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International Student Welcome Function – Welcome to Mzansi

30 March 2022 | Story Bulelwa Moikwatlhai | Photo Supplied

International office — An international celebration. The Office for International Affairs hosted more than a hundred local and international students at the 2022 ‘Welcome to Mzansi’ event, integrating international students to life at the UFS.

On 18 March 2022, the Internationalisation at Home (I@H) portfolio in the Office for International Affairs at the University of the Free State (UFS) hosted its annual first-year international student welcome function themed ‘Welcome to Mzansi’ at the RAG farm. The function hosted more than one hundred local and international students who are part of the I@H integration initiative – the Umoja Buddy Programme. UFS students from the Arts and Culture division in Student Affairs set the tone for the evening with a drama presentation articulating a student’s first day in the UFS community, in Bloemfontein, and its surroundings. The drama showcased the diverse student community represented at the UFS.

A welcome video from the Rector and Vice-Chancellor of the university, Prof Francis Petersen, was shared with the students, highlighting how the past two years of the pandemic have equipped the students with key skills that they will use in the future. “I believe that the lessons you have learned will help you in the future, I know you will make an impact in your field. As a residential university, we welcome our students and staff back on campus in 2022 to learn, work, and socialise in a way that minimises risk but still provides our students with an on-campus student life.”

Prof Mudzi, the Director of the Postgraduate School, advocated the importance of furthering one’s studies. He stated, “You need to start working hard from day one of university education; the marks you get during your undergraduate years have a huge bearing on your future and your ability to progress to postgraduate studies, as it is highly dependent on the average mark you get at undergraduate level.” In his concluding remarks, Prof Mudzi advised the students to, “learn something new, engage with new people and cultures, enjoy South Africa, while succeeding in your studies at the UFS and working hard”.

Dr Hagenmeier, Director of the Office for International Affairs, delivered the keynote welcome address for the international students, with a brief introduction to the OIA staff. This, as outlined in his address, served the purpose of ensuring that students are familiar with the channels of communication, representatives, and office-bearers in specific portfolios under the OIA, as well as the functions of the OIA.

The evening ended off with musical performances by UFS students, while the attendees dined and networked over a hot plate of food. In the same spirit, the dance floor was opened. This was a very important part of integration, uniting the students regardless of their nationality, race, gender, etc. The students did not think twice about taking to the dance floor – seeing everyone dance made students who did not participate afraid that they were missing out.

News Archive

Getting out of the dark

2015-06-10

ESKOM is making daily announcements on the status of the power grid.

Anton Calitz, Electrical Engineer at University Estates, is in continuous contact with Eskom and Centlec in an effort to stay abreast of load shedding.

According to Anton, Eskom has recently - the week of 20 April - been focusing on the evening peak, and has announced STAGE 1 load shedding from 17:00-22:00; thus, the Bloemfontein Campus should be able to continue business as usual during the day, except for Thursdays from 18:00 and, possibly, Fridays from 17:00.

Where can I get more information about load shedding stages?

Apart from Eskom’s webpage, staff can also visit GRID WATCH. Click on "Search", then under "Schedules". Look for "Mangaung Local Municipality", and select "GROUP 4". Save this location. “This can even be loaded onto your mobile device.”

“The time slots can be seen for a couple of days in advance, to allow us to plan around the possibility of load shedding in our daily lives,” said Anton.

Please note: ESKOM can change the STAGE level at any time. Therefore, keep an eye on GRID WATCH and News24.

View the typical seven-day planner for the Bloemfontein Campus (Group 4), which indicates the STAGE 2 and 3 possibilities. Take note that, on some days, the STAGE 2 and 3 time slots are the same.

More load shedding tips: Your IT needs

The UFS Data Centre (Computer Room) is fully serviced by a generator facility, and can function without external power supply for a few days.

The generator servicing the UFS data centre does NOT provide power to the outlying facilities. This implies that all digital equipment at gates, booms, and access points will be shut down until the power is restored to these facilities. “We are now, in collaboration with Nico Janse van Rensburg, in a process to install UPS facilities at these points, which will ensure two to three hours of power supply at these points, even during load shedding,” said Dr Vic Coetzee, Senior Director: ICT Services.

No Wi-Fi will be available, as it is dependent on the power supply to the buildings where it is installed.

All servers are contained in the data centre, and will be kept running by our generators.

How to manage load shedding and your IT needs:

1. Get into the habit of saving your work regularly on computer so that you don’t lose your work/files during load shedding.
2. Back up important data. Keep to a schedule of regular back-up. Make sure your computer back-ups are safe and recoverable.
3. Keep all electronic devices charged and ready to run on battery power. Keep your cellphone charged: some old-style Telkom landlines will still operate during power outages, but others won't.
4. Remember, when power supply is restored, it sometimes happens that a power surge is sent through the network, which will damage your computer. Fortunately, laptop computers will not suffer this fate as their power is provided through an external power pack. Often, this power pack will be damaged, but not the laptop itself.
5. It makes good sense to reboot your computer daily, not only in terms of power shedding, but also in terms of updating the drivers, software, etc.
6. Switch off all computers and other electrical equipment at the wall plug overnight and on weekends.
7. Should your IT equipment not switch on after a power outage, log a call with the ICT Services. You can also call them at x2000.

More information, guidelines and contact numbers

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