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25 March 2024
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Story Anthony Mthembu
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Photo Lutendo Mabata
Prof Nompumelelo Zondi, the newly appointed Vice-Dean: Research and Postgraduate Studies in the Faculty of The Humanities at the University of the Free State (UFS).
Prof Nompumelelo Zondi has been appointed as Vice-Dean: Research and Postgraduate Studies in the Faculty of The Humanities at the University of the Free State (UFS). Prof Zondi assumed this new role on 1 March 2024 after serving as the Head of Department for African Languages at the University of Pretoria for seven years. “I consider this appointment as an opportunity of growth and learning more about higher education and the Faculty of The Humanities at large,” she said.
Prof Zondi indicates that part of her role is to spearhead the UFS Vision130 within the Faculty of The Humanities, and to ensure that the faculty assists the institution in becoming research-led, student-centred, and globally impactful.
Motivation for assuming this role
One of the primary reasons that led her to consider this role is sharing the knowledge she acquired as part of the Fulbright South African Research Scholar Programme. As a result of that experience and exposure, which went beyond the Ohio State University, she felt it befitting to implement some of the insights she acquired on a bigger scale. Therefore, even though she was impactful in her previous role, Prof Zondi believes that this is an exceptional and more desirable platform to do so. “I feel that I will have easier access to departments within the faculty, while also encouraging and supporting interdepartmental and faculty collaborations,” she explained.
A significant component of Vision 130
He believes that the elements that make up Vision 130 are interrelated. While she considers research central to Vision 130 – as she begins her journey at the UFS, she feels students deserve to be nurtured to further contribute to the university’s impactful research. Thus, student-centredness is the way to go. “I believe that students must be major role players in this Vision130; we must include them in the interactions and discussions that are part of the university’s strategic plan as well as in decision-making processes,” she said. As such, according to Prof Zondi, the more the faculty and the institution care for the students and involve them in Vision130 and in collaborations, the more research outputs the university will achieve.
Department of Oncology provides hyperbaric chamber to cancer patients – a first in the Free State
2016-03-21
From the left: De Villiers Brink, Gys Botes (both of the Par3 Golfday group that donated towards the hyperbaric chamber), Dr Alicia Sheriff (Head of the UFS Department of Oncology) and Prof Gert van Zyl (Dean of the UFS Faculty of Health Sciences). |
Thanks to the Department of Oncology at the University of the Free State (UFS), cancer patients now have access to a hyperbaric chamber – a medical treatment that enhances the body’s healing process through the inhalation of oxygen.
In order to realise this tremendous addition to the treatment of cancer patients, the Department of Oncology established collaboration between the UFS School of Medicine, the Free State Department of Health, and a group of private donors. Currently the only one in the Free State, the hyperbaric chamber has been installed at the Oncology ward at National Hospital in Bloemfontein and will benefit not only patients from the Free State, but also the North West province and the Northern Cape.
While lying down in the chamber, the patient’s body absorbs more oxygen as a result of the high levels of air pressure. This process stimulates the healing of cancer wounds and various other injuries, including sports injuries.
Dr Alicia Sherriff, Head of the Department of Oncology (UFS), says her team is passionate about enhancing the quality of their patients’ lives, even when facing difficult circumstances. “I believe that the hyperbaric chamber is just one way of achieving this, since it helps decrease the harm done by certain medical conditions on the human body,” Dr Sherriff says.