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UFS Student Governance Office announces 2023 CSRC Elections, 22-24 August

20 July 2023 | Story Lunga Luthuli | Photo Supplied

Your vote counts — Exercise your right to vote in the 2023 SRC elections from 22 to 24 August. Student participation makes a difference.

The University of the Free State (UFS) Office for Student Governance has announced that the 2023 Campus Student Representative Council (SRC) elections will take place from 22 to 24 August 2023. This eagerly anticipated annual event is an opportunity for students to elect their representatives, ensuring that their voices are heard and that their interests are represented in the university community.

To facilitate a smooth election process, the UFS Elections Committee has scheduled indabas for 25 July 2023 on the Qwaqwa Campus, and for 27 July 2023 on the Bloemfontein and South campuses. The indabas are platforms providing students the opportunity to raise questions about the upcoming elections.

Dr Grey Magaiza, chairperson of the UFS Elections Logistics Committee (ELC), said: “SRC elections are a critical legislative requirement of the Higher Education Act 101 of 1997, which prescribes cooperative governance at universities. The student leaders who are chosen become critical mouthpieces for the rest of the student body in critical governance functions of the university. It is therefore very important for the student community to participate in elections and to choose their preferred candidates.”

Make your vote count

The ELC is encouraging all students to actively engage in the electoral process, either as candidates or voters. Running for a position in the SRC offers students a platform to make a meaningful impact on campus life, while casting their votes ensures that the elected representatives genuinely represent the interests of the student body.

In preparation for the upcoming elections, the ELC will provide information on candidate registration procedures, campaigning guidelines, and other pertinent details to facilitate a fair and transparent electoral process.

“Student politics can shape the student life dynamic on campus, hence it is a very important element in institutional governance. We look forward to positive campaigning and mature engagements among the candidates, and to the wonderful political behaviour that has become the norm in all UFS elections. This has become a rich tradition that UFS students have proudly held, and is becoming the envy of other institutions as well. Kudos to our UFS students,” remarked Dr Magaiza.

Election Indabas:

Qwaqwa Campus: 25 July 2023, 24-hour Study Centre, from 13:00 to 15:00
South Campus: 27 July 2023, Toka Residence Gazelle, from 10:00 to 12:00
Bloemfontein Campus: 27 July 2023, EXR 4, from 14:00 to 16:00

News Archive

Two research chairs awarded to UFS women

2015-09-15

Prof Pumla Gobodo-Madikizela

Two professors at the University of the Free State (UFS) have just been chosen as recipients of research chairs by the National Research Foundation’s South African Research Chair Initiative.

The research chairs are a massive financial injection for research in each of the relevant disciplines – that of Profs Pumla Gobodo-Madikizela from the Centre for Trauma, Forgiveness, and Reconciliation Studies at the UFS, and Felicity Burt from the Department of Medical Microbiology in the Faculty of Health Sciences.

Profs Gobodo-Madikizela and Burt are two of 42 female researchers in the country receiving research chairs as an initiative to give due recognition to women in research.

Profs Hendrik Swart, from our Departement of Physics and Melany Walker, Director, Centre for Research on Higher Education and Development, each also holds research chairs by the NRF. A third research chair has also been granted to the UFS Department of Plant Sciences for the research in field crops.

Prof Felicity Burt

The work of Prof Burt’s research chair is to investigate medically significant vector-borne and zoonotic viruses currently circulating; to define associations between these viruses and specific disease manifestations that have previously not been described in our region, to increase awareness of these pathogens; to further our understanding of host immune responses, which should facilitate development of novel treatments or vaccines and drug discovery.

Prof Gobodo-Madikizela, who has received international recognition for her work on forgiveness studies, will use this research chair to investigate historical trauma within two African contexts – those of South Africa and Rwanda. She hopes to gain insight into the role that memory plays in the formation of the experience of trauma, and to bring about healing of the trauma.

Prof Corli Witthuhn, Vice-Rector: Research at the UFS, expressed her pride on the announcement.

“We are extremely proud of the national recognition these two outstanding women researchers received. The UFS strives for research excellence, and the five current NRF research chairs, as well as two NRF A-graded researchers who are at the forefront of their disciplines globally, indicates our continued commitment to innovating, relevant, and high-impact research. We are excited about the progress of the past two years to position the UFS as a national leader in research.”

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