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01 September 2021 | Story Rulanzen Martin
As in previous years, the Department of South African Sign Language and Deaf Studies (SASL) – a pioneering force within deaf studies – will embark on a broader campaign to create much-needed awareness of the deaf. 

This year’s #UFSDeafAwarenesscampaign aims to inform and contribute to an inclusive society, not only among the UFS community, but also among the public. The department, together with the Centre for Universal Access and Disability Support, provides exceptional support to the 16 deaf and hard of hearing students at the UFS. 

Jani de Lange, Lecturer in Deaf Studies at the UFS, says the deaf forms part of the diverse South African community – “however, there are still many misconceptions about the deaf world. Therefore, deaf awareness plays an important role in facilitating a bridge between hearing and deaf people”.  

Awareness, duty, and social responsibility collide 

Many of the staff in the department considers themselves part of the deaf community. “They play a major role in educating others through our academic programmes, as well as continuous workshops and short learning programmes,” says De Lange. She continues, saying that by celebrating Deaf Awareness Month, “we are reminded of our role and responsibility towards the deaf.” 

The department also has a long-standing relationship with Mimosa Mall in Bloemfontein, with conversational students displaying their final group projects in the centre of the shopping mall.  Mimosa is also a partner in school-based projects, such as the Bartimea School for the Deaf and Blind in Thaba Nchu. “Every year, the department, together with our student association, Signals, and all interested Sign Language students, visits Bartimea, where we host a variety of activities with the children and also help the school with small maintenance projects. In 2019 – the last time we were able to visit the school – we repainted parts of the Foundation Phase’s playground,” De Lange says.

“We hope that the public will take the time to read about deafness, Sign Language, and the deaf community to understand the exciting traditions of the culture.”  The end goal is to encourage a greater understanding that ‘you do not need hearing to listen’. 

Getting the community involved 

To get people involved in the campaign, the department invites UFS staff to participate in a competition where they can learn how to introduce themselves in SASL. The department is also planning an informal training session for staff and students on 7 September 2021. 


The Department of SASL and Deaf Studies also presents a FREE Introduction to SASL short learning programme. 

→  Click here for more information 


 #UFSDeafAwarenessMonth #DeafAwareness #DeafCommunity

                     


News Archive

SRC elections of our Bloemfontein Campus
2011-07-26

The Student Council elections of our university at the Bloemfontein Campus will take place on 29 and 30 August 2011. These official election dates were announced by Mr Rudi Buys, Dean: Student Affairs, on 25 July 2011.

Nominations open on Wednesday, 27 July 2011 and the elections, which are constituted according to the SRC Constitution, shall be handled by the Independent Electoral Agency, which shall be instituted by the SRC Constitution with this in view.
 
“The elections introduce a new era in student leadership and governance, because student representation will now constituted in such a way that affords the majority of students the opportunity to vote directly for their representatives. Senior leadership structures are extended in the new Constitution, in order to allow more students to hold senior positions,” states Mr Buys.
 
The SRC elections follow on the approval of a new Constitution that was accepted by our Council on 3 June 2011.
 
The Constitution was drafted over a period of eight months by the Broad Student Transformation Forum (BSTF), consisting of students, in order to design a new dispensation in student structures. The BSTF, which decided on new models of student representation in collaboration with independent facilitators, consists of more than 70 student organisations and residences. The changes to the Constitution were decided on and accepted by the BSTF, after recommendations from four student study groups, which investigated student leadership and governance in depth, at national as well as international level, were taken into account. The study groups visited nine (9) other SA universities, as well as investigated student representation at internationally renowned universities like Cornell, Yale and Stanford in the United States of America.
 
Ms Modieyi Motholo, Chairperson of the Interim Student Committee, says that she is very proud of what the students have achieved with the new Constitution. “I wish to accord recognition to all the students who lead the process for all their hard work. Constitutional revision is a strenuous process and it is nothing short of a miracle that the students could not only reconstruct the Constitution, but also have it accepted in less than a year.”
 
The important changes include, amongst others:

  • Candidates no longer stand on behalf of parties in the elections, but as independent candidates for 10 predetermined portfolios for which students can vote directly;
  • Students also directly vote for a President and a Vice-President;
  • Nine (9) SRC members serve ex-officio as SRC members by virtue of being chairpersons of nine additional student councils established by the Constitution. Amongst others, the councils include a postgraduate student council, an international student council, a student media council and a student academic affairs council;
  • More stringent eligibility requirements are set for candidates, namely that students who wish to run in the elections has to, amongst others, sustain an academic average of more than 60%, and hold proven student leadership experience (which could be verified by the Independent Electoral Agency).

 
“With the SRC elections, students have the opportunity to firmly entrench the changes in student governance on which they have decided on by  themselves firmly, as a sustainable model for democracy at our Bloemfontein Campus. It speaks volumes that the number of leadership positions for which candidates can make themselves available, in essence has been increased by the number of additional student sub-councils from 21 to 67, because it brings about much more direct representation for different students across the campus,” says Mr Buys.
 
“I firmly believe that the upcoming student council elections will be a success,” says Motholo. “I wish the students, who are prepared to sacrifice a year of their lives in service of the student community as a member of the SRC, all of the best.”
 
The Qwaqwa Campus’ election schedule shall be announced within the next week, as well as the date of the institution of the Central Student Council (CSC).

Media Release
26 July 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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