Latest News Archive

Please select Category, Year, and then Month to display items

UFS HR Division bags Gold at 2024 IABC Gold Quill Awards

02 July 2024 | Story Lunga Luthuli | Photo Suplied

IABC Awards 2024 — The UFS HR Division celebrates its win at the 2024 IABC Gold Quill Awards for its 2023 UFS Women’s Breakfast.

The University of the Free State's (UFS’s) Human Resources Division has been awarded gold in the Special and Experiential Events Category at the 2024 International Association of Business Communicators (IABC) Gold Quill Awards held in Chicago, Illinois. This accolade recognises the division’s exceptional work on the 2023 UFS Women’s Breakfast, an event that exemplified innovative communication and organisational development.

"Winning the gold at the 2024 IABC Gold Quill Awards is a significant honour for both the Human Resources Division and the UFS," said Susan van Jaarsveld, Senior Director of the HR Division. "This recognition highlights our commitment to excellence and innovation in communication and organisational development. It validates the hard work and dedication of our team in fostering a positive workplace culture and enhancing employee engagement and well-being."

The 2023 UFS Women’s Breakfast was meticulously planned, and executed with a unique ‘journey’ theme. "Since we have just launched our onboarding programme based on a journey theme, we extended this theme to our Women’s Breakfast," van Jaarsveld explained. "A carefully curated communication strategy and plan guided our actions, and we invited guests to ‘board a flight’ with us, integrating the journey theme with our content. Our approach is neatly tied into the UFS’s Vision 130, which is a journey to a better destination."

The primary objectives of the event were to promote the UFS's Vision 130, and to increase participation in university initiatives. "Data collected after the event indicated that we did hit the mark," van Jaarsveld noted. "Guests felt more familiar with the UFS’s Vision 130, and also experienced a sense of inclusion. Participation in our initiatives increased significantly – in some cases by 200%. Our biggest problem this year is finding venues that can accommodate our growing numbers."

The success of the UFS Women’s Breakfast was attributed to several innovative elements, including a video invitation simulating an airport boarding call, and staff dressed as flight attendants. "Some attendees thought our team was hired from a professional airline – what a compliment to the UFS Organisational Development team!" van Jaarsveld remarked.

Van Jaarsveld emphasised the importance of such events for fostering community and engagement within the university. "Studies have shown that positive social events in the workplace improve employee engagement and satisfaction," she said. "It is important for employees to see and feel that they are valued, and that their well-being is a priority."

Looking ahead, the HR Division plans to continue creating impactful and award-winning events. "Teamwork makes dream-work! Our goal is to 'be better' – not just about achieving external recognition or awards, but about making a meaningful and lasting impact on the university community we serve," van Jaarsveld concluded.

The UFS Human Resources Division’s dedication, perseverance, and award-winning efforts demonstrate its innovative and engaging initiatives, setting a high standard for future events and reinforcing the university's commitment to excellence.

News Archive

Her mission: Looking for viruses

2017-10-03

Prof Felicity Burt delivering her inaugural lecture,
Catching a Virus
Photo: Stephen Collett

“Preparing and presenting an inaugural lecture is an opportunity to look back at one’s career and to enjoy previous highlights and achievements; to share these, not only with colleagues, but also with family and friends.”

This is according to Prof Felicity Burt, who recently presented her inaugural lecture, Catching a Virus. Prof Burt is a professor in medical virology in the Faculty of Health Sciences at the University of the Free State (UFS). It may sound ominous, but it is a story about identifying viruses, and finding and stopping them in their tracks in nature.

Research focus on arbo- and zoonotic viruses
“My research focuses on arboviruses and zoonotic viruses,” said Prof Burt. “Arboviruses are viruses that are transmitted by insect vectors, such as mosquitoes, ticks, midges or sandflies, whereas zoonotic viruses are naturally transmitted from animals to humans. However, there is a considerable overlap between these two groups.” The research looks at host responses, virus discovery and surveillance in order to identify which of the viruses in circulation have the potential to cause human diseases.

“Emerging and re-emerging viruses have significant implications for public health,” said Prof Burt at the start of her lecture. She also stated that there have been disease outbreaks of unprecedented magnitude, which have spread and established in distinct geographic regions. “Many of these emerging viruses are transmitted by vectors or are spread to humans from animals. These viruses can cause significant diseases in humans,” said Prof Burt.

There are many reasons why these viruses re-emerge, such as global warming, human invasion in forested areas, changes in agricultural practices, international travel, as well as the illegal movement of animals. Prof Burt used the Zika virus as an example of a recent emerging virus.

More than 20 years’ experience
With more than 20 years’ experience and a PhD in medical virology from the University of the Witwatersrand, Prof Burt is a renowned specialist. She has worked in the Special Pathogens Unit at the National Institute for Communicable Diseases, and was a member of various teams responding to outbreaks of Ebola and Rift Valley fever in Africa and Saudi Arabia, respectively. She is co-author of more than 51 articles in international scientific journals, as well as six chapters on arboviruses. In 2016, she was awarded a SARChl research chair by the South African Research Chair Initiative for her research on vector-borne and zoonotic diseases.

Click here to read the full lecture.

Back

Economic and Management Sciences

Education

Health Sciences

The Humanities

Law

Natural and Agricultural Sciences

Theology and Religion

Open Distance Learning

Business School

We use cookies to make interactions with our websites and services easy and meaningful. To better understand how they are used, read more about the UFS cookie policy. By continuing to use this site you are giving us your consent to do this.

Accept