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UFS achieves top honours at the 2023 MACE Excellence Awards ceremony

05 December 2023 Photo Francois van Vuuren

MACE Awards Winners 2023 — From left are: Belinda Janeke, Head: Career Services; Barend Nagel, Multimedia Specialist, Department of Communication and Marketing; Moeketsi Mogotsi, Social Media Specialist, Department of Communication and Marketing; Lacea Loader, Senior Director: Department of Communication and Marketing; Tobias van den Bergh, Counselling Psychologist, Student Counselling and Development; Mojalefa Rabolinyane, Assistant Officer, Student Counselling and Development; Burneline Kaars, Head: Leadership, Organisational Development and Employee Well-being; Lizet Holtzhausen, Officer, Leadership, Organisational Development and Employee Well-being; Marieta Landman, Senior Officer, Department of Student Recruitment Services; and Sandile Ncedani, Senior Officer, Department of Student Recruitment Services.

On 16 November 2023, five departments at the University of the Free State made a big splash at the national association for Marketing, Advancement, and Communication in Education (MACE) 2023 Excellence Awards.

Collectively, the UFS won 11 awards, including the sought-after Chairperson’s Award of Excellence, awarded to a single entry that embodies true excellence in marketing, advancement, or communication. In other words, the overall winner across all divisions and categories.

Celebrating the best in marketing, advancement, and communication

Hosted annually, the MACE Excellence Awards recognise and celebrate the excellence of specialists and practitioners in marketing, advancement, and communication in the higher-education sector. MACE plays a vital role in adding value to practitioners through high-quality development programmes, facilitating networking partnerships and transformation, as well as promoting best practices among these professions at member institutions.

The MACE National Conference held on the Belville Campus of the University of the Western Cape from 15 to 16 November 2023, preceded the glamorous awards function. The theme for the conference was ‘Higher education institutions in a world of artificial intelligence’. After two informative days, delegates attended the awards function, where their work and skills were recognised.

The winner takes it all

The UFS Leadership, Organisational Development, and Employee Well-Being won the Chairperson’s Award for its Women’s Day Breakfast. This memorable event also received a platinum award. Silver awards were raked in by Student Counselling and Development (DoDay Mental Health Campaign), Career Services (Careers Podcast Series), Student Recruitment Services (Motion Graphics Video), and the Department of Communication and Marketing (DCM) won three silver awards for its Social Media Squad project, the Vision 130 video, and the Dr Maye Musk Honorary Doctorate Graduation Ceremony. Bronze awards were given to DCM for the Vision 130 Launch and Youth Month, and the Kovsie Connect Virtual Experience won Student Recruitment Services its second award of the evening.

Excellence in everything we do

Lacea Loader, Senior Director: Communication and Marketing and Coordinator of the MACE Excellence Awards, says the recognition affirms the high level of communication generated by the institution. “I am immensely proud of the national recognition from our peers for the quality and innovative work we do. This year in particular, different departments entered the awards programme, which is exemplary of the integration and synergy of the work done in the different departments,” she says.

News Archive

UFS Faculty of Law and Department of Health join hands to combat modern day slavery

2012-10-03

At this event, were from the left: Dr Adri Krieger and Dr Mariaan Kotze. Both are from the Department of Health: Directorate Forensic Services. Far right is Dr Beatri Kruger from the Unit for Children's Rights and the Department of Criminal and Medical Law at the UFS.
4 October 2012

Research and court cases confirm that the trade in people is a reality in South Africa. According to Dr Beatri Kruger from the Unit for Children's Rights and the Department of Criminal and Medical Law at the University of the Free State (UFS), complex challenges are faced in combating human trafficking. One of these challenges is a lack of knowledge of this crime and the difficulty in identifying trafficked victims.

To address the lack of knowledge, a number of discussions took place between Dr Kruger and delegates from the Department of Health.

A project has been initiated to address this problem in the public health sector. A need to raise awareness and provide training to medical practitioners to better understand human trafficking was identified. The most important aim of this initiative is to empower medical staff, to identify trafficked victims that visit hospitals and clinics countrywide and to also treat them appropriately in light of the severe trauma they have often been exposed to. The initiative will also empower medical practitioners to refer patients to other service providers such as social workers and psychologists.

The talks with medical practitioners from the Department of Health have led to training and awareness raising that will be provided at some of the local hospitals before the end of the year. Further training seminars are planned for medical practitioners, which will include a presentation by Dr Kruger on legal issues that are relevant for staff in the public health sector. The multidisciplinary cooperation that was established between representatives from the UFS Faculty of Law and the Department of Health has contributed substantially to a more effective response to human trafficking in South Africa.

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