Latest News Archive

Please select Category, Year, and then Month to display items
Previous Archive
18 March 2021 | Story Xolisa Mnukwa | Photo Sonia Small
UFS Division of Student Affairs launch On the Red Couch pocket guide for staff and a Universal Access Checklist encouraging a socially just student-life experience promoting academic success and all-inclusive student engagement.

In line with their operational mandate that seeks to humanise the lived experiences of students and implore an ethically just society within the University of the Free State (UFS) community, the Division of Student Affairs (DSA) has launched two publications – On the Red Couch: A pocket guide for staff and the Universal Access Checklist.

On the red couch: A pocket guide for staff

On the Red Couch was launched by the UFS Department of Student Counselling and Development (SCD) in support of student well-being. 

The purpose of this pocket guide is to equip staff with information, guidance, and skills to support students who are experiencing mental health distress and to enthuse well-being. The guide highlights a variety of services and tips that SCD educates staff about, ranging from group counselling, career counselling, recognising a student in distress, to enlightening them on how to respond to students in emergency situations.

“What mental health needs is more sunlight, more candor, and more unashamed conversation.” – Glenn Close

Universal Access Checklist

In their mission to develop an inclusive institutional culture that provides humanising experiences essential to the academic success and engagement of students, the UFS Centre for Universal Access and Disability Support (CUADS) has developed the Universal Access Checklist. 

This checklist is a comprehensive guide that propels academic and social spaces within the higher education environment to make online as well as face-to-face interactions and events accessible to both staff and students with disabilities. 

The checklist encourages universal design in the planning of events/ gatherings/ meetings and interaction within the university by providing clear guidelines on how the UFS society can effectively embrace all of its members, including being cognisant of the categories of disabilities in its environment, ranging from visual/mobility/hearing impairments to learning difficulties to mental health challenges. 

The checklist also covers subjects concerning accessible university accommodation, hosting events on various platforms, marketing material, food requirements, and preferred pronouns. 

“As a university, we host all kinds of events in person and virtually. It is imperative to ensure that we create opportunities for full participation of all people in order to realise the university’s ideal of an inclusive and socially just institutional culture,” says Mosa Moerane, CUADS Liaison, Advocacy and Awareness Officer.

News Archive

Renowned Harvard scholar to speak on illness, care-giving and subjectivity
2013-01-28

 
Prof. Arthur Kleinman

 Prof. Arthur Kleinman, Professor of Medical Anthropology and Psychiatry at Harvard University, will visit the University of the Free State from 4 to 6 February 2013. Prof. Kleinman is a Rabb Professor of Anthropology and Director of the Harvard Asia Centre.

The highlight of his visit will be his participation in the one-day colloquium entitled “Constructions of Illness and Identity: Subjectivity and Chronic Illness in the South African Context” that will take place on 5 February 2013 in the Centenary Hall. He will be joined by a range of speakers from various international and national universities. During his visit, he will also deliver two other lectures.

On Monday, 4 February, he will give a lecture titled: “Against Cynicism: How the Humanities and the Cultivation of our moral selves sustain the Idealism of Students and Faculty”, and on Wednesday, 6 February 2013, he will speak on “Care giving: Revitalising its place in Medicine”. Professor Kleinman is the author of six books, co-author of two others, co-editor of nearly 30 volumes and eight special issues of journals, and author of over 300 articles, book chapters, reviews and introductions.  

For further enquiries, please contact Dr Katinka De Wet on 051 401 2918 or dewetk@ufs.ac.za.

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