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01 March 2019 | Story Valentino Ndaba
Student from the Umoja Buddy programme
Students from all corners of the globe forge lasting bonds through the Umoja Buddy Programme.

Let’s say you find yourself attending a university in a different country where you need to adjust to a new language, culture, environment, friends, lecturers, curriculum, and lifestyle. Sounds like a challenging leap of faith, right? However, the Umoja Buddy Programme (UBP) makes this transition a whole lot easier for international students.

If you were an international student at the University of the Free State’s (UFS) Bloemfontein Campus, you would be assigned a buddy who is familiar with student life and community. The Office for International Affairs in collaboration with Student Affairs designed this programme for all incoming exchange students to feel welcome and at home.

The UBP is part of the university’s endeavours to advance internationalisation at home, which was entrenched in the 2018-2022 UFS Internationalisation Strategy. Underlying is the idea to provide UFS students with international experiences on their home campus.

Integration at the heart of internationalisation


At the Bloemfontein Campus launch of the UBP on 14 February 2019, UFS Rector and Vice-Chancellor, Prof Francis Petersen, welcomed this year’s cohort of first-time international students and highlighted the importance of the UBP. “In essence, it aims to connect international and local students through meaningful lifelong friendships and to foster their academic, social and cultural integration at the UFS,” he said.

Prof Petersen strongly believes in the programme’s ability to facilitate “cross-fertilisation of ideas and intercultural exposure and learning”, which further enhances the quality of graduates produced by the institution.

A student is a student through other students


Lesotho-born Precious Lesupi volunteered as one of the 48 ambassadors to prevent others from experiencing the difficulties she did when she arrived at UFS. “I have been in a situation where you get to a place and you know nothing about the people there, especially the culture, and the way everything is done because you come from a totally different place, so it’s really hard to adjust.”

Lebohang Lesenyeho, who hails from Botshabelo in the Free State, expressed similar sentiments with fellow ambassador,Kweku Gavor. He said he “looks forward to “building a meaningful relationship.” Kweku who has Ghanaian origins believes that, “you cannot put a price on learning about another person and ways you react to certain situations.”


Umoja is a verb


True to the word umoja, which means “unity and the spirit of togetherness”, the programme has proved to bring together students from diverse backgrounds in the pursuit of academic excellence. The goal can be best achieved when complemented by a holistic social and cultural experience.

News Archive

UFS takes steps to address power shedding
2008-01-31

The problem of power shedding was urgently discussed by the Executive Committee of the Executive Management (Exco) during its meeting yesterday.

A report was presented by Ms Edma Pelzer, Director: Physical Resources and Special Projects, and a consulting electrical engineer about possible short, medium and long term solutions for the UFS.

This includes (a) the possible installation of equipment (eg. power generators) and (b) operating procedures to ensure the UFS’s functionality despite power shedding.

We are also in contact with Centlec to bring about the best possible arrangements for the UFS regarding the power shedding. It is possible that refined power shedding schedules will be implemented within a few weeks or a month to ensure that there is minimal disruptions at the UFS (especially during evening lectures).

In the long term it is unaffordable to generate power for the whole campus to meet everyone’s electricity needs. Only critical points will be supplied with emergency power generators.

Emergency power generation for certain critical points have already been provided for (eg. the Callie Human Centre, the evacuation of large halls, computer services, critical long term research projects, etc.). We have been doing surveys since 2006 to determine the UFS’s preparedness for “normal” power failures. The extent of the current situation has, however, taken the whole country by surprise.

Certain urgent steps were decided on yesterday. A decision was made to immediately design emergency power systems and supply it to the new examination centre and large lecture halls such as the Stabilis, Flippie Groenewoud, Agriculture building, and possibly the West Block. The delivery and installation of these systems will, however, take from three to six months.

The UFS will have to manage despite the power shedding, even after the emergency power systems have been installed and we will not be able to function as normal. Every division must devise operating procedures to deal with the power shedding without jeopardising the quality of core functions.

Bloemfontein is luckier than many other cities because Centlec is able (so far) to keep to the published schedule to a large extent.

Plans are also being made to keep staff and students continuously informed via the UFS web site about expected power shedding schedules and risks of power shedding in the course of a day.

Exco requests every faculty and support service to think about suitable operational solutions for managing their work and meetings during a power shedding.

Every line head has instructions to urgently determine the situation and needs in his or her division and indicate what practical arrangements can and must be made to schedule work around the power shedding. Every line head must provide Exco with a status report within a week.

In this way critical areas in terms of core functions and high quality service delivery will be determined and receive attention. Security systems and the safety of staff and students will also receive specific attention - this includes the residences.

In the mean time the Department of Physical Resources will carry on with a wide-ranging investigation into the extent of needs and plans and will compile a budget for the solution thereof.

Prof. Teuns Verschoor, Vice-Rector: Academic Operations, and the deans had a meeting yesterday to discuss problems and possible solutions around the power shedding in eg. computer rooms, during evening lectures, and practical classes.

Options may include eg. alternative time slots (eg. weekends) or alternative halls (eg. at the Vista Campus) for evening lectures which are affected by power shedding, or adjusted teaching methods.

Staff is requested not to install their own power generators under any circumstances. It can be very dangerous when such apparatus are linked to a building’s electrical system. The safety of staff and students and the risks of fire or injuries must also be the highest priority under all circumstances.

The Department of Physical Resources is also in the process of investigating options such as smaller power generators or ‘UPS’ apparatus as part of a broader evaluation of needs and potential solutions.

Exco wants to ensure all staff and students that this matter is receiving urgent attention and will keep on receiving it.

If there are any practical solutions about dealing with the power shedding (such as alternative ways of working) you are invited to send an e-mail to: lightsout@ufs.ac.za  

 

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