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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

Kovsies defend tennis title in Sun City

2017-04-01

The first and second tennis teams of the University of the
Free State were first and fifth respectively among the 14
teams competing in the Egalite Invitational challenge.
Photo: Arne Nel

Although a tournament victory was not the Kovsie tennis team’s main goal, they still managed to outplay the best in the country.

The first team of the University of the Free State (UFS), who have been the champions of the combined USSA format for the past six years, successfully defended its title to end the Egalite Invitational challenge in Sun City unbeaten.

Second team also performing well

On 26 March 2017, the Kovsie first team defeated Puk’s first team 35-20 (games) in the final. Their second team also performed well and won against Tuks’ second team 31-21 to end fifth among the 14 teams. The matches in the tournament, which took place from 24 to 26 March 2017, were played in World Team Tennis format.

In the group stages, the Kovsie first team beat Puk’s second (35-12), Puk’s fourth (35-8), Tuks’ second (35-12), Maties’ first (31-19), Puk’s sixth (35-5), and Tuks’ third (32-16) teams. The team consists of Arne Nel, Christo Koekemoer, Emke Kruger, Lienke de Kock, Ansunica Brits, and Reze Opperman.

Preparation for USSA

Apart from USSA, the Sun City tournament is the other major tournament in which the UFS annually competes. “Of course you want to win, but unlike at USSA, this was not our main focus in Sun City,” says Janine de Kock, the Kovsie team manager. “We wanted to try new combinations and provide exposure to new players.”

A total of five of the 12 players in the two teams were newcomers. They are Lienke de Kock (first team), Handré Hoffman, JC Conradie, Brieta Pienaar, and Daniel de Villiers (all second team). According to Janine de Kock, it was especially important to test new doubles combinations before USSA.

“We always knew the first team is a good team with a chance, but we are very impressed with the second team’s fifth place.”

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