Latest News Archive

Please select Category, Year, and then Month to display items

#YouthMonth: Celebrating youth empowerment (Boitumelo Mokheseng)

22 June 2023 | Story Boitumelo Mokheseng | Photo Supplied

The University of the Free State (UFS) is celebrating Youth Month by showcasing the positive influence of the institution on career development. As part of this initiative, we are sharing the stories of UFS alumni who are now working at the university.

Boitumelo Mokheseng, Presidential Youth Employment Initiative (PYEI) Intern in the Qwaqwa Campus Health and Wellness Centre, shares her UFS journey:

Q: Year of graduation from the UFS:

A: 2021.

Q: Qualification obtained from the UFS:

A: Bachelor of Administration.

Q: Date of joining the UFS as a staff member:

A: March 2023.

Q: Initial job title and current job title:

A: PYEI intern in the Qwaqwa Campus Health and Wellness Centre.

Q: How did the UFS prepare you for the professional world?

A: The University of the Free State (UFS) propelled me towards the career path I had always aspired to. The comprehensive education I received not only equipped me with the necessary skills for the workplace, but also fostered a problem-solving mindset that was ingrained in us from our undergraduate years.

Q: What are your thoughts on transitioning from a UFS alumnus to a staff member?

A: The transition from being a UFS student to a staff member has been wonderful, even though challenging, because now I get to feel the pressure that the clinic staff felt while I was a student. For instance, when visiting the clinic before, I didn’t understand why there are long queues, why we are not assisted in time; since I’m the one assisting the students with the booking systems and making sure they get to the consulting rooms, I now understand how things work.

Q: Any additional comments about your experience?

A: Working here at the UFS has been a dream come true. I am fascinated daily by meeting up with inspiring people who motivate me to do better in life, and I keep learning new things. The experience so far is good; I have acquired new skills, moved from office work and got involved in campaigns such as First Things First where I can engage more with students and meet the different stakeholders from the health department. I’m thankful for the great opportunity the university has given me to be part of it as a staff member – no longer a student.

News Archive

Community engagement must be a core function of universities

2009-05-21

Members of the NatCEMF Steering Committee are, from the left: Mr Jerome Slamat, Senior Director: Community Interaction, Stellenbosch University, Ms Beatrix Bouwman, Manager: Community Engagement, North-West University, Rev Kiepie Jaftha, Chief Director: Community Service, UFS and chairperson of the committee, Prof. Allan Femi Lana, Director: Institute for Rural Development and Community Engagement, Mangosuthu University of Technology, Prof. Seth Pollack, Fulbright Scholar, University of Western Cape (guest speaker at the meeting), Prof. Denver Hendricks, Director: Community Engagement, University of Pretoria, and Prof. Priscilla Daniels, Chairperson: Human Ecology and Research and CHESP Research Coordinator, University of the Western Cape.
Photo: Lacea Loader

It is important that all tertiary institutions in South Africa should work together and commit themselves to advance the cause of community engagement in the country.

This was one of the main outcomes of the second meeting held by the National Community Engagement Manager’s Forum (NatCEMF) at the South Campus of the University of the Free State (UFS) in Bloemfontein recently. The meeting was attended by 34 representatives of 16 higher education institutions in the country.

“I am astounded at the interest in this matter. The representatives are committed to make community engagement a core function of their institutions and we all agreed that we should get more involved in expanding this across all institutions. A need for a formal structure for us all to work together and have a more collective voice was also identified,” said Rev Kiepie Jaftha, Chief Director: Community Service at the UFS and Chairperson of the NatCEMF Steering Committee.

“There is a growing need to expand and develop our engagement with communities – to share our experiences and best practices and to learn from each other. There are universities that are doing excellent work in this field and, by having a formal structure, we can do a lot more towards advancing community engagement,” said Rev Jaftha.

The meeting identified matters such as the coordination of higher education institutions’ involvement in community engagement, the facilitation of research about community engagement, promoting service learning as transformation, the establishment of a community engagement resource centre and the organisation of a national community engagement conference as some of its aims. A national steering committee was also elected.

Back

Economic and Management Sciences

Education

Health Sciences

The Humanities

Law

Natural and Agricultural Sciences

Theology and Religion

Open Distance Learning

Business School

We use cookies to make interactions with our websites and services easy and meaningful. To better understand how they are used, read more about the UFS cookie policy. By continuing to use this site you are giving us your consent to do this.

Accept