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04 May 2018
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From left: Marné Mentz (second), Ts’epang Sello (first) and Tyler Beling (third) were in a class of their own, taking the first three spots in the 1 500m at the University Sport South Africa national championship in Sasolburg.
As expected, the Kovsie athletics team made the University Sport South Africa (USSA) national championship, held over the weekend in Sasolburg, one to remember.
Eight athletes earned gold medals, which is twice as many as last year. The total of 24 medals (including seven silver and nine bronze) is also double the number won in 2017.
They ended third, just one gold medal below the University of Johannesburg. The female athletes won the women’s competition and contributed to seven of the eight gold medals. The Kovsies dominated the 1 500m and 5 000m events in which they both claimed the first, second and third spots. They even grabbed the fourth and sixth position in the 5 000m in which Kesa Molotsane triumphed, with Tyler Beling second, and Marné Mentz third. Mentz and Beling swapped places in the 1 500m behind Ts’epang Sello.
Molotsane also won the 10 000m in a record time of 34:49.16 which is a massive three minutes and five seconds quicker than the previous record.
The 800m title also now belongs to Sello. She and Beling won a third medal (bronze) as members of the 4 x 400m relay women’s team.
The other gold medalist was Lara Orrock (3 000m steeplechase), Lynique Beneke (long jump), Esli Lamley (pole vault) and Rynardt van Rensburg (800m).
All five Kovsies who competed at the CAA Southern Region Youth & Junior Championships that took place over the weekend in Boksburg, won medals. They were Pakiso Mthembu (gold, 5 000m), Michaéla Wright (gold, long jump), Tyler (gold, 1 500m), Tsebo Matsoso (silver, 200m) and Orrock (silver, 3 000m steeplechase).
Research chair into Higher Education gets boost for five more years
2017-11-21
Prof Melanie Walker, Director of the Centre for Research on
Higher Education and Development (CRHED).
Photo: Supplied
The research Chair in Higher Education and Human Development within the Centre for Research on Higher Education and Development (CRHED) at the University of the Free State has secured funding for another five years. It follows a favourable evaluation by the South African Research Chairs Initiative (SARChI) of the research project at the UFS.
The Director of the Centre, Prof Melanie Walker, says she is delighted by the recognition of the Chair's hard work and significant productivity. “This new round of funding secures the centre and its activities for the next five years.”
Under the auspices of the Chair, research is conducted on higher education, inequalities and social justice, and how or if universities foster the human capabilities and aspirations of students. In essence, the research studies whether higher education makes a difference to the lives of students, their families and communities. Prof Walker says the Chair's projects look at issues of access, participation and transitions into work, as well as gender, race and social class. The research uses quantitative and qualitative methods and includes a strand of participatory research projects with students.
Prof Walker says through the Chair research project, and the Centre, researchers have developed extensive international links and produced international quality research and publications. “We foster high-quality PhD graduates as a new generation of social science academics.” The Chair has in the first five years produced 10 PhDs and four master’s students.
The project in the next five years will continue with its focus on higher education and human development research. Prof Walker says all the research efforts seek to contribute to more justice in society and universities and to contribute to debates, policy and practices in higher education and a scholarly knowledge base.
The Research Chairs Initiative aims to improve the research capacity at public universities to produce high-quality postgraduate students, research and innovative outputs. The assessors looked at features such as the number of students the research entity had trained and how many publications the research team had produced.