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27 August 2021 | Story Lacea Loader
The University of the Free State (UFS), in partnership with Standard Bank and the Mangaung Chamber of Commerce and Industry, is pleased to invite you to a special lunchtime webinar with:

• Mr Tommie van Zyl (CEO of ZZ2);
• Mr Wandile Sihlobo (Chief Economist of AgBiz); and
• Mr Nico Groenewald (Head of Agriculture, Standard Bank).
 
Join us for a discussion on the state of South African agriculture, the impact of COVID-19 on the industry, and how farmers and agri-businesses can respond to the opportunities and challenges in the agricultural sector. 
 
Date: 9 September 2021
Time: 12:30 to 14:00 (via Zoom)
RSVP: Alicia Pienaar at PienaarAN1@ufs.ac.za by 7 September 2021

Bios of panellists:


Mr Tommie van Zyl is the Chief Executive Officer of the ZZ2 farming group. He studied Agriculture and Commerce at Stellenbosch University before completing his postgraduate studies at the University of Florida in the USA. Currently, he serves as director on various boards and was the director and vice-chairman of the USA-based PMA (Produce Marketing Association), as well as the chairman of the Agricultural Produce Agents Council (APAC) for seven years. He has received numerous awards, including a Fulbright scholarship, a Gamma Sigma Delta award, and an honorary medal from the South African Academy of Science. During the twenty years that Mr Van Zyl held the position of Chief Executive of ZZ2, the farm has grown extensively from the family farm that his father began. They produce tomatoes, onions, avocados, mangoes, deciduous fruit, cherries, almonds, blueberries, Medjool dates, and cattle on farms across South Africa and Namibia. Mr Van Zyl, who is fluent in Sesotho, is positive by nature and is actively involved in community development. He believes that farming in South Africa has a bright future if changes are managed purposefully and thoughtfully.  
Mr Wandile Sihlobo is the Chief Economist of the Agricultural Business Chamber of South Africa (Agbiz). He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Agricultural Economics from the University of Fort Hare and a Master of Science degree in Agricultural Economics from Stellenbosch University. He is the author of Finding Common Ground: Land, Equity, and Agriculture published by Pan Macmillan in March 2020. He is also a Visiting Research Fellow at the Wits School of Governance, University of the Witwatersrand, and a columnist for Business Day and Farmer’s Weekly. In 2019, Mr Sihlobo was appointed as a member of President Cyril Ramaphosa’s Presidential Economic Advisory Council after serving on the Presidential Expert Advisory Panel on Land Reform and Agriculture between 2018 and 2019. He is also a member of the Council of Statistics South Africa (Stats SA) and a Commissioner at the International Trade Administration Commission of South Africa (ITAC).

Mr Nico Groenewald has been the Head of Agribusiness for Standard Bank’s business and commercial clients since 2014. He graduated with a BScAgric from the University of Pretoria in 1988 and completed an MBA at the North-West University in 1997. Mr Groenewald began his career with Standard Bank in 1990 as a junior agricultural adviser before joining an agribusiness (VKB) in 1991 as an agricultural economist focusing on production economics. In 1997, he re-joined Standard Bank as an agricultural credit evaluation manager. From 2005 onwards, Groenewald fulfilled several management roles in the agricultural business, as well as credit functions within Standard Bank before being appointed in his current position. He is also a member of the steering committee of Agbiz, a reputable national organisation that represents agribusiness in South Africa, as well as Standard Bank’s representative on the Agricultural Committee of the Banking Association South Africa.

News Archive

MBA Programme - Question And Answer Sheet - 27 May 2004
2004-05-27

1. WHAT MUST THE UNIVERSITY OF THE FREE STATE (UFS) DO TO GET FULL ACCREDITATION FOR THE MBA PROGRAMMES?

According to the Council on Higher Education’s (CHE) evaluation, the three MBA programmes of the UFS clearly and significantly contribute to students’ knowledge and skills, are relevant for the workplace, are appropriately resourced and have an appropriate internal and external programme environment. These programmes are the MBA General, the MBA in Health Care Management and the MBA in Entrepreneurship.

What the Council on Higher Education did find, was a few technical and administrative issues that need to be addressed.

This is why the three MBA programmes of the UFS received conditional accreditation – which in itself is a major achievement for the UFS’s School of Management, which was only four years old at the time of the evaluation.

The following breakdown gives one a sense of the mostly administrative nature of the conditions that have to be met before full accreditation is granted by the CHE:

a. A formal forum of stakeholders: The UFS is required to establish a more structured, inclusive process of review of its MBA programmes. This is an administrative formality already in process.

b. A work allocation model: According to the CHE this is required to regulate the workload of the teaching staff, particularly as student numbers grow, rather than via standard management processes as currently done.

c. Contractual agreements with part-time staff: The UFS is required to enter into formal agreements with part-time and contractual staff as all agreements are currently done on an informal and claim-basis. This is an administrative formality already in process.

d. A formal curriculum committee: According to the CHE, the School of Management had realised the need for a structure – other than the current Faculty Board - where all MBA lecturers can deliberate on the MBA programmes, and serve as a channel for faculty input, consultation and decision-making.

e. A system of external moderators: This need was already identified by the UFS and the system is to be implemented as early as July 2004.

f. A compulsory research component: The UFS is required to introduce a research component which will include the development of research skills for the business environment. The UFS management identified this need and has approved such a component - it is to take effect from January 2005. This is an insufficient element lacking in virtually all MBA programmes in South Africa.

g. Support programmes for learners having problems with numeracy: The UFS identified this as a need for academic support among some learners and has already developed such a programme which will be implemented from January 2005.

The majority of these conditions have been satisfied already and few remaining steps will take effect soon. It is for this reason that the UFS is confident that its three MBA programmes will soon receive full accreditation.

2. WHAT ACCREDITATION DOES THE UFS HAVE FOR ITS MBA PROGRAMME?

The UFS’s School of Management received conditional accreditation for its three MBA programmes.

Two levels of accreditation are awarded to tertiary institutions for their MBA programmes, namely full accreditation and conditional accreditation. When a programme does not comply with the minimum requirements regarding a small number of criteria, conditional accreditation is given. This can be rectified during the short or medium term.

3. IS THERE ANYTHING WRONG WITH THE ACADEMIC CORE OF THE UFS’s MBA PROGRAMMES?

No. The UFS is proud of its three MBA programmes’ reputation in the market and the positive feedback it receives from graduandi and their employers.

The MBA programmes of the UFS meet most of the minimum requirements of the evaluation process.

In particular, the key element of ‘teaching and learning’, which relates to the curriculum and content of the MBA programmes, is beyond question. In other words, the core of what is being taught in our MBA programmes is sound.

4. IS THE UFS’s MBA A WORTHWHILE QUALIFICATION?

Yes. Earlier this year, the School of Management – young as it is - was rated by employers as the best smaller business school in South Africa. This was based on a survey conducted by the Professional Management Review and reported in the Sunday Times Business Times, of 25 January 2004.

The UFS is committed to maintaining these high standards of quality, not only through compliance with the requirements of the CHE, but also through implementing its own quality assurance measures.

Another way in which we benchmark the quality of our MBA programmes is through the partnerships we have formed with institutions such as the DePaul University in Chicago and Kansas State University, both in the US, as well as the Robert Schuman University in France.

For this reason the UFS appreciates and supports the work of the CHE and welcomes its specific findings regarding the three MBA programmes.

It is understandable that the MBA review has caused some nervousness – not least among current MBA students throughout the country.

However, one principle that the UFS management is committed to is this: preparing all our students for a world of challenge and change. Without any doubt the MBA programme of the UFS is a solid preparation.

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