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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.
Three netball players in USSA Dream Team
2016-07-26
Alicia Puren and the UFS netball team lost 43-44 against
the Pukke in the USSA semi-finals in Cape Town.
Photo: Johan Roux
Although they could not improve on 2015’s second place, the Kovsies were still rewarded. After the USSA tournament, held from 4 to 8 July 2016 in Cape Town, three netball players from the University of the Free State (UFS) were included in the Dream Team. They were the captain Tanya Mostert, vice-captain Khomotso Mamburu, and Alicia Puren.
Mostert and her team had to settle for third place, after losing narrowly to Pukke 43-44 in a semi-final. They beat Maties 45-42 to win the bronze medal. Earlier, they had outplayed the University of Johannesburg (64-38) and Pukke (59-40), but lost against Tuks 48-49.
Women’s hockey team finish fourth
The UFS women’s hockey team had to settle for the fourth place at the USSA tournament in Johannesburg after they lost to Maties 2-4 in the match for the third place.
The UFS men’s team was sixth overall in the City of Gold.
Shimlas suffer several narrow defeats
After a number of narrow defeats, the Shimlas unfortunately only managed one USSA victory in East London, ending fifth overall. They lost against Maties (29-31) and Pukke (29-31), but beat Ikeys (25-0).
UFS squash team won B Division
Maryke Coetzee from Kovsies won the individual competition in the women’s B Division at the USSA squash tournament in Stellenbosch. The UFS was the overall winner in Division B.
The Kovsie women’s basketball team finished sixth at the USSA tournament in Johannesburg, with the men in the 13th place.
- The UFS did not send badminton and volleyball teams, as planned, to Stellenbosch and Pretoria, respectively.