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UFS partners with local radio stations to address community issues

08 December 2020 | Story Dikgapane Makhetha | Photo Supplied

In response to the current COVID-19 pandemic, the Directorate: Community Engagement (CE) has initiated an innovative platform on which students can continue to engage with university community partners, and at the same time be assessed for their service-learning and community engagement projects.

The E-Engagement approach also meets the University of the Free State’s (UFS) strategic mandate to be a caring, responsive, and engaged university. Coordinated by the UFS CE office, academic staff and students are scheduled to engage with the community partners through radio broadcasts and virtual mode platforms. Informative content that has been researched, prepared, and presented by students in a pre-recorded format, will address significant issues brought about by the surge of COVID-19, creating a breeding ground for some of the societal ills, such as gender-based violence (GBV).

In order to establish sustainable relationships with community radio stations, a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) with two local community radio stations was signed on the UFS Bloemfontein Campus on 10 October 2020. Prof Puleng LenkaBula, the Vice-Rector: Institutional Change, Student Affairs, and Community Engagement, and Bishop Billyboy Ramahlele, CE Director, participated in the commitment to formalise the relationship between the UFS and the two radio stations, Mosupatsela FM and Motheo FM.

Master’s students from the Department of Psychology have produced and pre-recorded podcasts on community psychology. Their topics covered grief and self-compassion. The Department of Nutrition and Dietetics presented topics on a healthy lifestyle and diet. Fourth-year students from the School of Nursing have engaged new mothers concerning post-natal care. The School of Clinical Medicine has addressed the warning signs of burnout and preventative measures.

Bishop Ramahlele emphasised the importance of sustained relationship, which is expected to create further opportunities for interaction through partnerships in skills training (ICT) and the sharing of resources, including consultations through conference platforms. Prof LenkaBula highlighted the significance of the MOA by applauding the initiative, which has unlimited potential to ensure national development through student engagement, since universities create development sites that can be transferred further into the community.

News Archive

UFS contributes to book on multilingualism

2008-11-29

Prof. Theo du Plessis, Director of the University of the Free State’s (UFS) Unit for Language Management, recently attended launch of the book “Multilingualism and Educational Interpreting: Innovation and Delivery”, that will now appear on the shelves, at the North-West University (NWU). He is, together with Prof. Marlene Verhoef, language director of NWU, the co-editor of the book. It is the seventh book in the series, “Studies in Language Policy in South Africa”. “What you have tackled here occurred at a level that is not only unsurpassed in South-Africa, but also in other parts of the world. Also the way in which the NWU approached this type of project is the first of its kind in the southern hemisphere,” Prof. Du Plessis said. Amongst others, he referred to the glowing comment received when the manuscript was subjected to international and national peer evaluation. One foreign evaluator was of opinion that he would be surprised if the book is not read widely beyond the borders of South Africa. The others said the content makes a valuable contribution to publications pertaining to interpreting. Prof. Du Plessis is convinced that the NWU undoubtedly is a leader in the field of educational interpreting and expressed the hope that several publications will still follow, since the NWU has an impressive amount of knowledge that can break ground for several other researchers.
Here he is with Prof. Verhoef (left), and Ms Leanne Martini (right), Chief Executive Officer of Van Schaik Uitgewers, at the launch of the book.
Foto: Supplied

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