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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.

16 August 2021

17 August 2021

18 August 2021

19 August 2021

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

Sought-after fellowship for Deaf Kovsie academic
2012-04-25

 

Magteld Smith
Photo: Provided
25 April 2012

For a Deaf person to achieve academic excellence in a sound-dominated world is extremely challenging, but Ms Magteld Smith sees each challenge as another opportunity.

Ms Smith, a Medical Social Researcher at the University of the Free State (UFS), recently received the Herbert H Humphrey fellowship. She is one of only two South Africans to receive this fellowship.
 
The Humphrey Fellowship Program provides mid-career professionals from designated countries around the world with an opportunity to enhance their professional capabilities through participation and is developed specifically for small clusters of Humphrey Fellows at 18 selected US universities.
 
It was initiated in 1978 to honour the memory and accomplishments of the former Senator and Vice-President, Humbert H. Humphrey. Fellows are selected based on their potential for national leadership and commitment to public service, in either the public or private sector. The programme provides a basis for establishing long-lasting productive partnerships and relationships between citizens of the United States and their professional counterparts in other countries, fostering an exchange of knowledge and mutual understanding throughout the world.
 
Ms Smith applied for this fellowship, but was still very surprised when she heard her application was successful.
 
“Upon receiving the news, in my mind I saw an enormous rotating world globe and I asked my Heavenly Father, "What is happening now?" I saw big libraries with books, laboratories, state of the art technology for people with hearing impairments, big cars, big houses, big trucks, big farmers, big women and the White House with big trouble. Furthermore, I saw how the UFS became the world leader of academic excellence and change for people with disabilities with high technology manufacturing and rehabilitation programmes.”
 
Ms Smith says Prof. Jonathan Jansen, UFS Vice-Chancellor and Rector, is a great asset, because for the first time people with disabilities are high on the priority list.

 

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