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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

Bram Fischer Memorial Lecture – Reflections of a historical icon
2015-04-28

The Annual Bram Fischer Memorial Lecture was held at the Bloemfontein Campus on 22 April, 2015 hosted by the Faculty of Law in collaboration with the Mangaung Metropolitan Municipality. 

The theme of this year’s lecture was “Pillars of The Constitution”.  In his keynote address, the Executive Mayor of Mangaung, Cllr Thabo Manyoni described the exemplary life of Bram Fischer and the incredible sacrifice he made for the emancipation of the people of South Africa by his opposition to a system of injustice.

He further described the character of Bram Fischer as one of outstanding leadership that was close to the hearts of the people: “Bram Fischer sincerely believed in the foundation laid in Jefferson’s “all men are born equal”. This idea was later articulated in the Freedom Charter’s preamble “that South Africa belongs to all who live in it, black and white, and that no government can justly claim authority unless it is based on the will of all the people”, he said.

The lecture was attended by the university community, members of the public, and the Fischer family.  This was one in a series of lectures held in Bloemfontein throughout the memorial week. Some of the speakers include; Prof Jonathan Jansen, Vice-Chancellor and Rector, Prof Caroline Nicholson, Dean of the Faculty of Law, Prof Neels Swanepoel, who introduced the Department of Public Law, and Lindokuhle Ntuli, who introduced the recently re-opened Student Court.

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