Latest News Archive

Please select Category, Year, and then Month to display items
Previous Archive
12 May 2021 | Story Ilze Bakkes

The COVID-19 outbreak in South Africa and the subsequent national lockdown severely impacted the usual physical open day mass-marketing tactic. At the same time, it provided an opportunity for the Department of Student Recruitment Services (SRS) to be super creative and agile in promoting the UFS offerings to the target audiences. 

Once a year, the UFS invites prospective learners and parents to visit our campuses for a taste of campus life. But for many interested students, especially those living remotely or abroad, a site visit is not always practical. Furthermore, the 2021 open days on the Bloemfontein and Qwaqwa Campuses were again cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The 2020 Virtual Open Day proved that breaking from the traditional recruitment tactics and moving into the virtual domain was not only bold and innovative, but also offered more engagement and communication opportunities with prospective students. Building on the insights and success of COVID-19 response engagements, the Department of Student Recruitment Services has once again developed an immersive virtual experience for prospective students. 

Ilze Bakkes, Chief Officer: Integrated Marketing and Innovation from the Department of Student Recruitment Services, says: “We listened to the needs and wants of our prospective students and staff. Therefore, the 2021 Virtual Expo will have undergraduate, postgraduate, and international student recruitment foci, offering more and relevant information in a visual, multi-layered, and digital way.” Information is presented through videos, photos, downloadable PDF brochures, and links to marketing material and the online application platform. 

A challenge during the physical open day is the lack of time to engage with faculties or that not all the information could be obtained. The Virtual Expo is live now click here and can be visited until 30 September 2021, when applications to study undergraduate and postgraduate programmes in 2022 close. The Virtual Expo offers a professional, easy-to-navigate and hassle-free digital experience of the academic, social, and cultural life at the UFS on all three campuses – in the convenience of the visitor’s own space and time. Subtexts for videos enable differently abled visitors to enjoy the content, and data-sensitive visitors can download the PDF versions of videos. 

Applications to study in 2022 are already open. To apply, click here (link to online application). For important closing dates, download the UFS Undergraduate Prospectus

For information on the Virtual Expo, contact Ilze Bakkes at +27 51 401 9028 or bakkese@ufs.ac.za.

News Archive

Mosa Leteane introduces new era in student leadership
2014-10-02

The month of August belonged to South African women – in more ways than one. Not only did we celebrate Women’s Month, but our Student Representative Council (SRC) gained a female leader.

On 4 September 2014 Mosa Leteane became the first female SRC president at the UFS Bloemfontein Campus under the revised SRC constitution of 2011. Although her journey has been a hard and difficult one, it rewarded her with great insightful and invaluable experience.

Being elected to this seat is a milestone for female leadership as a whole at Kovsies. Having been the Prime of House NJ van der Merwe Residence, Marketing Officer of the premier Golden Key Society, Executive Committee member for the 2013/2014 SRC Legal and Constitutional Affairs – and being a legal student herself – Leteane brings a lot of experience to student governance.

Accountability is one of her core values– and that is exactly what she envisions to bring to the newly-elected SRC. Leteane also believes that having a moral sense is essential to the functioning of her SRC. Being a political science or legal student does not automatically imply high morals, Leteane adds. Rather, principles are fostered by the contribution that you want to make.

Something she is proud to have inherited from the previous SRC is the establishment of a blueprint for student governance and understanding team dynamics. These things define the success of any SRC.

With the amount of work lying ahead, Leteane says, she will draw strength from family and friends – and listen to some music.

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