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Mr Temba Hlasho appointed as UFS Executive Director: Student Affairs

25 June 2021 | Story Lacea Loader | Photo Supplied

The Council of the University of the Free State (UFS) approved the appointment of Mr Temba Hlasho as Executive Director: Student Affairs for a five-year term. Mr Hlasho will assume duty on 1 July 2021.

Extensive experience in the student affairs environment

Mr Hlasho was the Dean of Students at the University of Zululand, since 1 November 2019. Before that, he was Director: Student Affairs on the UFS Qwaqwa Campus. His career in higher education spans 25 years, beginning at the then Port Elizabeth Technikon as Head of a student residence in the 1980s. Before being appointed as the Head of Residences at the Cape Peninsula University of Technology in 2014, he was the Director of Student Residences at the Vaal University of Technology. He completed a BCom degree at Vista University in 1994 before qualifying with an MPhil from the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University in 2006. Currently, he is pursuing a doctoral degree in sport sciences.

“Mr Hlasho has valuable experience in leading and providing strategic direction to student service divisions and has developed, reviewed, and implemented departmental strategies. He worked in senior management and interacted to a large extent with student structures and the Student Representative Council, through which he gained appropriate experience to understand student dynamics, intersectionalities, and the complexities of the higher-education sector,” says Prof Francis Petersen, UFS Rector and Vice-Chancellor.

Vision for Student Affairs at the UFS

Mr Hlasho’s vision includes enabling and supporting learning and living environments, professionalising Student Affairs, promoting and ensuring social justice, social cohesion, and critical diversity, strengthening student governance and engagement for academic success, and the alignment of funding to prioritised activities that support the academic project. “These are all critical areas that will ensure the establishment of a productive and transformative environment for an excellent student experience,” says Prof Petersen.

“My goal is to build open dialogue relationships with student bodies to better understand their plight, which will then be used as a leveller for enhanced positive working partnerships with colleagues in finding effective student solutions. I look forward to joining the UFS and to further develop the Student Affairs portfolio,” says Mr Hlasho.

Mr Hlasho holds a 5th Dan black belt in judo and is an executive member and current President of Judo South Africa.

News Archive

Lottery grant will boost public art at UFS

2009-05-25

Public art at the UFS will get a major boost with money made available by the National Lottery Board. Here are Dr Ivan van Rooyen, Director: UFS Marketing, Ms Nontombi Ntakakaze (Artists in School Project) and Mr Ben Botma (Head of Department: Fine Arts) at one of the existing works of art by Edoardo Villa on the Bloemfontein Campus.
Photo: Leatitia Pienaar.

Emerging and established artists will showcase their work in a comprehensive public sculpture project on the campuses of the University of the Free State (UFS). The aim is to create a greater understanding of cultural differences and promote the UFS vision of a truly multilingual, non-sexist, non-racial campus, says Dr Ivan van Rooyen, Director: UFS Marketing.

The National Lottery Board has approved a grant of R4,125 million in total for three major projects, one of which is the public sculpture project. The others are a Khoe-San Early Learning Centre pilot project in Heidedal, and a boost for the Artists in Schools project, which is already underway.

Dr Van Rooyen says one way of promoting the UFS vision is to create an alternative environment and provide visible, tangible symbols of change and transformation. This will enrich the educational and cultural experience of students and visitors to the campus by stimulating intercultural dialogue and providing a setting for historical dialogue between past and future.

The dream of the UFS is to inspire a sense of ownership of the campus of an open university, worthy of a democratic South Africa. “Therefore, a large-scale project of national significance has been conceptualised, where the development of infrastructure will involve the creation and acquisition of major South African art works for the long-term benefit of all South Africans,” Dr Van Rooyen says.

The public sculpture project will be implemented over the next few years. Artists will be commissioned as funds become available. The UFS will also consult extensively with local and national art museums with experience in the public art field. A wide spectrum of artists, especially artists from the black community, will be used.

Dr Van Rooyen says that many black artists have not had an opportunity to exhibit public sculptures because of prohibitive costs and the project will empower them to develop their skills. The project makes provision for both established and emerging artists to showcase their work.

The aim of the Khoe-San Early Learning Centre pilot project is to compile a curriculum that is sensitive to multiculturalism and multilingualism. The centre will be the first in the country and will respond to the need to promote and revitalise Khoe-San languages. Using arts and crafts and storytelling, as well as literacy, numeracy and life skills, children will learn to adapt to their environment and contribute to our diverse society. This centre will be a collaborative venture between the Heidedal community and the UFS.

Finally, the Artists in Schools project, which has been running successfully since 2004, will also receive a boost from the Lottery funding. Through a series of workshops that the Department of Fine Arts presents at schools, participants develop functional art products with a distinctive Free State character. These products are marketed and sold to benefit the artists, designers and craftspeople.

Media Release
Issued by: Mangaliso Radebe
Assistant Director: Media Liaison
Tel: 051 401 2828
Cell: 078 460 3320
E-mail: radebemt.stg@ufs.ac.za
25 May 2009

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