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26 July 2021 | Story Xolisa Mnukwa | Photo Supplied
Mr Temba Hlasho, newly appointed Executive Director of Student Affairs.

The value proposition of the University of the Free State (UFS) Department of Student Affairs (DSA) is to create a socially just student-life experience that is conducive to student academic success, student engagement, and critical thinking.

Join the 2021 Virtual Student Affairs Week to learn more about UFS student support services

Student Affairs Week is an annual event that showcases the division’s wealth of student support departments – from Student Counselling and Development to Social Support to Student Governance – and many more useful support tools that students can make use of throughout their university careers. 

This initiative was established to improve an awareness and understanding of all Student Affairs divisions, and to also encourage participation in the programmes offered by the department. 

Student Affairs Week will run from 2 to 5 August 2021 on Blackboard, where students will be able to participate and engage according to their respective campuses. 
Students further stand a chance to win cash vouchers of up to R500 if they complete the Student Affairs quiz below.

UFS Bloemfontein Campus: Click here.
UFS Qwaqwa Campus: Click here.
UFS South Campus: Click here.

Message from the UFS Executive Director of Student Affairs 

According to the University of the Free State (UFS) Executive Director of Student Affairs, Temba Hlasho, a first-years’ experience at university is very critical for their academic journey. Hlasho encouraged students to be responsible, to continue to make themselves proud by embracing the privilege of being at university, and to continue to calibrate themselves into better persons for the South African society.

“To senior students, thank you for remaining loyal to the University of the Free State. Your perseverance and continued productive association with our institution will culminate into you becoming better future citizens,” Hlasho remarked. 
Hlasho further explained the division’s goal to ensure that students’ lived experiences on all three UFS campuses are equal and memorable through the diverse range of services and co-curricular activities offered. 

He further encouraged students to continue to adhere to COVID-19 safety protocols in order to preserve their health and livelihood.

For more information on Student Affairs Week, contact Annelize Visagie visagiea@ufs.ac.za 

News Archive

University gets support to improve student success
2014-11-26

From the left are: Prof Francois Strydom (Director: Academic - Centre for Teaching and Learning at the UFS), Mr Rip Rapson (Chief Executive Officer, Kresge Foundation), Dr Marcus Ingram (UFS Director for Institutional Advancement) and Mr Bill Moses (Programme Director for the Kresge Foundation's Education Programme).
Photo: Hannes Pieterse

The Kresge Foundation has awarded $400 000 (about R4 million) to the University of the Free State (UFS) to increase student success through improved data analysis.

This four-year grant, as part of Kresge’s Siyaphumelela initiative, was recently announced by Mr Rip Rapson, Kresge’s President and Chief Executive Officer. This announcement was made at a symposium on South African higher education and philanthropy in Cape Town.

“Universities across South Africa are grappling with how to improve persistence and graduation rates for their black students in particular,” Mr Rapson said. “These universities will work together with the South African Institute for Distance Education to develop their data analytics capacity to find and share solutions and interventions based on solid information to improve student success.”

The UFS was only one of four universities receiving funding from Kresge. The other universities include the Nelson Mandela metropolitan University in Port Elizabeth, the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg and the University of Pretoria.

The grants will help the universities build their capacities to use data to better integrate institutional research, information communication technology, academic development, student services and academic departments. Beyond the improvements sought for the UFS, Kresge hopes to see new approaches to data become mainstream for higher education in South Africa.

The Siyaphumelela initiative provides four years of institutional support and hope to create a community of practice that learns lessons that may benefit not only individual institutions and the cohort, but also potentially all of South African higher education.

Dr Lis Lange, Vice-Rector: Academic at the UFS, said improving student successes is a university goal that operates in the interface between the Human and Academic Projects of the university.

“We are delighted to be part of an initiative that is going to help us develop greater capability for data analytics and deeper integration between data and teaching and learning practices; and, at the same time, will bring the Centre for Teaching and Learning, the Directorate for Institutional Research and Academic Planning (DIRAP) and the faculties into a closer cooperation.”

Over the past four years donor income to the UFS increased considerably, both from governmental sources, trusts and foundations. By the end of 2013, governmental funding increased from about R5 million in 2011 to over R35 million. Funding by trusts and foundations increased from R5 million in 2011 to over R15 million in 2013. A general increase of 25% in funding is expected for 2014.

Dr Marcus Ingram, UFS Director for Institutional Advancement, says as the UFS begins to settle into a refined academic identity, the Department for Institutional Advancement intends to support these efforts by helping to facilitate the telling of a more integrated narrative to the university’s friends, prospects and donors.

 

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