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International exchange students back on our campus

26 July 2022 | Story Bulelwa Moikwatlhai | Photo Supplied

UFS exchange students — Experiencing the UFS in person for the first time are from the left: Sandor Potjer (VU Amsterdam), Bulelwa Moikwatlhai (UFS OIA), Ricarda Kochems (Bremen University, Germany), Froukje Pronk (VU Amsterdam) and Matome Mokoena (UFS OIA)

As the UFS COVID-19 Regulations and Required Vaccination Policy has been lifted with immediate effect – allowing 100% capacity of both students and staff members and a fully operational campus – the Office for International Affairs welcomes its first physical exchange cohort after two years. The cohort of students hail from the various international partners of the UFS, namely the University of Bremen in Germany, the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, and Sciences PO Bordeaux in France. The students will be hosted in the UFS faculties of the Humanities, Economic and Management Sciences, and Natural and Agricultural Sciences, respectively.

These students have been paired with Umoja Buddy Programme ambassadors to help ensure their smooth transition and integration into student life at the UFS. Furthermore, the students received an invitation from the President of the International Student Association (ISA), Courtney Madziwa, to join their association, thus exposing them to students from other countries to learn about the various cultures.

On 18 July, the Office for International Affairs (OIA) arranged a hybrid orientation programme for the exchange students, including those students who have not yet arrived on the Bloemfontein Campus. The students took part in an icebreaker activity, where they had the opportunity to learn from and teach other participants about their home countries. Dr Cornelius Hagenmeier, Director of the OIA, welcomed the exchange students to the Bloemfontein Campus, and expressed excitement to have physical exchanges again. Furthermore, the guest presenters ranged from student leadership, staff members, and service providers.

The presentations were practical, demonstrating, among others, how to create a password on the institutional website – presented by Mr Molemo Mohapi from UFS ICT. The presentation on how to fully utilise Blackboard was facilitated by Ms Vuthihi Mudau from the UFS CTL division. We take the safety of all our students seriously, so Ms Elise Oberholzer from the UFS Protection Services has given the students some tips on how to safeguard themselves.

News Archive

Provisional registration period extended to 30 April 2012

2012-03-25

25 March 2012

After a week of intense negotiations between the senior leadership of the University of the Free State (UFS) and the Student Representative Council (SRC) of the Bloemfontein and Qwaqwa Campuses, the SRC has managed to persuade the senior leadership to extend the provisional registration period to Monday 30 April 2012.

This means that, until 30 April 2012, no students will be deregistered for not being able to pay their provisional registration fee. The initial deadline for students to register provisionally was 6 April 2012.

The SRC requested the extension of provisional registration and the senior leadership of the UFS agreed thereto for the following reasons:

To allow students more time to raise the money;
To allow the provincial and national government, as well as NSFAS more time to respond to students’ financial needs; and
To allow the SRC and the university more time to consult with students with strong academic records about financial aid options outside the university.

“The SRC is glad to note that the university management values our efforts in representing our students and we've been able to leverage that advantage to negotiate an extension of the deregistration date with management. We're happy that in this case management has responded to the appeal of students through the SRC and we're exceptionally proud of our ability to push student interests to unprecedented heights,” says Mr Richard Chemaly, SRC President of the Bloemfontein Campus.

According to Mr Chemaly, the SRC is confident in their negotiation abilities. “While others might strike and protest, it is in the best interests of our students to talk to the senior leadership about important issues that are in the interests of students,” he says.

“Since our request to extend the provisional registration period was approved by the university management, the SRC has been working tirelessly to ensure that no deserving student gets deregistered. This includes setting up external funds, approaching the Premier’s office for assistance and setting up the most extensive bursary database any SRC has ever had,” Mr Chemaly says.

If there are any parents or students in need of help for provisional registration, please contact Mr Chemaly at chemalyra@ufs.ac.za.

Media Release
25 March 2012
Issued by: Lacea Loader
Director: Strategic Communication
Tel: +27(0)51 401 2584
Cell: +27(0)83 645 2454
E-mail: news@ufs.ac.za

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