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UFS, UCLA, and VUA put fragility in higher education under microscope

28 January 2020 | Story Rulanzen Martin | Photo Pexels

Conference — At the meet-and-greet last night, were from left Prof Ruad Ganzevoort, Diversity Officer and Dean of Theology and Religion at VUA, Prof Francis Petersen and Dr Gene Block, Chancellor of UCLA.

The Unit for Institutional Change and Social Justice at the University of the Free State (UFS) is hosting a colloquium on Fragility and Resilience: Facets, Features and Transformation in Higher Education which started on 29 January, with the official progamme concluding on 30 January 2020.

The colloquium is a annual collaborative partnership between the UFS, University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), and the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (VUA).

Apart from the overarching themes the colloquium also placed some focus on mental health, within this context as all three regions are witnessing a spike in mental health issues among students and staff as well as a deficit in terms of being able to sufficiently address the crisis.

“All three universities are committed to discussing global developments in diversity and transformation in higher education to discussing global developments in diversity and transformation as it may constitute itself in higher education circles around the globe,” says Dr Dionne van Reenen, convener of the 2020 colloquium and research fellow at the unit.

The idea is to discuss what has and has not worked and, hopefully, access best practices in a variety of contexts. The partnership between the three universities spans over six years starting in 2014 when the UFS first hosted the research colloquium. It is the third time the UFS has hosted the colloquium.

Prof Francis Petersen, Rector and Vice-Chancellor of the UFS, along with other members of the UFS Rectorate, attended a meet-and-greet on Monday 28 January 2020, and was joined by Dr Gene Block, Chancellor of UCLA, Vice Provosts Cindy Fan, Patricia Turner, Charles Alexander, Professors Abel Valenzuela, John Hamilton and Dr Shalom Staub, director of Community Learning, as well as Prof Ruard Ganzevoort, Chief Diversity Officer and Dean of Theology and Religion at VUA

Fragility and Resilience Colloquium meet-and-greet on Tuesday 28 January 2020

Fragility and Resilience Meet-and-greet on Tuesday 28 January 2020

At the meet-and-greet on Monday are from left; Prof Ruad Ganzevoort, Prof Francis Pietersen and Dr Gene Block

News Archive

Judge Ian van der Merwe unanimously re-elected as Chairperson of the UFS Council

2012-11-29

Judge Ian van der Merwe
Photo: Rian Horn
29 November 2012

The Council of the University of the Free State (UFS) unanimously re-elected Judge Ian van der Merwe as its Chairperson for the next three years at its last meeting for this year on Friday, 16 November 2012.

Judge Van der Merwe is a Judge of the Free State High Court. He is an alumnus of the UFS and has been a member of the Council since 9 March 2007.

In accepting his appointment, Judge Van der Merwe said that he was honoured and humbled to lead a Council of this calibre for a second term. “The Council is setting a good example of what good governance at a higher education institution should look like. Meetings are conducted in good spirit and decisions made in the best interest of the university,” he said.

“Having sat on councils of many universities before, I can say with great surety that, on balance of expertise and backgrounds, the UFS has one of the most effective councils in the country and, to have a Chairperson of Judge Van der Merwe’s stature, is a privilege. His leadership and guidance is greatly appreciated,” said Prof. Jonathan Jansen, Vice-Chancellor and Rector.

Mr Edward Kieswetter, Group CEO and Executive Director of Alexander Forbes and Deputy Chairperson of the UFS Council, and Mr Jonathan Crowther (former editor of Volksblad) have been re-elected for a further term of four years in the category: "Appointed by the Council".

External Council members were given a tour of the Bloemfontein Campus after the meeting, followed by an induction session for new council members.

New Council members who joined this year are:

Derek Foster, in the category appointed by the Council
Ruben Gouws, elected by the non-academic staff
Lorraine Kriek, elected by the Alumni
Themba Mmabi, representative of the Minister of Higher
Education and Training
Sabelo Khumalo, SRC President, Qwaqwa Campus
William Clayton, SRC President, Bloemfontein Campus
Suraya Jawodeen, representative of the Minister of Higher
Education and Training
Mr Dan Mosia, representative of the Minister of Higher Education and Training

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