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12 December 2024
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Dr Cias Tsotetsi, newly appointed Campus Vice-Principal: Academic and Research on the UFS Qwaqwa Campus.
The University of the Free State (UFS) is pleased to announce the appointment of Dr Cias Tsotetsi as the Campus Vice-Principal: Academic and Research on the UFS Qwaqwa Campus as from 1 January 2025.
He is currently Senior Lecturer and Assistant Dean in the Faculty of Education on the UFS Qwaqwa Campus. He holds the following qualifications: BEd(Hons), Postgraduate Diploma in Education, Magister Educationis with specialisation in Policy Studies and Governance in Education, and PhD with specialisation in Philosophy and Policy Studies in Education – all from the UFS.
Dr Tsotetsi operated in the school environment for about 24 years before joining this university in 2010. Since then, he has taught several modules in the Faculty of Education and published several co-authored research articles as well as conference papers on community engagement, teacher development, and participatory action research methodologies, among others. He is also well versed in supervising postgraduate students.
He has received awards from both the university’s Scholarship of Teaching and Learning and the Research committees for his research and academic scholastic performance. He is a member of various committees, such as the Faculty of Education Academic Advisory Board and the Committee for Title Registration and has been participating in partnerships and in NRF-funded projects with peers from universities such as the University of KwaZulu-Natal, the University of Zululand, the Durban University of Technology, and the University of Venda.
“Dr Tsotetsi has a clear understanding of the current systems and operations on the Qwaqwa Campus and is positioned to drive its development. His experience and initiatives involving staff and postgraduate students are exceptional and inspiring. We look forward to Dr Tsotetsi’s valuable contribution to the UFS Qwaqwa Campus and the institution in his new position,” says Prof Prince Ngobeni, Campus Principal of the Qwaqwa Campus.
“I feel honoured to serve the university – and the Qwaqwa Campus in particular – and look forward to working with the campus and its management to develop the research portfolio,” says Dr Tsotetsi.
Book on SA sign language and the local deaf community
2006-04-24
The Sign Language Division of the Department of Afro asiatic Studies, Sign Language and Language Practice at the University of the Free State (UFS) and the Belgian universities of Ghent and Brussels are in the process of writing a book on South African sign language and the South African deaf community. The book will consist of two parts: an ethnographic part on communication by deaf people in South Africa on the basis of life stories told by deaf people and a sketch grammar of South African sign language. At the same time the researchers are engaged in cross-linguistic grammatical research of South African sign language as compared to Flemish sign language.

Two Belgian academics are currently visiting the UFS to work on the book and on the cross-linguistic aspects. Here are from left to right Ms Emily Matabane (academic assistant from the UFS Sign Language Division), Prof Mieke Van Herreweghe (Ghent University), Prof Myriam Vermeerbergen (Vrije Universiteit van Brussel) and Mr Philemon Akach (senior lecturer at the UFS Sign Language Division and coordinator of the research project).