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UFS Student Toolkit first of its kind in South Africa

17 February 2020 | Story Xolisa Mnukwa | Photo Supplied

Student Counselling staff members — UFS SCD urges students to make use of the mental-health student toolkit to take control of their wellbeing and happiness and enjoy a compelling student life.

The University of the Free State’s (UFS) Student Counselling and Developmentnt (SCD) was recognised and applauded at the 2019 annual conference of the SSouthern African Association for Counselling and Development in Higher Education (SAACDHE), where they won the SAACDHE best region award for presenting the UFS Mental Health Student Toolkit at the conference, and for being active in the training and development of the UFS SCD team.

UFS Student Counselling and Development win at SAACDHE conference

The UFS, which was the only member institution of the Free State region, maintained vitality and relevance in the work they produced, competing against a number of student counselling centres in regions across South Africa, including KwaZulu-Natal, Western Cape, Eastern Cape, Vaal North-West, Gaunolanga Gauteng, Limpopo, Mpumalanga, Swaziland, and Botswana.

Students to take control of their wellbeing into their own hands

With the vision to promote, enable, and optimise students’ self-direction, the SCD launched the first edition of the student toolkit on Friday, 23 August 2019 – in an effort to assist students in coping with challenges they face in their personal lives during their period of study at the UFS.

According to Counselling Psychologist in the SCD and compiler of the UFS Mental Health Student Toolkit, Lize Wolmarans, “The UFS Mental Health Student Toolkit is about putting the control of your wellbeing and happiness in your own hands. Taking responsibility for your mental health and understanding that it's the key to success in your personal, academic, and professional life as a student.”

Dr Melissa Barnaschone, Director of the SCD, further explained that, “This is the culture our department wishes to instil in students – by building a holistic sense of wellbeing into life on campus. The toolkit was developed to empower students by providing increased access to mental-health resources and support.”

“We have big plans for the toolkit, one of which is to develop it into an interactive app for students. This will enable students to interact with the information in more depth. Secondly, the toolkit will be expanded and adapted annually as we get feedback from students. We will add new relevant topics and continue to improve the overall layout and content. We are also able to learn very valuable information from the topics accessed online – we thus know which topics are the most/least relevant to our students,” Wolmarans added.

UFS Mental Health Student Toolkit a winning formula for student wellness

As a result of the exemplary methods of student counselling in the toolkit, a number of universities and institutions of higher education within South Africa have expressed interest in buying the toolkit to benchmark and prototype the effective student mental-health and wellbeing approaches portrayed in the toolkit. Wolmarans further explained that, “This is South Africa’s first mental-health guide for university students, and other institutions recognised the potential advantages of purchasing a finished product instead of having to create their own toolkit.”

At the 2019 conference, Tobias van den Bergh, Counselling Psychologist at SCD (Qwaqwa Campus), was elected as Research, Training, and Development coordinator for SAACDHE.

News Archive

First-years at South Campus step into a bright future

2015-02-05

Photo: Stefan Lotter

This is the first step to a bright future.

This was the resounding message that welcomed first-year students to the South Campus. “Remember,” Tshegofatso Setilo, Manager of the University Preparation Programme said, “a journey of a thousand miles begins with the first step.” But please do not get discouraged on your way, she urged, because “this is your first step to a bright future.

In his welcoming message, Prof Nicky Morgan, Vice-Rector: Operations at the UFS referred to the South Campus as the giant of the south. “This is one of the trailblazing campuses of the university,” he said. “No doubt what you’ll experience on this campus, you’ll never forget.”

This year, the South Campus boasts with 1 200 first-year students taking part in our University Preparation and Extended Programmes. These programmes allow students – whose matric marks did not reach the required total – the opportunity to study at the University of the Free State (UFS). The result? An astounding rise in pass rates. Some of the students on the South Campus outperform their peers studying at the Bloemfontein Campus, Prof Morgan remarked.

“You’ve got it in yourself. You’ve got the potential to unleash yourself on the world,” Prof Morgan said. You do not always realise the value of something that has come your way, he said. So, every moment you get an opportunity, he advised, use it to shape your future.

Addressing the newcomers’ fears, Prof Morgan urged each student to open themselves to the good and new experiences waiting for them. “When you find yourself in a new space, it always begins with you,” he said. Learn to understand how to live in harmony in different spaces.

Prof Morgan placed great emphasis on his closing remark: “At university, the more questions you seek to have answered – they’re worth more than the answers you have.”

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