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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

UFS students scoop two national Pfizer prizes
2011-10-28

 

The UFS team which won the national competition includes, from left to right: Anke Malan, Raylene Hauman and Sonelle Vermeulen.

Two students in our Faculty of Health Sciences won awards at a Pfizer UKZN Young Health Scientists Research Symposium, recently held at the Westville Campus of the University of KwaZulu-Natal.

Hendrik Kruger, a medical student, represented his group, which won the clinical category with the paper “Injury patterns of occupants surviving motor vehicle accidents in the Free State”. This presentation was based on a study which is the first of its kind in South Africa.

The group with Anke Malan from the UFS Department of Nutrition and Dietetics as presenter received the prize in the community-based category with the presentation “Knowledge, practices and perceptions of undergraduate students at the UFS regarding the risk factors of osteoporoses”. Anke’s team was also nominated as the overall winner of the symposium. Presentations were delivered in three categories, namely clinical, community-based and laboratory research.

Each winner received a cash prize from Pfizer. Other institutions have already contacted some of the researchers regarding further studies in the respective areas.

“The standard of the studies presented was extremely high,” said Prof. Jenni Smit from the University of the Witwatersrand, keynote speaker and adjudicator.
 

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