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04 February 2020 | Story Xolisa Mnukwa | Photo Charl Devenish
Kovsie Eco vehicle parade
A highlight for first-year and senior students is the ACT eco-vehicle building and parade through the streets of Bloemfontein.
Sunny skies, cheerful faces, and an overall great atmosphere surfed the University of the Free State (UFS) Bloemfontein Campus on Saturday, 1 February 2020 for the final series of events in the Kovsie ACT 2020 line-up.

The eco-vehicle parade kick-started the activities for the day and saw various student teams displaying their personalised pit-stop ‘sculptures’ along the streets of Bloemfontein.  UFS residence teams Sonverlief (Houses Sonnedou, Veritas, Madelief); Soetmarmentum (Houses Soetdoring, Marjolein, Armentum); and Beykasium (Houses Beyers Naudé, Akasia, Imperium) came in first, second, and third respectively, obtaining the highest scores out of nine teams for their pit-stop sculpture constructions. 
 
Following the parade, there were a number of fun but competitive eco-vehicle races between the teams. This included the Drag Race, Obstacle Course Race, Formula E Race, Endurance Race, and the Slalom Course Race that took place on the Mokete Square. 

In the evening, students were serenaded by artists such as Early B and Spoegwolf. They danced to performances from the latest Amapiano music sensation, Kabza de Small, and legendary deep-house music duo, Black Motion, at the Rag Farm. 

Assistant Director of UFS Student Life and Director of the Kovsie ACT office, Karen Scheepers, earlier urged students to get more involved in student-life programmes such as Kovsie ACT, in order to equip themselves with a variety of skills and a fulfilling university experience.

A number of senior and first-year students who were part of the action on the UFS Bloemfontein Campus this past Saturday, can attest to Scheepers’ advice.
“I’ve been looking forward to starting university for the longest time, and I am glad that I ended up at the UFS. I don’t feel alone, I feel like I can actually do this,” said first-year Psychology student, Thulisa Shezi.

“University isn’t as bad as everyone thinks it is, it’s just a matter of staying motivated, doing your work, and surrounding yourself with the right people in the process.” – Fourth-year Business Management student, Earl van der Westhuisen.

News Archive

Five mega projects to help reposition the UFS
2008-02-01

The University of the Free State (UFS) today announced that it will focus on five mega-projects to help reposition the UFS in the next five years as one of South Africa’s leading universities that is successfully managing excellence and diversity.

Speaking at the official opening of the university today, the Rector and Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Frederick Fourie, identified the five mega projects as:

  • The successful implementation of strategic academic clusters to focus the teaching and research expertise of the UFS.
  • The development and implementation of new models of teaching and learning.
  • Finding new sources of income (including third-stream income) to minimise dependence on government subsidies and tuition fees.
  • Creating a new institutional culture for the university by finalising the Institutional Charter.
  • The ongoing transformation of the UFS in all its dimensions.

According to Prof. Fourie, the strategic clusters – initiated in 2006 – are a very important initiative which is aimed at making the UFS a world leader in six broad areas. The focus of the six clusters has now been determined. These clusters are not just research based, but will include postgraduate programmes and filter down to undergraduate learning programmes and curricula.

He also indicated that other research at the UFS will continue to be supported and funded as before.

The second project, to establish a new teaching and learning model, is meant to address current success rates which indicate the need for this issue to receive a high priority.

New income streams to enable higher levels of financial sustainability is the third project, especially in view of dwindling government subsidies and limits on student numbers. This is necessary to fund sustained higher levels of investment in the quality of academic activities and in the necessary capacity and facilities.

Prof. Fourie said the fourth project regarding institutional culture is an ongoing effort to create a sense of belonging for all staff and students at the UFS through the adoption of an Institutional Charter for the university.

“What the draft Charter does – in addition to describing overarching values espoused by the institution and its people – is to describe the outlines and constitutive principles of the ‘post-redress’ UFS,” said Prof. Fourie.

The Charter – initially launched in 2007 – is and remains a critical element of guiding transformation effectively and speedily towards a widely-accepted goal. It is a critical element of the “social sustainability and robustness” of a new UFS, especially in tumultuous political times.

The fifth project is the Transformation Plan, launched in 2007. “We simply must pursue this plan diligently, given our commitment to comprehensive and deep transformation, and to best practice transformation. All universities will have to face up to the challenge of transformation and the UFS can break new ground, as it did in the past by managing transformation innovatively and creating a campus where all can find their rightful place,” said Prof. Fourie.

Media Release
Issued by: Lacea Loader
Assistant Director: Media Liaison
Tel: 051 401 2584
Cell: 083 645 2454
E-mail: loaderl.stg@ufs.ac.za  
1 February 2008
 

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