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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

Kovsies win Loerie award
2011-10-28

 
Tarran Jacobs, Elizabeth Forson and Mafohlela Mahlatsi's breast cancer awareness advertisement earned them a prestigious Loerie award.

The creativity of a group of students from our university was rewarded with a bronze Loerie Award after they won an internal competition.

 Tarran Jacobs, Elizabeth Forson and Mafohlela Mahlatsi, all third-year Marketing Communication students, won the award for an advertisement they designed for Cansa.
 
 Each year, the third-year Marketing Communication students of the Department of Communication Science have the opportunity to flex their creative muscles in the Copy-writing class. The challenge is to design two advertisements for any charity organisation by applying the knowledge they gained from the subject in a practical way. The top three groups are then entered for the Loerie and Pendoring awards – two of the most prestigious awards in the South African advertising industry.
 
The top three groups designed advertisements for Cansa, the South African Blood Service and Crime Line.
 
“They deserve this compliment and it is a good indication of the relevance of our copy-writing course,” says Prof. Angelique van Niekerk, associate professor in the Department of Afrikaans, Dutch, German and French.

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