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UFS alumna now heading the institution’s School of Nursing

15 February 2022 | Story Andrè Damons

Dr Jeanette Mmabosa Sebaeng, newly appointed Head of the School of Nursing at the University of the Free State (UFS), is a UFS alumna who believes that the skills and knowledge she has learned here and at other institutions where she has worked, would contribute towards the vision of the university. Dr Sebaeng assumed her new position in January 2022 and is looking forward to working with Prof Gert van Zyl, Dean of the Faculty of Health Sciences, and the rest of the team in the school and the faculty.

Joining Kovsies

“I am so thrilled; some of the expected roles of this position include serving in some university management structures beyond the school and external stakeholders, and I look forward to the exposure and profound experiences I will receive in this institution,” says Dr Sebaeng. According to her, the decision to join Kovsies emanated from her envisaged personal and professional growth, mainly in the sphere of management and leadership in the nursing profession as well as in the university. “The organisational culture of ubuntu embedded in the UFS learning and teaching strategy resonates well with the saying in my culture: ‘Motho ke motho ka batho ba bangwe’ (I am because you are). The ubuntu principles of respect, caring, compassion, and dignity of others are in alignment with my personal values, and this in itself is an assurance that I will fit snuggly and thrive in the Kovsie environment.”

The University of the Free State’s vision of producing students who are professionally competent and globally employable, seems to be attainable. During my first two weeks in office, I received documents from Dubai, Philadelphia, and London for academic verification of our graduates who applied for job opportunities in these countries. This is fascinating, and I wish there could be a way of getting feedback from employers in these and other countries to determine if we are producing graduates with the desired attributes that are internationally comparable,” says Dr Sebaeng.

Looking forward

“The world of nursing education in the country is very small and there is a lot of interaction among members from different universities. I learned on one platform that the UFS School of Nursing has a state-of-the-art simulation laboratory rated number one and the best in the country and perhaps even in Southern Africa. I cannot wait to engage with both the staff and students about the use of the simulation laboratory; I would like to ensure its optimal use, while maintaining it for the benefit of the students.”

Visions and goals

As Head of the school, Dr Sebaeng hopes to provide leadership, guidance, and support to staff and students in the School of Nursing, and to ensure that the environment is warm and conducive to all. She is also looking forward to working harmoniously with the staff within the school, as she believes in an environment that enables all staff members to flourish in the expected academic activities. “I will also ensure that I work according to the acceptable and recommended norms and standards of the nursing profession, which will be to the benefit of the School of Nursing and the nursing practice. For instance, good relations with the relevant stakeholders such as the FSDoH, clinical health facilities, and the South African Nursing Council, among others, remain crucial for the education and training of nursing students. All members’ views and inputs leading to the upscaling of the school will be valued,” states Dr Sebaeng.

Dr Sebaeng, who previously worked as a lecturer and researcher at the North-West University (NWU), says there is a vast difference between her current position and the previous one. According to her, her current position brings more responsibilities, including leading, guiding, and making decisions that should yield tangible, set goals aligned with the vision of the university.

A mother of two and grandmother of a handsome two-year-old grandson, Dr Sebaeng is adventurous and loves travelling outside the country, with an outgoing personality to match. Cooking and trying out new dishes with her family is also very satisfying. She also loves interacting with young children, which led her to teaching Sunday school for 30 years. “My life mainly revolves around church, home, and work,” says Dr Sebaeng.

The impact of COVID-19 on nurses

Nursing education teaches nurses to be competent, knowledgeable, and to acquire relevant skills that enable them to assume their professional role with confidence. However, nurses also require optimal health to provide quality care to our societies. “The outbreak of COVID-19 has taught us that nursing in South Africa lacks systems aimed at developing resilience and coping mechanisms during pandemics. Most nurses were and still are scared that they may contract the virus and infect their own families, or even worse, die themselves. Nursing education institutions must include workable psychological interventions in the teaching of student nurses, which will assist nurses to survive during future pandemics. Despite this, clinical practices must try to alleviate compassion fatigue, work-related stress, and burnout experienced by nurses, in order to render optimal health care and to continue to be functional in their daily activities.”

News Archive

In January 1, 2003, the Qwa-Qwa campus of the University of the North (Unin) was incorporated into the University of the Free State (UFS).

2003-02-07

FREDERICK FOURIE

IN January 1, 2003, the Qwa-Qwa campus of the University of the North (Unin) was incorporated into the University of the Free State (UFS).

While this is merely the beginning of a long and complex process, it does represent a major milestone in overcoming the apartheid legacy in education, realising the anti-apartheid goal of a single non-racial university serving the Free State.

The incorporation is also part of the minister's broader restructuring of the higher education landscape in South Africa - a process which aims to reshape the ideologically driven legacy of the past.

In contrast to the past educational and social engineering that took place, the current process of incorporating the Qwa-Qwa campus of Unin into the UFS is informed by three fundamentally progressive policy objectives, clearly outlined in the education white paper 3: (A framework for the transformation of higher education):

To meet the demands of social justice to address the social and structural inequalities that characterise higher education.

To address the challenges of globalisation, in particular the role of knowledge and information processing in driving social and economic development.

To ensure that limited resources are effectively and efficiently utilised, given the competing and equally pressing priorities in other social sectors.

Besides informing the way the UFS is managing the current incorporation, these policy objectives have also informed the transformation of the UFS as an institution over the past five years.

In 2001, former president Nelson Mandela lauded the success of the UFS in managing this transformation, by describing the campus as a model of multiculturalism and multilingualism. This was at his acceptance of an honorary doctorate from the UFS.

Indeed our vision for the Qwa-Qwa campus as a branch of the UFS is exactly the same as it is for the main UFS campus - a model of transformation, academic excellence, community engagement and financial sustainability, building on the histories and strengths of both the Qwa-Qwa campus and the UFS (Bloemfontein campus).

Realising this vision will be a giant leap forward in establishing a unified higher education landscape in the Free State.

In more concrete terms, the UFS is working towards this vision by focusing on the following areas of intervention: access and equity; academic renewal; investment in facilities; and sound financial management.

These interventions are being made not to preserve any vestiges of privilege or superiority, but precisely to increase access for students from poor backgrounds and to promote equity and representivity among all staff.

The current growth phase of the UFS has seen student enrolment almost double over the past five years, in particular black students, who now constitute approximately 55 percent of the student population of nearly 18 000 (including off-campus and online students).

But it has not just been a numbers game. Our approach has been to ensure access with success.

Our admissions policy, coupled with the academic support and "career preparation" programmes we offer, have resulted in significant successes for students who otherwise would not have been allowed to study at a university.

This will be continued at Qwa-Qwa as well.

Our academic offerings too have undergone dramatic change. We have become the first university in the country to offer a degree programme based on the recognition of prior learning (RPL).

This is not just a matter of academic renewal but of access as well, especially for working adults in our country who were previously denied a university education.

As for the sound financial management of the UFS (including the Qwa-Qwa campus), this is being done not for the sake of saving a few rands and cents, but for the greater value to our society that comes from having sustainable institutions.

It is sustainable universities that can make long-term investments to fund employment equity, provide information technology for students, upgrade laboratories, construct new buildings, develop research capacity, and provide a safe environment for students and staff, as is happening now at the UFS.

As a result of such management, a practical benefit for prospective students at the Qwa-Qwa campus of the UFS will be lower academic fees in some cases compared with the Unin fees.

As is the case with all these processes, there are concerns from staff and students at Qwa-Qwa and the broader community of the region that the Qwa-Qwa campus serves.

To get the campus viable and to ensure its continuation in the short term, tough choices had to be made by the minister of education regarding which programmes to offer and fund.

But we have been encouraged by the community's understanding that these concerns can be addresed over time as the campus becomes financially viable.

Meetings between the top mangement of the UFS and community representatives, staff and students at Qwa-Qwa have laid the basis for building a climate of trust in such a complex process.

We should not be captives of the past divisions but build this new unified higher education landscape that can meet our country's developmental needs.

It should be a higher education landscape that is based on broadening access, promoting equity and social justice, developing academic excellence, and the effective and efficient management of scarce resources. This should be our common common objective.

Professor Frederick Fourie the rector and vice-chancellor of the University of the Free State (UFS)

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