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Well done to Kovsies GradStar top 11!

08 October 2019 | Story Xolisa Mnukwa | Photo Charl Devenish

Gradstar UFS — The 2019 GradStar programme is all about producing well-rounded students and providing them with opportunities in the world of work, explained Head of UFS Career Services, Belinda Janeke.

Congratulations to the Kovsies top-11 students who made it into the GradStar top-100 programme for 2019!

Each year, 100 South African students are selected through a rigorous four-phase judging process to become part of the GradStar programme. The programme is designed to offer opportunities for employment to previously unrecognised students.

What makes the top 11?

According to the UFS Head of Career Services, Belinda Janeke, the GradStar programme is all about producing a well-rounded student. Approximately 6 000 applications were received from Kovsies, of which 500 were selected based on a personality test. Another test was given to the 500 students who passed the personality test, after which interviews were conducted to determine the top 100 from the UFS.

The students who were selected to represent the UFS exhibited the most potential as future leaders in their respective fields. Apart from academic achievement, contestants were evaluated according to their individual soft skills such as motivation, discipline, altruism, and attitude. This combination promised to deliver top candidates for future employers.

2019 GradStar programme experiences

Throughout the competition, Kovsie contestants were exposed to new people and opportunities to network with various companies in their preferred career fields, where they had the opportunity to share their CVs with potential employers. Contestants were also afforded the opportunity to develop critical problem-solving skills in the world of work. The GradStar top-100 students also have a WhatsApp group where jobs are advertised.

The programme was valuable for the Kovsies; not only did it prepare them for employment, but also provided them with an opportunity for learning and recognising their own strengths and weaknesses as individuals in the working world.

Congratulations to the Kovsies who made it into the GradStar top 100:

Mariné du Toit: Bachelor of Social Work
Nyiko Maluleka: Bachelor of Arts, Corporate and Marketing Communication
Bianca Malan: Bachelor of Accounting, Financial Accounting
Boitumelo Mancoe: Master of Business Administration
Kabelo Mashego: Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery (MB ChB)
Kananelo Moletsane: Bachelor of Agriculture
Mudzunga Mukwevho: Bachelor of Accounting, Financial Accounting
Neo Roberts: Bachelor of Science, Information Technology
Refilwe Maimane: Bachelor of Commerce, Accounting
Themba Makhoba: Bachelor of Public Administration
Mpolokeng Mmutle: Bachelor of Commerce, Accounting

News Archive

UFS hosts Fulbright senior specialist

2010-06-14

Pictured from the left, are: Prof. Aldo Stroebel (Director: International Affairs), Prof. Daryl Smith, Ms Dineo Gaofhiwe (Manager: International Research Funding Opportunities, UFS) and Mr John Samuel (Interim Director: the Institute for Studies in Race, Reconciliation and Social Justice, UFS).

The University of the Free State (UFS) has, for the past month, hosted Prof. Daryl Smith, Professor of Education and Psychology at Claremont Graduate University in the United States of America (USA), as a senior Fulbright specialist. She was hosted by the Institute for Studies in Race, Reconciliation and Social Justice, under the leadership of Mr John Samuel, who is its Interim Director. She helped in developing and establishing the research agenda of the institute.

A series of policy briefs and research papers will emanate from Prof. Smith’s tenure at the UFS, complemented by work of three additional Fulbright senior specialists who are joining the UFS early in the second semester. Prof. Smith met with various role-players and stakeholders in the domain of social justice, institutional change, transformation and diversity management, and will continue her association with the UFS at both the Institute and the Faculty of Education, in collaboration with its Dean, Prof. Dennis Francis.

Prof. Smith’s current research, teaching, and publications have been in the areas of diversity in higher education, leadership change, organisational implications of diversity, governance, and assessment and evaluation. She earned her Ph.D. in Social Psychology and Higher Education at Claremont Graduate University, her M.A. from Stanford University, and her B.A. in Mathematics from Cornell University.

Amongst many specialist missions, Prof. Smith served as part of two US delegations to the Ford Foundation-sponsored tri-national conferences (India, South Africa, US) on campus diversity in higher education that have taken place in South Africa and the United States. Her most recent book, Diversity’s Promise for Higher Education: Making it Work, is available from Johns Hopkins University Press.

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