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Dr Gwande
Dr Victor Gwande
Attaining his master’s degree cum laude, completing a PhD degree, and publishing in top academic journals, University of the Free State (UFS) academic, Dr Victor Gwande, has been an outstanding researcher throughout his career.

Adding to his list of notable achievements, the postdoctoral research fellow in the International Studies Group has just been awarded a fellowship at Princeton University, one of the top universities in the world. The US institution was recently ranked sixth in the Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2020.

As a fellow of the Institute for Advanced Study at Princeton, Dr Gwande will spend two weeks on the Ivy League university’s New Jersey campus in 2020. This will be followed by a weeklong session at one of two collaborating institutions in South Africa and the US, with continuous communication facilitated among selected scholars throughout a two-year period. 

Flying high the flag of the African academy
Dr Gwande believes the fellowship will expose him to new intellectual traditions and perspectives. “It will help me create international academic networks across continents, as I seek to put my name out there as an internationally recognised scholar.”

With his research interests in economic and business history of Southern Africa, Dr Gwande says he wishes to become “a great scholar of African economic history, flying high the flag of the African academy, as well as training and producing young scholars for the academy”.

Working with some of the world’s top minds at Princeton University, there will be much to focus on.

“I will be researching, writing, and presenting my research project in which I use the case study of the Anglo American Corporation to look at the histories of capitalism and to understand how monopoly capitalism shaped economic trajectories of Zimbabwe and the broader Southern African region.”

Longer-term plans include completing his monograph stemming from his PhD thesis.

There are many people to thank for his journey from the UFS to Princeton, and the scholar draws attention to some of those who have influenced him. 

“God and my family. But in my career, quite a number of people and institutions have really moulded me; the International Studies Group under Prof Ian Phimister has given me an environment to flourish in my young career.

News Archive

UFS discontinues one Masters programme
2006-07-26

As from next year, the University of the Free State (UFS) will no longer offer one of its specialist master’s degrees in education – the M Ed in Education Management.

 The other six M Ed programmes that are currently being offered at the UFS will continue as normal.

 The decision to discontinue one of the M Ed programmes follows a national review of M Ed programmes in Educational Management and Leadership by the Higher Education Quality Committee (HEQC) of the Council on Higher Education (CHE).

 Of the 23 tertiary institutions whose M Ed programmes in Educational Management and Leadership were reviewed by the HEQC, only 7 received full accreditation.   

 “The findings of the HEQC affect only one of our M Ed degree programmes, namely the M Ed in Educational Management,” said Prof Magda Fourie, Vice-Rector: Academic Planning at the UFS

 “We will be paying full attention to the findings of the HEQC with a view to correcting some of the shortcomings that have been identified by the HEQC and will consider submitting a reviewed proposal for such a qualification in two years time,” she said.

 According to Prof Fourie, the programme currently has 30 students enrolled.  “These students – spread across their first and second years of the degree programme – will be allowed to complete their studies with the full support of the UFS and the School of Education,” said Prof Fourie.

 “The qualification that has been awarded to students who have already completed their studies for this specific M Ed in Education Management degree programme remains a valid qualification and is not affected by the HEQC review,” said Prof Fourie.

 She said the UFS welcomed the efforts of the HEQC to ensure that all academic programmes offered by higher education institutions meet certain standards.

“One of the primary problem areas in the M Ed in Educational Management offered by the UFS identified by the HEQC, was that the programme is too practice orientated and must be more theoretical to comply with the academic requirements of a master’s degree.  This was a result of the fact that the programme was initially compiled in consultation with principals and the provincial Department of Education to address their needs,” said Prof Fourie.

“The UFS will in the mean time offer an advanced certificate in Educational Management and Leadership from next year.  This is a new course that will stretch over a period of two years and will ensure that we can still address the needs of teachers and principals,” said Prof Fourie.

 “The UFS remains committed to providing top quality degree programmes in all its six faculties and will continue to work with the HEQC in ensuring that this actually happens,” said Prof Fourie.

Media release
Issued by: Lacea Loader
Media Representative
Tel:   (051) 401-2584
Cell:  083 645 2454
E-mail:  loaderl.stg@mail.uovs.ac.za 
25 July 2006

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