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Dr Munita Dunn-Coetzee appointed Evaluator for national counselling programmes

08 May 2024 | Story Lunga Luthuli | Photo Supplied

Dr Munita Dunn-Coetzee, Director of Student Counselling and Development (SCD) at the University of the Free State (UFS), was recently appointed as an Evaluator Counselling Psychologist for Higher Educational Institution and Internship Site Programmes under the Accreditations and Quality Assurance Committee of the Professional Board for Psychology within the Health Professions Council of South Africa (HPCSA).

This appointment will enable Dr Dunn-Coetzee to contribute directly towards boosting the quality of counselling psychology training and internship programmes across South Africa. “The role entails visiting South African higher education institutions (HEIs) with counselling psychology internships and evaluating whether their internships align with the requirements of the HPCSA,” she explained. “This appointment strengthens the SCD’s internship and aligns perfectly with my current role.”

Motivated by her belief in the profound impact of counselling psychologists on society, Dr Dunn-Coetzee emphasised the importance of providing quality internships. "My role can enhance relationships between rotational sites in South Africa and assist sites where some development might be needed."

She outlined the criteria for assessing internship sites and highlighted the anticipated contributions to the development of counselling psychology training programmes nationwide. “The evaluations create a space for discussion, learning, and development,” she explained. “I envision that an Evaluator role can positively impact the quality of training and support offered to counselling psychology interns.”

Dr Dunn-Coetzee also acknowledged the challenges ahead, particularly regarding the diverse landscape of HEIs across South Africa. “The amount of administration, financial resources, and logistical resources needed to host internships is significant,” she noted. “I believe that this might be a challenge.”

Looking to the future, she expressed her hopes for more internship opportunities and expanded training programmes. “I would like to see more internship opportunities being established for counselling psychology interns,” she said. “At SCD, we have learned valuable lessons that will strengthen my role in achieving these goals.”

The UFS congratulates Dr Dunn-Coetzee on her appointment, which we are sure will herald a new era of excellence in counselling psychology training, promising a brighter future for aspiring psychologists across South Africa.

News Archive

Central SRC constitution for UFS approved by Council

2005-07-20

University of the Free State Fact Sheet

1. The Council of the University of the Free State (UFS) on 10 June 2005 unanimously approved the establishment of a Central Student Representative Council (CSRC) to constitute a legitimate basis for the democratic participation of students of all three of its campuses in the governance of the university.

2. In a major breakthrough and transformation step for student governance, the Central SRC will include representatives of the main campus in Bloemfontein, the Vista Bloemfontein campus and the Qwaqwa campus of the UFS.

3. The need to establish the Central SRC follows the incorporation of the Qwaqwa campus into the UFS in January 2003 and the incorporation of the Vista campus in Bloemfontein into the UFS in January 2004.

4. The constitution of the Central SRC is the outcome of a consensus reached during a lengthy process of negotiation between the SRCs of the three UFS campuses, indirectly involving diverse student formations such as Sasco, ANCYL, YCL, Pasma, SASO, SADESMO, AZASCO, SCO, HEREXVII, KovsieAlliance, ACDP, etc. Independent constitutional and political experts facilitated key parts of the negotiation process.

5. In this process, the UFS management went out of its way to ensure the participation of all student formations, especially Sasco and the ANC Youth League, as well as the duly elected SRC officials of the three campuses.

6. With the establishment of a Central SRC, the UFS has adopted a federal student governance model whereby the CSRC is the highest representative student body on matters of common concern for all students. The three campuses of the UFS will retain SRC structures for each campus with powers and responsibilities for matters affecting the particular campus.

7. The central SRC will have 12 members made up of delegates of the different campus SRCs, including the presidents of these three SRCs. In total, the main campus will have 5 representatives, the Qwaqwa campus will have 4 representatives and the Vista campus will have 3 representatives. This ratio ensures a strong voice for the smaller campuses in the central SRC.

8. This arrangement will be reviewed after a year to make allowance for the phasing out of undergraduate (pipeline) students at the Vista campus, as was agreed in the negotiations preceding the incorporation of that campus into the UFS.

9. From these 12 members a central SRC president will be chosen on a quarterly basis to represent the general student body at Executive Management, Senate and Council.

10. The historic official inauguration of the first Central SRC is scheduled to take place in early August 2005.

11. This event, like the adoption of a broadly negotiated new constitution for the main campus SRC, represents a breakthrough in that all three campus SRCs delegations and all relevant student organizations have been part of the process and have accepted the outcome of the process.

20 July 2005

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