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04 March 2021 | Story Leonie Bolleurs
Organisational Development and Employee Well-being in the Department of Human Resources at the University of the Free State will again present the successful ‘I Am’ employee wellness short-learning programme.

The programme is also supported by well-known South Africans, including Miss South Africa and Miss World 2014, Rolene Strauss, and the survivor and motivational speaker, Alison Botha. It has been developed to help improve the well-being of employees in all seven areas of wellness (physical, psychological, spiritual, environmental, emotional, social, and financial).  

You have control over your wellness

Strauss says it is important to look after your mental wellness in order to maintain balance and productivity at home and at work. According to her, employees who are thriving, happy and productive, set the table for a thriving organisation. 

Botha, who survived a horrendous crime in 1994, says we cannot always control what happens to us, but we always get to choose how to respond in these circumstances. The lockdown during the COVID-19 pandemic is a good example; we cannot control the lockdown, but we can control our wellness during the lockdown. She recommends the ‘I Am’ employee wellness short-learning programme. “By choosing to take part in the programme, you can show yourself how much you value and care for yourself and for your wellness,” she says.

Carmine Nieman, industrial psychologist and counsellor from Organisational Development and Employee Well-being, says that, through various activities and methods, they aim to empower employees to increase their own personal and work-related well-being. She believes that this programme will further encourage employees to reach their full potential in both their work and personal lives.  
 
The central theme of this short-learning programme is: ‘I am … a great person with great potential’.  

Practical programme will motivate and inspire

According to Nieman, this is a registered eight-week short-learning programme that will require about two hours per week to complete one unit. “This programme will motivate and inspire employees to improve their well-being by participating in weekly sessions consisting of various activities developed to facilitate an improved understanding of well-being and to build skills in well-being.”

Completion of this registered programme will empower employees to not just increase their well-being in the present but will also equip them to increase their well-being in the future. – Carmine Nieman

This practical programme (where you complete certain activities to learn skills in well-being, e.g. coping, anger management, dealing with depression, dealing with anxiety, identifying strengths, self-care techniques, sleeping techniques, and EQ) will be presented online and will take approximately two hours of your time per week. The programme is very flexible, with no specific scheduled contact sessions, allowing you to complete it in your own time and space.

“Completion of this registered programme will empower employees to not just increase their well-being in the present but will also equip them to increase their well-being in the future,” she says. 

It is presented free of charge for employees of the UFS. 

Persons who are not UFS employees and who are interested in doing the programme, are also welcome. Although the programme opened for registration today (3 March 2021) and will start on 5 April 2021, companies from outside the university are welcome to negotiate their own specific dates that will suit the needs of their teams. Please contact Nieman to enquire about the cost. 

As it is a registered short-learning programme, all employees (both UFS and external employees) who participate in the programme will receive a certificate as well as credits upon completion of the course. 

For more information, please email: IAmWellnesssLP@ufs.ac.za You are also welcome to direct questions to Nieman on niemancl@ufs.ac.za 

See also graphic for more information.



News Archive

UFS changes format of graduation ceremony
2011-04-17

 

The highest number of qualifications in the history of the University of the Free State (UFS) will be awarded at the autumn diploma and graduation ceremony from 9-11 May 2011, which will be held in the Callie Human Centre on our Main Campus in Bloemfontein.

From this year, the format of the ceremony will change to make it more visible to students and the public. For the first time, all the doctoral and master’s degrees from each respective faculty will be conferred during one ceremony on 11 May 2011, instead of each faculty handling these qualifications individually. Another change in the format is that the procession will gather on the Red Square in front of the Main Building and move to the Callie Human Centre from there. Both academic staff and graduands will partake in the procession.

A total of 3 674 qualifications will be conferred during this year’s graduation ceremony, including 629 diplomas, 2 613 Bachelors and honours degrees, 372 master’s degrees and 58 doctorates.

An honorary doctorate in Drama and Theatre Arts will also be awarded to theatre stalwart Mr Pieter Fourie. He is one of the most acclaimed Afrikaans playwrights in South Africa and probably the only person to have left his mark as an actor, director, artistic director and writer.

Mr Fourie was awarded the Gerhard Beukes prize for drama , was honoured for his contribution to the arts by the South African Academy for Science and Arts and was appointed as trustee of the Arts and Culture Trust of the State President in 1997. He has also served as a committee member of the South African Academy for Science and Arts.

Mr. Fourie has also been the proud recipient of the Hertzog prize for drama, two FNB-Vita awards and a Fleur Du Cap award.
 

The full programme for the respective ceremonies is as follows:

  • Monday, 9 May 2011:

At 08:30, certificates and diplomas, excluding PGED and PGES, will be awarded to graduates from the Faculty of Education and at 12:00 PGED, PGED and B and honours degrees will be awarded to students from the same faculty. At 15:30 on the same day, certificates and B and honours degrees will be awarded to students in the Faculty of the Humanities.

At 19:00, the Faculties of Education, the Humanities and Economic and Management Sciences will have their prize-giving ceremonies for outstanding achievers.

  • Tuesday, 10 May 2011:

At 08:30, students in the Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences will graduate and at and 12:00 the Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Science will join them. This includes students in BML, B.Admin., B.Pub. and related honours degrees. At 15:30, 503 students from the Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences will receive their certificates, diplomas and B and honours degrees.

At 19:00, the Faculties of Health Sciences, Natural and Agriculture Sciences, Law and Theology will have their prize-giving ceremonies.

  • Wednesday, 11 May 2011:

The Faculty of Health Sciences, the Faculty of Law and the Faculty of Theology will be awarding their certificates, diplomas and B and honours degrees at 08:30. At 12:00, all faculties will award a total of 372 master’s degrees and at 15:30 a total of 58 doctorates will be conferred.

The Chancellor’s Dinner will take place in the Centenary Complex on the Main Campus of the UFS at 19:00.

The graduation ceremony of our Qwaqwa Campus will take place in the Rolihlahla Mandela Hall on the Qwaqwa Campus on 7 May 2011 at 10:00. All the faculties at this campus will confer their degrees, certificates and diplomas at this ceremony.
 


Media Release
21 April 2011
Issued by: Lacea Loader
Director: Strategic Communication
Tel: 051 401 2584
Cell: 083 645 2454
E-mail: news@ufs.ac.za

 

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