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10 March 2022 | Story Bonolo Mahlatsi | Photo Pexels
Secure the Grad- CTL initiative
The initiative, termed #SecureTheGrad (#STG), serves to promote student engagement, learning, and progress. Furthermore, it aims to create well-rounded students who are responsible and will, in turn, become productive citizens when they exit university. In that way, they will be able to deal with societal issues.

As the registration process has been concluded and the academic year is underway, the academic race for students is in progress. The race may be overwhelming and daunting at the beginning because of new modules, assessment schedules, and imminent test weeks.  

Secure the Grad Initiative

However, there is no need for students to fret, as help is always available to them. The Centre for Teaching and Learning (CTL) at the University of the Free State (UFS), under the focus area of Student Success and Learning (SLS), has created a senior experience and senior student success initiative. The initiative, termed #SecureTheGrad (#STG), serves to promote student engagement, learning, and progress. Furthermore, it aims to create well-rounded students who are responsible and will, in turn, become productive citizens when they exit university. In that way, they will be able to deal with societal issues. Secure the Grad is an institutional programme available to all students across the three campuses. To date, it has more than 2 600 students who formed part of the senior student orientation in February 2022. In addition, it has more than 1 300 students joining the live webinar on advising, academic appeals, postgraduate funding, as well as student accommodation.

Benefits of the initiative

Secure the Grad invites experts to share the value of their services with senior students in a conversation format. In fact, the programme’s webinars and seminars aim to provide senior UFS students with an opportunity to network within the campus community, as well as with key partners. In addition, the initiative aims to enable students to plan their professional development, establish realistic expectations aligned with those of the university, foster a sense of belonging that enhances the experience towards graduation, and transition into the entrepreneurial world of work. Thus, granting students the opportunity to have access to the support services (such as navigating campus, having access to academic support, career development, wellness, and personal success) available at the university in order for them to be successful in their studies, profession, and life.
 
Engagement with the UFS students

The initiative is a pragmatic way to understand student and community engagement by familiarising students with all departments and the services rendered, to create well-rounded students. Since its inception, Secure the Grad has gained much momentum in the student community. As such, the initiative will kick off this month with first-ever activations across the three campuses, and a series of webinars and seminars throughout the semester. Communication about the events will be sent by the marketing team to students on their student emails and the relevant social media platforms.

Learning should be fun, with meaningful initiatives that tie in with teaching, learning, and ultimately students succeeding in their studies. At the end of the day, the idea is to create holistic student experiences that will enhance student success by having students who stay on track, feel nurtured, connected, and engaged with the university. 

News Archive

Samantha excels as Dux student
2011-10-26

 

Samantha Renda-Dollman with Dr Choice Makhetha, the sponsor of the DUX Award trophy and Vice-Rector: External Affairs. Sharing the moment with them is Prof. Willie van Zyl, Assistant Campus Principal: Academic.
Photo: Thabo Kessah

Samantha Renda-Dollman, a BSc (Zoology) student at our Qwaqwa Campus has obtained 19 distinctions out of the 22 modules she has written since 2009.

This was revealed during the 2011 Annual Student Affairs Excellence Awards that were held at the Qwaqwa Campus to honour academic, sport and cultural excellence. Her hard work earned Samantha the prestigious Dux student award, which makes her the best overall academic performer of the entire student body at this campus of the UFS. This award was presented to her by its sponsor, Dr Choice Makhetha, Vice-Rector: External Affairs, herself a former Dux student.
 
Considering her achievements to date, Samantha agrees with the Greek philosopher, Aristotle, who believed that  ”we are what we repeatedly do; excellence then is not an act, but a habit.” According to Samantha, one of her biggest achievements was winning a national poetry competition in 2000 whilst she was still at a primary school.
 
“I am happy to be the 2011 Dux student, as it proves that hard work indeed pays. If you commit yourself to working hard all the time and do lots of studying, then achievements like this will come your way,” she said.
 
Samantha’s immediate plan is to finish her degree and then venture into studying for an honours degree in entomology. “I would like to do my bit in the academic world. That’s where I think my future lies,” she concluded.
 
Samantha also received the award for the best-performing second-year student in the Faculty of Agricultural and Natural Sciences.

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