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The composition of the Council of the University of the Free State is stipulated in the UFS Statute, as promulgated in the Government Gazette of 26 January 2018. The terms of office of the President of Convocation, Prof Johan Grobbelaar, Christo Dippenaar, Henry Madlala (Qwaqwa Campus) expire on 31 October 2018. Convocation has to appoint three representatives in their place, one of which has to be the President of Convocation and another should be from the Qwaqwa Campus. In terms of the Statute, both Dippenaar and Madlala are eligible for re-election.
Written nominations for the election of three representatives of the Convocation for a period of four years, are hereby requested.
The Convocation comprises of all permanent academic staff from lecturer to professor, all permanent staff other than academic staff from Deputy Director to Rector and Vice-Chancellor by virtue of their respective offices and all students (current and former) who obtained a qualification at the university.
Each nomination shall be signed by five members of Convocation and shall contain the written acceptance of the nomination by the nominee under his or her signature, as well as an abridged CV (±2pages). These must reach Dawid Kriel by 12:00 on Monday 12 November 2018. If more than one person per each of the three categories is nominated, elections will be held on or before Friday 16 November 2018. You will be notified of the final date for elections in due course. Please submit your nomination via:
• E-mail: dawid@ufs.ac.za
• Fax: 086 643 1665
• Post: Dawid Kriel University of the Free State: Institutional Advancement PO Box 339 Bloemfontein 9300
• Hand delivered at: Dawid Kriel, Room 26, 1st Floor, Wekkie Saayman Building, Bloemfontein Campus
For enquiries, please contact Claudine Taylor at TaylorCL@ufs.ac.za or +27 51 401 2097.
Click here for the nominations form.
NASA Deep Space Navigation engineer presents at Naval Hill Planetarium
2017-03-30
From the left: Chris du Plessis; US Consulate, Johannesburg,
Prof Petrus Meintjes; Dept of Physics UFS, Christopher Jacobs;
NASA, and Anthony Deaton; US Consulate Johannesburg.
Photo: Rulanzen Martin
The University of the Free State (UFS) hosted NASA Deep Space engineer Christopher Jacobs on 27 March 2017 at the Bloemfontein Campus. The engagement was hosted by Prof Matie Hoffman of the Department of Physics and the Department of Institutional Advancement, in collaboration with the US Consulate General in Johannesburg.
Jacobs is stationed at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) at the California Institute of Technology and has served as the Reference Frame Calibration task manager for 25 years. In this role he has been responsible for delivering the reference frames used to navigate NASA missions such as the Mars Science Laboratory to planetary targets.
His visit to the UFS included a presentation to the Department of Astrophysics at the Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences and at the Naval Hill Planetarium in Bloemfontein where he spoke on Stellar GPS: Navigating the Solar System. He also spoke about the latest research and developments at NASA in Astrometry. The visit will establish and develop shared interests and possible collaboration with UFS and other institutions of interest in the country. “South Africa, because of its well-placed geographic location in the southern hemisphere, holds a lot of answers to astronomy,” Jacobs said.
He has an active interest in professional and public education, and outreach, having given public lectures around the world. “Astronomy brings people together and is a point of common interest that is key in solving environmental and geographical challenges such as climate change, therefore global cooperation is important,” he said.
Prof Hoffman welcomed the initiative by the US Consulate and the possible outcomes of joint efforts to position the UFS as a key partner in South Africa on NASA’s astronomy projects. In the coming weeks Jacobs will speak at high schools in Gauteng including the Mae Jemison US Science Reading Room in Mamelodi, Pretoria, a centre that is focused on promoting science education.