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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

UFS awards honorary doctorates during its centenary week

2004-10-07

The University of the Free State (UFS) will award 12 honorary doctorates on Thursday 14 October 2004 to a diverse group of outstanding South Africans and international experts.

This will be the last in a group of 18 honorary doctorates that the UFS will be awarding in its centenary year.

The awards comprise of a number of well-known language experts and writers, experts in higher education, first-time awards in community service and development studies, as well as music.

“This reflects quality and also diversity, a spectrum of convictions as well as the recognition of persons who played a major role in changing society in the last couple of decades, “ says Prof Frederick Fourie, Rector and Vice-Chancellor of the UFS.

The awards can be grouped in the following categories:

Language and literature:

Mr Karel Schoeman (D Litt (hc)) – well-known Afrikaans author and former student of the UFS. Some of the awards he has received include the Hertzog prize for prose (1970, 1986 and 1995), the CNA prize (1972 and 1994), the Old Mutual prize (1985 and 1991), the SABC prize for best television drama in 1990, the M Net book prize in 1997 and the State President award (former President Nelson Mandela: Order for Excellent Service – silver) in 1999. It is an honor for the UFS to have this gifted and creative person among its former students. This conferment is a fitting recognition of his status as leading South African writer.

Ms Antjie Krog (D Litt (hc)) – well-known South African poet and former student of the UFS. Her popularity as poet is evident in her piercing honesty and unequalled power of expression. Some of the awards she has received include the Eugéne Marais prize in 1973, the Rapport prize in 1987, the Hertzog prize in 1990 and the RAU prize in 2000. Her writing has been translated into seven languages. She has also received numerous honors for her involvement in and journalistic documentation of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s (TRC) proceedings. It is therefore an exceptional privilege for her alma mater to honor her with an honorary doctorate.

Prof Jaap Steyn (D Litt (et phil) (hc)) – recently, Prof Steyn again distinguished himself as biographer whose thorough research is apparent in the published biographies of illustrious writers such as NP van Wyk Louw and MER. The numerous awards, among which the Stals prize from the South African Academy of Science and Art for the Van Wyk publication, are a matter of record. He conducted the research for this great prize-winning work as honorary professor at the UFS.

Prof Jakes Gerwel (D Phil (hc)) – Chancellor of the University of Rhodes and Director of Naspers, Old Mutual, Gold Fields and Brimstone. His doctoral thesis was published in The Netherlands under the title Literatuur en apartheid. Konsepsies van “gekleurdes” in die Afrikaanse roman tot 1948 (1983). He received an honorary doctorate from Clark College ( Atlanta), the City University of New York and Missouri in the USA, the University of the Western Cape, the University of Cape Town, the University of Natal, Rhodes University, the University of Stellenbosch and the University of the Witwatersrand. He is also outstanding professor in the Humanities at the University of the Western Cape, honorary professor in the Humanities at the University of Pretoria, and was the chairman of the Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC).

Development Studies:

Dr Frederick van Zyl Slabbert (D Phil (hc)) – for his academic achievements, his endeavors for bringing about a peaceful transition in South Africa and his demonstration of the social investment role of the corporate sector. Dr Van Zyl Slabbert has received honorary degrees from the University of Natal and the Simon Fraser University in Canada. He has published seven books and various academic articles.

Community Service:

Prof Robert G Bringle (D Phil (hc)) – from the Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) in the USA. He is currently Chancellor’s Professor of Psychology and Philanthropic Studies at the IUPUI and also Director of the IUPUI’s Centre for Service Learning. He is honored for his exceptional contribution to several of the UFS’s community service projects as well as his role in the advancement of a multi- and inter-disciplinary approach to academic development and the integration of service learning within the faculties of the UFS. He has also made a valuable contribution to the conceptual framework of the UFS’s unique community service policy and more recently to the advancement of a research culture regarding community service.

Higher education:

Dr Khotso Mokhele (D Phil (hc)), President of the National Research Foundation (NRF) is honored for his contribution to the South African higher education sector. He has also made a substantial contribution to the development of the research capacity of universities and technikons in South Africa. Dr Mokhele was born in Bloemfontein and matriculated at the Moroka High School in Thaba Nchu.

Prof Saleem Badat (D Phil (hc)), the Chief Executive Officer of the Council on Higher Education (CHE). Prof Badat has devoted himself to transforming and building South African higher education, and has constantly challenged the higher education sector to retain the moral basis of higher education and tackle its challenges with intellectual honesty, ingenuity, creativity and courage. He is honored for his intellectual leadership in the development of a equitable, just and quality higher education system in South Africa.

Law:

Prof HA (Boelie) Wessels (D Legum (hc)) – for his contribution to the fields of Roman Law, Legal History at the UFS. He is currently a part-time lecturer at the UFS’s Faculty of Law.

Medicine:

Prof CJC Nel (D Phil (hc) Posthumous) – for the way in which he strived for the advancement of excellent medical education in the country. Prof Nel also did pioneering work in the field of transformation in higher education. Under his guidance the School of Medicine at the UFS became one of the first medical schools to adopt a parallel-medium system of instruction.

Music:

Prof Leo Quayle (D Mus (hc)) – for the significant contributions he has made to the development of music – not only in Bloemfontein, but also on national level and abroad. His initiative, enthusiasm and dedication contributed to the eventual founding of the Free State Musicon, as well as the first symphony orchestra and the first string quartet in Bloemfontein. Prof Quayle is a former head of the Department of Music at the UFS.

Prof Jack de Wet (D Mus (hc)) – well-known for his exceptional contribution to violin tuition in South Africa. As pedagogue of international stature, he still moulds violinists who compete at national and international level. At an advanced stage of his career, he still actively conveys his knowledge, experience and distinctive insight in his field of speciality to yet another new generation of young violin teachers. Today the symphony orchestras in Bloemfontein and Port Elizabeth also stand on the foundations laid by him.

Media release
Issued by: Lacea Loader
Media Representative
Tel: (051) 401-2584
Cell: 083 645 2454
E-mail: loaderl.stg@mail.uovs.ac.za
7 October 2004

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