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29 August 2019 | Story Valentino Ndaba
Michelle de Lange
Michelle de Lange was placed fourth in the world in the Chartered Global Management Accountant exams.

A letter from the Vice-President of Examinations at the Association for International Certified Professional Accountants, Stephen Flatman, reads: “The Chartered Global Management Accountant (CGMA) Examination Board has determined the highest achievers at this level and I am pleased to inform you that you have obtained fourth position in the world for the May 2019 Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA) Gateway Exam.” The letter was addressed to Michelle de Lange, lecturer at the University of the Free State’s (UFS) School of Accountancy.

This achievement in the tough Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA) examination is a step in the right direction for De Lange who has been tasked with assisting in coordinating and presenting a new Financial Management qualification next year. “I want to be somewhere where I can make a difference, change a life, plant a dream in someone’s heart and help guide our future generations,” says De Lange. 

Taking local and global footsteps

Prof Frans Prinsloo, Director at the UFS School of Accountancy, has only praise for De Lange and says he looks forward to her influencing the climate and culture of academics. “It is noteworthy that we will be offering the BCom Honours in Financial Management in 2020 and all course content will be aligned to the CIMA Management Level outcomes in order to prepare students to write this exam next November. De Lange will be one of the lecturers on this programme,” Prof Prinsloo says. 

For the love of Accounting

“When I eventually qualified and started working as a financial manager of a large company in Bloemfontein, I realised just how much I loved the field of management accounting – blending leadership, cost and management accounting and strategic decision-making,” says De Lange. 
Although her passion for the field of accounting can be traced back to high school, it was the corporate world that re-ignited the strong spark. This passion has undoubtedly contributed to her international acclaim.

News Archive

UFS arts are experiencing a boom
2013-09-03

 
Dot Vermeulen
3 September 2013

The arts at the University of the Free State are experiencing a boom, with several Kovsie artists achieving on a national platform. Dot Vermeulen, a junior lecturer in the Department of Fine Arts, is the latest UFS artist to be honoured nationally as the winner of the 2013 Sasol New Signatures art award. 

The award is rewarding emerging young artists. The winning entry, entitled “Desperately disciplined,” by Vermeulen, who is currently studying toward her master’s degree in Visual Arts, was chosen from approximately 400 entries. 

Earlier this year, Pauline Gutter, a former Kovsie, won the Absa L’Atelier competition, which is South Africa’s most prestigious art competition. The year before, another former student from our Department of Fine Arts, Elrie Joubert, won the competition. 

Vermeulen says there are brilliant people at the UFS who are active in visual arts at various levels. "People such as Janine Allen-Spies (lecturer in painting) and Angela de Jesus (curator of the Stegmann gallery) are not only good artists, they are also involved with the community and invest a great deal of energy into the development of young artists. From my own experience, I can say that I have benefited a lot from academic scholarships from the UFS in the course of my study career." 

She says her winning entry refers to the relationship between traditional tactile painting and contemporary digital media. "The focus is especially on hidden moments of absorption and correspondence during the art-making process. The painting installation depicts a reading nude figure on a couch. A computer screen is mounted on a stand in front of the painting, animating the same image, while at the same time blocking the view of the painting. In the animation, the nude figure pages through her book from time to time, with the paint and digital drawing marks moving around her. The text “Envoi is typing…” is also animated on the surface of the couch repeatedly. It is suggestive of internet chat boxes, which often pop up on the screen while I am working on my laptop." 

As winner of the Sasol New Signatures art award, Vermeulen won R60 000 and the opportunity of a solo art exhibition in the Pretoria Art Museum. 

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