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17 June 2020 | Story Andre Damons | Photo Supplied
Food parcels
Annelize Visagie (Food Environment Office, with the black mask), Belinda Janeke (Career Services) and Angelo Mockie (Art, Culture and Dialogue Office) from the Division Student Affairs (DSA) busy preparing food parcels in the storeroom at the Thakaneng Bridge
Between 40 and 50 students from the University of the Free State (UFS) in Bloemfontein receive daily food parcels during the lockdown, thanks to the cooperation between the Food Environment Office at the UFS, Tiger Brands, and the Total Garage in Brandwag.

Annelize Visagie from the Division of Student Affairs (DSA), who is heading the Food Environment Office at the UFS, says just before the national lockdown started in March, they signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Tiger Brands to sponsor 500 food parcels to students who do not have bursaries. This is part of the UFS strategic goal of improving student success and wellbeing. UFS staff is working hard to implement initiatives and obtain sponsorships – such as this one with Tiger Brands – as well as food donations to ensure that students do not go hungry.

“Then the lockdown happened. However, the project continued, with Tiger Brands still sponsoring food parcels. Students email me and I respond to those emails. We are also looking at including students from the South Campus in the project.”

“I deliver the food parcels to the Total Garage across from the campus, where students collect it. We give between 40 and 50 parcels every day and have helped 650 students thus far. These parcels cost Tiger Brands R80 000 a month. We also provide students with vegetables from vegetable tunnels on campus,” says Visagie.

Visagie says the cooperation between the outside companies, the UFS, and even staff and students who volunteer, is heart-warming to see especially during this time of crisis. So is the gratitude from the students. They are also in discussions with the humanitarian organisation Gift of the Givers to provide 200 food parcels to needy students from next month.

“We have a supply chain going on in the storeroom at the Thakaneng Bridge. It is great to see how staff members and students jumped in to help us pack the parcels. We have permits and more students want to help, but they can’t get onto campus at this time. We would not be able to do this without the help of Tiger Brands and the Total Garage.”  

The DSA Food Environment Office is also collaborating with senior management on the UFS Qwaqwa and South campuses to distribute food parcels on these two campuses.

News Archive

UFS ICT Services mentioned among global PeopleSoft pioneers
2017-10-23

 Description: Andrew read more Tags: ICT services, technology, innovations, PeopleSoft, Oracle, students, IT, awards 

Andrew Jusjong, Chief Officer: ICT, one of the main drivers
of PeopleSoft at the UFS. 
Photo: Rulanzen Martin

At the beginning of his term, the Rector and Vice-Chancellor of the University of the Free State (UFS), Prof Francis Petersen, mentioned to parents and prospective students the importance of the UFS being recognised globally as innovators. 

This month, Information and Communication Technology Services (ICT Services) were recognised by Oracle as one of the PeopleSoft Innovators at the Oracle OpenWorld (an international conference regarding all Oracle products) for deploying student self-service, using PeopleSoft Campus Solutions’ new Fluid user interface.  

Andrew Jusjong, Chief Officer: ICT, says, “This solution allows dynamic administrative setup regarding available degrees, customised messages, dynamic required degree-specific documentation, and integration with the Applications and Admissions module.”  He says it also includes self-service functionality that allows students to track the status of their applications, and provide additional documentation required for their study choices.

“The UFS is the only innovator in the European, Middle-Eastern and African region. Considering that the development team at the UFS is much smaller than their international counterparts, this illustrates that we do not have to stand back for our international peers regarding service delivery and the quality of service to our customers,” he says.

The PeopleSoft Innovator awards are presented to companies that are taking advantage of the latest capabilities and technologies provided by Oracle PeopleSoft in order to transform their businesses and their IT practices, while also providing benefits to the business and end users. The UFS has been making use of PeopleSoft applications since 2004. It currently makes use of three applications:

- PeopleSoft Financials for procurement, budgeting, billing, asset management, general ledger, journals, provisioning, payroll, commitment control, ad hoc claims, travel and expenses, and maintenance management.
- PeopleSoft Human Capital Management for HR data processes, recruitment, workforce management, remuneration management, leave management, employee self-service, and other HR activities; and 
- PeopleSoft Campus Solutions for student lifecycle management, applications and admissions, curriculum management, programme enrolment, student records, student financials (accounts), financial aid, graduation, alumni management, graduate research management, residences, and student self-service.

In the Higher Education sector, PeopleSoft is being used by over 900 campuses in 34 countries, across six continents. “This means that recognition was given to the university on a global platform,” says Jusjong.

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