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29 March 2022
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Story Teli Mothabeng
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Philmon Bitso, Student Recruitment Officer, with the top-10 cohort of the class of 2021 Free State Star of Stars.
The Department of Student Recruitment Services at the University of the Free State (UFS) hosted its annual Free State Star of Stars competition at the Amanzi Private Game Reserve during the first week of March. The event saw some of the brightest young minds in the Free State inducted as UFS first-year students into this year’s top-10 cohort for the competition. This marks the first Star of Stars event since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.
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This new cohort consists of a dynamic group of academically gifted students from Quintile 1-3 schools in the Free State who are currently enrolled for different UFS academic programmes, ranging from Medicine, Law, Education, and various Bachelor of Science courses. Many of these students had to overcome insurmountable challenges to perform as well as they did in their Grade 12 academic year and to become part of the top-10 cohort for the class of 2021. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Department of Student Recruitment Services was forced to take a different approach to celebrate these deserving students; consequently, a weekend-long induction camp was the substitute for the annual gala dinner.
Apply for the 2022 Free State Star of Stars competition
The UFS realised the need to establish a platform that recognises and celebrates the diverse and, in most instances, difficult circumstances that disadvantaged schools (Quintile 1-3) are facing. Consequently, the Star of Stars competition was developed and established in 2016. This competition provides disadvantaged Grade 12 learners from all districts in the Free State an opportunity to showcase their excellence, while motivating them to aspire to achieve more.
Incidents on the Bloemfontein Campus
2016-08-25
Statement by the Institutional Forum of the University of the Free State (UFS) - Released by Dr Willy Nel (Chairperson) on behalf of the Institutional Forum of the UFS
Two incidents happened on campus the past week, which were brought to the attention of the university management:
1. The university management received a complaint on 16 August 2016 that a student had sprayed liquid in the face of a security guard at one of the university gates. The reason appears to be that three students were sent back to their residence to collect their student cards in order to exit the campus – as required – and this might have caused the reaction. In video footage, it is clear that a student on the passenger side was responsible for the spraying incident. Statements have been taken from the three students in the car as well as from the affected security guard. The student claims that the liquid was water from his gym bottle. Regardless, charge sheets were prepared and delivered, and the disciplinary hearing has been scheduled on an urgent basis for 1 September 2016.
2. An incident happened on the Bloemfontein Campus on 23 August 2016, with a test being distributed in a class where the answer to one of the questions was included in the Afrikaans version, while it was excluded in the English version. The matter was investigated and it was decided that the written test will be set aside and a new test, covering the same scope, will be compiled for all students; the new test will be subject to external moderation; and external moderation of tests in the particular department will take place until the end of the year. The lecturer concerned claims that this was a genuine mistake and not intentional, in that guidelines for that one question were removed after a decision to add further examination questions, which made the guidelines obsolete; in the process of revising the papers, the lecturer made a mistake and did not remove the guidelines for both the English and Afrikaans versions. Nonetheless, the university management has decided on a disciplinary process involving the lecturer concerned, given the seriousness of the matter.
Released by: Lacea Loader (Director: Communication and Brand Management)
Tel: +27 51 401 3422/2707 or +27 83 645 2454
Email: news@ufs.ac.za | loaderl@ufs.ac.za
Fax: +27 51 444 6393