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14 October 2022 | Story Dr Cinde Greyling | Photo Iflair Photography
UFS Business school
The UFS Business School.

The University of the Free State Business School (UFSBS) was established in the late 1990s and is fully accredited by the Council on Higher Education (CHE) and the Central and East European Management  Development Association (CEEMAN). Since its inception, the school has operated as a boutique business school focusing on personal attention to adult learners.

Late 2021, the UFSBS appointed a new Director, Dr Udesh Pillay. In conjunction with the change in leadership, the UFSBS is embarking on a new strategic journey, while maintaining the focus on its core business – in other words, its official academic offerings. The strategic journey of the UFSBS has been underway for the past year, and significant time has been allocated to the recurriculation of programme offerings; decolonisation of the academic agenda; and orientating the UFSBS so that it makes a larger practical contribution to the SME sector locally and nationally, especially in relation to business continuity and resilience in the wake of unforeseen externalities.  These developments will ensure that the UFSBS remains a premier academic institution and contributes to the success of South Africa and its people. It also ensures that the twin principles of academic excellence and social justice become mutually reinforcing.

The UFSBS’s strategic direction for the next five years aligns neatly with the Vision 130. By 2034 – when the university commemorates its 130th anniversary – the UFS wants to be recognised and acknowledged by peers and society as a top-tier university in South Africa. Similarly, the UFSBS has aspirations to become a top-ten business school in SA over the next five years.

Given the history of South Africa, it is of utmost importance to empower people to add value, particularly in the field of business and management leadership. The UFSBS will contribute to building an ecosystem of entrepreneurialism, with the more traditional academic programmes based upon the conventional practices of teaching and learning, research, and mentorship to be supplemented by ‘opportunity-driven initiatives’, such as executive education, consulting support, coaching, incubation services, and the commercialisation of intellectual property.

Globally, the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) has catalysed processes of digital transformation in business, to which the UFSBS will align to ensure that students are equipped with the relevant knowledge and skills in a fast-changing, technology-enabled world. With the support of the Centre for Business Dynamics (CBD) housed in the UFSBS; the establishment of the Small Business Academy (SBA) in early 2024 in the UFSBS; the soon-to-be-established High-Growth Business Incubator (in collaboration with the NAS faculty); and with the process of strengthening relationships with the Paradys Experimental Farm gaining traction, a differentiated medium has been created to nurture responsible,  ethical, and socially conscious business leaders. The foundation then – to create the next generation of business leaders and entrepreneurs to become agents of change and value co-creators for business and society – will thus have begun.

The UFSBS will align to ensure that students are equipped with relevant knowledge and skills in a fast-changing, technology-enabled world. – Dr Udesh Pillay.
The slogan, ‘BE WORTH MORE’, embodies what the UFSBS strives for, and is consistent with new developments in global discourses, which are rethinking and transforming many of the traditional dogmas that have informed the mandates of business schools. 

As a critical bridge between academia and business, the UFSBS is uniquely poised to reimagine a better and intelligent future that is data-informed, collaborative, innovative, and inclusive.

News Archive

Department of Architecture recognises excellence
2014-11-20

 

From the left are: Gary Westwood, Marius du Plessis and Henry Pretorius
Photo: Ifa Tshishonge
Front page design by Marius du Plessis

Marius du Plessis received the first prize in the Regional Corobrik Student of the Year Award for his design of a National Geothermal Research and Educational Centre in Johannesburg. The award ceremony was hosted by the Department of Architecture at the University of the Free State.

Anja Lareman was awarded the second prize for her Psychiatric Unit for the Deaf in Worcester and Mariska Peel received third prize for her design of a laboratory for the after oil epoch in Durban.

The Corobrik award for Best use of clay masonry brickwork was awarded to Valentino Moutzouris for his design of a Performing Arts Centre in Wynberg, Cape Town.

The event was well attended by architecture students who hoped to take home an award. Projects exhibited, received distinctions in one or all of the three main components, including design, the architectural theoretical treatise and building sciences.

“This is the greatest award that one could win in the Free State. It came with so much blood, sweat and tears, as I had to live, eat and work day and night at the same place in order to finish the project,” said Marius, master’s student in Architecture. He said that he hopes the project can be developed and implemented in mine shafts to solve the energy crisis in South Africa.

Henry Pretorius, Academic Departmental Head of Architecture, said: “It is vital for architecture to have a public interface. This event is to showcase the work of students and to make sure that it is accessible to the public. It encourages students to understand the value of their own work and its cognisance to society.”

Gary Westwood, Sales Manager of Corobrik Free State, Northern Cape and Lesotho region, said: “So far it has been an incredible journey. This annual event of 24 years is our way of giving back to the community who supports and sustains our business. It is wonderful to see how the architecture industry has adapted to a more sustainable way of design, by being part of the green movement.”

Marius will compete with other Corobrik winners from various universities on national level in April 2015.

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