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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.
Prof Jonathan Jansen elected as new ASSAf President
2016-10-28
Prof Jonathan Jansen, former Vice-Chancellor
and Rector of the UFS, has been appointed
President of the ASSAf.
Photo: Supplied
The Academy of Science of South Africa (ASSAf) has elected former Vice-Chancellor and Rector of the University of the Free State (UFS), Prof Jonathan Jansen, as its new President for the next four years. He succeeds Prof Daya Reddy. Distinguished Professors Brenda Wingfield and Barney Pityana were elected ASSAf’s new Vice-Presidents.
The minds that shape tomorrow
The academy’s directive is to advise and provide the government with evidence-based solutions to national problems; inspiration, and examples of how science and technology can be applied for the benefit of society. ASSAf represents scientists in South Africa but also represents the country in the international community of science academies.
Prof Jansen, who is currently a Senior Research Professor at the UFS and a Fellow at the Center for Advanced Studies in the Behavioral Sciences at Stanford University, is also a Fellow of the American Educational Research Association, a Fellow of The World Academy of Sciences, and President of the South African Institute of Race Relations.
The great achieve greatly
Prof Jansen’s book, Knowledge in the Blood: Confronting Race and the Apartheid Past won the Nayef Al-Rodhan Prize, the largest award from the British Academy for Social Sciences and Humanities, for its contribution to scholarly excellence and transcultural understanding.
In 2013, he was awarded the Education Africa Lifetime Achiever Award in New York and the Spendlove Award from the University of California for his contributions to tolerance, democracy and human rights. He holds honorary degrees from the University of Edinburgh, the University of Vermont and Cleveland State University.
Plans for the future
His recent books include Leading for Change, which was published this year. He is completing a new book explaining the current crisis in, and future prospects of, South African universities, due for release in mid-2017.