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02 March 2022 | Story Nonkululeko Nxumalo | Photo Charl Devenish
Dr Nomalungelo Ngubane
Dr Nomalungelo Ngubane, the new Director of the Academy for Multilingualism.

The University of the Free State (UFS) welcomes Dr Nomalungelo Ngubane as the new Director of the Academy for Multilingualism. This follows her previous role as Senior Lecturer and Module Lead for Academic Literacy and Reasoning at the Nelson Mandela University Medical School.

With the academy established in 2021, Dr Ngubane’s main priority is to continue to promote multilingualism through various academic and community-based projects and initiatives, with particular emphasis on Sesotho, Afrikaans, and isiZulu.

Dr Ngubane’s role at the UFS

“My role is to drive my team towards achieving the mandate set out by the academy,” she said. Other responsibilities include, “managing the development and implementation of multilingualism at the UFS through strategic projects and initiatives by collaborating with various university role players throughout all three campuses”, she explained.

A long-term vision for multilingualism at the UFS

Dr Ngubane expressed positivity when asked about her long-term vision for multilingualism at the UFS. “I would like to see the academy as a hub for the advancement and development of indigenous languages, not only at an institutional level, but at a national and global level," she stated. She also said that all students have the right to learn in the language they feel comfortable in. “If we can afford them that opportunity, it will promote good performance and, in a way, achieve social justice for those students,” she expressed. Furthermore, Dr Ngubane aims to provide equal status to all languages in our constitution, socially and academically. With that said, she also believes in promoting proficiency in English. "English remains the most widely spoken language in the world. We need to create that balance as much as possible while still promoting our indigenous languages," she stressed. Dr Ngubane envisions the academy as a leader for research on multilingualism and seeks to attract partnerships with national and international institutions. “We strive to establish a partnership with them through symposiums – and with those universities that have walked a mile in the implementation of multilingualism; we want to learn from them as well and share our own experiences. Financially, we're also pushing towards attracting funding to promote our mandate.”

What to look out for

The academy has a number of initiatives, such as the Kovsies Multilingual Mokete and the Initiative for Creative African Narratives (iCAN), which are used to promote multilingualism. “We will also be reviewing the UFS Language Policy to determine if we have any gaps in what we promised to implement.” In addition, “the university is constantly working on a multilingual glossary, where we work closely with several faculties to translate difficult terminology into indigenous languages for different subjects so students can understand complex concepts. This promotes access to knowledge and improves student excellence, especially for those from English second language backgrounds. We're also in close collaboration with the Centre for Teaching and Learning (CTL) to implement trans-language tutorials across various disciplines”, she emphasised.

When asked how she would like to be viewed by the UFS community, she responded, “I would like to be viewed as a transformational leader, a team player, and a driving force of multilingualism.”

News Archive

UFS establishes a Postgraduate office
2007-07-18

The University of the Free State (UFS) will establish a postgraduate office that will serve as a one-stop service for the co-ordination of academic support services for postgraduate students.

According to the Director: Research Development at the UFS, Prof Frans Swanepoel, the primary purpose of the Postgraduate Office is to provide co-ordination and support services for postgraduate students and postdoctoral fellows, as well as academic staff across the University.

“Guided by values such as intellectual inquiry, innovation, collegiality, integrity and efficiency, the Postgraduate Office will seek to foster a challenging, inclusive and supportive environment for postgraduate teaching, learning, research and scholarship; and will strive to engage students in the vibrant life of a research university”, Prof Swanepoel said.

All sectors of the University, namely students, faculties and staff, stand to benefit from the establishment of this office. Amongst other benefits for these sectors, postgraduate students and postdoctoral research fellows will have their interests promoted in synergy with faculty and departmental facilities. On the other hand, the office will provide a critical resource to the faculties in the form of a single database of postgraduate students, postgraduate topics, supervisors and funding opportunities. Furthermore, it will serve as a useful resource and base for training and information for younger and less experienced staff members.

The establishment of this office will be undertaken in two phases. The first phase will focus on the most critical areas that will make an immediate impact and the second phase on those areas that are not as urgent.

Areas that will be prioritised include the appointment of a manager and co-ordination of stakeholders, the provision of information and communication, useful resources for the UFS, policy administration and monitoring, postgraduate supervisors’ facilitation, recruitment activities, advice and referral, and postgraduate scholarship and bursary management.

The less urgent components of the office will be the development and implementation of academic and professional support programmes, the formation of a research information commons to create an integrated learning environment for postgraduate students, and the development of a postgraduate association or a postgraduate students’ liaison committee to provide a recognised channel of communication between postgraduate students and the University authorities.

The Postgraduate Office will form a vital component of the Directorate Research Development (DRD) at the UFS because of its experience and a noteworthy track record with regard to a facilitative and co-ordinating role that would be essential for the office.

“Establishing the Postgraduate Office as part of the Directorate would give the Centre the necessary links to the research-related issues that are important to most of the postgraduate students at the UFS. Of essential importance will be the linkages with the full spectrum of Strategic Clusters”, Prof Swanepoel explained.

“An important component of the Postgraduate Office will be related to international students and international opportunities for UFS postgraduate students. As the Office for Internationalisation has similarly been placed within the Directorate, the work of the Postgraduate Office will be facilitated by similar placement within the same Directorate”, he concluded.

Media release
Issued by: Mangaliso Radebe
Assistant Director: Media Liaison
Tel: 051 401 2828
Cell: 078 460 3320
E-mail: radebemt.stg@mail.ufs.ac.za  
18 July 2007
 

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