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26 February 2019
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Story Eugene Seegers
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Photo Eugene Seegers
Prof Francis Petersen, Prof Daniella Coetzee (Principal: South Campus), Tshegofatso Setilo (Head: Access Programmes), and Prof Prakash Naidoo (Vice-Rector: Operations) on the South Campus for the welcoming of first-years.
“Welcome to the South Campus of the University of the Free State!” Addressing a packed Madiba Arena, Prof Francis Petersen, Rector and Vice-Chancellor of the UFS, said he was happy to see not only first-year students, but also parents and guardians, student leadership, and support staff from both the Bloemfontein and South Campuses.
“I would like to congratulate each of our first-year students for making the decision to come to Kovsies to further your studies here. But I would also like to thank you for making this choice,” he continued.
Prof Petersen further emphasised that the students’ experience and success as individuals are important to the UFS as an institution; therefore, academic and support staff are on hand to guide them through their journey to becoming well-rounded individuals. “We will surely take care of you,” said Prof Petersen. He also reassured parents and guardians that their loved ones would be well looked after.
The Rector also focused attention on the role of student-leadership structures, such as the newly-formed Institutional Student Representative Council (ISRC) and South Campus SRC, members of which were present in the audience. He thanked them for playing a key role in the student constituency, highlighting their support and guidance to help first-years cultivate a sense of belonging at the UFS.
Turning back to first-year students, Prof Petersen stated that they have the unique opportunity to study on a campus specifically focused on developing their full potential, a campus where they can realise their dreams. “Your arrival on the campus marks a new chapter in your life. This chapter is slightly different, as you are the author thereof. The previous chapters in your life were largely written by others—your parents, guardians, families, teachers, and others. You will now be the main author in the next chapter of your unique story.”
“At Kovsies, we believe in developing students in their totality as human beings, not just the academic side. May your time with us equip you to make a success of your life after university!”
Prof Petersen’s Message to First-year Students
- Take responsibility for your academic programme.
- Keep your focus. Study and study hard. You will reap the rewards and see the advantages of making success in your studies a top priority.
- Make sure that you have enough time for your studies; balance your social life and your time set aside to study.
- Realise and remember that you are not alone.
- If you find things difficult, seek help.
- Our Department of Student Counselling and Development has trained staff and tailor-made programmes that can assist you.
- Look after your mental health—and look after each other’s mental health.
- Make the most of your time at Kovsies.
- Join one or more of the student organisations; why not try something new?
- Embrace difference and diversity.
- Get to know students who are different from you.
- You will lose valuable opportunities to grow if you only associate with your own all the time. It is important to get to know students who are different from you. It could be someone from a different part of the country, or from another country, a different ethnicity, a different religion, someone who has different views from yours, or who has different interests and perspectives.
UFS School of Nursing opens new frontiers at 40
2009-11-16
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The opening of the virtual facility of the School of Nursing at the University of the Free State (UFS) and a gala dinner to celebrate the School’s 40th year of existence took place on the Main Campus in Bloemfontein this week. At the opening were, among others, from the left: Prof. Jonathan Jansen, Rector and Vice-Chancellor of the UFS; Dr Oluseyi Oyedele and Ms Viona Munjeri, both from The Atlantic Philanthropies; and Prof. Anita van der Merwe, Head of the School of Nursing at the UFS.
Photo: Leatitia Pienaar |
All eyes in the nursing profession in South Africa were turned to the University of the Free State (UFS) when the School of Nursing opened a state-of-the-art virtual health training and learning facility and celebrated its 40th year of existence with a gala dinner on the Main Campus in Bloemfontein this week.
The lustrous events were attended by dignitaries from all spheres of the health-care fraternity in South Africa.
The new virtual facility, The Space, is made possible by a grant of R16 million from The Atlantic Philanthropies and R1 million from the UFS. The Atlantic Philanthropies organisation is an international philanthropic organisation that is going to inject R70 million into nursing in South African over the next four years. The initiative will enhance nursing education and step up the quality of health-care delivery in South Africa. Four major grants were made to universities in South Africa, of which the UFS is one.
With the facility at the UFS School of Nursing, nursing education is propelled into the future. Prof. Anita van der Merwe, Head of the School of Nursing, says, “The virtual learning facility is a very new way of thinking and teaching. At the moment, theory and practice are separated, as theory is often taught in the mornings, followed by practical settings later in the day. Learner nurses then also go to clinical facilities for their practicals where the quality of care is declining and human resources are a problem.
“We believe that with new technologies such as e-learning and high-tech computer-mediated equipment we can use the ‘virtual world’ to bridge the theory-practice gap in the same location.”
Prof. Van der Merwe says the project is essentially about transformation: taking a stand against stagnation in nursing education and practice and daring to be different.
In the new virtual facility nurses will have the best of three worlds – the expertise of the facilitator/educator, simulation technology, and a vast selection of on-line and off-line software, exposing them to blogs, broadcasting and enhancing computer literacy. This will attract both the new “millennial” generation, which tends to be technologically competent, as well as the older learner because of the unthreatening learning environment.
The core space will accommodate 40 to 60 students and is designed to encourage informal, collaborative learning and practice simultaneously. It will have a demarcated area for “patients” (such as advanced adult and baby patient simulators) and a “clinic space” allowing for role play.
At the gala dinner, Prof. Jonathan Jansen, Rector and Vice-Chancellor of the UFS commended nurses in South Africa for their caring role, but also expressed his concern that South African has lost its deep sense of care. South Africa is at a critical point and the country can be changed if a deep sense of care can be embedded again.
About forty nursing educators from all over South Africa attended an exploratory workshop in the facility today and the last meeting of the Forum of University Deans in South Africa (FUNDISA) also coincided with the festivities at the School of Nursing.
Media Release
Issued by: Lacea Loader
Assistant Director: Media Liaison
Tel: 051 401 2584
Cell: 083 645 2454
E-mail: loaderl.stg@ufs.ac.za
13 November 2009