Jaaroorsig - University of the Free State

Daarmee saam het die VrystaatseProvinsiale regering sy Opleidings- enOntwikkelingsinstituut vir staatsamptenarevan Thaba ’Nchu na die Vista-kampusverskuif.UFS the SA benchmarkfor community servicelearningThe University’s approach to communityengagement, i.e. in the form of communityservice learning and community serviceresearch, has the immense benefitthat it does not define community serviceas an “add-on”, but as an integral part ofits core activities. In the normal course oftheir studies, students complete communityservice modules, and gain a deeperunderstanding of course content and asense of civic responsibility.Research conducted by the JointEducation Trust (JET) into service-learningcourses at higher education institutionsbetween 2001 and 2004 showedthat the University of the Free Stateoffers more service-learning coursesthan any other institution in the country,and has the highest number of studentsenrolled for these courses. (See table onp.34.)The results indicated that the UFS isone of the few higher education institutionsin South Africa that have madeprogress in integrating community engagementinto the mainstream academicprogrammes.According to the findings 2 233 studentsat the UFS participated in servicelearningcourses. In total 6 930 studentswere participating in service-learningcourses at ten institutions throughoutSouth Africa. The research also foundthat out of a total of 182 service-learning33