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11 March 2021 | Story Lacea Loader

In an effort to further ensure the successful continuation of the 2021 academic programme, the University of the Free State (UFS) has implemented a number of measures related to financial support to students and the academic programme.  

“The COVID-19 pandemic has posed many challenges to universities across the country; for instance, to find innovative ways of completing the 2020 academic year without leaving any student behind and, at the same time, keeping safety, health, and well-being a top priority. The pandemic also provided ample opportunities to embrace technology and introduce new innovative learning and teaching approaches in 2020, as well as a first-ever online registration process for all our students in 2021. Although we have been experiencing challenges with the process, one needs to emphasise that any substantial change-management process will pose challenges,” says Prof Francis Petersen, Rector and Vice-Chancellor. 

Watch video from Prof Francis Petersen below: 

Extension of online registration process for senior undergraduate and first-year students

Since the UFS is aware that some students (particularly senior undergraduate students) have been experiencing challenges to register for several reasons, and also that this has created unprecedented levels of anxiety among students and staff, a number of measures – such as additional staff capacity. Furthermore, the online registration process has been extended until 12 March 2021 to allow senior undergraduate students who have not yet registered, to do so. 

“I am satisfied that faculties are now dealing with questions and queries in an effective way. All the faculties are doing well with the registration of students. Certain faculties have already registered 100% of their senior undergraduate students, while the registration rate of other faculties is above 80%. Dedicated teams in faculties and academic support services are assisting to accelerate the registration process,” says Prof Petersen. 

In line with the announcement by Dr Blade Nzimande, Minister of Higher Education, Science and Innovation, on 8 March 2021, the online registration process for first-year students has been extended to 19 March 2021. The academic programme for first-year students will start on 23 March 2021. “We are aware that first-year students will experience university life differently and have put several programmes in place to support them,” says Prof Petersen. 


Adjustment of academic calendar

“Students who have not registered yet will receive full support to be able to register. The pace we are following to ensure that students receive their material and curriculum content has been adapted to ensure that no student is left behind,” says Prof Petersen. 

To mitigate the risk of not completing the 2021 academic programme the following has been put into place:

1. A differentiated and flexible approach has been adopted for the commencement of classes for students whose registration has been delayed. This will allow faculties to adjust the academic pace and approach to bring students on par with where other students are in a specific programme.
2. The academic calendar for the first semester has been adjusted to alleviate the pressure on senior undergraduate students, a grace period for assessment has been instated, and assessments have been postponed until 1 April 2021. 

“The tremendous effort, dedication, and commitment of university staff and the way in which the Institutional Student Representative Council (ISRC) has worked with the university management during this time, are deeply appreciated. Both our students and staff are embracing substantial change in our processes – especially online registration. In the end, our collective goal is to ensure that our students succeed this year, and that no student is left behind. We are also focusing specifically on our most vulnerable students and the challenges they are facing; therefore, we have developed a dedicated programme to support them,” says Prof Petersen. 

Financial concessions to assist students to register

“The university management is aware of the challenges that students are experiencing with funding – specifically in respect of the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) – and is working with NSFAS to resolve the funding challenges of students. We follow a pro-poor approach to the registration of students and are highly sensitive and committed to leaving no student behind,” says Prof Petersen.

Since the beginning of the 2021 academic year, the UFS has made a number of concessions to assist students in registering, especially for those students with outstanding debt.  

These concessions include:

1. All students with outstanding debt, but who have approved funding from NSFAS for 2021, are allowed to register without any first payment.
2. All non-NSFAS students who have outstanding debt of up to R 20 000, may register provisionally by paying R2 050 (non-residence) or R7 290 (residential).
3. All non-NSFAS confirmed final-year students who have outstanding debt of up to R25 000, may register provisionally.

In addition, the following concessions were granted to 2020 NSFAS bursary students who have not yet received approval from NSFAS for 2021 or who may not have met NSFAS requirements. 

These students may register as follows:

1. If a student has no outstanding debt from 2020, he/she may register provisionally without any payment, on condition that they meet the academic requirements for registration.
2. If a student has outstanding debt for 2020, he/she may use the provisional registration option to register.
3. The university will not be able to pay any allowances or private accommodation costs until confirmation of NSFAS approval has been received and funds have been transferred from NSFAS.
4. If no allocation is made by NSFAS, the student will need to fund his/her own studies or deregister, with no debt accumulation.

The university management is aware that first-time entering first-year students (FTENs) who have applied for NSFAS funding are also encountering challenges with funding, as they are still awaiting an outcome from NSFAS. 

The following concessions were made for FTENs to whom an offer has been made and the offer was accepted by the prospective student: 

1. Proof of application to NSFAS must be submitted to the UFS (this will be verified) by providing a copy/image of student’s status on the MYNSFAS portal to Finaidenquiriesbfn@ufs.ac.za. If NSFAS has already rejected the application, no consideration will be given.
2. If NSFAS has not provided an outcome for the application, the student will be allowed to register provisionally without payment. This will only apply to programmes funded by NSFAS.
3. The UFS will not be able to pay any allowances or private accommodation costs until confirmation of NSFAS approval has been received and funds have been transferred from NSFAS.
4. If no allocation is made by NSFAS, students will need to fund their own studies or deregister, with no debt accumulation.

“These additional financial concessions come at a huge cost to the university and are placing severe strain on the resources of the UFS. The university will be unable to provide any further financial assistance. Furthermore, the concessions are again proof of the university’s pro-poor approach to ensure the successful registration of our students,” says Prof Petersen.

The arrangements will be implemented from 11 March 2021, noting FTENs will need verification if an application is in place.

News Archive

Situation on the Bloemfontein Campus, and letter to parents
2016-02-28

Letter to parents from Prof Jonathan Jansen, Vice-Chancellor and Rector of the UFS 

 

Statement by Prof Jonathan Jansen, Vice-Chancellor and Rector of the University of the Free State (UFS) about the situation on the Bloemfontein Campus


1.    As all of you know, last night we witnessed a really tragic event at Xerox Shimla Park on the Bloemfontein Campus on the occasion of the Varsity Cup rugby match between NMMU (FNB Madibaz) and UFS (FNB Shimlas).
2.    The game started at 18:30 and about 17 minutes into the match, a group of protestors sitting on the north-eastern side of the stadium decided to invade the pitch and disrupt the game in progress.
3.    After a short while, some of the spectators also invaded the field, chasing and brutally beating those protestors whom they caught.
4.    As a university leadership we condemn in the strongest terms possible the vicious attack on the protestors. Nobody, repeat nobody, has the right to take the law into their own hands. While the protests were illegal and disruptive, it did not harm to the physical well-being of the spectators.
5.    The reaction from the group of spectators, however, not only opened old wounds, it trampled, literally and figuratively, on the dignity and humanity of other human beings. This we condemn in no uncertain terms, and no stone will be left unturned to find those who acted so violently on what should have been a beautiful occasion that also brought families and young children together to enjoy an evening of sport.
6.    I cannot over-emphasise our level of disgust and dismay at the behaviour of the spectators. It is NOT what the University of the Free State (UFS) is about and we are working around the clock to gather evidence on the basis of which we will pursue both charges and, in the case of students, also disciplinary action on campus.
7.    At the same time, the invasion of the pitch is also completely unacceptable and we will seek evidence on the basis of which we will act against those who decided to disrupt an official university event.
8.    Clashes between students occurred afterwards on campus and members of the Public Order Policing had to disperse some of them. The situation was stabilised in the early hours of the morning.
9.    Disruption continued this morning (23 February 2016) when students damaged some university buildings, a statue, and broke windows. Additional reinforcements from the South African Police Service were brought in to stabilise the campus. Additional security has also been deployed.


Broader picture
10.    We are very aware of the national crisis on university campuses and the instability currently underway. While the UFS has been largely peaceful, we have not been spared this turmoil, as last night’s events showed.
11.    We are also conscious of the fact that even as we speak, various political formations are vying for position inside the turmoil in this important election year. In fact, part of the difficulty of resolving competing demands is that they come from different political quarters, and change all the time.
12.    We are therefore learning from reliable sources that the Varsity Cup competition is, in fact, a target of national protests in front of a television audience.
13.    And we are aware of the fact that these protests are not only led by students but also by people from outside who have no association with the university. Just as the violent spectators involved on Monday night also included people from outside the university.

The demands

14.    My team has worked around the clock to try to meet the demands of contract workers demanding to be in-sourced. In fact, this weekend past, senior colleagues sat with worker leaders in the township to try to find ways of meeting their demands. We were hoping that such an agreement would be finalised by Monday afternoon (22 February 2016), but on the same Monday morning workers and students were arrested after moving onto Nelson Mandela Avenue, after which the South African Police Service (SAPS) took over as the matter became a public safety concern outside the hands of the university. Since then, it was difficult to return the workers to settle on a possible agreement.
15.    The fact is that the UFS has been in constant negotiation with contract workers to provide our colleagues with a decent wage and certain benefits. In fact, towards the end of last year we raised the minimum wage from R2 500 to R5 000. We were in fact hoping that the continued negotiations would improve that level of compensation even as we looked at a possible plan for insourcing in the future. We made it clear that if we could insource immediately, we would, but that the financial risk to the university was so great that it threatened the jobs of all our staff. Those negotiations were going well, until recently, when without notice the workers broke away and decided to protest on and around campus.
16.    While these negotiations were going on, the Student Representative Council (SRC) on Monday 22 February 2016 also decided to protest. While the vast majority of our 32 000 students were in classes and determined to get an education, a very small group led by the SRC President decided to protest; some invaded the UFS Sasol Library and the computer centre, and with the President eventually made their way to Xerox Shimla Park on which route they confronted the police, interrupted traffic and in fact injured some of our security staff as well as police officials.
17.    The university is definitely proceeding to collect evidence on these illegal and violent acts and will also act firmly against students involved in these protests.

Summary
18.    The events of Monday night represent a major setback for the transformation process at the UFS. While we have made major progress in recent years—from residence integration to a more inclusive language policy to a core curriculum to very successful ‘leadership for change’ interventions for student leaders—we still have a long way to go.
19.    One violent incident on a rugby field and we again see the long road ahead yet to be travelled. As I have often said before, you cannot deeply transform a century-old university and its community overnight. We acknowledge the progress but also the still long and difficult path ahead. We will not give up.
20.    We have 32 000 students on our campuses; the overwhelming majority of them are decent and committed to building bridges over old divides as we have seen over and over again. So many of our students, black and white, have become close and even intimate friends working hard to make this a better campus and ours a better community and country. Like all of us, they are gutted by what they saw on Monday, but the hundreds of messages I received from parents, students, and alumni this past 20 hours or so said one thing—keep on keeping on. And we will.

 

The Big Read: An assault on transformation (Times Live kolom deur Prof Jonathan Jansen: 25 Februarie 2016)

 

 

 


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