Latest News Archive

Please select Category, Year, and then Month to display items

UFS pays tribute to outstanding graduates at June graduations

05 July 2019 | Story Xolisa Mnukwa | Photo Stephen Collett

June Graduation medalist — Recipients of special awards are from left; Elzmarie Oosthuizen, Council Medalist; Jannie de Villiers, Chancellor's Medalist; Dr Khotso Mokhele, UFS Chancellor; Dr Jerry Mofokeng Wa Makhetha, and Dr Barnard Fanaroff, both honorary doctorate recipients.

The UFS presented a number of special awards during the graduation ceremonies on its Bloemfontein Campus on 27 and 28 June 2019.

Jannie de Villiers earns UFS Chancellor’s Medal

Chief Executive Officer of Grain SA and recipient of the 2019 Chancellor’s Medal, Jannie de Villiers, is a renowned leader in the agricultural and food sectors, nationwide and globally. He started his career as an economist for the South African Department of Agriculture in 1985, and dedicated more than 30 years of his knowledge, skills, and leadership to the agricultural sector, specifically in grain-industry development.
Mr De Villiers is commended for a number of initiatives he has implemented to enrich people’s lives throughout his career. One of his many admirable achievements is equipping upcoming farmers with the necessary knowledge and practical skills to advance crops and establishing a sustainable livelihood for South African citizens in the process.

UFS Council honours Elzmarie Oosthuizen

Council Medal recipient, Elzmarie Oosthuizen, is the Director: Centre for Excellence in Teaching and Learning in the UFS Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences (NAS).
Oosthuizen’s experience and leadership in foundation and bridging programmes are exceptional. She has successfully initiated a programme to promote teaching and learning in Mathematics, Natural Sciences, Economics, and Agricultural subjects. Due to her active involvement in managing foundational and bridging programmes for students who do not meet the minimum requirements for mainstream higher-education degrees in NAS, the pass rate of the BSc bridging programme has increased from 34% to 83%.

“This award inspires me to sustain my efforts and find extraordinary solutions for the challenging and complex scenarios that we are facing in higher education,” said Ms Oosthuizen.

UFS June graduation Dean’s Medal recipients

Michelle Nöthling (Master of Arts in Africa Studies) in the Faculty of the Humanities and Megan Braithwaite (Master of Arts in Theology with specialisation in Bible Translation) in the Faculty of Theology and Religion were awarded Dean’s Medals on the morning of 28 June 2019. The Faculty of Education also honoured Deborah Lynn Fair, who achieved the best results for her master’s degree in Education with specialisation in Curriculum Studies, with a Dean’s Medal.

On the afternoon of 28 June, Teboho Mooko (Master of Medical Science with specialisation in Pharmacology) received the Dean’s Medal in the Faculty of Health Sciences. Tshanduko Mutandanyi (Master of Science majoring in Geohydrology) received the Dean’s Medal in the Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences, as well as the Senate Medal for the best overall results in both under- and postgraduate qualifications in all the UFS faculties.

Dr Khotso Mokhele hosts Chancellor’s Dinner

Later that evening, the Chancellor of the UFS, Dr Khotso Mokhele, hosted the Chancellor’s Dinner in the Centenary Complex on the UFS Bloemfontein Campus, paying tribute to the outstanding achievements of the recipients of UFS honorary doctorates, Council and Chancellor’s medals, and doctorates.

Among the honoured guests were the two honorary doctorate recipients, Dr Jerry Mofokeng wa Makhetha – world-renowned, respected television and theatre actor (DLitt Honoris Causa – Faculty of the Humanities), and Dr Bernie Fanaroff (DSc Honoris Causa – Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences), who is the Co-chair of the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) Working Group on Information and Communication Technologies and High-Performance Computing, and member of the Advisory Committee of the Breakthrough Listen project; Mr Jannie de Villiers; Ms Elzmarie Oosthuizen; the Rector and Vice-Chancellor of the UFS, Prof Francis Petersen; and Mr Willem Louw, Chairperson of the UFS Council.

Guests also enjoyed a musical performance by the Graduation Instrumental Ensemble under the direction of Anton Esterhuyse, accompanied by the vocal ensemble of Thabo Hlongwane, Jacobus Silwer, and Mario Lategan.

News Archive

UFS Vice-Chancellor’s vision for 2016: R100 million before September

2016-03-03

At the official opening of the University of the Free State (UFS), held on 19 February 2016 on the Bloemfontein Campus, Prof Jonathan Jansen, Vice Chancellor and Rector, announced that his priority for the year is to raise R100 million. Deserving students who cannot afford to study will receive bursaries through the Student Bursary Fund Campaign.

Staff will also have the opportunity to contribute to the fund.

Prof Jansen thanked staff for their hard work in the midst of what he described as “by far the most difficult year for admissions, registration, accommodation, and student finance”. The heightened expectations of students after FeesMustFall and the limited capacity of the university to meet the desires of students took its toll on staff.

Because of the incredible strain taken by staff members, both emotionally and physically, the Vice-Chancellor gave staff the assurance that they will receive spiritual, emotional, and health support.

“Never before have I seen such dedication from all our staff to hold the university together in these trying times,” Prof Jansen said.

“Because of you, we have a record intake of first-year students into the UFS. We have had about 5 000 students on average in the past three years and, as of today, we are nearing 7000 first-years with the strong possibility that we will enroll several thousand more students, once the new South Campus registrations come on line later this year. By mid-2016, we will exceed our own target of 8 000 students,” said Prof Jansen.

He stipulated that it is not only good for the finances of the university but also for the youth of the country who can access a quality university in central South Africa where the safety of its staff and students is a priority.

Another highlight at this event was announcing Dr Christian Williams from the Department of Anthropology as the winner of the 2016 Distinguished Scholar Book Prize for his book, National liberation in postcolonial southern Africa: a historical ethnography of SWAPO’s exile camps.

Amidst the sad episodes of violence and destruction on campuses around South Africa, Prof Jansen highlighted how the UFS will – through a seven-point approach - manage the university during these difficult times:
1.   Doing everything within our capacity to meet the needs of staff and students
2.   Upholding the right to peaceful protest in our democracy
3.   Acting swiftly against any unlawful actions by students or workers
4.   Upholding the authority of the unions (only UVPERSU and NEHAWU)
5.   Finding humane and just solutions to the problem of outsourcing
6.   Not placing the UFS at financial risk by making irresponsible decisions
7.   Maintaining an open door policy.

Back

Economic and Management Sciences

Education

Health Sciences

The Humanities

Law

Natural and Agricultural Sciences

Theology and Religion

Open Distance Learning

Business School

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