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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

Architecture rewards talent

2016-11-25

Description: "Architecture Corobrik Tags: Architecture Corobrik

Lana Bramley (winner), Petru du Toit (second place),
Sinjon Moffett (third place), and Nina Nel
(best use of brick in a design) were
winners at the Corobrik Architecture
Student of the Year competition.
Photo: Leonie Bolleurs

During the recent announcement of the Corobrik Architecture Student of the Year, Lana Bramley was named regional winner in the Free State. Bramley is currently a master’s degree student in the Department of Architecture at the University of the Free State (UFS).

For her dissertation, she examined the design of an art gallery as a liminal architectural intervention, questioning the rigid boundaries of the UFS Campus. Bramley obtained distinctions for her Architecture dissertation, Design dissertation, and for Construction.

Bramley will join Roodt Architects next year.

The following students were also named winners in this year’s regional competition:

Best use of brick in a design: Nina Nel
Second place in the Corobrik Architectural student of the year competition (regional): Petru du Toit
Third place in the Corobrik Architectural student of the year competition (regional): Sinjon Moffett

From the master’s class, a total of 27 students obtained distinctions (nine for Design dissertation, 12 for Construction and six for Architecture dissertation). Prof Jan Smit and Henry Pretorius, Head of the Department of Architecture, awarded two prizes respectively to the best Technical Design student, Janrie Haarhoff, and the best Architecture dissertation student, Petru du Toit.

Musa Shangase, Commercial Director of Corobrik, congratulated students on the quality of their work. It is the 30th year this competition has been presented by Corobrik, a company that is 114 years old, to encourage talent in this profession. The national winner is expected to be announced in May 2017.

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