Latest News Archive

Please select Category, Year, and then Month to display items
Previous Archive
12 December 2019 | Story Amanda Tongha | Photo MACE
MACE read more
Staff members from the Department of Communication and Marketing celebrating their MACE Excellence Awards.

The Department of Communication and Marketing again received national and international recognition for its communication and awareness campaigns this year. 

On 28 November 2019, the department made a big splash at the national Marketing, Advancement, and Communication in Education (MACE) 2019 Excellence Awards, winning multiple awards for its work in communication and marketing. Scooping up five awards, the department earned accolades for the communication campaign on the MT Steyn statue review process, the Kovsie App, and awareness campaigns for gender-based violence and the Kovsies Multilingual Mokete. 

This comes on top of the two awards the department won at the International Association of Business Communicators (IABC) Africa Silver Quill Awards during an awards ceremony presented in Centurion, Gauteng, on 16 October 2019. During this event, the department was also acknowledged with an Excellence Award for the Kovsie App communication campaign and a Merit Award for the communication campaign on the MT Steyn statue review process.


Celebrating the best in marketing, advancement, and communication

Hosted annually, the MACE Excellence Awards recognise and celebrate the excellence of specialists and practitioners in marketing, advancement, and communication in the higher-education sector. MACE plays a vital role in adding value to practitioners through high-quality development programmes, facilitating networking partnerships and transformation, as well as promoting best practices among these professions at member institutions.

At the 2018 MACE Excellence Awards, the Department of Communication and Marketing received the prestigious Severus Cerff Award, presented to a higher-education institution that consistently excels in the fields of marketing and communication. The department also brought back six other awards, including three gold awards, which are awarded to the highest-scoring entries in the 30 categories evaluated. These ranged from brand-building campaigns to print publications; website to social media, assessed by marketing and communication professionals in the higher-education and private sectors.  

Continuing its winning streak at the 2019 MACE Excellence Awards held in Port Elizabeth from 27 to 28 November 2019, the Department of Communication and Marketing was singled out for keeping stakeholders informed on the MT Steyn statue review process. For this, the department received the prestigious Business Issue Special Award, presented to an entry that successfully addressed a critical business issue. 

Student Recruitment content
Staff members from the Department of Student Recruitment Services celebrating their MACE Excellence Awards

Being recognised nationally and internationally

Adding to the UFS tally, the Department of Student Recruitment Services was also recognised at the 2019 MACE Excellence Awards for its communication campaigns to market the university. The department won three awards, one gold (for the School Anthem – Petunia Secondary School campaign) and two bronze awards for the Light the fire – Grade 9 school subject choice intervention and Re-engineering of the UFS Undergraduate Prospectus 2020 campaigns, bringing the number of UFS MACE Excellence Awards for this year to eight. 

Lacea Loader, Director: Communication and Marketing, who accepted the Business Issue Special Award on behalf of the University of the Free State (UFS), says the recognition affirms the role the department plays in building and promoting the UFS brand. 

“I am immensely proud of the national and international recognition the Department of Communication and Marketing received for its work this year. Being recognised by our peers for quality and innovative work is most rewarding and it demonstrates the dedication and commitment of a highly innovative and creative team.”  

The awards won by the Department of Communication and Marketing included three gold awards for the communication campaign on the MT Steyn statue review process, Gender-based violence Awareness Campaign, and Kovsies Multilingual Mokete Communication Campaign; a silver award for the KovsieApp Communication Campaign; and the Business Issue Special Award for the Communication Campaign on the MT Steyn statue review process. 

- A record number of 202 entries from 15 institutions were evaluated in the 2019 MACE Excellence Awards. 

News Archive

UFS outperforms SA higher education in EU-Saturn programme
2016-12-14

Description: Erasmus Mundus Tags: Erasmus Mundus 

Partnering between the UFS and other institutions
makes it possible for staff and students to study abroad.
Pictured from left front, are: Mareve Biljohn (EU-Saturn
at University of Groningen), Memory Mphaphuli (INSPIRE
at University of Ghent) and Wanda Verster (EU-Saturn at
Uppsala University). Back: Moliehi Mpeli (Erasmus Mundus
at University of Leuven).
Photo: Stephen Collett

The University of the Free State (UFS) strives to invest in its staff and students and a proven example can be seen in the latest cycle of the Erasmus Mundus EU-SATURN programme.

The UFS outperformed the higher education sector over the past five years as it had more exchange scholarships than most South African universities. A total of 16 (18%) out of the 89 local scholarships allocated until 2016 were from UFS. Stellenbosch University, with 14 scholarships, was second.

University one of main roleplayers
Chevon Jacobs, Senior Officer said: “Internationalisation at the UFS is a great achievement as the university allocated all available scholarships to eligible staff and students. She said the strong partnership history between the university and some European institutions, due to a similarity between the language and culture of especially Dutch-speaking countries, is one of the reasons for the success.

“We are very proud of our participation. We have invested for these predominantly young members to spend time abroad in furthering their qualifications,” she said.

The EU-Saturn project has been jointly co-ordinated for the past five years by the University of Groningen, Netherlands, and the UFS.

One of few projects funded by Erasmus Mundus
The Erasmus Mundus is an international partnership aimed at enhancing the quality of European higher education and the promotion of dialogue and understanding between people and cultures through co-operation with other countries. The EUROSA, EU-Saturn, Aesop and INSPIRE to name a few, are all programmes funded by the European Union through the Erasmus Mundus. These projects offer fully funded part-time or full-time postgraduate scholarships for study in Europe.

Some of the universities UFS students have studied at are the University of Groningen, the University of Newcastle, England, and the University of Ghent, Belgium.

Successful UFS grantees awarded scholarships over the past five years:
•    Maria Campbell (2014 – PhD) – University of Newcastle
•    Sethulego Matebesi (2014 – PhD) – Uppsala University
•    Lindie Koorts (2016 – PhD) – University of Groningen    
•    Reginald Makgoba (2013/2014 – Master’s) – University of Newcastle
•    Sanet Steyn (2013/2014 – Master’s) – University of Groningen  
•    Johnathan Adams (2015/2016 – Master’s) - Göttingen University
•    Eben Coetzee (2013/2014 - PhD) – University of Groningen
•    André Janse van Rensburg (2013/2014 – PhD) – University of Ghent
•    Martin Rossouw (2013-2015 – PhD) – University of Groningen
•    Jan Schlebusch (2013-2016 – PhD) – University of Groningen
•    Carel Cloete (2014-2016 – PhD) – University of Groningen
•    Nadine Lake (2014-2016 – PhD) – Uppsala University
•    Elbie Lombard (2014-2016 – PhD) – University of Ghent
•    Luyanda Noto (2014/2015 – PhD) – University of Ghent
•    Mareve Biljohn (2015/2016 – PhD) – University of Groningen
•    Wanda Verster (2015/2016 – PhD) – Uppsala University

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