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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.
UFS Faculty of Health Sciences celebrates its newly qualified doctors
2016-12-09
The UFS medical students who obtained their
qualifications Cum Laude are: front row: Dr Madeli Jonker,
Dr Corli Leonard, Dr Jacques Kok, Dr Kelly Fuller.
Back row: Dr Henco Nel, Dr Dan Holmberg,
Dr Rikus Hoogenboezem and Dr Ben van Niekerk.
Photo: Marie-Louise du Toit
“Kovsies’ doctors stand out. They go the extra mile. Go out there and be a true representative of Kovsies’ servanthood.” These were the words of Prof Gert van Zyl, Dean of the Faculty of Health Sciences, at the annual function that was held by the School of Medicine for final-year medical students.
The function celebrates students who have obtained their MB ChB degrees, becoming qualified doctors. Prof Van Zyl went on to congratulate the students for thriving in a difficult year. “From today onwards, your degrees are in the bag, and nobody can take that away from you,” said Prof Van Zyl.
Class of 2016 praised for their tenacity
A total of 116 students obtained the qualifications, and were acknowledged as the class that showed the most tenacity, commitment and dedication to their studies. Nine students obtained their MB ChB qualifications Cum Laude. The medical students will be graduating at the UFS Summer Graduations on 8 December 2016.
Henco Nel, Michael Linström, and Daniel Holmberg were recognised as the best overall performing students in the class of 2016. Nel received prizes for best student in the departments of Urology and Orthopaedic Surgery; Linström walked away with awards from the departments of Anaesthesiology, Family Medicine and Obstetrics and Gynaecology, and Holmberg in Internal Medicine, and Paediatrics and Child Health.