Jaaroorsig - University of the Free State

Vista canbe a modelfor highereducationinstitutions.with the UFS and CUT in terms of theNational Plan for Higher Education torestructure higher education in SouthAfrica. The Qwaqwa Campus and theBloemfontein Vista Campus were incorporatedwith the UFS in January 2003and January 2004 respectively, and theWelkom Vista Campus with the CUT.Since the situation of the BloemfonteinVista Campus is somewhat differentfrom that of the other two, it was decidedto prioritise the Qwaqwa andWelkom Campuses. However, the proposedplans might well be implementedat Vista Bloemfontein in future andmight offer a model for the future developmentof higher education institutions.The research revealed a need torethink completely what we understandhigher education to be and what its functionshould be in the South African contextof high levels of poverty. It hasbecome apparent that higher educationneeds to play a significantly more proactiverole in supporting local socio-economicdevelopment, and linking this tobroader national processes of economicgrowth and job creation. It also becomescritical to locate higher education activitiesmore strongly within integratededucational systems that serve thebroader post-secondary needs of specificareas, while engaging more carefullywith the challenge of providing routesfor marginalised school learners into furthereducation and training and highereducation.Analyses of the campuses show that,while they have made progress sinceincorporation, both remain unsustainablein the long term.The overall vision of the Tri-CampusProject is to reconfigure the Qwaqwaand Welkom Campuses to form part ofintegrated systems of educational deliv-ery. The explicit focus will be to createinstitutions that are responsive to thecountry’s fundamental challenge ofdealing with poverty alleviation in a sustainablemanner. They will deliver astrong mix of livelihoods-orientedprogrammes, thus producing skilled citizenscapable of occupying key positionsin the country’s growing economy.To achieve this, the UFS’s Qwaqwacampus will develop a niche focus onsocio-economic development informedby operation in a predominantly ruralcontext.Planne met Vista-kampusDie hoofdoelwit van die dienste wat bydie gerekonfigureerde Vista-kampusaangebied gaan word, is ontwikkelingvan menslike hulpbronne, wat asstukrag vir die sentrale streek moet dien.Nuwe hulpbronne sal ook vir onderwysen opleiding aangewend word om by tedra tot hoër onderwys in die Vrystaat.Tydens die onderhandelinge voor enna inlywing is ooreengekom dat dierekonfigurering van die kampus tot ’nnuwe bate moet lei, met geen dupliseringvan dienste of programme wat opdie hoofkampus aangebied word nie.Die Vista-kampus kan aangewendword vir die aanbied van bedrywighedewat nog op die hoofkampus aangebiedword (soos kort leerprogramme), nuweUV-bedrywighede (hoofsaaklik van ’nontwikkelings- en entrepreneurieseaard), samewerkingsvennootskappe metander rolspelers en die verhuring vanonderwys- en opleidingsgeriewe.Die UV bied reeds twee “dienste” opdie Vista-kampus aan — die Streeksentrumvir Erkenning van Voorafleer endie Sesotho-taalnavorsing- en -ontwikkelingsentrum.32