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03 September 2020
Class of 2020

Dear Graduand

VIRTUAL GRADUATION CEREMONIES, 6-9 OCTOBER 2020

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused immense disruption in many aspects of our lives, both in South Africa and abroad. Higher education institutions throughout the world were not exempt from the effects of the deadly virus. In South Africa in particular, most institutions were forced to suspend academic programmes and quickly found themselves transitioning academic programmes from the classroom to online learning platforms. 

We also postponed graduation ceremonies in the hope that the situation would improve in time. Unfortunately, the situation has not improved, and as COVID-19 continues to present uncertainties and public health concerns, we have made the decision not to present our face-to-face graduation ceremonies on the Bloemfontein and Qwaqwa Campuses.  

On the other hand, the pandemic has propelled innovation and creativity; we are delighted at the possibilities offered by technology to allow us to honour and preserve traditions that define the higher education experience. Your graduation and the conferring of your degree should be an unforgettable moment in your life. Therefore, we are making every effort to ensure that even during these unusual times, you are celebrated.  You have committed countless hours of dedicated work to earn your degree, and we would like to support you in celebrating this momentous occasion. 
Therefore, as an alternative, we are hosting virtual graduation ceremonies scheduled to be broadcasted from 6 to 9 October 2020 at 10:00 daily: 

• 6 October 2020: Bloemfontein Campus (April 2020, all ceremonies)
• 7 October 2020: Qwaqwa Campus (May 2020, all ceremonies)
• 8 October 2020: Bloemfontein Campus (June 2020 undergraduate and honours ceremonies)
• 9 October 2020: Bloemfontein Campus (June 2020 master’s and PhD qualifications)

The institution is aware of and sensitive to the increased need to have your qualification certificates.  We therefore wish to inform our graduates that certificates will be available and released immediately after the conferral ceremonies. It is our utmost priority to ensure your health and safety. As a result, certificates will be available and released via courier services at no cost to you and within convenient measures in adherence to the COVID-19 prescriptions. Communication regarding the issuing of the certificates will follow in due course.
 
Your disappointment at not having a face-to-face ceremony is understandable – however, it is extremely important that we do what is in the best interest of our students, staff, and community. 

Congratulations to all our graduates and may you have continued success in all your endeavours! 

We look forward to honouring you at the virtual graduation ceremony. 


News Archive

Staff pay a successful visit to the University of Minnesota
2008-08-01

 

Staff from the University of the Free State’s (UFS) Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences, Prof. Herman van Schalkwyk, dean of the faculty, and prof. Izak Groenewald, director of the Centre for Sustainable Agriculture and Rural Development, recently paid a successful visit to the University of Minnesota in the United States of America (USA). They visited among others the Minnesota Council on Economic Education (MCEE) and had talks with a representative of Cargill Inc., the world’s largest privately owned corporation. There is a good possibility that substantive monetary support will result from this interaction between the UFS and the University of Minnesota. During the visit were, from the left, back: Prof. Van Schalkwyk, Prof. Groenewald and Mr Tim Bodin, member of the MCEE council of directors and economist from Cargill Inc.; front: Dr Nona Mason, chairperson of the MCEE and director of the Master’s Programme in Business Communication at the St. Thomas University, and Prof. Claudia Parliament, executive director of the MCEE and professor in the Department of Applied Economics at the University of Minnesota. Prof. Parliament recently completed her sabbatical leave at the UFS.
Photo: Supplied
 

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