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UFS wins top awards at the 2024 Mace Excellence Awards

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

UFS Postgraduate student council’s community project a success

2016-03-03

Prof Jansen Vice-Chancellor and Rector, Dr Henriette van den Berg, Director of Postgraduate School, and Mr Gustav Wilson, Regional Head: Development and Care, Free State and Northern Cape Region.

The University of the Free State’s Postgraduate Student Council embarked on a courageous community engagement project for Mandela Day in 2015. The programme was aimed at assisting offenders at Tswelopele Correctional Centre pass their matric exams, thus granting them access to tertiary education.

The Postgraduate Student Council assisted the 2015 matriculants with study support, and motivated them during their final examinations in 2015. The council will play a bigger role this year by offering offenders at Tswelopele career advice and career guidance for when they leave the correctional facility, as well as study techniques to assist them throughout the year, to ensure a 100% pass mark in 2016.

Offenders who had participated in the Postgraduate Student Council project attended the Postgraduate School’s Open Day on 19 February. Of the 12 offenders, 11 passed their matric exams, while one is currently busy with his supplementary exams. Tswelopele has a 92% pass rate; it is the best performing correctional centre in South Africa.

The Tswelopele Correctional Centre also serves as a full-time high school (Grade 10-12), and TVET College, assisting offenders to register for tertiary education through various universities.

Prof Jonathan Jansen, Vice-Chancellor and Rector of the University of the Free State, said that he was immensely proud of the matriculants from Tswelopele Correctional Centre. He added that it is vital for every human being to receive a second chance. “Rehabilitation programmes are meant to give offenders a second chance at life, because we cannot give up on humanity. Correctional centres and rehabilitation centres are a societal responsibility. Society must not give up on offenders, everyone deserves a second chance, and we cannot give up on humanity.”

“To our offenders going through rehabilitation and all our young people who are our hope for the future of our beloved country, be encouraged. Dream again. Discover the wonder in your lives,” said Mr Gustav Wilson, Regional Head: Development and Care, Free State and Northern Cape Region.

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