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08 August 2019 | Story Valentino Ndaba | Photo Sonia Small
Student Safety
The university continues to make concerted efforts to increase student and staff safety on and off campuses.
Protection Services monitors all campuses around the clock to ensure the safety of students and staff. Safety is at the top of the agenda of the University of the Free State (UFS), as it is crucial for maintaining an environment conducive to teaching and learning. A number of on- and off-campus security measures are in place that are constantly being reviewed as the need arises. 

On-campus security measures

Members of Protection Services man the Operational Centre on a 24-hour basis. This office can be contacted by students and staff members to report incidents on and off campus. Security patrols on foot and by vehicle are conducted by members of Protection Services along with contracted security officers on a daily basis on all campuses. In addition, dedicated security officers are deployed at female residences at night.

State-of-the-art CCTV cameras are monitored around the clock by members of Protection Services. These cameras play a vital role in the investigation of incidents as well as the real-time detection of criminal activities taking place on campus. A number of arrests have been made using CCTV footage. A process is underway to enhance the current CCTV capacity by installing new cameras at identified hotspots on campus and at student residences.

Red-pole panic alarms linked to cameras were installed on the three UFS campuses. A security-response vehicle is dispatched to locations when the alarm is activated. Intruder alarms were also installed at various buildings on all the campuses. It alerts Protection Services in the case of unauthorised entries or burglaries.

There are three dedicated Investigation Officers in the Department of Protection Services – two on the Bloemfontein Campus and one on the Qwaqwa Campus – who are responsible for investigating cases on campuses, as well as working in collaboration with SAPS Investigating Officers on all off-campus reported cases. One of them is always on standby to respond to cases reported after hours. The university also appointed a staff member who is responsible for threat detection, investigations, and liaising with external law-enforcement agencies. He is also responsible for the coordination of off-campus safety and security operations.

Safeguarding the off-campus environment

Although the university has no jurisdiction off campus, several measures were implemented in collaboration with external law-enforcement agencies such as the South African Police Service (SAPS), Community Policing Forum (CPF), and private security companies. 

The UFS is represented on the CPF committees for sector 2 and 3 of the Park Road Police Station, and sector 4 of the Kagisanong Police Station, and joined operations are conducted from time to time. A Student Safety Collaboration Forum for both on- and off-campus students is currently being established and several Crime Stop WhatsApp groups consisting of students, SAPS and CPF members, sector policing, armed security companies, and Protection Services are being used for real-time reporting and response.

The Department of Protection Services also appointed an off-campus Security Liaison Officer to assist students in reporting crime incidents to the SAPS and obtaining the necessary social and psychological support. This officer also liaises with the SAPS and private security companies on an ongoing basis to enhance security around the campus.

Members of SAPS, CPF, and security companies conduct regular patrols in areas where students reside. 

Protection Services and the Department of Housing and Residence Affairs have already accredited several off-campus residences, and are working together to accredit more in line with the guidelines of the Department of Higher Education and Training. More than 3 000 beds in Bloemfontein have been accredited so far. 

The Sexual Assault Response Team is at your service

All students and staff members can now report incidents related to gender-based violence, sexual harassment, and any act of prejudice or discrimination directly to the Sexual Assault Response Team (SART), which was recently officially launched by the Unit for Institutional Change and Social Justice.  Members of Protection Services also recently received training in assisting victims of sexual-violence incidents.

Incidents may be reported from Monday to Friday, 07:30-16:30 on +27 51 401 7777, and after hours on the 0800 204 682 toll-free line. This initiative is proudly sponsored by the Office for Gender Equality and Anti-discrimination, together with the UFS Social Support Unit. 

On combating academic anxiety

The Office for Student Counselling and Development (SCD) is launching the Student Toolkit on the Bloemfontein Campus on 23 August 2019. Students will now have a step-by-step guide that contains all the information needed to ensure a healthy mental-health status.

Should students need professional individual or group counselling, support is available from the SCD. Visits can be arranged by calling +27 51 401 2853 or emailing scd@ufs.ac.za 

Emergency contact details are available with the click of a button on the KovsieApp or at the back of all access cards.

News Archive

“My time at the UFS was the golden gem of my career”
2016-07-04

Description: Zig Gibson Tags: Zig Gibson

Prof Alan St Clair Gibson
Photo: Oteng Mpete

“My time at the University of the Free State (UFS) was the golden gem of my career. I have worked at medical schools or biomedical research centres in the United Kingdom, United States and at some of the top medical schools in South Africa, but working at the UFS was one of the highlights of my career,” says Prof Alan St Clair Gibson, Head of the UFS School of Medicine.

After spending just over two years at the UFS, Prof St Clair Gibson resigned from the institution in June 2016 and will take up the position of Dean: Health and Human Performance Sciences at the Waikato University in New Zealand in mid-July, where he will assist to establish a new faculty for all the health-science disciplines. “It was a privilege to work at the UFS. I come from a strong research background and wanted to grow research at the university, which I achieved. I came to the UFS because of the Academic and Human Projects and am proud of what has been achieved at the School of Medicine during the time I was here,” he said.

Prof St Clair Gibson highlighted some of these achievements, including the development of a management infrastructure across the disciplines of the school. “The establishment of an executive management committee for the school, as well as research champions in departments, highlighted the importance of proper governance and strategic management. By developing data dashboards, my management team and I could develop an understanding of research income and productivity, how the school works, what the role of teaching and learning is, and how the school could benefit in terms of third-stream income from the many contracts obtained by its academic staff. As a result, contracts and the financial management model of the school have also been reconfigured to the benefit of the university so that the institution and school can benefit from it,” he said.

His strong belief in an open-door policy has made staff feel part of the environment and it has created an atmosphere of equality and inclusivity. He believes in staff development and has, for instance, established leadership and management courses for heads of departments. Another factor to be proud of is the increase in the number of young researchers who recently joined the school, such as Prof Ross Tucker, who is one of the foremost sport scientists in the country. “It is a fact that staff retire or resign in all schools and departments of any university. It is also true that these departures offer opportunities to bring new academic and professional staff into the UFS. In fact, for the first time virtually every department in the School of Medicine now has a full-time Head of Department and 46 new staff were appointed since January 2015,” said Prof St Clair Gibson.

“I am especially proud of contributing, together with the senior leadership of the UFS, to stabilise the relationship with the Free State Department of Health (DoH). With the assistance of these parties, as well as my executive management team, we could find a better way of working together to the benefit of the school and the province.’’

Transforming the student profile to be representative of the country’s demographics is another milestone Prof St Clair Gibson will remember. “The intake of black and white students is of such a nature that we now have a much more balanced ratio of black and white undergraduate students than before.”

“I wanted to stay longer to see the effect of all the changes I made at the school, but the deanship is an offer I cannot refuse. I would have liked to see a steadier increase in the number of permanent clinical staff and have worked hard with both the UFS management and the DoH to try and achieve that; but more work needs to be done.”

I have worked with a number of fantastic staff members at the school, who are determined to do good in a challenging environment. I am amazed at the energy of the university leadership and how the Human and Academic Projects are executed. My wish for the university is to maintain and grow its standards and for the School of Medicine to maintain its reputation as one of the best schools in the country. I will always be a proud alumnus of the UFS,” he said.

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