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Bloemfontein Campus Building Name Review Project underway

04 August 2021 | Story Giselle Baillie

A project working towards the achievement of the Integrated Transformation Plan of the University of the Free State.

The names of buildings are not neutral ideas – even more so when they reflect, for example, the names or namesakes of people, places, or concepts on campus. Rather, they play a significant role in expressing and shaping what the institution values, who the space is for, and how communities engaging with the space are encouraged to think, feel, and behave.

The Bloemfontein Campus of the University of the Free State (UFS) is undertaking two name review projects as part of its transformation processes. The first focuses on the review of the names and symbols of buildings utilised as student residences. Framed by the Integrated Transformation Plan (ITP) of the UFS and mandated by the Naming Committee of the UFS, the process entails that all residences evaluate whether their current building/house names reflect and align with the values of the constitution and the values of the UFS, and whether these names create a sense of inclusion and belonging for all within the UFS community.

Furthermore, whether the symbols (songs, practices, and so forth) utilised within the junior residences are up to date regarding these objectives, and whether they demonstrate and create experiences for their communities that are aligned with these values.

The second project focuses on the review of the name of a building currently occupied by the Faculty of Health Sciences, and which was utilised as a student hostel in previous years.

Since early 2021, various partners from the UFS have been engaged in consultations and planning with their stakeholders and communities for these projects, which will unfold in the second semester.

The objectives of these projects are to engage through education and dialogue processes in critical reflections on the role that the names and symbols associated with buildings on a university campus play in shaping and expressing institutional values and culture, and the associated sense of belonging that it creates for its diverse communities. Furthermore, to provide the opportunity for the UFS community to craft a new institutional culture through new names and renewed cultural practices, where necessary, based on constitutional as well as UFS values.

The UFS community is invited to participate in the projects as follows:

The Bloemfontein Campus Residence Name and Symbol Review Process

9-24 August: A Blackboard platform hosting educational materials on the project will be launched, with the UFS community encouraged to engage with this.

9-16 August: Junior and day residences will host various dialogues within their houses, focusing on exploring their names and symbols. Senior residences with associated names or conceptual frames, as well as alumni, are encouraged to join these dialogues. Recordings of the dialogues will also be made available on the project’s Blackboard platform.

16-19 August: A range of institutional dialogues will take place, focused on key reflections regarding the current names of residences. These dialogues will take place daily from 16:00 to 19:00 and will be convened and moderated by SRC representatives.

Click below to access the different dialogue invitations and to find the virtual links to these dialogues.

20-24 August: The Bloemfontein Campus community, inclusive of students, staff, and alumni, are invited to participate by expressing their thinking regarding the current building names through an online review platform. Where participants feel that the current name/s are not aligned with constitutional and UFS values and the desired institutional culture of the UFS, they will be encouraged to promote a new name/s as per the guidelines that will be provided for naming. Residence students will also be afforded the opportunity to critically reflect on and review their residence symbols.

23 September: Findings from the review process will be communicated to the UFS community.

December 2021: The decisions of Council on the review and possible new names will be communicated to the UFS community.

The CR de Wet Building Name Review Project

2-17 August: A Blackboard platform hosting educational materials on the project be found at this link, with the UFS community encouraged to engage with this.

3-12 August: Students and staff of the Faculty of Health Sciences will engage in dialogues focused on reviewing the name of one of its buildings, the CR de Wet Building, which houses the staff offices, as well as lecture and practical venues of the School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences and the departments of Family Medicine, Occupational Therapy, Optometry, Biostatistics, Physiotherapy, and Nutrition and Dietetics.

10-11 August: The broader UFS community is invited to also engage in a dialogue focused on reviewing the name of the afore-mentioned building.

11 August: Alumni of the former CR de Wet hostel will engage in a dialogue focused on reviewing the name of the afore-mentioned building.

12-17 August: The Bloemfontein Campus community, inclusive of students, staff, and alumni, are invited to participate by expressing their thinking regarding the current building name through an online review platform. Where participants feel that the current name needs to be changed, they will be encouraged to promote a new name as per the guidelines that will be provided for naming.

23 September: Findings from the review process will be communicated to the UFS community.

December 2021: The decision of Council on the review and possible new name – where the review necessitated change – will be communicated to the UFS community.

News Archive

State-of-the-art physics equipment and investment in students result in academic success

2017-09-26

At the recent nanotechnology facility tour at the UFS,
were, from the left, Dr Mthuthuzeli Zamxaka, SAASTA;
Prof Hendrik Swart, Sarchi Chair in the Department of Physics;
and Xolani Makhoba, Department of Science and Technology.
Photo: Leonie Bolleurs

Nanoscience, which is revealing new properties of very small arrangements of atoms, called nanoparticles, is opening a new world of possibilities. The Department of Physics at the University of the Free State is undertaking fundamental research with potential commercial applications. Its equipment and expertise is giving solid state physics research the edge in South Africa.

The UFS team of researchers and students are passionate about studying planets and atoms, all under one roof. Recently, the department, in collaboration with the South African Agency for Science and Technology Advancement (SAASTA), hosted a nanotechnology facility tour to give the public, learners and the media the opportunity to familiarise themselves with the science of nanotechnology, its origins, potential applications and risks.

Successes of the department
According to Prof Hendrik Swart, Senior Professor in the Department of Physics, the increase in resources since 2008 is playing a big role in the success rate of its research outputs. The Sarchi Chair awarded to Prof Swart in 2012 (bringing with it funding for equipment and bursaries) also contributed to the successes in the department.

The UFS Directorate Research Development also availed funding that was used for bursaries. These bursaries made it possible for the department to appoint 10 post-doctoral fellows, not one of them originally from South Africa.

The investment in people and equipment resulted in researchers and students publishing some 80 articles in 2016. Their work was also cited more than 900 times by other researchers in that year.

Another highlight in terms of the department’s growth in the past 10 years is the new wing of the Physics Building. Physics at the UFS is the only place in sub-Saharan Africa where state-of-the art equipment is found under one roof.

Antonie Fourie, Junior Lecturer in the UFS Department of
Physics, explained to a group of delegates and
members of the media the workings of an electron beam
evaporation system.
Photo: Leonie Bolleurs

Application of research
The department is a unique research facility with equipment that includes the X-ray Photoelectron Spectrometer (for the study of atoms), the Scanning Auger Microscope, as well as the Ion Time-of-Flight Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometer (revealing the chemical bonds in a sample, and drawing maps of the positions of atoms).

One of the areas on which the department is focusing its research, is phosphors. Researchers are exploring light emitting diodes (LEDs) which use less energy, are brighter and provide a wider viewing field. They are also looking into LED displays (LCDs) which are used in flat screens – the phosphors create the different colours and backlighting.

The research on solar cells reveals that phosphors can increase their efficiency by increasing the range of light frequencies which can be converted into electricity. Glow-in-the-dark coatings absorb light in the day and emit it later so cells can charge at night. As glow-in-the-dark phosphors become cheaper and more effective, they can be used as a lighting substitute on the walls of houses, street numbers and stop signs.

Video production of the Department of Physics research and equipment

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