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23 September 2019 | Story Xolisa Mnukwa | Photo Barend Nagel
Prof Puleng LenkaBula
“I want to establish a paradigm shift from community engagement to engaged scholarship, which will transfer science between communities and form reciprocal collaborations in order to create new knowledge, research niche areas, influences, and support systems to aid innovative and progressive teaching and learning processes at the UFS.” – Prof LenkaBula
The University of the Free State (UFS) Vice-Rector: Institutional Change, Student Affairs, and Community Engagement, Prof Puleng LenkaBula, recently visited the Fulda University of Applied Sciences in Germany to discuss a possible future collaboration between the two institutions.

This was inspired by their multidisciplinary approach to higher-education courses, which she aims to facilitate at the UFS in order to pioneer critical thinking among students to ultimately bring about effective and innovative societal problem-solving in South Africa.

Fulda University is an exceptional higher-education institution with the ability to develop and transform itself to purposefully improve its infrastructure, the quality of students, and studies offered by the university. Their different degrees are structured to intersect with the requirements of the progressive European economic environment.

According to Prof LenkaBula, Fulda University is an outstanding institution specialising in applied sciences and theoretical studies, which set them apart from other universities in the advanced European higher-education system.

Prof LenkaBula believes that the prospect of developing joint master’s and/or doctoral degrees between the UFS and Fulda University would expose UFS students to high-quality international higher-education systems. This will ensure that our students are provided with essential skills to become globally competitive and relevant in their designated career fields, and to become strong contenders in an environment characterised by globalisation and the 4th Industrial Revolution (4IR).
She referred to the global exchange of knowledge systems between the UFS and Fulda University as an opportunity for the UFS to improve the university’s global rankings through learning and participating in international collaborative approaches in higher education. 

“In order for our university to cease being seen as an ivory tower, it must be involved in producing knowledge that is beneficial to socio-economic and political development – not only for South Africa, but also for the rest of the world,” said Prof LenkaBula.


News Archive

Incident during FNB Shimlas and FNB Ikey Tigers Varsity Cup rugby match on 13 February 2017
2017-02-13

An incident involving a group of about 20 students of the University of the Free State (UFS) occurred at Xerox Shimla Park on the Bloemfontein Campus tonight.

The incident took place 10 minutes before the end of the match when the group moved through the entrance gates. The group requested the university management to suspend the match and to make a public announcement regarding the Shimla Park Report. The group was addressed at the spectator stands by the Acting Vice-Chancellor and Rector, Prof Nicky Morgan.

“This was an unfortunate incident that could have been avoided by way of earlier engagements. The Shimla Park Report was released to the student leadership structures as well as union and management structures earlier this month. The university management is of the opinion that it was unnecessary to interrupt a public event and has offered to meet with the leadership of the group about the involvement of students in the proposed actions and implementation of the recommendations mentioned in the report, as well as other transformation interventions at the UFS as decided by the Council,” said Prof Morgan.

The UFS gave an undertaking to the organisers of Varsity Cup and made the necessary contingency plans to ensure that the match was not disrupted. This included the presence of the university’s Protection Services and a standby unit of the South African Police Service.

The match was played until full-time, with the final score 22-7 in favour of the FNB Ikey Tigers.

 

Released by:
Lacea Loader (Director: Communication and Brand Management)
Telephone: +27 51 401 2584 | +27 83 645 2454
Email: news@ufs.ac.za | loaderl@ufs.ac.za
Fax: +27 51 444 6393

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