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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

Intervarsity postponed to 2013
2012-03-08

The annual Intervarsity between the Universities of the Free State and North-West (NWU), which traditionally takes place in the third term, has been postponed to 2013.

The Intervarsity between the UFS and NWU is an illustrious event that has already reached the special milestone of celebrating a 70-year Intervarsity tradition. The UFS/NWU Intervarsity is also known as one of the most reckoned events on the local and national sports and student calendars, and it is widely supported.
 
Representatives from both universities could for a variety of reasons not decide on a date which suited both universities.
 
The respective Intervarsity committees and senior managers of both universities have also taken the interests of the respective university communities and alumni of the institutions into account and have decided to postpone the 70th-year celebration of Intervarsity by a year in order to be able to celebrate the milestone properly.
 
The UFS would have received the NWU in Bloemfontein this year and will therefore host the 70-year celebrations of the event next year as well.
 
Mr Rudi Buys, Dean: Student Affairs at the UFS has expressed his gratitude for the fact that both universities are committed to a special celebration of the Intervarsity tradition in 2013.
 
“The celebration of the 70th Intervarsity between the two institutions will be an important milestone to commemorate decades of friendship, collaboration and healthy competition. Therefore we welcome this opportunity to plan a bigger and better programme for 2013,” he said.
 
The UFS-NWU 70-YEAR Intervarsity firstly aims to establish the programme as a proud example for both universities, where students and staff can pit their strengths against one another in a healthy manner.
 
The aim is to extend Intervarsity to various sections of the respective university communities to enable more students to participate. For instance, more sports codes will be added to the traditional competition on the rugby, soccer, netball and hockey fields, whilst various events focusing on arts and culture, i.e. choral singing and debating competitions, as well as dialogue between student leaders, will take place as part of the programme. All campuses of the two universities will participate in the programmes.
 
Students are even investigating the possibility of electronic competitions such as on-line games as part of the Intervarsity
 
During the Intervarsity last year, several new possibilities were already tested to ensure that the 70th anniversary would be a huge success.
 
The Central Intervarsity Committee of the UFS has decided to replace the Intervarsity 2012 programme with an INTRA-varsity programme between its respective campuses. For this occasion, various sports, arts and culture, and leadership events between the Bloemfontein and Qwaqwa Campuses are planned, and the Central University of Technology might be invited as well to participate as guests in some programmes.

Media Release
8 March 2012
Issued by: Lacea Loader
Director: Strategic Communication
Tel: 051 401 2584
Cell: 083 645 2454
E-mail: news@ufs.ac.za


 

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