Communicate Issue 340

ISSUE

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communicate THE UNIVERSITY OF WARWICK STAFF NEWSLETTER

INSTITUTIONAL TEACHING AND LEARNING REVIEW

We believe we are the first UK institution to structure our review processes in this way

New from the IAS Warwick Volunteers New term, new insite

Join us online at www2.warwick.ac.uk/ insite/commu

communicate

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FEATURES

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New from the IAS Find out more about the Institute of Advanced Study’s new programme of activity, including the new Postdoctoral Research Fellows.

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M aking a Difference: Warwick Volunteers Volunteering isn’t just for students – two staff members share their volunteering experiences.

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Teaching and Learning at Warwick This autumn sees the University undertake an intensive teaching and learning review process covering all departments and courses.

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Refreshing IGGY’s Foundations After six successful IGGY U summer schools, Jo Thomas, IGGY Channel Manager, discusses why it was time for a refresh of the IGGY brand.

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New term, new insite The launch of the new term saw the launch of a new insite, the University’s intranet.

The copy deadline for the next issue is Friday 20 January 2012.

All submissions and suggestions are welcome and should be e-mailed as a Word document to internalcomms@warwick. ac.uk or in hard copy to Internal Communications, University House, ext 75836.

The communicate team reserves the right to make editorial changes to all submissions. communicate is edited

by Julia Pidgeon and created by Jo Evans in the Communications Office.

Printed by WarwickPrint.

An online version of communicate is available at www.warwick. ac.uk/go/communicate

REGULARS Warwick People Pages 2–3

Warwick Arts Centre Page 10

My Warwick Life Page 11

Small Ads Page 12

Printed on paper from sustainably managed sources.

Design: balldesignconsultancy.com

Key teams win recognition The Estates team and Cleaning Services staff have been recognised for their hard work keeping the Warwick campus clean and attractive, and minimising the impact on the environment.

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rounds staff within the Estates department have been awarded the Royal Horticultural Society’s Heart of England in Bloom Grounds Maintenance Award. The judges were impressed with the continuing development of the landscape and exceptional grounds maintenance, which they felt was a credit to Warwick’s gardeners and groundspeople.

The campus was judged as part of Coventry’s submission and areas that were highlighted included the four key roundabouts, hedges on Gibbet Hill Road designed to absorb carbon emissions from traffic, the new landscaping around the Digital Laboratory and the new landscape design to the front of Coventry House.

Bob Wilson, Director of Estates, said: “It’s a great pleasure to have the hard work of our grounds staff recognised at a regional level.

The Estates Office will continue to develop Warwick’s beautiful campus over the coming years.”

“It’s a great pleasure to have the hard work of our grounds staff recognised at a regional level. The Estates Office will continue to develop Warwick’s beautiful campus over the coming years.”

Cleaning Services staff were honoured in this year’s Higher and Further Education Cleaning Operative awards. Mary Ann Lee, Warwick Accommodation, was named Cleaning Operative of the Year 2011.

The award was given in recognition of the professionalism and effort that Mary has shown in her work. Amongst the three runners up for the award were two other Warwick Accommodation staff members, Michael Loughran and Linda Duffy.

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WARWICK PEOPLE Pro-Chancellor, John Leighfield CBE

Vice-Chancellor Professor Nigel Thrift (right) presents the new road sign to John Leighfield (left)

In recognition of the contribution of former Pro‑Chancellor, John Leighfield CBE, a road on campus has been named after him.

‘Leighfield Road’ is now the official name for the road opposite the new Bluebell halls of residence on the south/east side of campus, off Gibbet Hill Road.

Queen’s Birthday Honours

Roger Casemore Retires

Professor Peter Abrahams

Professor Peter Elias, Institute for Employment Research, has been awarded a CBE in the 2011 Queen’s Birthday Honours list in recognition of his contributions to social science.

Dr Nat Alcock, Emeritus Reader with the Department of Chemistry has also been recognised in the Birthday Honours list. He was awarded an OBE for his “voluntary services to Vernacular Architecture.”

Roger Casemore, Director of Counselling and Psychotherapy courses at the Centre for Lifelong Learning (CLL), is retiring after a 16 year career at the University.

A well‑known author in the profession, Roger has published nationally and internationally on education, the person-centred approach, and professional ethics. He always ensured his Warwick courses encompassed the principles of open dialogue, shared learning and joint‑assessment processes with a curriculum based on personcentred theory, research and practice.

Roger’s newly appointed successor, Dr Jeannie Wright, Associate Professor, Massey University, New Zealand, will be taking the programme forward with a dedicated teaching team.

Peter Abrahams, Professor of Clinical Anatomy at Warwick Medical School, has been awarded a National Teaching Fellowship, the most prestigious award for excellence in higher education teaching and support for learning. The Higher Education Academy, which manages the awards, selected Professor Abrahams from more than 200 nominations submitted by higher education institutions across England, Northern Ireland and, for the first time, Wales.

Professor Peter Winstanley Professor Peter Winstanley, Dean of Warwick Medical School, has been appointed as President of The Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene (RSTMH).

Founded in 1907, the RSTMH facilitates research and education in tropical medicine and provides opportunities for people to present research findings and discuss topical issues. It is widely regarded as the foremost scholarly society of Tropical Medicine in Europe.

Fellows of the British Academy Professor Carolyn Steedman, Department of History, Professor Alan Norrie, School of Law, and Emeritus Professor Robin Alexander, formerly of the Institute of Education, have received the distinction of being made fellows of the British Academy, the UK’s national academy for the humanities and social sciences. Fellowship of the British Academy is highly sought after, with only 38 academics across the UK elected as fellows this year.

New CEO for Warwick Ventures Warwick Ventures Ltd welcomed its new CEO, Quentin ComptonBishop in August this year. Quentin replaced Ederyn Williams who, having led Warwick Ventures since its inception in 2000, retired in September.

A seasoned entrepreneur, Quentin brings more than 17 years’ expertise in technology commercialisation to the role, including 11 years as a company CEO. During this time he has raised over £5 million in seed and early-stage investment funding.

Professor Wyn Grant Professor Wyn Grant, Politics and International Studies, has been made an Academician of the Academy of Social Sciences. The Academy’s Academicians are “distinguished scholars and practitioners” in the field of social sciences, who are recognised as having made “a significant contribution to social science and its promotion.”

Professor Qing Wang Professor Qing Wang, Warwick Business School, was recently profiled in the online management section of the Financial Times, in the newspaper’s ongoing feature ‘Ten Questions.’ The feature interviews women involved with, or working in, business education.

Earlier this year, Warwick MBA student, Alia Nurmohamed was also profiled in the feature.

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Introducing the IAS’s new Postdoctoral Research Fellows

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our new Postdoctoral Research Fellows recently joined the Institute of Advanced Study (IAS) as part of the Institute’s programme of activity.

The Fellows will be based in IAS for a two year period working on a range of strategically important research projects. They will be joined by visiting fellows from Australia, France, Israel, Mexico, Pakistan, Romania and the United States, as well as nine Early Career Fellows.

Overall, IAS will be facilitating the activities of two dozen distinguished scholars over the next academic year.

This will include public lectures and postgraduate events, ensuring there is plenty of scope for engagement with Warwick research at all levels and enriching the environment for postgraduate students.

Here, we introduce the new Research Fellows and their research areas.

Sara Trevisan was recently a Caird Senior Research Fellow at the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich and is now studying what she calls ‘marine’ entertainments in early seventeenthcentury London. Her research focuses on the symbolic and iconographic

IAS director Professor Richard Aldrich with the new Postdoctoral Research Fellows

Overall, IAS will be facilitating the activities of two dozen distinguished scholars over the next academic year. interaction between the Thames and the sea in the Lord Mayor’s Shows and royal entertainments staged between 1603 and 1640.

Paulina Sydor will use her fellowship to expand an ambitious research project which aims to produce novel antibiotics to tackle multi-drug resistant superbugs. She is part of a team led by Professor Greg Challis

that is drawing on cutting edge analytical chemistry techniques to create new treatments. IAS is always keen to promote inter-disciplinarity and this project sits at the chemistry/ biology interface.

Laura Schwartz will undertake the first full-scale investigation of feminism’s encounter with domestic labour between 1880 and 1939, interrogating attitudes to class, work and the relationship between public and private that underpinned the Woman Question. She will be working with Professor Carolyn Steedman in History.

Katrin Wehling-Giorgi will examine the relationship between the subversive representation of the mother and the notion of fragmented subjectivity.

Her main focus is a selection of twentieth-century Italian, French and Irish texts. Katrin will be joining the Italian Department to work with Professor Ann Caesar.

IAS has begun the academic year with several new research calls and funding opportunities including the Leverhulme Visiting Fellows scheme.

For more details see http://go.warwick.ac.uk/IAS

Master classes for Ghanaian teachers

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cademics from Warwick are leading master classes to provide professional development for teachers in Ghana, as part of the Warwick in Africa project.

Less than 50% of Ghanaian teachers are formally trained. The master classes, launched in 2010, provide both pedagogic and subject-specific training in maths and English.

During summer 2011, Professor Colin Sparrow, Head of Warwick Mathematics Institute, and Nick Barker, Teaching Fellow in the Department of Chemistry, joined a team of 10 teachers (alumni and friends of Warwick) which planned to lead master classes for 200 teachers.

The classes were greatly oversubscribed, and the team succeeded in training over 400 teachers. The Director of

Teacher Education for Ghana has already written to Warwick to say that there is improvement in the teaching methods employed by the master class attendees.

Following the classes the teachers are asked to complete an action plan to take away. The University will use these plans to evaluate the programme and see how to develop it in future years.

Resources, tailored to the Ghanaian school curriculum, have also been produced by the team, to enable those attending the master classes to cascade what they’ve learnt to other teachers.

Capacity Building in Africa The University is involved in a range of African initiatives including: • Consortium for Advanced Research Training in Africa (CARTA), an African

Less than 50% of Ghanaian teachers are formally trained.

led initiative with Warwick as a partner to develop research capacity in African universities.

• IAS Sub-Saharan African Research Network, bringing together academics from across the campus working on African research on a wide range of topics.

• School of Law, Ethiopia project: five year project with Ethiopian government to promote postgraduate education in Ethiopia.

• Malawi Medical School exchange: in 2010/11, students from Malawi and Warwick got the opportunity to experience studying and working abroad.

Further information about the Warwick in Africa programme, including a BBC documentary, is available at http://go.warwick.ac.uk/ warwickinafrica

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MAKING A DIFFERENCE: WARWICK VOLUNTEERS Although many students are aware of the opportunities provided by Warwick Volunteers to take part in a variety of voluntary roles within the local community, sometimes less well known are the staff volunteering opportunities. Here, communicate speaks with two staff volunteers who are glad they got involved…

Diane Park, Research Support Services Why did you decide to get involved with volunteering?

Some time ago, I read about a Senior Officers’ Team Challenge where friendship benches were installed and painted in the playground at Charter Primary School.

This inspired me to find out more about volunteering as I liked the idea of people from the University going out into the local community taking part in useful and fun projects. I visited the Warwick Volunteers website and saw that the Right to Read project was something that staff could get involved in as it fits in with the working day.

So I got in touch!

What does your volunteer role entail?

The Right to Read project involves working approximately one hour a week with children in a local school.

I volunteer at Charter Primary School, Canley, which is very local to the University and volunteer during my

lunch hour one day a week. To be able to take part in the scheme I became a member of Warwick Volunteers, attended the Right to Read training session and had a Criminal Records Check (CRB). Each time I go to the school I’ll listen to the children read on a one-to-one basis. They’re very enthusiastic and once they get to know you, will happily chat away.

I’m also able to tell them a little about the University. I think it’s important to let them know that anybody can go to university or college and that they could too.

How do you balance your work commitments with volunteering?

My line manager is very supportive of my volunteering and I have the advantage that I manage my own diary, however work commitments do come first. If for any reason I can’t go to the school on my usual day, I’ll let the school know and arrange another time.

The Right to Read scheme is ideal for me as I can do it during my lunch break.

What has been a highlight of your volunteering?

The whole thing is good fun.

The relationship building is very important and you often work with the same group or individual for more than one academic year.

The children can be very amusing and seeing their progress is extremely rewarding. I’ve also had the added bonus of being invited to Christmas and end of term concerts in the past.

What advice would you give to other staff members thinking about volunteering?

Firstly check out the Warwick Volunteers website to see the variety of projects you could get involved with. Initially, don’t over commit yourself, projects can be ongoing or a one off, individual or team events. Check that your idea is ok with your line manager.

Volunteering is fun, very rewarding and gives a different perspective to the everyday working routine.

Roger Buckle, Physics Why did you decide to get involved with volunteering?

It’s something I’d been considering for quite a while. I suppose it’s the feeling of doing something for the community. It was just coincidence that I was thinking about volunteering as a school governor when I saw the note on the University website calling for Warwick volunteers!

That tripped me into actually doing something about it.

Which volunteer project are you involved with?

School Governor. I am on the governing body of a Coventry primary school as one of the Local Authority governors. I have a committee role for resources and management, and am the governor for science. I also

judge annual prizes and competitions.

We have regularly scheduled committee meetings after school. The governing body is responsible for the strategic management of school – appointing staff and helping, for example, with resource management.

How do you balance your work commitments with volunteering?

With care. School is of course aware that I am employed and therefore a bit limited for spending much time in the day at school. The University supports volunteering and is therefore willing to allow reasonable time for the work – I am also fortunate to have a little flexibility with my work schedules so can balance things out fairly myself.

What has been a highlight of your volunteering?

Judging written and spoken work

for governors’ prizes and spending time with classes, observing, and becoming involved with what they are doing and learning.

What advice would you give to other staff members thinking about volunteering?

I wouldn’t hesitate in discovering the opportunities for volunteering. It certainly helps if you’ve got a vision of what you’d like to do, but if not, look at all the options – something will appeal. There will be things which will not impact too heavily on daily work life either.

For more information on Warwick Volunteers, visit http://go.warwick.ac.uk/volunteers

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Joint doctorate draws world’s top students Erasmus Mundus PhD student Sarah Goler

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successful Erasmus Mundus funding bid in 2009 for a joint doctoral programme in Globalisation, the EU and Multilateralism is already paying dividends for Politics and International Studies (PAIS) in terms of student quality and reputational advantage.

“So many more people notice your PhD Programme because it’s got this Erasmus Mundus badge on it.

We are seeing a significant payback on it in terms of getting more website hits from the very best students,” said Professor Matthew Watson, academic co-ordinator for the Warwick‑led stream of the programme, CITRINE, which received 44 applications for three places in 2011–12.

Although administratively complex to run with nine partners including the Free University of Brussels, LUISS in Rome and the University of Geneva, the reputational advantage provided by the programme has helped Warwick to secure further funding for doctoral studentships in social sciences, including accreditation as an ESRC Doctoral Training Centre.

PAIS, the only UK social science department to secure full partner status in the first competition for Erasmus Mundus joint doctoral programmes, attributes the success of its bid partly to the strength of its partnership, built through previous EU‑funded research projects.

Students spend their first year at Warwick and their second year with partner universities in Brussels, Rome or Geneva. They return to Warwick for the third year with the option of a shorter study visit to another of the cities above or to partners in the US, China, Japan, Mexico or Bruges.

For more details, see: www.erasmusmundus-gem.eu/

INSTITUTIONAL TEACH AND LEARNING REVIE This autumn will see Warwick undertake a teaching and learning review across the entire University, led by Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Education and Student Experience, Professor Ann Caesar. Over a three day period in November, all undergraduate, postgraduate taught, postgraduate research and post-experience courses of study, will be reviewed at departmental level, followed in the New Year by faculty-level reviews on institution-wide themes. These reviews will, in turn, be a staging post along the road to an institutional review.

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roadly, the Review has two key objectives: (i) to assure the quality of the full range of a department’s courses of study and (ii) to provide an opportunity for reflection and external advice on how best to enhance the quality of teaching and learning provision and the distinctiveness of the student experience over the next five years. The Review will

also allow us to capture and share existing good practice in a meaningful way. We believe we are the first UK institution to structure our review processes in this way and that this, therefore, presents a unique opportunity to take a strategic approach to our thinking on teaching and learning, ensuring we are on target with our goal of providing a distinctive Warwick student experience.

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Each department will be reviewed by a panel comprising three internal members, one of whom will act as chair, an external member and a student member. Each panel will be serviced by a two-member secretariat. Most reviews will be two days in length.

At the end of the review meetings, the panel will identify major themes and any issues requiring follow-up and these will be presented by the secretariat in the review report.

Departments will be required to produce a formal response to their report. The panel’s findings and recommendations will feed into departmental action planning, inform the implementation of the University Strategy at departmental and institutional level and identify themes and any issues needing attention across the institution. The reports and responses will then be considered by the Steering Committee and other committees as appropriate, including Academic Resourcing Committee, the Boards of Undergraduate and Graduate Studies and the Academic Quality and Standards Committee.

In addition to the departmental reports, thematic reports will be produced by the Institutional Review co-ordination team pulling together recurring themes across departments and the institution. At a later date there will be faculty‑level engagement on thematic issues. It is envisaged that this faculty engagement will advise on a range of issues to do with the student experience, such as widening participation, internationalisation, enhancing cross-departmental and cross-faculty interaction, the harmonisation of best practice or personal tutoring.

The outcomes of all the reviews will feed into the ongoing implementation and progression of teaching and learning initiatives, as well as into preparations for the University’s institutional audit in 2013.

More information on the Institutional Review can be viewed at go.warwick.ac.uk/ institutionalreview The Institutional Review co‑ordination team can be contacted by email on institutional.review@warwick.ac.uk

We believe we are the first UK institution to structure our review processes in this way and that this, therefore, presents a unique opportunity to take a strategic approach to our thinking on teaching and learning.

Double Masters sees two sides to world politics

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arwick’s Double Masters degree with Nanyang Technological University (NTU), Singapore in Politics and International Studies is meeting demand for cross-cultural experience by offering students an opportunity to compare European and East Asian perspectives on global policy challenges.

The course, which received 23 applications for seven places on its first cohort of 2010–12, plays to Warwick’s strengths in East Asian politics, international political economy and security studies and is one of only two double Masters courses in politics currently offered at Russell Group institutions.

“The double award produces a more rounded view of the subject and opens up a wider range of opportunities for further study or employment than a single Masters degree,” said Professor Stuart Croft, Warwick academic co-ordinator for the course and Pro‑Vice‑Chancellor for Research (Arts and Social Sciences).

Students gain both academic and professional skills training from the combination of Warwick’s theoretical approach to the course with the policy-oriented teaching of the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS) at NTU in Singapore, preparing them either for further research or careers in the policy‑making arena.

They spend their first year at Warwick following a core module and two electives, along with training in research methodology to prepare them for writing their dissertation.

The second year is spent at RSIS either adding depth in the area of specialisation followed at Warwick, or exploring a new field. A 15,000 word, jointly-examined dissertation is completed at the end of the second year.

For more details, see: www2.warwick.ac.uk/fac/soc/pais/ studymasters/doublema

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Students settle into Bluebell

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ome of Warwick’s newest student intake have been settling into the University’s latest Halls of Residence, Bluebell, which opened at the start of the autumn term.

This addition to Warwick’s oncampus accommodation has 505 student bedrooms, designed to high sustainability standards and incorporating a range of environmental features such as natural ventilation, natural lighting and high levels of insulation.

Work is now underway on a new student residence which will open at Lakeside in 2012. Work on the new 573 bed Halls began in July 2011 and is due to complete in August 2012, ready for the start of the 2012/2013 academic year.

Refreshing IGGY’s Foundations The International Gateway for Gifted and Talented Youth (IGGY) was established in 2008 and has held six highly successful IGGY U residential courses at home and abroad.

But with only a relatively small proportion of members able to attend these two week summer schools, a re-think was required.

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o Thomas, Channel Manager for IGGY, discusses here how advances in gifted and talented education, the development of e-learning practices and platforms and the rapid expansion of online communities made it time for a refresh of the IGGY brand.

At the beginning of this year, the University agreed a major investment into IGGY. We are now focussing our approach around three core elements: enhanced learning, leadership development and global community.

Our ambition is bold and explicitly underlined in the University Strategy – to grow from a few thousand toward 100,000 members in three years. It will be achieved through an online focussed model – supported by strategic partners including Cisco and IBM. Over the last few months, we have been rapidly expanding the team, talking to current members and testing out new content and approaches.

Over the Autumn, we will roll out a Foundation service as we start to proactively promote the service to potential

“ Today’s gifted learners and creative young people are surely tomorrow’s generation of world leaders. Helping them unlock their leadership capacity by developing their skills will be IGGY’s greatest achievement.”

members. In 2012, we will launch the full service with a fit-for-purpose platform and programme.

Today’s gifted learners and creative young people are surely tomorrow’s generation of world leaders. Helping them unlock their leadership capacity by developing their skills will be IGGY’s greatest achievement.

IGGY’s work in this area already includes the Warwick Junior Commission where we bring together ten students from across the world to work on a major global challenge. This year’s focus is future energy consumption and consumer behaviour. On and offline, this year’s Commissioners are undertaking the collaborative research project: Global Energy 2025 – Challenging Tomorrow’s Leaders.

Developing a genuine and dynamic global community of gifted and talented students is now possible to a far greater degree. For these students, finding comfort and inspiration through meeting and working with their similarly able peers is particularly important.

Enhanced learning programmes will remain the cornerstone of IGGY. We benefit from many years of gifted and talented education at Warwick.

In our pilot phase over recent months, we have published a variety of courses, from creative writing to computer programming, which our members have been enjoying and, in turn, helping our understanding of the content they want to experience.

If you are interested in supporting the development of IGGY, have a look at the pilot site and please contact us: http://go.warwick.ac.uk/iggy

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Engaging with other Disciplines: Faust as a Case Study Paul Taylor, Director, Institute for Advanced Teaching and Learning

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he Institute for Advanced Teaching and Learning, confronting the prevailing ‘Student as Consumer’ metaphor, aims to actively involve students in all processes of the University, including organisation and administration, curricula design and development, research and teaching.

A successful example is The Faust Project: Interdisciplinary and Creative Collaboration, a module that ran at Warwick in 2009/10, convened

by Dr Paul Prescott in English.

Prescott describes the module as being, “distinctive for three main reasons: 1) it is open to all second- year students from across the University,

regardless of degree course; 2) it is delivered by an ‘ensemble’ of teachers from a range of departments; 3) it attempts to take seriously the notion of interdisciplinary learning and seeks to establish how feasible – logistically and philosophically – such learning is.”

The module is interesting from the perspective of student engagement.

Different visiting experts came every week to the group seminar to teach on their particular area of expertise relating to Faust, from Economics, German, Neuroscience, Theology, Sociology, Business Studies and Law. The module convenor himself sat in a circle amongst the students, placing

The university that neglects or refuses to create meaningful spaces for student engagement is failing to acknowledge and exploit their most valuable resources.

himself as a fellow learner, not just an imparter of knowledge. He explained his reasons for this: “I am very clear that when someone comes in to teach the group... that I am then part of the group and learning with the group.”

The students were also free to develop their own syllabus and assessment methods. All this challenges the ‘deficit model’ of students being in intellectual arrears compared to lecturers and changes the relationship between student and teacher. Indeed, students described the module as a “breath of fresh air.”

The university that neglects or refuses to create meaningful spaces for student engagement is failing to acknowledge and exploit their most valuable resources. In the case of Faust, giving students ‘freedom to think’ allowed them to cross disciplinary boundaries with abandon, leading to interdisciplinary outcomes that we often struggle to achieve in more staff‑led environments.

New term, new insite Staff may have noticed that a new homepage for insite launched at the start of the autumn term, including a restructure of homepage content and some new, additional content on subpages. The entire intranet site is now also based on the new web design template, ID6, which the Web Development team will be implementing across the entire University website in the coming months.

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ike its 2007 predecessor, new insite is still very much focused around news and links, but with some additional functionality to aid ease of use. For example, you can choose to filter news by staff or student or events by faculty. It’s also even easier to get to the lists of useful links which are now accessible from the bottom of the homepage.

New staff and student information pages provide further useful information for staff’s working and campus life and for student life at Warwick. With many changes in the HE sector, the HE Today section provides useful information on the sector, from a glossary of HE terms to a chronology of recent sector change. News and events have also now been separated out into two separate pages to make it even easier to access information about what’s happening within the University community and on campus.

We’d love to know what you think about new insite. Please email any thoughts, comments or observations to internalcomms@warwick.ac.uk

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WINTER SEASON AT THE ARTS CENTRE Theatre Britain’s got Bhangra is back!

Remixed and remastered! From Tuesday 15 – Sunday 27 November.

Rifco Arts returns with its awardwinning musical that played to packed houses at Warwick Arts Centre in 2010.

This five star hit charts the rise of British bhangra music from the sequin clad 80s through to the RnB fusion of the current charts. A twinkling night of glitz, live music and song!

There is a spell-binding performance on Saturday 26 November that sees Frank Zappa’s eldest son Dweezil and his band Zappa plays Zappa performing the classic 1974 album Apostrophe featuring a final twist in which – from grave to stage – Frank himself will perform using unreleased video footage.

Spoken Word Zappa plays Zappa

Music The Legendary John Mayall and the hottest young guitarist in British blues, Oli Brown, join forces on Friday 11 November in an electrifying bill that promises blues at its finest. With over 45 albums and an OBE to his credit, John Mayall remains as compelling and original as ever.

“Close your eyes for a second and you could be at a gig at the height of Frank’s fame in the seventies”

Barry Cryer is back with a new show, Butterfly Brain on Friday 4 November – a stream of unconsciousness and sit down comedy! Join old Baz on an alphabetical, hypothetical journey from A – Z. On Wednesday 30 November, stand up genius and award-winning novelist A L Kennedy will read from her new novel, The Blue Book. She’ll also talk about life, writing, love, comedy and magicians.

The Independent

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STAFF OFFERS!

Void Story Tuesday 1 November Operation Greenfield Friday 11 November Britain’s Got Bhangra Tuesday 15 November

To book, simply show your staff I.D. card at the Box Office or phone 024 7652 4524. (Offer not available online or retrospectively, subject to availability.)

Tickets for all of the events listed on this page are now on sale from the box office on 024 7652 4524 or via the website www.warwickartscentre.co.uk

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There’s no such thing as a typical day, but, in a nutshell, my job involves… speaking to students, representing their views in high level meetings with University senior staff, ensuring the running of the Students’ Union and all of its services goes smoothly along with the six other full time elected officers.

I had a really useful meeting recently with… the Disbursement Group at the University. In this meeting I was one of five members (the other four were University staff) discussing where hundreds of thousands of pounds raised through alumni donations would be invested in order to have maximum impact on students.

A few areas we invested in include internationalisation, scholarships for undergraduate and postgraduate research students, a hardship fund for postgraduate taught students, the Library, the Undergraduate Research Scholarship Scheme, work placement bursaries, Warwick Volunteers, and Warwick in Africa.

It would be really useful to work more closely with… the Graduate School. The Students’ Union has identified postgraduate taught and research students as key communities we must do more to engage constructively with.

We look forward to working more closely with the Graduate School in order to fulfil our strategic objectives relating to increased recognition of postgraduate lifestyles and indeed research by the Students’ Union.

I recently attended a conference which involved… an educational tour of Israel, organised by the UK Union of Jewish Students for student leaders in the UK. The trip, funded by the Pears Foundation, gave me the opportunity to interact with a number of high-profile speakers who each in their own way gave their stories and perspectives on

the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

The trip was organised to broaden and deepen our understanding of the issues relating to the conflict which are often brought up within the student movement.

I recently learnt that… universities across the UK will need to look at their overseas and postgraduate taught degree costs in order to retain competitive advantage over other institutions, and indeed to plug the funding gap which will be a result of the new funding regime for undergraduate home students.

I’ve only just realised that…. universities are considering postqualifications admissions. This will mean that sixth-formers won’t have to wait for results before knowing if they have won a place at their chosen university under a plan to overhaul the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service system.

Warwick’s unique because… it places a large amount of emphasis on developing students beyond their typical coursework and exams. The Rootes Memorial Fund, the Undergraduate Research Scholarship Scheme, and the work experience bursaries all contribute to expanding students’ skill sets making them not only more employable, but also potentially challenging them intellectually thereby developing their academic interests and experience. The relationship that the Students’ Union has with the Careers and Skills department is also invaluable in terms of ensuring that students are recognised for their efforts on campus and to the wider community through the Advantage and Global Awards scheme which we work together on. Warwick SU has also recently embedded employability and recognition of contribution and innovation into its three year strategy to complement the work that is already done from all sides.

The limits really are endless.

Warwick’s unique because it places a large amount of emphasis on developing students beyond their typical coursework and exams.

The best thing about working at Warwick is… how kind and forthcoming departments of the University are, particularly Careers and Skills and the International Office whose support has brought us a long way in developing our campaigns and services for the benefit of students.

If I could change one thing at the University, it would be… lower International and home undergraduate student fees to improve access.

I’m a regular at the Sports Centre for… badminton, swimming, and general fitness!

I recently had lunch at…

The Bread Oven in the SU building.

The variety and price is second to none for a quick bite in the middle of the day. My favourites are smoked salmon and cream cheese, and lemon mayo chicken, both on brown bread!

I usually travel to campus by… bike or on foot from Canley!

I make use of…

The Language Centre! It is absolutely amazing and indeed is one of the main reasons I applied to Warwick in the first place. Through my years I have studied Greek and Arabic there, and intend on picking up sign language this coming year!

my warwick life

The new My Warwick Life feature gives an insight into staff and students’ life at Warwick, considering both their work and social life on campus. In this issue we hear from Leo Boe, Students’ Union President for 2011-2012.

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Register for this year’s Warwick Network This year’s annual staff conference will take place on Thursday 15 December between 9.00am and 5.00pm. Plenaries will take place in the Science Lecture Theatre, with breakout sessions in Sciences, Humanities and the Library.

The day provides all staff with the opportunity to hear from senior management on current developments, both within the University and the HE sector, and also to spend some time focusing on issues of University-wide importance.

It also provides a valuable networking opportunity as well as the chance for colleagues to share best practice and find out more about current work and innovations within other departments.

Visit the Warwick Network website at www.warwick.ac.uk/go/warwicknetwork for more details and to register your breakout session choices.

Newcomers and Visitors’ Group The Newcomers and Visitors’ Group organisers would like to invite you to coffee on Thursday mornings (term time only) from 10.00am to 11.00am in the University Sports Pavilion.

The group will meet every Thursday this term between 6 October 2011 and 8 December 2011 and provides an informal meeting place for all wives, husbands and partners of academic and research staff of the University, including visiting academics and their children.

Please feel free to come along to any of the sessions, or if you have any questions please contact either of the following: Group organiser: Felicity Marsh 01926 632442; fy.marsh@googlemail.com or University contact: Suzanne Keene 024 76 524843; suzanne.keene@warwick.ac.uk

Business Process Review Succcess

Staff Christmas Party In a break from tradition, this year’s Staff Christmas party takes place on Friday 9 December from 7.30pm in the Panorama Room, Rootes Building.

What will stay the same is the popular format of a quiz followed by a disco, so gather your department’s best quiz brains and enter a quiz team online when registration opens shortly.

There will be festive treats on the tables and pizza slices to enjoy during the early part of the evening, plus a free drink for everyone attending.

The event is free and open to any member of staff who’d like to attend.

Each member of staff can bring one non‑staff guest with them.

For more information, visit: www2.warwick.ac.uk/insite/staff_parties

At this year’s Times Higher Education Leadership and Management Awards (the THELMAs), Warwick’s Student Admissions and Recruitment Office took the ‘Outstanding Student Admissions team’ award for its recent business process review work.

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Tel 01926 853555 or email info@keelers.co.uk BOOKKEEPING – Do you need a professionally-qualified bookkeeper to help you prepare for tax returns and end of financial year paperwork? For a reliable and efficient service contact Steve Phillips on 01926 730159. Discount available.

The University’s submission was based on a case example where members of the Postgraduate (PG) Admissions team worked with key stakeholders across the University, including academic colleagues, to produce a detailed action plan for enhancing the team’s service delivery.

The process review has brought about significant improvements – postgraduate applications have now increased by 55% and, despite this large increase in applications and a static staffing resource within PG Admissions, the time taken to communicate decisions to applicants has fallen by one week.

The review’s objective was clear: “to put the applicant at the heart of the process” and thus improve the service provided to everyone else involved in the process, including academic departments. This was not an overnight change. The review highlighted step changes needed to achieve this, for example, eliminating paper from the process as far as possible to minimise post delays.

IT Services were tasked with developing an online system to enable decision-makers to review applications electronically. The PG Admissions team reviewed every piece of communication applicants receive to ensure they were given clear, concise advice and, most importantly, received replies to enquiries in a timely manner.

This, and many other service improvements, are testament to the collaborative efforts of many people and departments across the University. Andrew West, one of the THELMA judges, commented “‘Warwick’s admissions team has been innovative in its use of business process review, coupled with an integrated service delivery plan, underpinned by effective use of IT solutions.”

ACCOMMODATION WANTED – Visiting academic family (2 adults, 2 young children) seek furnished/part-furnished accommodation close to the University or Earlsdon, January – September 2012 (some flexibility with dates). Please contact Juanita (j.elias@griffith.edu.au) or leave message on 024 7667 3803.

HOUSE TO LET – Three bedroom, fully furnished, available to rent to staff, visitors or postgraduate students. Canley Road, just off the A45 and only 15 minutes’ walk from central campus. Beautifully decorated, with gas central heating, Sky, wifi and parking for 3 cars.

For full details tel: 07799 111828.

SHORT/LONG LET – Recently renovated to a high standard, 2 bedroom 18th century cottage in quiet secluded spot, approximately 1 mile from University. Fully furnished including white goods. Parking space. Contact Mrs Clarke 024 7667 3301.

FOR SALE – Library steps: flight of four in mahogany and tooled green leather with brass-topped newel post. £150.

Call 01926 427235.