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Developing global citizens: UFS students studying abroad in Austria

10 February 2023 | Story Kekeletso Takang

UFS students Frans Benecke and Su-Mari Dreyer are two of the beneficiaries of the programme and will spend one year in Salzburg, from February 2023 until January 2024.

Nowadays, universities strive more and more to develop global citizens. For the University of the Free State (UFS) and the Salzburg University of Applied Sciences (SUAS) in Austria, collaboration on the Consecutive Master’s Degree Programme in International Finance is directed at this.

This exclusive and pioneering collaboration between the Department of Economics and Finance at the UFS and the Department of Management and Tourism at SUAS emanates from more than 15 years of collaboration between Prof Johan Coetzee (UFS) and Prof Christine Mitter (SUAS ).

The collaboration addresses the concerns constantly raised in South Africa that graduates do not have the requisite practical skills when entering the workplace. The UFS attempts to bridge this gap and contribute to a better-equipped, employable South African graduate who understands the link between theory and application in a problem-riddled world entering the Fourth Industrial Revolution.

UFS students Frans Benecke and Su-Mari Dreyer are two of the beneficiaries of the programme and will spend one year in Salzburg, from February 2023 until January 2024.

“This is a dream come true, a dream I didn’t even know I had. To experience a different culture through educational and cultural exchange will deepen my understanding of international relationships, which is a driver of development,” says Dreyer, who completed her MCom degree at the UFS.

Interdisciplinary research

The Consecutive Master’s Degree Programme in International Finance allows students wishing to pursue a master’s degree to acquire two degrees over a two-year study period: an MCom specialising in Finance in the Department of Economics and Finance at the UFS, and an MA in Business Management specialising in Financial Risk Management at SUAS in Austria. The degrees are done on location in Bloemfontein and Salzburg respectively. The UFS master’s is more quantitative in nature and exposes students to highly technical methods and applications, while the SUAS master’s degree is more qualitative in nature and exposes students to more practical real-world management scenarios.

“The Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences has a long-standing and valued partnership with the Salzburg University of Applied Sciences. As a faculty, we see the development of the consecutive master’s degree as a wonderful opportunity for students from both universities to participate in the learning opportunities that both universities offer. These opportunities transcend the academic learning that will take place, to also include the exposure of students to the culture and life in the partner country,” says Prof Philippe Burger, Dean of the Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences. “We believe the learning that will take place through the exposure that the consecutive degree offers, will improve students’ employability and contribute to them building successful careers.”

Bridging the gap

As part of the curriculum requirements, students will also be offered the opportunity to do a short apprenticeship in Austria.

Benecke, who also completed his UFS master’s degree, says he hopes the programme will serve as a call to action for students considering postgraduate studies in the Department of Economics and Finance at the UFS.

News Archive

Kovsies to celebrate excellence at 2014 December Graduation Ceremony

2014-12-02

Live streaming: http://apps.ufs.ac.za/ufslivestreaming/

On Thursday 11 December 2014, the University of the Free State (UFS) will award degrees and qualifications during our Summer Graduation Ceremony at the Bloemfontein Campus.

The graduation will take place during two ceremonies in the Callie Human Centre, where master’s and PhD degrees will be awarded during the first ceremony at 09:30. Diplomas, certificates and undergraduate qualifications will be awarded to students from the School of Open Learning and the Faculty of Health Sciences at 14:30.

Radio personality, Redi Thlabi, and cardiothoracic surgeon, Dr Susan Vosloo, will address the graduates.

Apart from her radio show on 702 and CapeTalk, Thlabi has also hosted local television news shows and anchored for international broadcasters like SKY and the BBC. In addition, she has presented two of her own TV shows: ‘Redi’ on Mzansi Magic and ‘South to North’ on Al-Jazeera.

Her first book, Endings and Beginnings (Jacana) received popular acclaim and is currently being turned into a screenplay for a movie.

Dr Susan Vosloo, a Kovsie alumnus, graduated in 1980. She completed her internship in Pretoria and spent the following year in Critical Care Medicine at Universitas Hospital, Bloemfontein, before starting her surgical training in Johannesburg.

She is currently in independent private practice at the Netcare Christiaan Barnard Memorial Hospital in Cape Town, having also worked from 1998 – 2012 at the Vincent Pallotti Hospital in the same city.

Dr Vosloo maintains close ties with our university and has quite a number of addition roles to that of surgeon:

• member of the Council of the UFS;
• UFS Council Representative in the Senate;
• member of the Standing Advisory Committee of the School of Medicine, UFS;
• member of the Provincial Department of Health;
• Africa representative for the Pediatric Cardiac Intensive Care Society; and
• founding member of the World Society for Pediatric and Congenital Heart Surgery.

Prof Boelie Wessels will also be awarded his 10th academic degree from the UFS since 1974. Adding his Honorary Doctorate degree to the list, it will make this his 11th degree. Prof Wessels is 84 years old and has 18-plus academic qualifications from various institutions – a phenomenal achievement.

Furthermore, Moses Lubinga and his wife, Stellah, will be the first married couple to be awarded their PhDs at the same graduation ceremony at the UFS. Mr Lubinga will receive his Doctorate in Agricultural Economics, while Mrs Lubinga’s PhD is in the field of Economic and Management Sciences.

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