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13 April 2021 | Story Xolisa Mnukwa | Photo Sonia Small (Kaleidoscope Studio)
Nicole Morris
Nicole Morris
Student Affairs divisions occupies an important role within higher education, and there is a constant need for development and reform in the services and programmes they offer to support students. This was the input from the Acting Dean of Student Affairs at the UFS, Nicole Morris, at a virtual President-to-President dialogue hosted by the Charlotte Mannya-Maxeke Institute (CMMI), commemorating Human Rights Month and #TheRightToEducation on 30 March 2021.

Morris participated with a handful of prestigious panel members, including ANC Headquarters General Manager, Febe Potgieter-Gqubule; Deputy Minister of Higher Education, Science and Innovation, Buti Manamela; CMMI Brand Ambassador, Musawenkosi Saurombe; author and entrepreneur, Busisiwe Seabe; the leaderships of various student representative councils; and Chairperson of the Charlotte Mannya-Maxeke Institute, Yonela Njisane.

Delegates delved into subjects concerning access to free education, the criteria and measures involved, as well as the proposed methods of implementation needed to operationalise free and equal education.

Morris contributed to the discussion that reflected on the revolutionary spirit and political contributions of renowned political activist, Charlotte Maxeke, identifying her as a “stalwart for the fight of equal opportunities and progress”.

The Acting Dean said Maxeke’s quest for education and the need to use it to support changes in humanity, encouraged the liberation of women in mainstream politics and other leadership roles – developing her fight into one that sought equal opportunities and progress for all.

Morris went on to highlight the importance of student counselling and development, career services, and other student affairs services to support students at university and higher education spaces.

She encouraged student leaders to emulate Maxeke’s methods by continuously employing innovative ways of thinking to ease the challenges faced by students in higher education, ensuring that each of them has an equal opportunity to succeed in today’s society.

News Archive

Prestigious Fulbright Scholarship to Senior Researcher
2010-05-27

University of the Free State, Ms Melody Mentz.Prestigious Fulbright Scholarship to Senior Researcher 
Ms Melody Mentz.


Ms Melody Mentz, Ph.D. student and Senior Researcher at the University of the Free State’s (UFS) Division for Student Development and Success (SDS) has been awarded the prestigious Fulbright Scholarship award to work on her Ph.D. in the United States of America (USA). This award has only been granted to a limited number of students from the UFS in the past.

For the 12-month duration of the scholarship, Ms Mentz will be based at Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana. During this time she will be doing a part-time internship at the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) Institute. Ms Mentz will also be completing doctoral level coursework in the School of Education’s Higher Education and Student Affairs programme. She intends to complete her Ph.D. thesis during her time abroad.

Both her Ph.D. and research work at SDS focus on factors influencing the success of students in South African higher education and the impact of student engagement on student success. More specifically, her Ph.D. focuses on how high-school experiences and expectations of higher education influence the success of first-year students at the UFS.

Ms Mentz completed her B.Com (Human Resource Management), as well as the rest of her postgraduate studies in Psychology at the UFS, obtaining all her qualifications with distinction. She was also the recipient of the Dean’s medal for the best honours student in the Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences in 2006, and the Kovsie Dux student of the year in 2005.

Ms Mentz will be departing for the USA during August of 2010.
 

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