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05 December 2024 | Story Dr Cindé Greyling | Photo Kaleidoscope
MACE Winners 2024
From left to right: Burneline Kaars (Head: Employee Wellness and Organisational Development), Dr WP Wahl (Student Life Director), Linda Greyling (Senior Officer: Special Projects, Student Recruitment Services), Gerben Van Niekerk (Senior Officer: Kovsie Support Services), Malia Maranyane (Senior Officer: Undergraduate Marketing, Student Recruitment Services), Nomonde Mbadi (Student Recruitment Services Director), and Susan Van Jaarsveld (Senior Director: Human Resources).

On 28 November 2024, the University of the Free State (UFS) did it again – reigned as champions at the annual Marketing, Advancement and Communication in Education (MACE) Excellence Awards and walking away with two of the top awards: the MACE Award for Outstanding Research and the Severus Cerff Award for Consistent Excellence.

KovsieX was named the overall winner of the MACE Award for Outstanding Research. This award is made to the entry with the highest score in research, clearly demonstrating how research has supported the strategic objectives of the institution and the project. KovsieX is a multiplatform approach designed to leverage the strengths of diverse media channels. This digitalisation aligns with Vision 130, leveraging emerging technologies to enhance teaching and learning quality and efficiency of non-academic support structures and systems.

The UFS’ entries were of such high quality that the university won the sought-after Severus Cerff Award for Consistent Excellence. This award is based on the number of entries entered by an institution and the number and level of those entries winning awards. The award is therefore made to the institution with the highest success ratio.

Furthermore, the UFS Matriculant of the Year event received a Silver Award – entries scoring 5.75 or higher earn a Silver Award, placing this event among some of the top achievers in the events category. Three UFS entries received Gold Awards and were the winners in their respective categories: KovsieChat (Digital Channels), 2024 Women’s Day Breakfast (Events), and KovsieX (Stakeholder Engagement Campaigns). This is a magnificent achievement for the UFS.

"Winning a MACE award at this early stage is proof that KovsieX is not just meeting national standards – it’s setting them. If we can achieve this level of excellence now, imagine how we’ll compete on the global stage when the project is fully realised,” says Gerben van Niekerk, Student Media Manager.

Lacea Loader, Senior Director: Communication and Marketing and Coordinator of the MACE Excellence Awards, explained that a record number of entries were received for the Excellence Awards this year. “We are ecstatic about the direction of communication at the UFS and that the university has been able to maintain the quality of its entries in recent years,” says Loader.

The MACE Excellence Awards takes place annually as part of the MACE National Conference, recognising and celebrating excellence and the achievements of specialists and practitioners in marketing, advancement, and communication in the higher-education sector. This year, the Cape Peninsula University of Technology (CPUT) hosted the conference from 27 to 28 November 2024.

In 2023, the UFS won 11 awards, including the Chairperson’s Award of Excellence. 

News Archive

New Albert Wessels Auditorium officially unveiled
2013-05-19

 

Dr Johan van Zyl (President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Toyota South Africa and CEO for Toyota Africa) and Judge Ian van der Merwe (Chairperson of the UFS Council) unveil the redesigned Albert Wessels Auditorium.
Photo: Johan Roux
20 May 2013

The swanky new interior and entrance of the Albert Wessels Auditorium WA) were officially unveiled on Bloemfontein Campus of the University of the Free State (UFS) on Friday 10 May 2013.

Prof Jonathan Jansen, UFS Vice-Chancellor and Rector, and Judge Ian van der Merwe, Chairperson of the UFS Council, presided over the AWA unveiling ceremony. They were joined by a special guest, whose company has a long affiliation with the UFS and the AWA in particular.

Dr Johan van Zyl, the current President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Toyota South Africa and CEO for Toyota Africa, unveiled the commemorative plaque at the new entrance. Dr Van Zyl reaffirmed the relationship between Toyota South Africa and the UFS, which can be traced back to the founder of his company.

The namesake of the AWO was the founder of Toyota South Africa. Dr Wessels was at one time married to Elizabeth Eybers, the acclaimed poet who won the Hertzog Prize in 1934 and 1971. Could she have inspired Wessels’ love of the arts? Regardless, the AWA will serve as a world-class facility for the arts, corporate meetings and seminars, from now on. The AWA can now seat 196 people on its luxurious red leather seats.

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