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Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences receives funding from European Union

06 April 2021 | Story Dr Nitha Ramnath | Photo Supplied

Dr Johan Coetzee_web read more — Dr Johan Coetzee, Senior Lecturer and researcher in the Department of Economics and Finance and the UFS Business School

Dr Johan Coetzee from the Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences at the University of the Free State (UFS) is championing a collaboration with the Salzburg University of Applied Sciences (SUAS) in Austria, resulting in the receipt of a considerable grant from the European Union.

In 2020, the decision was made to apply for Erasmus+ funding from the European Commission; after a successful grant, a formal inter-institutional agreement was signed in March 2021. The agreement is the culmination of a relationship between the Department of Economics and Finance at the UFS and the Department of Controlling and Finance at SUAS since 2008. More specifically, the relationship is built on the collaboration between the UFS’s Dr Coetzee and Prof Christine Mitter from the SUAS, who was recently appointed as a Research Fellow in Finance in the department.

“I am extremely proud of the formalisation of the relationship between the two universities. In late 2019, a delegation led by the Dean of Economic and Management Sciences, Prof Hendri Kroukamp, together with Prof Philippe Burger and myself visited Salzburg to formalise and iron out the expectations regarding future collaboration,” says Dr Coetzee.

“The Erasmus+ grant pays testament to not only on-boarding expertise from a foreign university with a strong niche in being practically relevant to the Austrian society, but also to affirming the relationship with like-minded scholars to provide students with a culturally rewarding university experience. This agreement brings together two departments with a history of working well together, and now it is a formal manifestation of years of mutually beneficial teaching and research efforts,” says Dr Coetzee.

“On the back of this agreement,” concludes Dr Coetzee, “our departments are also currently finalising a proposal to offer a consecutive degree exchange programme where prospective postgraduate students will obtain two master’s degrees in the broader field of finance and spend time on both campuses. We look forward to this becoming a reality in the not-too-distant future.”

In addition to their teaching and research collaboration, several additional academics from the Department of Economics and Finance are also involved in the teaching collaboration. Research projects have also been concluded in the past, with future projects in the pipeline.

News Archive

Diversity gains ground in SRC election

2005-08-19

The University of the Free State (UFS) reached another milestone in its transformation process last night (Tuesday 16 August 2005) when a more diverse group of students than ever before were elected to serve on the Main Campus SRC.

In addition to this, the UFS experienced a smooth and problem-free election process – unlike recent years when the Main Campus SRC elections were frequently disrupted or marred by attempts of intimidation or obstruction.

The election took place on Monday 15 August 2005 and the results were announced last night (Tuesday 16 August 2005) by Dr Ezekiel Moraka, Vice-Rector: Student Affairs at the UFS.

Seven black students are to serve on the Main Campus SRC, the highest number of black students ever to be elected on the Main Campus SRC since black students were admitted to the UFS in the late 1980’s.

Nine of the 18 SRC members were directly elected and nine on the basis of proportional representation (PR). The PR system was introduced after amendments to the constitution of the Main Campus SRC were approved by the UFS Council in June 2005.

According to Dr Moraka the elections on the Main Campus were a resounding success. “We received double the amount of votes this year: A total of 4 846 votes were cast, while 396 votes were spoilt. Last year only 2 192 votes were cast,” said Dr Moraka.

Dr Moraka said that there were no disruptions of the process and no objections regarding the voting process were received.

Mr Graeme Bradley, thirdyear student in B Com Human Resource Management, was elected as SRC President of the Main Campus for 2005/2006. Mr Bradley was SRC representative for Sports, Arts and Culture in 2004/2005.

In the PR section of the election, Here XVII (with 36,1% of the vote) and Sasco (with 36% of the vote) received an equal amount of seats (3) for the SRC. These percentages also provided them with fourteen (14) seats for the Student Parliament, which consists of 40 seats.

“This outcome is significant to us as, for the first time we have a clear indication of what the actual support of these affiliated organisations is on campus,” said Dr Moraka.

Media release

Issued by:  Lacea Loader
   Media Representative
   Tel: (051) 401-2584
   Cell: 083 645 2454
   E-mail: loaderl.stg@mail.uovs.ac.za

17 August 2005

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