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Embark on your Gateway to an exciting Kovsie life

23 January 2020 | Story Xolisa Mnukwa

Enrich your first University of the Free State (UFS) experiences with the annual Gateway first-year’s college. Form long-lasting friendships and memories with your fellow freshmen and gear up for a vibrant academic career at the UFS.

Gateway comprises an exciting series of student-life and learning experiences that are intended to introduce and acquaint students with their respective Kovsie campuses and overall UFS campus life.

The 2020 Gateway programme inducts first-year students into academic faculty life in order to help them adjust and settle into the university environment. It also aims to instil effective skills in them to thrive academically, and to develop into well-rounded, globally competitive graduates.

Want to experience Gateway? Here’s how

The Gateway Orientation programme on the UFS Bloemfontein Campus is conducted according to student colleges. First-year students who do not belong to an on-campus or day residence on the Bfn Campus, are assigned to a college in Exam Room 3 during their registration. This enables them to follow and be part of the series of events according to the colleges they are assigned to.

Get to know your UFS campus

UFS Campus Tours no longer form part of the Gateway Programme; however, Gateway mentors assigned to specific colleges are available for students to get in touch with, in order to arrange tours of the Bloemfontein Campus. Day-residence students and students residing on campus are paired with P3 mentors, who have been placed in their respective residences to facilitate campus tours for them.

KovsiesACTUP Performing Arts Competition

The UFS Arts, Culture and Dialogue office has partnered with the Kovsie ACT office for the 2020 Gateway programme, introducing the KovsiesACTUP Performing Arts Competition for all prospective and current students of the UFS. It is geared towards engaging students and enhancing the general social atmosphere on the Bloemfontein Campus during registration.

The competition comprises various categories, including dancing, singing, poetry, DJing, musical bands, and rap. The winner from each category will walk away with R1 500 in cash. The competition finale will be held at the RAG farm on 27 January 2020 at 14:00.

For more information on how to get involved with the Arts, Culture and Dialogue Office, students can visit the Callie Human Centre on the UFS Bloemfontein Campus. The office has set up a performance stage, where fellow Kovsies associated with the office are entertaining prospective students and parents who are waiting to register.

For enquiries about Gateway on each campus, see the details below:

Bloemfontein Campus: +27 51 401 9876 or email gateway@ufs.ac.za
Qwaqwa Campus: Dulcie Malimabe, +27 58 718 5041; malimabeDP@ufs.ac.za
South Campus: Tshego Setilo, +27 51 505 1362; SetiloT@ufs.ac.za

Visit the UFS Gateway page for more information on the 2020 programme and how you can get involved.

News Archive

A mind shift needed in agriculture in Africa

2010-12-02

Prof. Frans Swanepoel (Centre for Sustainable Agriculture and Rural Development), Prof. Monty Jones, Prof. Driekie Hay (Vice-Rector: Teaching and Learning), Prof. Alice Pell (Cornell University, USA), and Prof. Izak Groenewald (Director of the Centre for Sustainable Agriculture and Rural Development) at the inaugural lecture of Prof. Jones as Professor Extraordinary.
- Photo: Stephen Collett

Food stability is essential for stability in all countries around the world. Radical interventions, and not incremental changes, are necessary to end hunger and poverty in Africa, said Prof. Monty Jones, Professor Extraordinary in the Centre for Sustainable Agriculture and Rural Development at the University of the Free State (UFS), in his inaugural lecture.

Prof. Jones is Executive Director of the Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa (FARA) and Chairperson of the Global Forum on Agricultural Research (GFAR). In his lecture he focused on the contribution of agricultural research to development and food security in Sub- Saharan Africa.

He said Africa is not known for good politics to promote food production. Countries under invest in research, education, knowledge management, agriculture finance, etc. There is also uncertain and restricted access to land. He specially mentioned women’s access.

Sub- Sahara Africa moved from being a net exporter of food to a net importer of food (28%). “Government spending on agriculture and transport went down and stagnated. A mind shift is necessary. Africa has the resources. We must take advantage of the opportunities,” he said, and added: “Africa must create visionary and inspirational leaders and managers who can drive developmental issues.”

Prof. Jones emphasised that fact that nutritional security is just as important as food security. The number of hungry people has grown to more than a billion in 2009. Hunger is the most severe in the developing world, especially Africa. Added to this is Africa’s population growth that i s also higher than the rest of the world. It is estimated that the demand for food in Africa will double in the next 40 years.

“Research and development alone cannot win the war against hunger in Africa. Everyone has a role to play,” he said.
– Leatitia Pienaar.

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