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2020 UFS Thought-Leader Series: The South African Economy

09 September 2020 | Story Lacea Loader

The South African Economy: 'Post-COVID-19, Post-Crisis'

As a public higher-education institution in South Africa with a responsibility to contribute to public discourse, the University of the Free State (UFS) will be presenting the 3rd UFS Thought-Leader Series as part of the Vrystaat Literature Festival’s online initiative, VrySpraak-digitaal and in collaboration with Vrye Weekblad.

This year, higher-education institutions globally are situated within a challenging context of COVID-19. Aware of, and grounded in the reality that the world will not return to the normality of pre-COVID-19, our responsibility as scholars still remains to contribute to public discourse and offer innovative solutions that will impact the lives of people nationally and globally to help them understand and adapt to a new world order.

Against this background and context, this year’s debates focus on Post-COVID-19, Post-Crisis with Health and Modelling, the Economy, Politics and Predictions for 2021 as the sub-themes. Placed within a COVID-19 context, and in lieu of the Free State Arts Festival, the series will be presented virtually, in the form of one webinar per month, from August 2020 to November 2020.

Second webinar presented on 23 September 2020

The South African economy was already in the doldrums before the COVID-19 crisis. Recent data from the NIDS-CRAM study suggests that as many as 3 million people might have lost their jobs as a result of the lockdown. In addition, the government's debt burden has deteriorated. What are the prospects for the South African economy post-COVID-19, post-Crisis?

Date: 23 September 2020

Topic: The South African Economy: Post-COVID-19, Post-Crisis

Time: 11:00-12:30

RSVP: Alicia Pienaar, pienaaran1@ufs.ac.za by 18 September 2020

Facilitator:

Dr Max du Preez

Editor: Vrye Weekblad
Biography

Introduction and welcome:

Prof Francis Petersen

Rector and Vice-Chancellor, UFS

Panellists:

Dr Trevor Manuel

Chairperson: Old Mutual Limited
Biography

Ms Ann Bernstein
Executive Director, Centre for Development and Enterprise (CDE)

Mr Mondli Makhanya

Editor-in-Chief of City Press
Biography

News Archive

HEMIS training ‘shares insights across institutions’, says Prof Petersen

2017-08-22

UFS Rector and Vice-Chancellor Prof Francis Petersen
presents the welcoming address at the 2017 HEMIS Institute
in Bloemfontein.
Photo: Eugene Seegers

Higher education institutions such as universities need information and accurate data to make critically important management decisions. Prof Francis Petersen, Rector and Vice-Chancellor of the University of the Free State (UFS), expressed these sentiments during his introduction at the 2017 HEMIS Institute recently held in Bloemfontein.

Reporting a critical part of HE practice
The Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET) uses its Higher Education Management Information System (HEMIS) to manage and verify performance data from Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) regarding four crucial datasets, namely students, staff, space, and postdoctoral information and research fellows. HEMIS data is collected for quality control, funding, and planning purposes, in particular for steering the system and for monitoring the sector. This data must then be audited, since it is used for subsidy allocations to HEIs.

“Institutional reporting on aspects of what we do as public universities is a critical part of practice in Higher Education,” said Prof Petersen. He added, “Whether about insourcing statistics, … student accommodation, or transformation and indicators within that domain, it’s really all about accurate data with which informed, evidence-based decisions can be made. This HEMIS Institute 2017 ultimately enables us to share insights across institutions, which can grow and strengthen the sector as a whole.”

‘It’s about accurate data with
which informed decisions can
be made’—Prof Francis Petersen

Public and private HEIs attend training alongside government reps
The Institutional Information Systems Unit of the Directorate for Institutional Research and Academic Planning (DIRAP) hosted and presented the Southern African Association for Institutional Research (SAAIR) HEMIS Foundations workshop and the annual HEMIS Institute in Bloemfontein. These training opportunities were attended by university data managers and representatives from 26 public and private HEIs, as well as representatives from the Council on Higher Education (CHE), DHET, and the Namibian National Council for Higher Education (NCHE). The Foundations workshop was designed to assist those new to the platform to be better acquainted with this data management tool, while the two-day Institute was structured to answer complex questions and address issues around the use of the relevant reporting structures and software.

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