Latest News Archive

Please select Category, Year, and then Month to display items
Categories
UFS News Media Release Research
Years
2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024
Months
January February March April May June July August September October November December
Previous Archive
08 February 2019 | Story Thabo Kessah | Photo Thabo Kessah
Gateway 2019
From the left: Mookgo Mofokeng, Lethukuthula Nsibande, Siyalungelwa Ntombela, and Chulumanco Mazwi.
The two-week Gateway Orientation programme to introduce first-year students to campus and faculty life on the Qwaqwa Campus,  has been a resounding success – if the first-years’ comments are anything to go by.

“Amazing Race was for me the pinnacle of this programme, as it enabled me to get to know the campus much better. It was such a refreshing experience, despite my sore thighs that are still hurting. I also loved the Step Up for success initiative,” said Chulumanco Mazwi from Mthatha in the Eastern Cape. Chulumanco has enrolled for a BAdmin degree, which will “enable me to interact with people, particularly in the corporate world”.

From Paballong Village in Qwaqwa came a budding scientist, Mookgo Mofokeng. “The programme has afforded me the opportunity to interact with a number of students from different places such as KwaZulu-Natal, Eastern Cape, and Gauteng,” she said. “I have also learnt about the history of the campus that is very close to my heart,” said Mookgo. “This is the campus where I won the prize for my Eskom Expo for Young Scientists project, with my partner and I displaying our water-extracting project as learners from the Beacon Secondary School here in Qwaqwa. For more on this, please watch the environmental television programme 50/50 on SABC 2 on 17 February 2019.”

Coming from Newcastle in KwaZulu-Natal is ‘the future businessman in the computing sector’, Lethukuthula Nsibande. “The Gateway orientation programme was so much fun, as it enabled me to see teamwork as an integral part of our development as first-years. Considering that I want to pursue business in the interesting world of computers, I have seen that interacting with others is crucial,” said Lethukuthula, a BSc IT (Computer Science and Management) student.

From Johannesburg, Gauteng, comes Siyalungelwa Ntombela, a BEd (Intermediate Phase – Life Sills and Social Sciences) student who believes her studies will enable her to give back to her community. “I want to educate our future generations and make a difference. I found Gateway to be educational and entertaining. We have learnt a lot about university life and the campus in general. I now know about the services offered by the clinic, where the Mandela Hall is, and so on. Interacting and learning from our mentors was also one of the highlights,” she added.

News Archive

UFS hosts the nation's senior professionals in Student Affairs
2011-12-05

 

Some of the Senior Student Affairs Professionals present at the meeting were back row from left: Dr Llewellyn MacMaster, Dean of Student Affairs: Stellenbosch University; Profs. Bobby Mandew, Dean of Student Affairs: University of Johannesburg; McGlory Speckman, Dean of Student Affairs: University of Pretoria; and Ms Babalwa Ntabeni-Matutu, Department of Higher Education and Training. Front from left are: Dr Choice Makhetha and Ms Khanyisile Nyembenzi, SAASSAP Project Officer from the University of KwaZulu-Natal.
Photo: Stephen Collett

The Deans of Students of thirteen of the country’s universities recently gathered at the University of the Free State's (UFS) Bloemfontein Campus to attend the Deans’ Forum of the South African Association of Senior Student Affairs Professionals (SAASSAP).  

The heads of Students Affairs from universities such as Stellenbosch, Johannesburg and Pretoria discussed challenges facing higher education institutions and shared campus experiences during their meeting.
 
Dr Choice Makhetha, Acting Vice-Rector: External Relations at the UFS and President of SAASSAP, says the issues that were addressed included registrations and poverty on campuses. Dr Makhetha, who is serving a second term as president of the organisation, says they came up with strategies on how to support campuses in partnership with the Department of Higher Education and Training.
 
SAASSAP will host its 14th national conference next year from 24 - 26 October in Bloemfontein. The UFS and the Central University of Technology will host the conference together and it is expected that all twenty three member institutions as well as Student Affairs Associations from abroad will attend.

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