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Campus tours help first-time UFS students become familiar with their new academic home

08 February 2024 | Story Lunga Luthuli | Photo SUPPLIED

Student Campus Tour — The UFS Division of Student Affairs is helping first-time students get their bearings by offering campus tours on the Bloemfontein, South, and Qwaqwa campuses.

The University of the Free State’s (UFS’s) Division of Student Affairs is ready to welcome 2024’s first-time entering students (FTENS) for the new academic year with an engaging campus tour.

These tours will take place on the Bloemfontein and South Campuses from 5 to 8 February starting at 12:00, and on the Qwaqwa Campus from 12 to 15 February, with one tour daily, from 14:00. Students must note that the 5 to 8 February schedule aligns with specific colleges each day, which means you should attend on the day specified below for students from your college.

The comprehensive tour route covers vital campus locations, including Protection Services, the Administration buildings, examination venues, Kovsie Health, Student Counselling and Development, Arts and Culture, Callie Human, HMS, Main Building, and many more. The itinerary helps students become familiar with significant facilities on the three UFS campuses.

The Division of Student Affairs aims to make the campus tours even more inclusive by allowing commuter students and late registrants to join a later group of tours, on 12 and 14 February on the Bloemfontein Campus.

Campus Tours

ROUTE:

Main locations:

Bloemfontein Campus:

Meet at the Kovsie Village (i.e. the tent next to the EXR registration venue)-> Protection Services (Stopping Point) -> George du Toit -> EXR -> Kovsie Health; SCD; Food Environment Office; Arts and Culture -> Callie Human -> HMS -> Main Building -> ECLA Lab -> Vishuis -> 24-hour study labs -> Stabilis -> Bridge (Bank; Van Schaik) -> FGG -> EBW -> Landbou; Visitors Gate-> Kopanong; Genmin Lectorium -> Computer Lab -> Mabaleng Auditorium -> Winkie Direko (Fundza Offices) -> Ned Education Building -> Modlec; Konica Minolta -> Library (organise in faculty).

South Campus Tour:

Dates: 6 and 8 February 2024

Time: 12:00

Starting point: Amphitheatre (Outside the cafeteria)

Qwaqwa Campus Tour:

Date: 12 February 2024

Time: 14:00 (Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences)

Assembly point: Amphitheatre

Date: 13 February 2024

First time slot: 14:00 (Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences)

Assembly point: Amphitheatre

Date: 14 February 2024

First time slot: 14:00 (Faculty of Education)

Assembly point: Amphitheatre

Date: 15 February 2024

First time slot: 14:00 (Faculty of the Humanities)

Assembly point: Amphitheatre

Qwaqwa Off Campus Tour

Date: 18 February 2024

Time: 08:00

Assembly point: Amphitheatre

To register for the campus tours, please click here.

News Archive

Course on sustainable development recognised at COP 17

2011-12-07

Some participants of the PED Nexus Programme during a field trip are from left: Jacques van Zuydam, Chief Director: Population and Development at the national Department of Social Development; Prof. André Pelser, course coordinator (UFS); Prof. Sosten Chiotha, Director, LEAD Southern and Eastern Africa; and Dr Nola Redelinghuys, course facilitator (UFS).

The University of the Free State (UFS) received a nod of approval at the COP 17 Climate Change Conference in Durban for a short course it presents in partnership with the Chief Directorate Population and Development, United Nations Populations Fund (UNFPA), LEAD International and SANParks.

The UFS received an honourable mention in a press release from the Department of Social Development for the short course entitled ‘Leadership Training in Sustainable Development: The Population, Environment and Development (PED) Nexus’. The release was issued as part of COP17. It mentions that the course is recognised in a publication of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) as one of ten innovative experiences and best practices in population and development in the developing world.

Prof. André Pelser, UFS Professor in Sociology, says the university played a key role in the development and implementation of the course. The UFS has been presenting the course since its inception in 2005. Similar courses under the banner of the PED Nexus, although in a totally different format, are also presented at the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University and the University of Cape Town. A total of 21 courses have been presented nationwide since 2005, of which the UFS has hosted eight. More than 230 participants from all over the world have been trained in these eight short nine-day courses.

The PED Nexus Programme focuses on the interrelationships of population, environment and development and its significance for sustainable human development and is closely linked to the implementation of the national Population Policy for South Africa. The press release reads that the programme is implemented in the form of short courses that target professionals and managers in governments at all levels as well as non-governmental agencies responsible for the implementation of programmes related to sustainable development.

Prof. Pelser and Dr Nola Redelinghuys, also from the Department of Sociology, have recently been tasked by the National Department of Social Development to upgrade the course outline. The next course will run from 17-25 April 2012. As in the case of pervious courses, the first six days will be hosted on our main Campus in Bloemfontein, whereafter course participants and their facilitators depart to the Golden Gate Highlands National Park for the practical part of the course.

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