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01 November 2022 | Story Leonie Bolleurs | Photo Supplied
Henda Kleingeld, Programme Director of the Postgraduate Diploma in Business Administration (PGDIP) in Financial Planning, is incredibly proud of the candidates who ranked top five in the CFP® Professional Competency Examination.
To become a Certified Financial Planner (CFP®), a candidate with a Postgraduate Diploma in Financial Planning or a BCom (Honours) in Financial Planning must, among others, pass the Professional Competency Examination (PCE) of the Financial Planning Institute of Southern Africa (FPI).

It was recently announced that the top five CFP® Professional Competency Examination candidates (for the June 2022 examinations) are alumni of the School of Financial Planning Law (SFPL) at the University of the Free State (UFS).

On the right trajectory

According to Henda Kleingeld, Programme Director of the Postgraduate Diploma in Financial Planning Law in the Faculty of Law’s SFPL, they are incredibly proud of the candidates. 

“Being rated as the top five PCE candidates indicates that we are on the right trajectory with the outcomes and assessments for our diplomas. If the top five PCE candidates are alumni of the SFPL – we are doing something right.  We have made many changes in our approach to financial education, and it seems like it is paying off.”

“We now need to ensure that we provide our students with the proper academic background and support to continue to excel.  This will seal our status as the oldest and one of the leading educational providers of financial planning education in the country,” Kleingeld adds.

Confidence in the qualification

The PCE sets candidates on the path towards becoming certified financial planners. The online exam consists of two case studies that test the candidates’ financial planning skills, knowledge, and competent performance in the defined competency areas for financial professionals.

In its Professional Competency Examination Policy, the FPI states that there are six Financial Planning components: Financial Management, Asset Management, Risk Management, Tax Planning, Retirement Planning, and Estate Planning. It strives to prepare professional competency examinations that will provide candidates with the opportunity to demonstrate core or professional competence at a standard appropriate for entry into the financial planning profession.

According to the FPI, the CFP® qualification – an internationally recognised standard for financial planning professionals – gives consumers confidence that the financial planner they are dealing with is suitably qualified to provide advice and information and gives the assurance that they remain up to date with developments in the industry.

First academic institution to offer diploma 
Kleingeld says the SFPL was the first academic institution in South Africa to offer the Postgraduate Diploma in Financial Planning, and financial education has been its main focus and passion over the past 20 years.

“Keeping up with industry trends is very important to us. Our team of academics and industry experts assists us with maintaining a balance between the academic requirements and how they are translated into the workplace,” she explains.

Kleingeld is of the opinion that the graduates who have passed their qualifications are doing exceptionally well in the industry, with many prominent industry leaders being alumni of the UFS SFPL.  “The school has a reputation in the industry as forward-thinking and innovative. We keep our fingers on the pulse of industry developments, which get incorporated into our curriculum.” 

News Archive

Getting out of the dark
2015-06-10

 

ESKOM is making daily announcements on the status of the power grid.

Anton Calitz, Electrical Engineer at University Estates, is in continuous contact with Eskom and Centlec in an effort to stay abreast of load shedding.

According to Anton, Eskom has recently - the week of 20 April - been focusing on the evening peak, and has announced STAGE 1 load shedding from 17:00-22:00; thus, the Bloemfontein Campus should be able to continue business as usual during the day, except for Thursdays from 18:00 and, possibly, Fridays from 17:00.

Where can I get more information about load shedding stages?

Apart from Eskom’s webpage, staff can also visit GRID WATCH. Click on "Search", then under "Schedules". Look for "Mangaung Local Municipality", and select "GROUP 4". Save this location. “This can even be loaded onto your mobile device.”

“The time slots can be seen for a couple of days in advance, to allow us to plan around the possibility of load shedding in our daily lives,” said Anton.

Please note: ESKOM can change the STAGE level at any time. Therefore, keep an eye on GRID WATCH and News24.

View the typical seven-day planner for the Bloemfontein Campus (Group 4), which indicates the STAGE 2 and 3 possibilities. Take note that, on some days, the STAGE 2 and 3 time slots are the same.

More load shedding tips: Your IT needs

The UFS Data Centre (Computer Room) is fully serviced by a generator facility, and can function without external power supply for a few days.

The generator servicing the UFS data centre does NOT provide power to the outlying facilities. This implies that all digital equipment at gates, booms, and access points will be shut down until the power is restored to these facilities. “We are now, in collaboration with Nico Janse van Rensburg, in a process to install UPS facilities at these points, which will ensure two to three hours of power supply at these points, even during load shedding,” said Dr Vic Coetzee, Senior Director: ICT Services.

No Wi-Fi will be available, as it is dependent on the power supply to the buildings where it is installed.

All servers are contained in the data centre, and will be kept running by our generators.

How to manage load shedding and your IT needs:

1. Get into the habit of saving your work regularly on computer so that you don’t lose your work/files during load shedding.
2. Back up important data. Keep to a schedule of regular back-up.  Make sure your computer back-ups are safe and recoverable.
3. Keep all electronic devices charged and ready to run on battery power. Keep your cellphone charged: some old-style Telkom landlines will still operate during power outages, but others won't.
4. Remember, when power supply is restored, it sometimes happens that a power surge is sent through the network, which will damage your computer.  Fortunately, laptop computers will not suffer this fate as their power is provided through an external power pack. Often, this power pack will be damaged, but not the laptop itself.
5. It makes good sense to reboot your computer daily, not only in terms of power shedding, but also in terms of updating the drivers, software, etc.
6. Switch off all computers and other electrical equipment at the wall plug overnight and on weekends.
7. Should your IT equipment not switch on after a power outage, log a call with the ICT Services. You can also call them at x2000.

More information, guidelines and contact numbers

 

 

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