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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

Prof. Jansen is a "charmer", say students

2010-09-14

Prof. Jansen with Transport personnel.

Prof. Jansen with a B.Ed. student, Nokubonga Mdlalose.

Prof Jansen with Mr Samuel Mensah.

Prof Jansen with Sibusiso Macu, Sindiswa Masango, Mbali Phakathi and Masebabatso Mofokeng.

Prof. Jansen with Ms Mtombeni (in a white coat )

CHARMING, DOWN TO EARTH, STREEWISE … these are some of the words staff and students on the Qwaqwa Campus used to describe our Rector and Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Jonathan Jansen during his recent courtesy visit to the campus.

Prof. Jansen easily mingled and joined in conversations like a person who was acquainted to the groups of friends that he spoke to. Topics ranged from “girlfriends and boyfriends, how easy or difficult that course was, this and that party”, and of course serious academic talk.

“Prof. Jansen jokingly asked me about my white coat and whether I was a medical doctor. And when I answered that I am a cleaners’ supervisor, he became more interested in what I had to tell him,’ said Ms Dineo Mtombeni, a Maintenance Services supervisor.

“He continued to praise me and my colleagues for the cleanliness on campus and I must say he showed that he is a caring person, despite his position,” concluded Ms Mtombeni.

“I was happy to see Prof. Jansen chatting informally with students and staff. I asked him what he thought of our campus and he said he would know it better once he started teaching here once or twice a week,” said Mr Samuel Mensah, Economics lecturer.

“I then invited him to present some Economics classes and he roared with laughter about the difficulty of dealing with our micro and macro aspects of the subject and I asked him to keep it down as that would justify my students’ fear of the subject,” laughed Mr Mensah.

“He is a nice and friendly person,” said a 19-year-old Bachelor of Commerce student Masebabatso Mofokeng.

“We shared a joke or two with him and it was one of our best experiences here on campus,” added friends, Sindiswa Masango (19) and Mbali Phakathi (19), who are also studying for their Bachelor of Commerce degrees.

A Bachelor of Education student, Nokubonga Mdlalose (20) described Prof. Jansen as a ‘charmer’.

“He is generous with his time, despite the high position that he occupies. He is approachable, friendly, charming, cool, calm and collected,” said Nokubonga.

“He asked me about my studies and I told him I wanted to make a difference in as far as teaching science is concerned. He was very interested in my Biology experiments and I am so glad I met him,” concluded Nokubonga.

– Thabo Kessah

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