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07 March 2024
Photo Lunga Luthuli
Prof Francois Strydom, Senior Director at the Centre for Teaching and Learning and Simphiwe Kunene, the first African DREAM scholar and a master’s student from the Faculty of Education.
The University of the Free State (UFS) received recognition for its commitment to student success at the 2024 Achieving the Dream (ATD) conference which celebrated its 20-year anniversary. Simphiwe Kunene, an Education master's student originally from the Qwaqwa campus, was selected to represent South Africa as the first DREAM scholar from Africa as part of the conference.
The Achieving the Dream network of over 300 institutions, which is one of the largest movements in US higher education aims to transform colleges and universities so that students of colour and a lower socio-economic status are supported to earn a degree. The UFS is a leading partner in the Siyaphumelela Network, which has been working for 10 years with ATD to enhance the success of students in South Africa. Prof Francois Strydom, Senior Director at the Centre of Teaching and Learning (CTL), accepted the award on behalf of the institution.
Prof Strydom said that collaboration with the ATD and Siyaphumelela institutions has helped the UFS to develop cutting-edge approaches to “level the playing field” and support Kovsies to earn their undergraduate degrees.
The first African DREAM scholar
Kunene was selected as the first African DREAM scholar from the Siyaphumelela network. To select the DREAM scholar, each Siyaphumelela partner institution nominated one student as a preferred candidate. From the proposed candidates, the DREAM scholar was selected by the South African Institute for Distance Education (Saide) based on the following: demonstrating resilience, academic excellence, and a deep commitment to making a positive difference in universities and personal communities.
He addressed the conference of over 2 000 delegates and shared with them his hopes and dreams. Many members of the South African delegation said Simphiwe did his country proud. He had the following to say about his opportunity to be a DREAM scholar: “Being a DREAM scholar was life changing for me, exposing me to an array of opportunities I never knew were possible and available for me. It was as if, for a moment, the world had stopped to just listen to what I had to say."
The way forward
The UFS will continue its work as a partner of the Siyaphumelela network for the 2024-2026 cycle. The multi-stakeholder project team is focused on enhancing undergraduate students’ time, and to position the UFS as a thought and research leader in the area of student success as part of Vision 130.
Justin J. Kennedy leads new Programme in Personal Excellence
2012-05-08
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Justin J. Kennedy
Photo: Leatitia Pienaar
8 May 2012
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Justin J. Kennedy has been appointed as the Manager of the new Programme in Personal Excellence. The programme is hosted in the Centre for Business Dynamics, the commercial unit of the Business School.
He studied at Rhodes University and the University of the Western Cape (UWC) and his research has been published in various health-related publications. His D.Psych. at the University of California migrated into a Ph.D. with research partner DiscoveryHealth.
While in New York, he was part of the research laboratory Helicor that developed the world’s first hand-held medical device for measuring heart-rate variability of the peripheral nervous system. This device forms part of the programmes offered to control stress and improve cognitive performance as per clinical trials at the UCT Department of Human Biology. This programme evolved into developing the M.Sc. course work on occupational stress and Ph.D. student supervision.
The programme will launch during the university's Beneficiary Programme for Academic Heads of Department, and will focus on the neuro-economics of stress resilience.
Justin’s most recent research is peer review for an international leadership journal where he has presented evidence on how people can improve their cognitive performance and working memory by building functional stress resilience. The overall aim of the programme is to not only reduce stress, but to improve ability to be excellent at work. Clinical results have shown it is beneficial for performance anxiety, insomnia, migraine, hypertension control and improved ability at cognitive tasks. The aim of his work is to ensure that simple and practical skills provide academics, students and corporate participants with enduring, functional techniques that are easily applied in their working lives.
The programme has three roles: to offer services that equip students and academics; consulting services to corporate clients, financial groups and private hospitals; and publication of results in peer-reviewed journals.
This initiative also envisages offering a postgraduate qualification and selected coaching qualifications. For more info about corporate interventions and programmes open to students and academics, please contact Ansie Barnard at barnardam@ufs.ac.za.