Latest News Archive

Please select Category, Year, and then Month to display items

UFS on track to revolutionise student success and boost sustainability

14 August 2025 | Story Onthatile Tikoe and the Centre for Teaching and Learning | Photo Supplied

CTL — From the left: Dr Jenny Glennie (SAIDE), Gugu Khanye (Director: Student Success – UFS), Prof Matete Madiba (Deputy Vice-Chancellor – UWC), Prof Francois Strydom (UFS Siyaphumelela Lead), and Prof Nthabiseng Ogude (Siyaphumelela Institutional Coach) at the 2025 Siyaphumelela Conference. The group played a key role in advancing conversations around student success, collaboration, and innovation in higher education.

The University of the Free State (UFS) is advancing a transformative approach to student success that positions it to become a national leader in enhancing social mobility. This vision was underscored at the 2025 Siyaphumelela Conference, where the university shared details of its groundbreaking collaboration with the National Institute for Student Success (NISS) at Georgia State University (GSU) in the United States.

Prof Francois Strydom, Senior Director: Centre for Teaching and Learning (CTL), explained that the initiative builds on lessons from GSU’s remarkable achievements. “The success of Georgia State University has been truly inspiring,” he said. “The NISS approach, which focuses on using data to dismantle systemic barriers and improve graduation rates, has transformed outcomes for a predominantly low-income and diverse student body. By contextualising this data-driven model for our environment, the UFS is proud to be the first university on the African continent to implement it.”

Building on proven success

GSU’s success in eliminating equity gaps in retention and completion among different racial groups was achieved through a redesign of its support structures and processes. Drawing on its own established track record of narrowing equity gaps in success rates, the UFS aims to replicate these outcomes in a way that is tailored to its unique context.

At the conference, the UFS Centre for Teaching and Learning (CTL) launched a new national report on student engagement trends and presented papers on a range of topics. These included innovative strategies for improving performance in high-priority modules, the use of predictive analytics to provide proactive student support, and research into gender differences in academic performance and class attendance in a post-COVID world.

Prof Strydom also led an exploratory panel discussion on strengthening collaboration between universities, business, and philanthropy to drive large-scale student success initiatives. “By facilitating a deeper understanding between philanthropic organisations, businesses, and universities, we can develop innovative and impactful approaches to funding and student support,” he said.

Driving innovation and sustainability

The UFS’ contributions at the conference were further reinforced by institutional projects focused on the evidence-based integration of artificial intelligence (AI) into student learning and success. These initiatives reflect a clear commitment to transformation that is both research-led and data-driven.

Looking ahead, Prof Strydom emphasised the opportunity before the institution: “We have a unique opportunity to leverage the lessons learnt from our student success initiatives to guide further research, deploy technology in ways that optimise human connection, and help create responsible societal futures while contributing to the sustainability of our university.”

News Archive

Programme: Intervarsity, Kovsies and Pukke

2008-08-01

Intervarsity on Kovsie Campus

Friday 8 August 2008:

Netball:
18:00 Soetdoring vs Dinki UFS Netball court 1
18:00 Wag-‘n-Bietjie (UFS) vs Eikenhof UFS Netball court 2
18:00 Marjolein vs Minjonet UFS Netball court 3
18:00 Vergeet-My-Nie 2 (UFS) vs Bellatrix UFS Netball court 4
19:15 Vergeet-My-Nie 1 (UFS) vs Wanda UFS Netball court 1
19:15 Roosmaryn vs Vergeet-My-Nie (PUK) UFS Netball court 2
19:15 Emily Hobhouse vs Karlien UFS Netball court 3
19:15 Soetdoring 2 vs Wag-‘n-Bietjie (PUK) UFS Netball court 4

Badminton:
18:00 UFS vs PUK ( 2 USSA teams) UFS Badminton hall

Squash:
18:00 UFS vs PUK ( 1 USSA teams) UFS Squash courts

Table Tennis:
18:00 UFS vs PUK ( 1 USSA teams) UFS Badminton hall

Hockey:
18:00 UFS Hostel 3 vs PUK Hostel 3 (Men) UFS Astro 2
18:00 Kovsies 1 vs PUK 1 (Men) UFS Astro 1
18:50 UFS Hostel 2 vs PUK Hostel 2 (Men) UFS Astro 2
19:30 UFS Hostel 1 vs PUK Hostel 1 (Men) UFS Astro 1

Soccer:
14:00 UFS 1 vs PUK 1 (Ladies) UFS field 8
16:00 UFS 2 vs PUK 2 (Men) UFS field 8
19:00 Toasts Shimla Park
19:20 UFS 1 vs PUK 1 Shimla Park

Saturday 9 August 2008:

Golf:
8:00 UFS vs PUK (8 men) Bloemfontein GC

Volleyball:
8:30 UFS men vs PUK men UFS Badminton hall

Tennis:
8:30 UFS Ladies vs PUK Ladies (10 players) UFS Tennis courts
8:30 UFS Men vs PUK Men (10 players) UFS Tennis courts

Hockey:
9:00 UFS Hostel 1 vs PUK Hostel 1 (L) UFS Astro 1
9:00 UFS Hostel 2 vs PUK Hostel 2 (L) UFS Astro 2
9:50 UFS Hostel 4 vs PUK Hostel 4 (L) UFS Astro 2
10:15 Kovsies 2 vs PUK 2 (L) UFS Astro 1
10:40 UFS Hostel 3 vs PUK Hostel 3 (L) UFS Astro 2
11:45 Kovsies 1 vs PUK 1 (L) UFS Astro 1

Rugby:
9:00 UFS u/19 vs PUK u/19 Shimla Park
9:00 UFS Agriculture vs PUK Engineers UFS field 2
9:00 Veritas (UFS) vs Overs UFS field 3
9:00 JBM vs Villagers UFS field 4
9:00 Karee vs Caput UFS field 5
10:30 UFS u/21 vs PUK u/21 Shimla Park
10:30 Vishuis vs De Wilgers UFS field 2
10:30 Armentum vs Veritas (PUK) UFS field 3
10:30 Reitz vs Patria UFS field 4
10:30 UFS Ritsims vs PUK 3 UFS field 5
12:00 Irawas vs Ibbies Shimla Park
13:30 Toasts Shimla Park
14:00 Shimlas vs PUKKE Shimla Park

Back

Economic and Management Sciences

Education

Health Sciences

The Humanities

Law

Natural and Agricultural Sciences

Theology and Religion

Open Distance Learning

Business School

We use cookies to make interactions with our websites and services easy and meaningful. To better understand how they are used, read more about the UFS cookie policy. By continuing to use this site you are giving us your consent to do this.

Accept