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09 April 2025 | Story UFS Division of Student Affairs | Photo Supplied
SRC Graduations
Seventeen Campus Student Representative Council members are set to graduate during the week of 7 April 2025.

As the University of the Free State (UFS) commemorates the April 2025 graduation season, a group of student leaders is preparing to cross the stage not only as graduates but also as individuals who helped shape student life on our campuses.

The Office of Student Governance is celebrating 17 members of the Campus Student Representative Council (CSRC) who are graduating during the week of 7 April – a proud moment for the office and the broader UFS community.

These graduates have carried the responsibility of student leadership while staying committed to their academic journeys. Their names now join the long list of student leaders who’ve helped shape campus life and still crossed the finish line with their degrees in hand.

From Qwaqwa Campus, we celebrate Nomvuyo Nungu, Xolani Ntimane, Qhama Mqulo, Ayanda Madiba, Anele Mcineka, and Lebohang Mateka. From Bloemfontein Campus, we celebrate Martin Nyaka, Boikanyo Moleko, Portia Mtawarira, Ogorogile Moleme, Moses Davis, Oratile Lentsela, Naledi Mathakhoe, Siyabonga Dludla, Aphiwe Mbutuma, and Paballo Taoana.

Their contribution reflects the pillars of Student Affairs – student success and student development – and their legacy extends beyond office terms and meeting rooms.

Special recognition goes to those who also served on the Institutional SRC (ISRC): Nomvuyo Nungu, Martin Nyaka, Qhama Mqulo, Xolani Ntimane, and Ogorogile Moleme, whose leadership extended across all UFS campuses.

“To all current and aspiring student leaders, let this be a reminder: academic excellence and leadership can go hand in hand,” says Pholla Mbalane, Acting Head of Department for the Office of Student Governance. Continue to serve and lead, but never lose sight of your academic goals. Balance is not just possible, it is powerful.” 

Congratulations to our UFS leaders of the future!

News Archive

Universities join hands in developing literacy tests
2010-03-19

 
At the signing ceremony, from the left, are: Prof. Driekie Hay (Vice-Rector: Teaching and Learning), Prof. Albert Weideman (Head: Department of English) and Prof. Lucius Botes (Dean: Faculty of the Humanities).
Photo: Supplied


The development of academic literacy tests recently took a step into the future with the formal establishment of the Inter-institutional Centre for Language Development and Assessment (ICELDA).

ICELDA, under its first executive head, Prof. Albert Weideman, Head of the Department of English at the University of the Free State (UFS), is a cooperative venture between the multilingual Universities of Pretoria, North-West, Stellenbosch and the Free State.

It is dedicated to the development of reliable state-of-the-art academic literacy tests and currently makes 32 000 tests available to partnering universities annually.

Most notably, it has produced three of the most reliable academic literacy tests in the country. These include an Academic Listening Test and the Test of Academic Literacy Levels (TALL) for undergraduate students, with reliability levels that are more than 20% above international benchmarks.

“We are even more excited about our Test of Academic Literacy for Postgraduate Students (TALPS), which is already a crucial instrument in determining the literacy levels of postgraduate students at the Universities of the Free State, Pretoria and North-West,” said Prof. Weideman.

In addition, ICELDA is currently piloting studies for language tests for financial advisors, nurses, students of disaster management, as well as police studies at Unisa.

ICELDA will also collaborate with the Centre for English Language Communication (CELC) at the National University of Singapore.

“One of the undertakings I made on my visit to Singapore a year ago was that I would assist in every way I could with the building of joint expertise with CELC in language testing,” said Prof. Weideman.

“However, our focus will remain firmly on research.”

He said his goal was to employ the surpluses generated by selling tests to provide promising students with bursaries to stimulate further study and design of academic literacy and other language tests.

By drawing more researchers into the field, Weideman said, ICELDA could provide the capacity for developing reliable language tests that South Africa had always lacked.

Media Release
Issued by: Mangaliso Radebe
Assistant Director: Media Liaison
Tel: 051 401 2828
Cell: 078 460 3320
E-mail: radebemt@ufs.ac.za  
19 March 2010
 

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