Vol 1 - Support Services Ufs Ac Za - University of the Free State

Postgraduate students are the researchers ofthe future. These burgeoning aca de mics,engaged with Masters, Doctoral andpostdoctoral work, represent the key driver ofresearch productivity and the creation of newknowledge in South Africa. Cognisant of this reality,the University of the Free State (UFS) is committedto providing a research-rich environment andinfrastructure for all of its postgraduate students,by:• inducting students into an active researchcommunity, introducing them to alter na tiveviewpoints and providing them with suitablyskilled and knowledgeable super visors andopportunities to interact with stu dents andacademics across a wide spectrum;• encouraging students to undertake re searchwithin the world of work and within thecommunity, including collabo ration withexternal partners; and• building student research capacity through arange of support activities.These support activities include orientation orinduction programmes, research design andmethods training, research skills training, languageand writing skills development, editorial supportfor writing, the development of research-relatedskills (such as project man agement, team work,information retrieval and database management), amentoring system and the provision of guidanceand counselling in the event of difficulties. Themajority of these services are already being offeredthough various Depart ments and units at theUniversity. However, when postgraduate support isnot managed as a whole, at an institutional level, itis often challenging for postgraduate students toidentify and access activities relevant to theirindividual capacity develop ment needs.Consequently, the UFS identified the need for aformal, dedicated support structure which wouldcoordinate all academic support services andactivities aimed at postgraduate students. Thissupport structure takes the form of an institutionalPostgraduate Student Support Office, a one-stopservice offered through the UFS DirectorateResearch Development (DRD).The DRD’s Strategic Framework for theDevelopment of Research at the UFS (2003)prioritised effective and quality postgraduatetraining as a prominent part of its quality as suranceobjective. This entails not only an in crease inthe quantity of postgraduate stu dents, but alsoin the quality of the research activities of theseemerging researchers. The High er EducationQuality Committee of the South African Councilon Higher Education further confirmed the urgentneed for formal and coordinated postgraduatestu dent sup port services at the UFS during its2006 insti tu tional audit. Moreover, the NationalResearch Foundation (NRF) identi fied theproduction of “large numbers of high-qualityPhDs to pro vide the bedrock for an innovativeand entre preneurial so ciety” 4 as a key driver forall of its pro gram mes in 2005. This strategy of4 Source: http://www.nrf.ac.za/publications/news@nrf/apr2005/apr05.pdf60