, “In particular, I valued the diversity of both the projects and their theoretical frames, which proved especially rich, together with the outstanding keynote contributions—one from political economy and one from sociology—which shaped the event as a whole.”

News Archive

Important message to UFS students on NSFAS and financial aid in general
2013-02-01

31 January 2013

Dear Students

There remains some uncertainty as well as misinformation within the student body concerning NSFAS and financial aid in general. This communication is intended to provide the facts on the state of student funding at the University of the Free State (UFS). I hope you find this information helpful and that it would guide you in your decisions as you wait to hear from, or hopefully receive funding from NSFAS or any other source.

  1. Every year the Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET) determines how much funding is available to fund students at all universities in South Africa; this is determined in part by the student numbers. Universities do not ask for, or determine the DHET allocation and are instructed by government that “NSFAS will ensure that the universities comply with the processes, procedures…for the allocated funds.”

  2. On 14 December 2012 the UFS received notice from the DHET that our total allocation would be R108,331,215.66 and that this amount must be apportioned in the following categories:
    General NSFAS Funding R85,174,275.07
    Teacher Training R2,291,940.59
    Disability Funding R1,265,000.00
    Final-Year Programme R19,600,000.00

  3. The UFS received 5 952 applications for NSFAS funding and with the available funding we can only finance up to 3 000 students on the Qwaqwa and Bloemfontein Campuses, provided that those students satisfy the stringent criteria, e.g. the so-called “national means test” determined for all universities in the country. If we funded more students that the available monies allow, the university would be held accountable by the NSFAS Board and the DHET and this would threaten future funding.

  4. Students apply in the previous year and therefore late applications are less likely to receive funding.

  5. Academic merit also counts, therefore students who fail one or more modules are less likely to receive new or ongoing support from NSFAS. The combination of academic standing and financial need are among the important criteria in decision-making on NSFAS funds.

  6. The UFS is one of the few universities with a very efficient record in using every cent made available to support poor students; we are proud of this record. No money is sent back to NSFAS, except small amounts not claimed by students in the disability category. The university is not allowed to shift funds between categories as described in point #2 above.

  7. Allocations are not based on campus, but need.

  8. The UFS sets aside an additional R35,7 million (in 2013) from within its own budget as bursaries so that we can accommodate as many students as possible. We spend every cent of this funding on students.

  9. The UFS also raises millions in bursaries from the private sector to support poor and promising students, though these funds are often linked to the industry granting the money, e.g. Investec for Accounting students and SASOL for Chemistry students. This recruitment of bursaries is a 24/7 commitment of the Marketing Office and the Faculties and Heads of Departments are also active in raising funds from government agencies, parastatals and the private sector for students in their units.

  10. After almost all our 2013 funds were allocated in favour of students, we calculated a shortfall in the NSFAS allocation of approximately R51 million. We are in the process of making an urgent submission to NSFAS to consider this additional allocation, but we cannot guarantee that this plea can or will be met.

Finally, I want all our students to know that the University of the Free State works very hard to raise every cent we can to provide poor students with funding for their studies. Many of my colleagues, including support staff, who do not earn very much, use some of their meagre personal resources to help a student with money for registration or clothing or food. In fact, the No Student Hungry Campaign that raises more than R600,000 by UFS volunteers annually, is another mechanism for trying to assist students who might have money for studies, but not much else.

We do this because we care, and because this is what The Human Project at Kovsies is all about.

I therefore ask for your patience as we continue our labour of raising the funds that enable every deserving student to continue their studies at the University of the Free State.

Should you have any further questions about NSFAS, please leave an email inquiry on choanet@ufs.ac.za or mallettca@ufs.ac.za and we will endeavour to provide you with the information you require.

Sincerely Yours

Jonathan D Jansen
Vice-Chancellor and Rector
University of the Free State

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