Latest News Archive

Please select Category, Year, and then Month to display items

Gift of the Givers nutrition packs ensuring that no student goes hungry during lockdown

16 July 2021 | Story Nonsindiso Qwabe

Givers_web read more — UFS Qwaqwa Campus social worker, Selloane Phoofolo, and primes and deputy primes of female residences on the campus.

Food insecurity is one of the greatest plagues that students face during their academic careers at university.

A working relationship between national non-governmental organisation (NGO) Gift of the Givers and the No Student Hungry (NHS) office on the Qwaqwa Campus has provided students with nutritional care as they navigate the difficulties brought on by the pandemic.

A little goes a long way

The NGO has been delivering nutritional food parcels for more than a year, with the first batch having been delivered in February 2020. The partnership was again renewed for 2021. Two hundred food parcels were meant to be delivered on a monthly basis, but are currently delivered on request, says Qwaqwa Campus social worker, Selloane Phofoolo. The parcels last a few months, before the next call is made for more. “We are so lucky that Gift of the Givers has continued their partnership with us this year. Without their support we would have struggled, especially during this pandemic. They are always just a call away.”

Phoofolo said the NHS was relying mainly on the food parcels to cater for students, as no other collection drives have been possible to sustain since the lockdown began. She said in 2020, shortly after the lockdown began, they were flooded with requests for food. Since then, students have been able to collect the food parcels from Protection Services on campus. This year, requests surged again in March and April 2021 when the academic calendar kicked off. She lauded Protection Services for their dedicated efforts to ensure that students receive food parcels seamlessly while the campus remains inaccessible to most.

“We have a significant number of students who are really lacking; so, while we subject them to a vetting process, each case has its own merits because some are really compelling and dire since everyone is going through a difficult time.”

Female residences donate sanitary towels to NHS recipients

She said another kind gesture that landed on the NHS’ doorstep was a generous donation of sanitary towels collected by primes and deputy primes from female residences on campus. Phoofolo said the donation came as a welcome surprise. “We are very grateful for the sanitary towels. Now every female student who collects a food parcel also receives a pack of sanitary towels.”

“Everyone is going through a difficult time and despite the pandemic, we are happy to see the passion for students and dedication to Ubuntu prevailing,” she said.

News Archive

Council approves two senior appointments

2012-03-13

Dr Choice Makhetha and Prof. Hendri Kroukamp
13 March 2012

We are delighted to announce the appointment of Dr Choice Makhetha as Vice-Rector: External Relations, and Prof. Hendri Kroukamp as Dean of the Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences.

Both appointments were approved on Friday 9 March 2012 by the UFS Council during its quarterly meeting at the Bloemfontein Campus.

“Dr Makhetha is an experienced administrator in higher education and has spent time shadowing the Presidents of Harvard and Spelman Universities in the USA, where she gained invaluable experience in positioning universities for world-class impact,” said Prof. Jonathan Jansen, Vice-Chancellor and Rector of the UFS.

Her portfolio will entail external linkages, partnerships and strategic alliances of the university with national and international stakeholders.

Previously, Dr Makhetha was the Special Assistant to the Vice-Chancellor. Before that she was acting Dean: Student Affairs, also at the UFS. She has served as acting Vice-Rector: External Relations since February 2011.

Dr Makhetha obtained a Master’s degree in Political Science from the UFS in 2000 and a Ph.D., also in Political Science, in 2003. She was named the UFS’s Dux student for 1998/99. Dr Makhetha has received many awards for her work and she serves on various boards and committees in South Africa and abroad.

In 2010 and 2011 she was a fellow at Harvard University and Spelman College as part of Higher Education South Africa (HESA)’s Higher Education Leadership and Management programme.

“Prof. Kroukamp is a distinguished academic in the field of Public Administration and a highly experienced manager and leader of academic departments. He has been serving as acting Dean of his faculty since September 2010,” said Prof. Jansen.

Prof. Kroukamp holds a B.A. (Hons.) degree in Public Administration from Stellenbosch University and an M.A. degree from the University of Port Elizabeth (UPE). In 1993 he obtained a qualification in Project Management from the World Bank. He completed a D.Phil. in Public Administration at UPE in 1996, where he was a lecturer. Prof. Kroukamp joined the UFS in 1999 as a professor and Chairperson of the Department of Public Management.

He is the referee of various national and international publications, serves on various publication boards and is a member of various national and international boards and committees.

Prof. Kroukamp, who is a National Research Foundation (NRF)-rated researcher, has received many NRF awards. Amongst these are NRF Overseas International Conference Awards in Turkey, Korea, Poland and France. He has also received a UFS Top Research Award in the Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences.

Both appointments apply retrospectively on 1 March 2012.

Media Release
13 March 2012
Issued by: Lacea Loader
Director: Strategic Communication
Tel: +27(0)51 401 2584
Cell: +27(0)83 645 2454
E-mail: news@ufs.ac.za

Back

Economic and Management Sciences

Education

Health Sciences

The Humanities

Law

Natural and Agricultural Sciences

Theology and Religion

Open Distance Learning

Business School

We use cookies to make interactions with our websites and services easy and meaningful. To better understand how they are used, read more about the UFS cookie policy. By continuing to use this site you are giving us your consent to do this.

Accept