Latest News Archive

Please select Category, Year, and then Month to display items
Previous Archive
27 August 2019 | Story Xolisa Mnukwa | Photo Xolisa Mnukwa
Student Toolkit
The First Edition of the UFS Student Toolkit is now available on Blackboard.

Download the toolkit here

A common question first-time entering first-year students often ask themselves when they come to university, is: ‘How will I deal with the pressure?’

The University of the Free State (UFS) Department of Student Counselling and Development (SCD) – with the vision to promote, enable, and optimise students’ self-direction – has launched the first edition of the Student Toolkit on Friday, 23 August 2019.

The toolkit, which is now available on Blackboard, is intended to assist students in dealing and coping with challenges they face in their personal lives during their period of study at the UFS.

Students will be exposed to a variety of topics, pressing issues, and phenomena that they will encounter on a daily basis in their lives, such as academic and personal challenges, time management, procrastination, goal setting, anxiety, effective studying, stress management, mindful meditation, self-love, loneliness, relationships, sexual orientation, family frustrations, overthinking, death, and suicide. 

Present at the launch was the UFS Vice-Rector: Institutional Change, Student Affairs, and Community Engagement, Prof Puleng LenkaBula; the UFS Dean of Student Affairs, Mr Pura Mgolombane; the UFS Director for Student Counselling and Development, Melissa Barnaschone; Counselling Psychologist and compiler of the UFS Student Toolkit: Lize van den Bergh.

In addition, BCom Marketing honours student and poet, Thuthukani Ndlovu, Chief Executive Officer and founder of Next Chapter, Tshepang Mahlatsi, three students who have benefitted from SDC services, delegates from the department, and other affiliated students were all in attendance. 

For more information about the Student Toolkit, contact the Department of Student Counselling and Development at scd@ufs.ac.za or call +27 51 401 2853.


News Archive

World-famous action researcher shares knowledge with UFS
2010-03-03

From Left: Prof. McNiff and Prof. Beylefeld at the workshop
Photo: Lize du Plessis 


Prof. Jean McNiff from the Department of Education at the York St. John University in the United Kingdom (UK) recently paid a highly successful visit to the Faculty of Education at the University of the Free State (UFS).

Prof. McNiff is a world-famous action researcher and has published nineteen books. She holds professorial positions at various universities across the world, including the position of Visiting Professor at the Ningxia Teachers' University in the People's Republic of China.

Staff members from the Faculty of Education attended a seminar presented by Prof. McNiff to introduce them to the methodology and conventions of action research.

According to Prof. Adri Beylefeld, Teaching and Learning manager at the faculty, action research is increasingly recognised as a rigorous research methodology. It can enhance the professional development of educators as they study their own practice with the purpose of improving the learning of students.

Prof. McNiff also presented a workshop to staff members of the UFS, titled “Using our educational responsibilities to transform our violent histories into life-affirming futures”.
– Lize du Plessis

We use cookies to make interactions with our websites and services easy and meaningful. To better understand how they are used, read more about the UFS cookie policy. By continuing to use this site you are giving us your consent to do this.

Accept