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22 June 2020 | Story Lelanie de Wet | Photo Sonia du Toit (Kaleidoscope Studio)
Barend Nagel, left, and Lelanie de Wet from the Department of Communication and Marketing.
The Department of Communication and Marketing is the proud winner of two prestigious international awards, recognised by their peers for outstanding work in the communications profession. 

These two international awards will increase the total number of international awards won by the department since 2014, to fifteen.

Lacea Loader, Director of the department, says: “Receiving international recognition from prestigious professional organisations such as the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE) and the International Association of Business Communicators (IABC) is a huge achievement. It is the culmination of consistent high-quality work by a team of dedicated professional communicators, and I am extremely proud of these achievements – especially because the UFS was one of the few universities in the country to have achieved such international recognition so far this year.” 

CASE Gold Circle of Excellence Award
Lelanie de Wet, Manager: Digital Communication, and her team won an international award for the communication and marketing plan and the execution of the 2019 Kovsies Multilingual Mokete. This entry won a 2020 CASE Gold Circle of Excellence Award in the Diversity and Talent Management (Diversity Initiatives) category. The Northwestern University in the United States took Grand gold in this category and Tufts University, also from the United States, took silver. 
CASE is a global non-profit association dedicated to educational advancement – alumni relations, communications, development, marketing, and advancement services – sharing the goal of championing education to transform lives and society. 

Each year, CASE recognises best practices in advancement, as well as outstanding people contributing to the growth and understanding of the advancement profession. The awards acknowledge superior accomplishments with a lasting impact, demonstrating the highest level of professionalism, and delivering exceptional results. A total of 2 752 entries in 100 categories from 587 institutions were received for the 2020 awards. 

High praise was received from the judges for this project: “This is one of the most exciting entries we have seen in our many years of judging. With the theme of ‘I have a voice’, they celebrated the multiple languages spoken on their campus. The planning and emphasis on inclusivity were extraordinary. They engaged their entire community in the process and the celebration. As they said in their nomination form, We did not want this to be just another festival that happens ‘on’ campus, but rather a festival that happens ‘for’ campus. They succeeded beautifully.”

IABC Gold Quill Award of Merit
Barend Nagel: Audio-visual Specialist, won a 2020 IABC Gold Quill Award of Merit for his gender-based violence awareness campaign photographs in the Audiovisual communication skills category.

The IABC is a global network of communications professionals. For more than 40 years, IABC’s Gold Quill Awards have been recognising and rewarding excellence in strategic communication worldwide. The awards programme is recognised as one of the most prestigious in the communications profession. This is the 9th award the department has received from the IABC. In 2014, the department also received the prestigious IABC Jake Wittmer Research Award.

This year, the awards committee selected 201 entries as world-class, with 81 entries earning Excellence Awards and 120 Merit Awards. Winners come from all over the world, with 12 countries represented in the list of winners. Some of the competitors in the Audiovisual communication skills category included international companies such as Tiffany and Co., Crown Castle from the US, Sappi Southern Africa, and Cropley Communication from Australia.

The judges commended the creativity and innovation of the photographs:  “A very creative campaign that would leave a lasting impression on everyone who sees it.”
“A really innovate campaign likely to connect to the audience and make them think.”

Gender-based violence campaign
Gender-based violence campaign
Gender-based violence campaign
Gender-based violence campaign
Gender-based violence campaign
Gender-based violence campaign
Gender-based violence campaign
Gender-based violence campaign
Gender-based violence campaign
Gender-based violence campaign
Kovsies Multilingual Mokete
Kovsies Multilingual Mokete
Kovsies Multilingual Mokete drumming circle
Kovsies Multilingual Mokete drumming circle
Kovsies Multilingual Mokete
Kovsies Multilingual Mokete
Kovsies Multilingual Mokete main stage
Kovsies Multilingual Mokete main stage
Kovsies Multilingual Mokete student art
Kovsies Multilingual Mokete student art
Kovsies Multilingual Mokete
Kovsies Multilingual Mokete
Student performance
Student performance
Student performance
Student performance

News Archive

Early diagnosis of hearing loss is important
2017-09-11

  Description: Magteld small Tags: birth defects, hearing loss, Dr Magteld Smith, Department of Otorhinolaryngology

Dr Magteld Smith, lecturer in the
Department of Otorhinolaryngology
at the University of the Free State (UFS)
Photo: Supplied


One of the most common, misunderstood and neglected birth defects in developing countries is hearing loss, which can most severely impair and have a dramatic impact of the quality of life the of the person with hearing loss. 

This is according to Dr Magteld Smith, lecturer in the Department of Otorhinolaryngology at the University of the Free State (UFS). 

“Hearing loss refers to all the different types and levels of hearing loss, from slight to profound hearing loss,” she said. 

Derived from a number of retrospective studies in South Africa, it was found 17 people a day are born with hearing loss. More than 95% of those children are born to hearing parents. This estimate excludes children and adults who lost their hearing after birth. 

According to Dr Smith, hearing loss strikes at the very essence of being human, because it hinders communication with others. To enable people to communicate with those with hearing loss, the university’s Department of South African Sign Language teaches students sign language. This year, the department enrolled 230 students. A number of these students are from the Faculty of Education. These students could from 2017 for the first time choose sign language as a subject.

“Studies have shown that important language skills are learned before the age of three because hearing and learning language are closely tied together. Brain development of the auditory pathways and language cortex is occurring in young children as they respond to auditory and visual language. In families that are part of deaf culture, these parents automatically sign from day one, so the baby is learning visual (sign) language, and the appropriate brain development is occurring.

Beskrywing: Doof readmore Sleutelwoorde: geboorte-afwykings, gehoorverlies, dr Magteld Smith, Departement Otorinolaringologie

About 230 students are enrolled for the subject, South African 
Sign Language, at the UFS. As an assignment some of the students 
were asked to design posters to create deaf awareness among 
others on campus. From the left are: Poleliso Mpahane, 
Masajin Koalepe, Ntshitsa Mosase, and Zoleka Ncamane. 
Photo: Leonie Bolleurs

“However, if a child has an undiagnosed hearing loss and the parents are unaware, the child will not receive the needed language stimulation — and the hoped-for development won’t take place. It is critical to understand that children with hearing loss have their own talents, different levels of intelligence, socioeconomic circumstances and different abilities, just like hearing children. Therefore, one size does not fit all,” Dr Smith said. 

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