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29 August 2024
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Story Anthony Mthembu
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Photo Harmse Photography
Ross van Reenen, CEO of the Toyota Free State Cheetahs.
The Business School at the University of the Free State (UFS) recently hosted the CEO of the Toyota Free State Cheetahs, Ross van Reenen, for a guest lecture. Van Reenen presented the guest lecture in the Business School Auditorium on the UFS Bloemfontein Campus on 21 August 2024.
Reflecting on Van Reenen’s address
In a lecture addressed to an auditorium filled with UFS staff and students, Van Reenen’s talk was divided into several sections. Firstly, he spoke about the concept of the ‘black swan’ in reference to the book written by Nassim Nicholas Taleb, titled The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable. Referring to Taleb’s book, Van Reenen defined a ‘black swan’ as a rare event that has a severe impact, and the occurrence of which people try to explain. He used some examples to explore this concept as well as its implications, including COVID-19 and its impact on the world, and the tragic death of the people in the Titanic disaster. However, he delved deeper into 9/11 and the extent of its impact, saying that “9/11 was a major wake-up call in the world economy”. Van Reenen highlighted how some companies such as Barclays, for which he previously consulted, had to work to be up and running after the collapse of the Twin Towers in 9/11.
In addition, Van Reenen’s lecture also touched on the importance of the first ninety days of a job after an individual has been employed. “Those first ninety days are crucial, as you have to establish yourself in a company where you are paid less than you are worth,” Van Reenen said. As such, he gave the audience insight into what they could focus on in that time frame. This includes focusing on the small wins, as well as ensuring that you are working at keeping the team together, as the team is an integral part of an organisation.
Van Reenen concluded his address by speaking about his time as the CEO of the Toyota Free State Cheetahs, including some of the decisions he took to ensure the success of the organisation.
New schools, restructuring part of streamlined Faculty of Health Sciences
2017-10-12
From the left, front are: Dr Jocelyn Naicker,
Prof Gert van Zyl, Prof Magda Mulder;
back from left: Prof Chris Viljoen,
Marlene Viljoen, Deputy Director: Faculty of Health Sciences;
Prof Nathaniel Mofolo; and Prof Santie van Vuuren.
Photo: Rulanzen Martin
Numerous developments, such as the creation of two new schools and one newly restructured School of Medicine in the Faculty of Health Sciences at the University of the Free State (UFS), will catapult this renowned faculty to even greater heights.
Five-school structure to increase access
A five-school structure was proposed at the annual Faculty Management retreat in July 2016. The previous three-school model included the Schools of Medicine, Nursing, and Allied Health Professions.
The current School of Medicine has been restructured and will henceforth be known as the School of Clinical Medicine. The Schools of Pathology and Biomedical Sciences have been added to the faculty. “So, three new schools were in fact created within the faculty,” said Prof Gert van Zyl, Dean of the faculty.
“There was also a request from the National Health Laboratory Services to group academics that is rendering services in pathology into a new School of Pathology.” This is what motivated the faculty management to create two new schools.
Esteemed academics appointed
With the creation of the new schools, there were also new appointments within the Faculty of Health Sciences. Dr Jocelyn Naicker has been appointed as the new part-time Head of the School of Pathology, Prof Chris Viljoen was appointed as the part-time Head of the School of Biomedical Sciences, and Prof Nathaniel Mofolo as the new Head of the School of Clinical Medicine. Prof Santie van Vuuren remains Head of the School of Allied Health Professions, and Prof Magda Mulder as the head of the School of Nursing.
Research outputs to remain as usual
The addition of the new schools will not impact research output. “In the past, research was done across departmental boundaries between all the departments in the faculty,” Prof Van Zyl said. The advantages of adding two additional schools are that the workload will be distributed among the five schools. The heads of schools will work within their respective disciplines and related areas, and will eliminate the duplication of administrative functions.