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08 August 2023
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Story EDZANI NEPHALELA
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Photo EDZANI NEPHALELA
Mbulelo Aven Jafta, Xhariep Municipality Corporate Services Director, and Dr Engela van Staden, Deputy Vice-Chancellor: Academic at the UFS, sign a memorandum of understanding to enrich various communities in the Xhariep Municipality areas through leadership training.
The University of the Free State (UFS) has signed a memorandum of understanding with the South African Local Government Association (SALGA) and the Xhariep Municipality that is aimed at positively impacting communities through strategic partnerships. The organisations plan for their collaboration to make a significant difference by training 35 of their employees via the UFS Business School – 15 will undertake the Foundation Skills Short Learning Programme, and 20 the Bachelor’s degree in Management Leadership.
This joint effort will equip these employees with essential skills and knowledge and empower them to carry out their responsibilities efficiently and effectively. Rooted in the UFS’s Vision 130, this initiative fosters positive change within the community by enhancing social justice and innovation.
Dr Engela van Staden, Deputy Vice-Chancellor: Academic at the UFS, emphasised the university's dedication to human resource development and empowering individuals. “We were very excited when we got this engagement with you, and I hope it will be fruitful for you, because that’s the intention. We are also reaching out to other municipalities because we are doing it for our country, and the sooner we do it, the better the services you will deliver to people.”
Xhariep Municipality expressed gratitude for the collaboration, recognising its significance in empowering its employees. Mbulelo Aven Jafta, Corporate Services Director at the municipality, thanked the university for accepting the partnership. “As a municipality, we are interested in capacitating our employees to perform their duties optimally. It is through these partnerships that we reach our intended targets. This is the first two projects, and many more will be coming as our partnership progresses, and we intend to use this opportunity to the best of our abilities.”
Jafta said that such partnerships encourage a more interconnected and interdependent world. “As organisations work towards common goals, they create a ripple effect that can lead to a brighter and more promising future and play a vital role in shaping a positive and sustainable future.”
Authentic leaders inspire themselves
2010-04-30
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Dr Renalde Huysamen and Mrs Marietjie du Plessis.
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Leadership is held in very high esteem. In today’s world the ability to lead and motivate yourself and others is of the utmost importance. This year, Dr Renalde Huysamen and Marietjie du Plessis from the Centre for Higher Education Studies and Development (CHESD) at the University of the Free State (UFS), continue to build on a year-long Leadership-Learning Community Programme that they launched last year.
The aim of the project is, amongst others, to assist academic and non-academic staff at the university not only to discover their own strengths as leaders, but also to dream about it in order to achieve lively, sustainable and flourishing communities of collaborative learning and development. During the first six months of the programme staff members of the UFS investigate their personal and professional experiences and in the process they grow as individuals and authentic leaders.
The group is very diverse in terms of race, gender, language and qualifications. According to Mrs Du Plessis this diversity creates an opportunity where participants learn to understand themselves and others better. Firm ties are forged in a supportive, safe and stimulating environment in which mutual learning can take place.
During the last six months of the year the focus is on research outputs for academic staff en projects for non-academic staff. Some personnel have already published articles and managed to build international relations by means of this. Non-academic personnel have engaged in projects to improve provision of service with great success.
The Leadership Programme comprises 40 hours and includes breakaway sessions, group and individual activities, interviews and conversations, out-door activities, narrations and research methodology. The sessions take place on the UFS campus, but two breakaway sessions at resorts near Bloemfontein are also undertaken. Although this programme has been launched in the Higher-Education sector, it can also be adapted to fulfil the needs of any other sector, says Dr Huysamen. |