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Building closer ties with industry to achieve student success

15 March 2019 | Story Rulanzen Martin | Photo Rulanzen Martin

IAC members — The IAC from left; Dr Ivor Zwane, Reneë Beck, Gus Silber, Luhlumelo Toyana, Dr Adri van der Merwe, Nick Efstathiou, Avela Ntsongelwa, Prof Colin Chasi, HOD Communication Department, Alzane Narrain, Nomvo Bam and Dr Gustav Puth.

Building ties with industry experts provides greater prospects for bursaries, prizes for top students, as well as informal internships. This is why the Department of Communication Science at the University of the Free State (UFS) took the bold and commendable step of soliciting the expertise of an Industry Advisory Council (IAC).

“As a department we believe it is important to stay in touch with the industry to ensure that we, and the work we do, stays relevant in order to increase the chances of making our students preferred candidates in the workplace,” said Dr Adri van der Merwe, lecturer at the department.

The advisory panel consisted of Reneë Beck, founder and CEO of Pink Lemon; Nick Efstathiou, newly appointed CEO of Central Media Group; DDr Ivor Zwane, chairman of the board for Small to Medium Enterprise Development; education journalist Gus Silber; journalist Alzane Narrain; Dr Gustav Puth, Academic Director of Post-Graduate Executive Education at Monash South Africa; photographer Luhlumelo Toyana; Avela Ntsongelwa,master's student and Nomvo Bam.

The initiative also created a platform for the students to engage with IAC members. The Department hosted the IAC on 6 March 2019 on the UFS Bloemfontein Campus.

Advice to assist in improving curriculum

“The IAC members’ feedback will influence our curriculum, both in the short term when we begin to shift emphasis on certain matters, as well as in the longer term when we replace or expand on specific modules,” Van der Merwe said.

The advice given by IAC members will be taken very seriously. “We have captured all their input on video, and will now, in preparation for our strategic planning session later this year, analyse and prioritise the actions we need to implement their proposals.” she said. The students are also represented on the IAC in order to hear and take into consideration what the students have to say about how the curriculum can be improved to prepare them more effectively for the workplace.

The department plan on hosting the IAC yearly.

Elbie Lombard, lecturer in the Department and Lihlumelo Toyana

Nick Efstathiou listening to Dr Ivor Zwane (right)

Students listening to the panel talk about trends in Communication Industry

Prof Colin Chasi, HOD of the Department Communication Science with Gus Silber

The IAC members during Q&A session with students

Alzane Narrain with Dr Adri van Der Merwe and Prof Francis Petersen

Students from the Department Communication Science

Prof Francis Petersen, Rector and Vice-Chancellor with Dr Adri Van Der Merwe and Avela Ntsongelwa

News Archive

Neonatal Care Unit receives donation to expand capacity

2015-10-28

With the best care and technology available,
the survival rate of premature
babies is about 85%. The neonatal intensive
care unit at the Universitas hospital can now
expand its capacity thanks to a donation of
R1 million by the Discovery fund.
From the left is Prof André Venter.
Head: Department of Paediatrics and
Child Health at the UFS, and mrs Ruth Lewin,
Head: Corporate Sustainability at Discovery.

The smallest people need the greatest care. This care is being provided by the neonatal unit in the Children’s Wing of the Universitas Hospital. This project of the University of the Free State (UFS), under the leadership of Prof Andre Venter, has led to several miracles regarding child health since its inception.

Now, thanks to a donation of R1 million rand from the Discovery fund, this unit can expand its capacity and treat more premature babies.

About 14% of babies in South Africa are born before the 37th week of pregnancy. These babies are born with a very low birth weight, and are in need of critical care. The neonatal intensive-care unit at Universitas Hospital is currently equipped to take care of about 14 premature babies at a time, from birth to discharge. However, because of the high incidence of premature births in the hospital’s service area, the unit needs about 45 beds.

The aim of the Children’s Wing Project is to expand the neonatal intensive-care unit in order to meet the demands of the hospital’s service area, which reaches as far as the Southern Cape. The Discovery Fund recently donated R1 million to the project, which will be used to expand the capacity of the neonatal intensive-care unit.

“With the best care and technology available, the survival rate of premature babies is about 85%. Without this, half of all premature babies would die,” says Prof Venter, Head: Department of Paediatrics and Child Health at the UFS.

“This is the reason why private and public partnerships, such as the one with Discovery, are essential to make specialised services available to the most vulnerable people. Discovery has made a significant contribution to the project without which we would not have been able to expand the capacity of the unit

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