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Continuation of academic activities at the University of the Free State (UFS)

17 October 2025 | Story Lacea Loader

Academic activities at the University of the Free State (UFS) will continue on Monday 20 October 2025.

The Executive Committee of the university appreciates the understanding and cooperation of all staff and students during this time.

The academic calendar has been amended to ensure the successful completion of the 2025 academic year.

1. Academic calendar

The end of the fourth quarter will be postponed, and the start of the main end-of-year examinations will be moved from 3 November to 10 November 2025.

This decision applies to all students, except final-year students in the Faculty of Health Sciences.

Final-year students in the Faculty of Health Sciences will commence their year-end examinations on 3 November 2025 to enable them to graduate in December 2025 and begin their community service/internships in January 2026.

Information to support the continuation and completion of lectures and assessments will be communicated by the respective lecturers.

Our students are encouraged to consult their lecturers or programme coordinators with any queries.

2. Qwaqwa Campus

The Qwaqwa Campus will reopen on Monday 20 October 2025, with staff and students returning as follows:

Monday 20 October 2025: University Estates staff
Tuesday 21 October 2025: Academic staff and professional and support services staff
Wednesday 22 October 2025: Residence students
Thursday 23 October 2025: Resumption of all academic activities

The university extends its appreciation to staff and students for their patience, commitment, and resilience.

Issued by:

Lacea Loader

Senior Director: Communication and Marketing

University of the Free State

loaderl@ufs.ac.za

News Archive

UFS becomes the first university in Africa to sign a memorandum of understanding with the United Nations University

2009-12-01

During the signing of the memorandum of agreement between DiMTEC and the United Nations University in Bonn, Germany were, from the left, seated: Prof. Konrad Osterwalder, Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations and Rector of the United Nations University; and Prof. Herman van Schalkwyk, Dean of the Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences at the UFS; back: Prof. Dusan Sakulski, Academic Officer, UNU Cooperative Unit for South Africa; and Mr Andries Jordaan, Director of DiMTEC at the UFS.
Photo: Supplied

The University of the Free State (UFS) has become the first university in Africa to sign a memorandum of understanding with the United Nations University. The memorandum of understanding was negotiated by Mr Andries Jordaan, Director of the UFS's Disaster Management Training and Education Centre for Africa (DiMTEC).

Mr Jordaan negotiated with the United Nations University Institute for Environment and Human Security (UNU-EHS) to foster a relationship and combine their pool of resources for training in different aspects of Disaster Management. A triangular agreement between DiMTEC, UNU-EHS and the University of Novi Sad in Serbia will be established in three phases. The first phase is the signing of a memorandum of understanding between DiMTEC and UNU-EHS. This phase was completed in September 2009, when Prof. Konrad Osterwalder, Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations and Rector of the United Nations University, and Prof. Herman van Schalkwyk, Dean of the Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences at the UFS signed the memorandum in Bonn, Germany. The second phase is a memorandum of understanding between UNU-EHS and the University of Novi Sad.

The memorandum of understanding entails among others joint projects between DiMTEC and the UNU-EHS, research for specific projects, exchange of lecturers and that the UNU will assist DiMTEC with external evaluation. As a result of this memorandum, the two universities have already combined their pool of resources by presenting a vulnerability short course and a visitation to the Republic of the Congo.

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