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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

Qwaqwa Campus Open Day a big success
2013-08-12

 

12 August 2013
Photo: RooistoelTV

   Open Day video clip (YouTube)

Thousands of learners in their colourful uniforms descended on the UFS Qwaqwa Campus to attend Open Day 2013.

This annual event enables learners and community members to know more about the study programmes that the campus offers as well as information regarding financial aid opportunities, sports and culture, health and wellness, residence life, amongst others.

During the formal welcome session, the learners were given a better understanding of what the university is all about.

Campus Principal Prof Prakash Naidoo gave the learners what he referred to as the top reasons why all the students in attendance would find it attractive to enrol with the Qwaqwa Campus in 2014.

“We have a diverse culture where everybody feels welcomed. We are also the fastest transforming university in the world. Our unique UFS101 learning programme teaches you about life in general. There’s no doubt that we have the best Vice Chancellor and Rector in Prof Jonathan Jansen,” Prof Naidoo said.

In encouraging learners to work harder in order to achieve the goals that they had set for themselves, Dr Elsa Crause, Campus Vice Principal: Academic and Research, emphasised on the importance of reading. “Reading and studying hard are important if you are to succeed in life. For you to achieve the best and to make your student life interesting, you must read as much as you write,” she said.

After the formal welcome session that included entertainment by students, the learners were ushered to various faculties and departments to give them first-hand experience of what it feels like to be a Kovsie.

Economic and Management Sciences

Education

Health Sciences

The Humanities

Law

Natural and Agricultural Sciences

Theology and Religion

Open Distance Learning

Business School

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