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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

Trade unionist brings today’s policy issues to the table

2017-01-02

Sidney Kgara currently heads the public-sector union of
Nehawu’s Policy Unit
Photo: Supplied

Sidney Kgara was appointed to the University of the Free State (UFS) Council in January 2015. He was appointed to the Council by Blade Nzimande, the Minister of Higher Education and Training, in one of three such positions.

Sidney heads the public sector union Nehawu's Policy Unit. The National Health Education and Allied Workers Union is the biggest public-sector union and the biggest union in the public service coordinating bargaining council. It therefore stands to reason that researching and drafting policy on issues such as labour market matters, public health and developments in higher education form the core responsibilities of the unit.

No stranger to university governance and leadership
Nehawu has a number of members working at the UFS and before his appointment, Kgara's only contact with the university was through its UFS members. However, he is no stranger to university governance and leadership. He was a student leader at the University of KwaZulu-Natal in the 1990s and as a result has a broad understanding of student governance and university issues.

"Even though it was a different time and the circumstances were different, there is some sense of continuity to the issues we had to deal with then, and the issues that the university faces now," he says.

Kgara’s unique and valuable contributions to the Council
This, together with his experience in policy and research, enables Kgara to make a unique and valuable contribution to the Council.

Kgara is an avid reader and stimulating his mind through reading makes him truly happy. He also loves watching sport and enjoys socialising with friends.

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