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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

Centre for Universal Access and Disability Support HOD selected as prestigious Fulbright scholar

2015-06-24

Hetsie Veitch and Gabriela Schroder
Photo: Valentino Ndaba

Hetsie Veitch, who has served as the Head of the Centre for Universal Access and Disability Support at the university for the past seven years, recently won the prestigious Fulbright Scholarship for studies in the USA. Hetsie has been placed at the renowned Syracuse University in Upstate New York, where she will read for a PhD in Disability Studies in the School of Education.

By focusing on matters of social justice in the pedagogy of higher education, Hetsie will explore the creation of universally accessible learning spaces for students so that she can apply these ideas on her return to South Africa in four years.

Under her leadership, the Unit for Students with Disabilities (USD) was transformed into the Centre for Universal Access and Disability Support (CUADS) in order to reflect new approaches to universal access and universal design.“It is my ultimate goal,” says Hetsie, “to create an institutional culture that includes and welcomes all students with disabilities.”

It is difficult to fully capture the enormous contribution Hetsie has made to the UFS in disability justice, by establishing platforms for students with disabilities that enable them to be appreciated as individuals, and to excel in academic studies.

One of our star students, Gabriela Schröder, also won the prestigious Fulbright Scholarship. Gaby, as she’s called, will be taking up doctoral studies in Biochemistry at a leading university in her field, namely North Carolina State University in Raleigh, North Carolina.

Gaby earned her BSc Honours degree in Biochemistry at the University of the Free State, after also completing her undergraduate studies in Chemistry and Biochemistry at Kovsies.

She participated in the F1 Leadership for Change Programme (Class of 2011) as part of the first-year cohort that went to the University of Vermont. In 2012, she was selected to participate in the elite Stanford Sophomore College Programme with students from Oxford University (UK) and Stanford University in California.

In 2014, Gaby was awarded the Dean's Medal, a distinction which is presented to the best final-year student studying towards a Bachelor’s degree in the Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences. She was also the proud recipient of the Senate Medal, awarded for academic excellence in the achievement of a Bachelor’s degree at the university.

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