Epiphany Term 2016 John Snow College Newsletter

John Snow College

Newsletter Epiphany Term 2016

Issue 7

Contents

2| A word from the top

6| Alumni

4| JCR

11| Upcoming Events

Editor’s Note A new term and a slightly new design to this issue of the college newsletter. With all the positive feedback from the revamped Michaelmas edition of the newsletter, I hope the current edition will result in equal if not more delight.

This term we have seen several projects within the college come to light. Our newly launched ‘Student Development Fund’ has seen its first cohort of applicants interviewed and selected.

We welcomed a new cohort of alumni in the winter graduation and successfully held our annual London After Hours alumni drinks reception at the Counting House.

College Community is a very important entity here at Snow and has been shown time and time again through generous

alumni to philanthropic students and charitable supporters. I firmly believe that an informed, engaged and connected community is the best and only way to make an association such as John Snow’s strengthen and thrive.

So, if you

have any questions, comments, stories, photos or memories you wish to share please do get in touch. We would love to hear from you and help grow our community with your input. Until then I hope you enjoy the pages ahead.

Best Wishes

Monika Strycharczyk Alumni Relations & College Community Assistant

A word from the top

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The Principal’s Piece Epiphany term always seems to fly by, and this term has been no exception. The arrival in September 2015 of our new Vice-Chancellor, Professor Stuart Corbridge, has reinvigorated the University. The vision is clearDurham’s plan is to ensure that we improve on our already high position in the world marketplace.

Excellence in three pillars of our offer—teaching, research and student experience alongside internationalisation, are most definitely the core of our University plan going forward. This year has seen a number of significant reviews of various parts of the University, including a review of Queen’s Campus.

These are, indeed, exciting times. By the end of this academic year, I anticipate a number of key strategic decisions will have been made around the offer at Queen’s Campus and the Durham City Campus, and I look forward to reporting these to you in a future Newsletter.

three wonderful Formal dinners with splendid student performances (thanks Anna and Rory), seeing the Student Development Programme get off to a great start (thanks Kenya and John), and Paul Walmsley’s cheerful whistling first thing on a cold and rainy morning.

Professor Carolyn Summerbell Principal of John Snow College

Highlights of this term for me have been our progress with John Snow College Alumni relations (thanks Monika), outstanding welfare support for our students, particularly those with complex mental health issues (thanks Gini and Karen, and the JCR Welfare team),

Karen Langdon, Vice-Principal Locum Hello, I am very fortunate to have been given the opportunity to join John Snow College on a temporary basis as the Vice-Principal. I have received a very warm welcome by staff and students!

Working with Monika, I can see how passionate she is about creating a thriving alumni who have access to the skills and contacts of each other and who can contribute to the on-going success of those who come after you. The Business Connect initiative looks very promising and a great way to build

future career prospects. A real chance to put something back into College whilst CV building for yourself. A win win for everyone. The people you meet here really can be a great network for the rest of your life, so do stay in touch. As Snow alumni spread across the globe I look forward to meeting you – you never know when that could happen!

Karen Langdon Vice-Principal Locum

A word from the top 3

John Fletcher, SCR President

The Senior Common Room is an organisation which exists to support the College and its students and to forge links between town and gown. I succeeded Barbara Hawkins as President last term.

During the 2015 Long Vacation the SCR had made an initial contribution of £1500 to the new Student Development Fund, set up jointly with the JCR. The first grants from this were made in Michaelmas Term.

The SCR committee spent some time on drawing up a submission to the Queen’s Campus Options Working Group. Supporting retention of Queen’s Campus, this went in the names a number of SCR members who were not employed by the University.

We are building up archives for our (relatively new) College – if you have photos or other material to preserve for posterity, please get in touch.

Stockton Café Scientifique continues to flourish, meeting on (usually) the third Tuesday evening of each month in ARC to hear a talk by an expert, designed for non-experts, and then question and discuss it. Do watch out for publicity – a chance to broaden your mind in a convivial atmosphere! SCR members also attend talks on campus by scholars and researchers on their topics, confronting them with friendly challenge and giving them a chance to hone their presentational skills.

Do find out more at http://tinyurl.com/opq2rtk!

John Fletcher SCR President 2015/2016

Natalie Gallagher, MCR President The start of Epiphany term has seen our Middle Common Room community grow with the welcoming of a new member to our College and the University. We are delighted you have chosen to join our John Snow College postgraduate association; we hope you enjoy all that the college has to offer.

The second instalment of the ‘John Snow Seminar Series’ is concluding in March, with PGR students; Asma Mohammed (John Snow College) and Mohit Jain (Stephenson College) presenting aspects of their research. This event has again been successful, attracting a wide audience including undergraduates,

academics and SCR members. We thank those who have taken part and presented their research.

We also thank the college for their encouragement and support in the organising of this event and look forward to continuing these seminars in the next academic year.

Natalie Gallagher, MCR President 2015/2016

JCR

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John Snow College Junior Common Room Kenya Peters, JCR President Hello Alumni, It has been another exciting term so far here in John Snow JCR. With more events than ever on the social calendar and many changes we have aimed to increase diversity and inclusion amongst our student body! I hope you enjoy the latest update!

Kenya Peters JCR President, 2015/16

Refreshers’ Weekend & events

QC Review Update

Refreshers’ Weekend was a hit as always, with trips to Newcastle, Durham and Leeds and the beginning of ‘The Frep Games’, an annual event lasting over two terms that allows students to express their interest in becoming a Student Representative. This year we also held a dodgeball match over the weekend, and a pyjama party in the Igloo to wrap it all up. Attendance levels were a record high with all students showing real enthusiasm and enjoyment!

As some of you may know Stuart Corbridge, the new Vice -Chancellor wrote a vision for the University upon his appointment. As part of this vision he asked that a committee review Queen’s Campus in order to secure its identity and purpose in support of the new academic strategy of the University. It was announced yesterday that the committee has recommended that the Campus be repurposed and become the International Foundation College. This will allow the University to realise its goals in regards to Internationalisation targets, as well as give the Campus a clear purpose. If this recommendation is agreed by Council in July, current academic activity that happens on Queen’s Campus will be relocated to Durham, along with John Snow and George Stephenson Colleges. The details of such an event are unconfirmed as this is not a final decision, but the initial recommendation from the committee. I will of course take questions on the matter, so feel free to email me at snow.jcr@durham.ac.uk

The Igloo is kicking off as a social space this year and events are at an all-time high. From Charity Take Me Out Valentine’s Edition to the Super Bowl party we have more on than ever, and the bar has seen more success than it has in years.

Sports & Societies John Snow Sports are doing great (as always!). The Basketball teams have been selected to compete in this year’s Varsity contest against the colleges of York University, Women’s Hockey are having a great season again after being promoted last season, and Men’s Football have 7 wins under their belt.

As always, sports teams always welcome support and donations from alumni, so please do feel free to get in touch with the alumni office to support the team.

#snowlove

JCR Hayward Cup

New Executive Committee

On the 13th February John Snow and Stephenson Colleges hosted the annual Hayward Cup, a 4 kilometre invitational head race along with members of other Durham colleges. Due to inclement weather this year the course was shortened however John Snow’s Fresher crews still put in an excellent performance after training hard in the Epiphany term. JSBC’s Women’s Novice 4’s came second and third in their category, narrowly losing out to St. Aidan’s College. JSBC Men's Novice 4 came third in their category losing out on second by one second to Teesside University, with Grey College taking the win. Based on point accumulation over the day Hild Bede won the Hayward Cup overall and also won the Queens Cup, awarded to the fastest crew of the day.

As we all know too well, the time must come for us move along and allow a new set of students to fill our places in this wonderful John Snow community. This time has now come for me, as we welcome in our new committee for 2016/17. Anna Mackey has been elected as next year’s JCR President, and she is joined by Jamie Brewer as Vice President, Gustavo Carvalho as Treasurer, William Lewington as Chairman and Alex Titterington as Welfare Officer. We wish them the best of luck next year.

Michaelmas Ball This year John Snow had the biggest ball Queen’s Campus has ever seen. The Waterside was transformed into a new location, full with candy, live blues, great decoration, and we even threw a Ferris wheel into the mix! The theme was ‘A Night at the Oscars’, and guests received awards for ‘best hair’, ‘best actor’ and a host of other things. Tickets for the event sold out in half an hour, and then further ticket releases meant that that we reached capacity in a couple of hours.

College Stash is always popular with all our students and alumni, so if you are feeling a little bit nostalgic and need that extra bit of John Snow in your life, then visit our shop at: http://community.dur.ac.uk/snowjcr/about-the-jcr/merchandise/

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Alumni Your connection with Snow doesn't end when you graduate. In fact, leaving Durham marks the beginning of your lifelong membership of our greater alumni and College community.

After Hours Drinks Reception On 4 February John Snow College, held its annual After Hours alumni drinks reception in London at the new venue of The Counting House, Cornhill.

The atmosphere and turnout on the night was absolutely fantastic with alumni from 2002 right through to 2015 in attendance, including past presidents, JCR exec and various sport club members.

It was wonderful to see so many John Snow graduates reunite, catch up and meet fellow Snow alumni from the various years. If you missed out this time don’t worry, there is always next year!

“A great event to meet and reunite with fellow Snow alumni. Something which I hope will continue for many years.”

Kenya Peters Marketing , 2015

For information on future alumni events click here or go to: https://www.dur.ac.uk/johnsnow.college/alumi/events/

Alumni

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Business Connect Introducing…….

Alumni have it and students need it: Experience and Connections. This year, John Snow is increasing its efforts to connect business and finance–based students and alumni through a new forum called ‘Business Connect’.

With the ability to communicate with an alumnus from their subject field, through a simple online system that means no personal details are ever visible, a student will be able to ask about the ins and outs of an industry and the tricks of the interview process.

Using recent graduates straight out of the interview chair to those of our alumni who now sit on the other side of the desk; from those who shunned the pull of a 50+ hour week and went travelling to those we set up their own business; to those in the charity sector to those in the civil service, Business Connect will facilitate conversations and guidance as our students prepare to embark on the next stage of their journey, whether it is at the internship or graduate stage.

Alumni will be able to sign up to offer advice to students from the moment they leave College and we hope that we will be able to build a strong network with a range of experiences across different businesses and accounting/ finance based professional life. Alumni will only ever have one or two students who can contact them at any one time, and there will be an option to have a profile that details their career to date and any advice they would give to students aiming to follow in their footsteps on the alumni website.

Grey College had had a scheme similar to this running a few years and have now over 400 alumni signed up to support their current students, so we hope to beat this number as soon as possible.

Plans are afoot for a launch date in September 2016, so watch out adverts and sign up forms through advertised by emails.

Alternatively, email snow.alumni@durham.ac.uk to register your interest now and we will let you know when the scheme launches.

Alumni

Student Development Fund This year John Snow College has decided to push student experience and development one step further by launching the ‘student development fund’.

development programme which will help support students’ progress both academically and personally from the moment they enter John Snow College.

Sourced primarily from contributions from our alumni, JCR and SCR communities. The fund itself is intended to benefit students engaged in personal development which features a cost to the student which they would otherwise not be able to afford.

Examples of these include but are not limited to: volunteering in third world countries; engaging in self-sourced charity work; attending conferences and; attending university level sport, music, art, performance events.

Students have the opportunity to apply for funding once a term with the most recent cohort of accepted applications including: volunteering in hospitals in third world countries; attending focused national conferences and; attending university level sporting events. We hope, with the help our alumni, to extend the fund in the next year to form a

Volunteer Expedition to Borneo 2015

Let your voice be heard…………….

As a member of the John Snow College Alumni Association, we at Snow value your thoughts and opinions on all of the various aspects of the Association, whether it is about our ever growing virtual presence, i.e. emails, newsletters, social media, or about our more external presence i.e. reunions and events.

In order for us as a college to give you the best alumni experience, we are asking for just a few moments of your time to complete an anonymous questionnaire.

The questionnaire asks a few questions about alumni events - past, present and future - both in the North East and nationwide.

As a thank you for completing the questionnaire, John Snow Alumni Association will hold a £40 Amazon Voucher Raffle Draw of all completed questionnaires. Entry into the draw is optional.

Every response we get will helps us create a better and more bespoke alumni community which we hope will only grow and get stronger.

Begin the questionnaire. Or go to: https:// docs.google.com/forms/d/1M5AtNNdOYy4PdttdITDjfyDDbn7tvRzY7_o8yzfZoM/ viewform

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Upcoming Calendar Events

Epiphany 2016 Tuesday 1 & Tuesday 8 March: First Year Formal Dinner Tuesday 15 March: Dr John Snow Anniversary Lecture & Café Scientifique Tuesday 19 April: Café Scientifique

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Easter 2016 Friday 29 April: Annual College Dinner Tuesday 17 May: Café Scientifique Friday 20 May: Joint Colleges Scholars Supper Saturday 4 June: Snow Day Friday 10 June: Summer Ball Saturday 11 – Sunday 12 June: Durham Regatta Tuesday 21 June: Café Scientifique Thursday 23 June: SCR AGM Monday 27 June – Friday 1 July: Summer Congregation Thursday 30 June: Graduation Dinner

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Through knowledge and wisdom strive for the highest

Principal Professor Carolyn Summerbell

Alumni Relations and College Community Assistant Office John Snow College Durham University Stockton-On-Tees TS17 6BH 0191 334 0406

Email: snow.alumni@durham.ac.uk Website: www.dur.ac.uk/johnsnow.college/alumi/ Facebook: www.facebook.com/johnsnow.alumni?fref=ts Twitter: www.twitter.com/AlumniJohnSnow