…local communities, sharing skills with local business and supporting the growth of start-up companies should place us at the heart of the government’s place-based agenda. As ever, to make this case compellingly though, we need to work together….
…nd knowledge sharing opportunities. We are one of only a small number of UK-based Cofund projects and the only UK umbrella organisation, bringing together 15 host institutions to establish and deliver the programme. 2018 and 2019 were busy years. We collated PhD project proposals, completed the global recruitment of 70 international fellows, aligned HR practices and audit trails across all the partner universities, all at the same time as deliveri…
…verse academics to engage with the media. To mark the launch, we hosted an online event, where a panel of speakers addressed the importance of media diversity, and how the higher education sector can take collective action to allow for greater representation in the academic voices within the media. The event also marked the launch of our ‘Expert Bank’, which has launched on our website and is hosted by one of our campaign partners ExpertFile. From…
…also in the current and proposed Teaching Excellence and Student Outcomes Framework (TEF). These are arguably set to become more influential in the future, particularly if OfS goes ahead with plans to impose absolute minimum baselines in the B3 conditions – which are opposed by University Alliance and many others in the sector, from Universities UK to the British Academy. Alliance universities are justifiably proud of their students’ outcomes. Ho…
…searchers at the University of South Wales who are driving research in soil-based alternatives to cement. Blessing’s PhD explored the use of wastes and industrial by-products in building and construction materials, and his research has underpinned a commercial consultancy contract from Spain on developing a MgO-based binder. To combat the climate crisis, there is an urgent need to reduce CO2 emissions and develop sustainable alternatives to tradit…
…s efforts. For example, we know that public support for arts and humanities-based subjects historically poll lower than other subjects. When asked which subjects universities should prioritise within the recovery, respondents within this survey polled social sciences at 24%, with 13% for languages and 12% for the arts. Despite this, we remain committed to defending the value of these subjects. We have to acknowledge and recognise that there is wor…
…arning approaches, best practice, and evaluation; Access to a national peer-to-peer network and a space to share ideas for measuring and evidencing student learning gain, engagement and feedback; National opportunities to present, facilitate and support teaching and learning enhancement; for example we may be able to offer leadership roles for staff seeking to move into more senior leadership positions. Opportunities to generate academic outputs o…
…nferences. The Doctoral Training Alliance (DTA) team coordinated over 50 in-person and online events, including our annual Summer School which took place in Greenwich University in July. Looking into 2024, we are excited to further strength our global network through the launch our new website, as well as DTA Connections fellowship award. 7. I’ll raise a glass to that! This is less a moment, and more a series of moments, but it would be remiss of…
…unities. Student participation is vital and we are keen to develop a trauma-informed staff-student dialogue which breaks down issues of mistrust. This year the sexual consent modules were trialled by students studying from foundation to postgraduate level, and by a small group of staff. Their recommendations have influenced revisions to Brook’s modules and shaped our focus for 2021-22. For example, acknowledging that an isolated online resource do…
…e been working online over the past 12 months. Keeping them informed and up-to-date with the latest information has been a huge undertaking. When I was nominated for the Star Award, I was extremely flattered as I was simply just doing my job. My use of Moodle at the time, was used to engage with the students in a way that enabled them to see the hundreds of events and opportunities that we, as a University, were able to offer them. Students have t…
