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Students who go above and beyond celebrated at awards ceremony

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BU students who have completed the Student Development Award had their achievements celebrated during a dedicated awards ceremony.

The Student Development Award recognises the hard work and commitment shown by those who dedicate their time to extra-curricular activities alongside their course – such as volunteering, participating in clubs and societies and providing support to initiatives designed to enhance the student experience.

Over the course of one or two years, students create a portfolio of work to evidence and showcase the ways in which they go the extra mile, giving back and enhancing their employability.

This year, more than 80 students received their Student Development Awards from BU Vice-Chancellor Professor John Vinney and Students’ Union (SUBU) president Murray Simpson at a red carpet event and awards ceremony.

Vice-President Communications for SUBU Annie Hall, who attended the event, said:   “It was fantastic to see students from every school and faculty of the university.

“A selection of comments from the portfolio assessors was shared on the screens as the students collected their awards. They remarked on students’ commitment, use of initiative, willingness to go above and beyond and much more.”

Individual prizes were also handed out to several students.

Elisa Reynolds, a second year Biological Anthropology student, won the Most Outstanding Achievement prize.

eliza reynolds

Alongside her course, Elisa is involved with a wide range of extra-curricular activities – which includes volunteering with charities and an international project in Ghana, acting as Student Rep for her course and as a Student Ambassador and Mentor.

She is also an active member of the BU Handball Team and Baking Society.

She said: “I signed up to do the Student Development Award because I thought it would be a good way to collate all my extra-curricular activities and it provides a basis to strive for.

“Initially, I used the portfolio mainly as a way to showcase the variety of things I get involved in as I can’t fit it all onto a C.V.

“Doing the award has definitely improved my confidence as it has made me realise that I do things for other people without even thinking, and has given me hope with regard to job searches, as they tend to look for that kind of thing. Doing all of the activities have provided friends for life too.”

She added that receiving the Outstanding Achievement Prize at the awards ceremony was a welcome surprise.

“I was genuinely shocked,” she said. “Simply being nominated was surprise enough!

“Upon hearing my name, I blushed significantly but walked down to receive my prize, understanding finally that perhaps I did deserve it. I was very proud of myself and felt ecstatic to be in a room full of applause for me.”

The other awards and prize-winners were:

  • Best Reflective Writing Prize – Olivia Tuckerman (School of Health & Social Care)
  • Dedication to Coaching & Mentoring Prize – Christopher Hodge (Business School)
  • Prize for Best e-portfolio – Amy Haase (Business School)
  • Prize for Creativity & Enterprise – Glebs Kiselovs (Business School)

The BU Dorset Shrievalty Award was also awarded to students who have supported charity projects including Safewise and Streetwise in the community.

The High Sheriff of Dorset, who sponsors the Shrievalty Award, presented it to Aisha Chesshire (Faculty of Science & Technology), Joshua Freeland (Media School) and Preslava Ivanova (School of Tourism).

Find out more about the Student Development Award

Public meeting to explore dementia-friendly care environments

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A public meeting organised by the Bournemouth University Dementia Institute (BUDI) will explore how care home environments and designs can be dementia-friendly.

The free event, which is supported by charity Alzheimer’s Research UK, takes place on Wednesday May 14 at the Executive Business Centre on Holdenhurst Road.

It will run from 12pm until 4.30pm and features talks on dementia-friendly care environments, and ways people with dementia can be supported by the physical environments.

The event includes lunch and will be followed by a networking session with information stands and the opportunity to speak to dementia researchers.

Professor Anthea Innes, Director of BUDI, said: “Following the success of our last two annual public open meetings – the first on diagnosis and the second on care homes – BUDI is hosting our third annual public open meeting to provide anyone who is interested in dementia-friendly environments the chance to come along, hear some interesting presenters and to share their ideas and experiences.”

Researchers from the Alzheimer’s Research UK South Coast Network will also attend the meeting to tell the public about their research into the causes of Alzheimer’s and other diseases.

Dr Laura Phipps of Alzheimer’s Research UK said: “This public meeting is a fantastic opportunity for people to learn more about dementia care, as well as hear about the ground-breaking research taking place into dementia in their region.

“We would encourage anyone wanting to know more to come along, listen to what is being done to tackle the condition and have their questions answered in an informal and friendly environment.”

Although the event is free, places must be booked in advance by visiting http://bit.ly/1hDOJuF or calling BUDI on 01202 962771.

Find out more about the Bournemouth University Dementia Institute

BU student in pole position for Formula 1 trophy competition

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A BU student – and Formula 1 fanatic – is in the running to have a trophy he designed handed out to the winning drivers of the British and German Grand Prix.

Second year BA (Hons) Industrial Design student Chris Bryan is currently in the top 10 of the Santander Challenge, which has attracted hundreds of entries from students around the world.

The competition, set by Banco Santander through its Santander Universities Global Division, challenged students to design the official Formula 1 trophy which will be presented to the British and German F1 Grand Prix winners.

It will be decided by a public vote – with the top ten most popular entries going through to be judged by Santander, who will choose the winning design.

Chris has so far received more than 12,950 votes for his design – which features the Santander flame logo coming out of the back of the trophy.

“I wanted to make the trophy tall, so that it was something to hold and be a bit of a striking statement,” he said.

“I had the idea to have the flames rising out of the back of the trophy, so it was a bit more noticeable. From the side, it looks like a phoenix.”

He added: “The support that I’ve had from friends and family has been amazing – my parents have been getting their work colleagues to vote and I’ve even had complete strangers commenting on my design and sharing it with their friends.

“The competition has hundreds of entries from around the world, so getting into the top 10 would be amazing. It has shot up so quickly, I really want to win now.”

Prizes for the student who creates the winning design also include a replica of their trophy and a trip for two to the British Grand Prix, including grandstand tickets.

Chris, 20, is from Woking in Surrey – the home of McLaren – and is a self-confessed Formula 1 fanatic.

“For the past seven years I have just been obsessed,” he said.

“When the F1 races are televised my life comes to a complete standstill as I watch every detail.”

He added: “It would be amazing for someone to hold up my trophy and then for me to get a replica.

“I’m a massive Formula 1 fan and I have always enjoyed design, ever since I was a little boy playing with my toys.

“These two things coming together would mean so much and make me so happy – especially in terms of making me stand out in my career.”

People can vote for entries in the Santander Challenge until May 14.

See Chris’ design and vote

Boost your business with BU’s Festival of Learning

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Do you want to improve your project management skills, learn how to impress the press or make sure your website instantly grabs the attention of your customers? (You have 50 milliseconds to do so!)

Bournemouth University (BU) is hosting over 150 free events from Monday 9 to Sunday 15 June, as part of the Festival of Learning 2014. There are interactive workshops, hands-on taster sessions, presentations and seminar sessions running throughout the day and evening.

Events are grouped within eight themes, including Entrepreneurship and Economic Growth, many of which are specifically designed for businesses and professional development.

These events offer an opportunity to network, learn something new or update an existing skill.

Subjects covered include computer animation, media production, software systems, artificial intelligence, business incubation, crowdsourcing and more. There are also a wide range of industry specific events that will that will appeal to health and social care professionals and those who work in the creative, digital and media sectors.

Mark Painter is Manager of the Centre for Entrepreneurship and is hosting an event. He said: “An Afternoon with Entrepreneurs should prove to be a really inspiring and entertaining afternoon for both ambitious business owners and aspiring entrepreneurs.

“We’re delighted that Leslie Spiers, Fellow of the Institute of Directors, will be hosting the event and will be helping us to understand what it was that motivated our invited entrepreneurs to start their businesses and what keeps them striving to achieve even more.”

Last year over 4,000 people came to the Festival of Learning to learn something new, hear about BU research and see how it can impact our everyday lives.

The Festival allows professionals, students and members of the public to be part of university studies, research and learning, with the chance to also bring friends and family to pursue a personal interest or hobby and meet like-minded people during the seven days the Festival is running.

Whilst you’re taking part in a business event, you might find something else that interests you from the wide range of activities on offer. For example, there’s a  Cyber security: protecting your assets event, or Poison is My Business, which is a journey through the history of poisons, including modern day forensic toxicology.

To book these, or any other event,visit the Festival of Learning website or call 01202 962362.

BU teams in final of European student advertising competition

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Two teams from Bournemouth University (BU) are in the final three for a student advertising competition that received entries from across Europe.

The teams – each made up of four BU final year BA (Hons) Advertising students – are through to the final of Ad Venture, an annual competition organised by the European Association of Communications Agencies (EACA) for students across Europe.

It is the first time two teams from the same university have been named as finalists in the competition, which aims to give students a taste of life working for an advertising agency.

Melanie Gray, Lecturer in Advertising and Marketing at BU, said: “This is a fantastic achievement for those students that have reached the finals of this European competition.

“It really does make all the teaching staff here on the BU Advertising degree immensely proud, both of the students and also for what it says about the degree course.

“Although entry into this competition is an integral part of their final year unit Campaign Planning, the quality of student entries from Bournemouth does reflect their entire education and experiences they have had over all their time here at BU.”

Teams are given a brief to create a campaign around, with this year’s challenge being to raise awareness of opportunities in Europe to support young people in gaining work experience.

The two finalist teams from BU – called Daffadowndilly and Fellow – will head to Barcelona on 9 May to present their campaigns to leading comms professionals from across Europe at the edcom conference.

The winners will receive a week at the Cannes Lions Festival in June, the biggest festival for those in the creative communications industries.

Daffadowndilly – made up of Rachel Banks, Darrell Pont, Georgina Robb and Joel Blackie – will be presenting their campaign called Map Your Future.

Daffadowndilly team photo

The Daffadowndilly team

Georgina, who acted as media planner for the group, said: “To get this far in the competition has been a very exciting but unexpected accomplishment. The team has worked so well together and enjoyed the challenge of a European brief.

“Presenting our idea to the judges in Barcelona will be a great opportunity that we are looking forward to. We’re also very proud for BU to be representing two out of the three final teams.”

Fellow – Laura Merchan McAulay, Florence Evans, Cameron Black and Marta Cownburn Cuesta – responded to the brief with a campaign called Change The Story.

Cameron, who was the Creative for the Fellow team, said they were “absolutely over the moon” to have reached the finals.

He added: “We feel incredibly proud to have the opportunity to represent BU at a European level and end our degree on a high.”

It’s not the first time students from the Corporate Marketing Communications department at BU have had success in Ad Venture, with BU students winning the competition in 2012 and a number of finalist spots over the years.

Melanie said:  “Once again, stand out achievements like this show that the BU Advertising degree produces some of the best quality student work in the country.”

Postgraduate support at BU featured in The i newspaper

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The wide variety of help and support available to postgraduate students at BU was featured in The i newspaper.

The feature, which appeared in the newspaper’s postgraduate supplement, looked at how postgraduate students can get support if they feel they are struggling with their studies or are under a lot of pressure.

It listed the wide-ranging services on offer at Bournemouth University – including study skills workshops, counselling and financial advice.

Mandi Barron, Head of Student Support Services at BU, was quoted in the article.

“We can provide practical advice and signpost more specialist services depending on the students’ need,” she said, adding that students should also look to their friends and family for support.

“Some students find that joining a club or society and meeting others with similar interests really helps.”

The article also featured advice from Kyle Michael Williamson, an MSc Enterprise Information Systems student at BU.

He suggested breaking tasks up and using technology to make work more manageable.

He said: “Having access to specialist software off campus helps the ability to work from anywhere and fit your studies around the rest of your life.”

The most important thing for any student who is struggling, Mandi added, was to remember that you are not alone.

“Talk to someone,” she said. “Your problems might seem insurmountable, but universities have a lot of experience and can offer a huge range of support.”

 

BU Team wins national enterprise competition

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A team from Bournemouth University has won a national competition that encourages student teams to promote a good cause.

The BU team – made up of students from across the different academic schools – won the Rise To Enterprise Challenge, with their campaign called Thanks To Mothers.

The campaign aimed to provide simple ways for people to express gratitude to their mothers, and they ran a social media campaign alongside events at the BU campus.

They also helped celebrate Mother’s Day by handing out flowers to mums in the local community.

The BU team was made up of Aleksandrs Pereverzevs and Mark Trubetskoy from the Media School, Jana Sirica from the School of Tourism, and Lauren England and Glebs Kiselovs from The Business School.

They worked together in a number of roles – including Marketing, Sponsorship, Sales and Research – and were required to source a mentor and raise sponsorship in order to ultimately raise awareness for their campaign.

The challenge enables students to gain hands on work experience in a business environment which not only helps within the community, but looks great on the CV.

More than 2,100 people said thanks to their mothers through the team’s website over the course of the campaign.

As well as the group winning the enterprise challenge overall, Glebs Kiselovs also won an individual award for his lead role in gaining sponsorship.

Find out more about the Thanks to Mothers campaign

Occupational therapy student shares story of South Africa placement

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An Occupational Therapy student has shared details of her work placement in South Africa.

Third year student Joan Kerr completed the eight week work placement in Hoedspruit, South Africa.

Joan obtained the role through the connections of one of her placement supervisors when choosing her self-selected placement, as developing her skills overseas had always been an ambition.

The position at a private practice involved shadowing for the first week until being assigned a caseload herself – this being the assessment, evaluation and treatment of two children who were referred for treatment from a local school.

All clients referred to the practice are between three and eight years old and can have a variety of concerns which need to be addressed.

With limited resources and time available, not to mention language barriers, keeping sessions fun and stimulating for the children was a challenge but something Joan embraced and encouraged further development of her skills while providing an excellent quality of care.

Joan said: “This placement really opened my eyes to the cultural differences that can be faced when working as an OT, such as the impact of poverty and wealth on treatment and how a language barrier can affect treatment.

“I learnt a lot and improved many of my existing skills such as communication, personal and people development and service improvement.”

She continues “I am very grateful to all involved for enabling me to have this opportunity, and I would definitely recommend taking up a placement abroad if the opportunity arises”.

Her full first-hand account of the placement is available via The World Federation of Occupational Therapists website and details the challenges and benefits of such a placement overseas.

Social work students and lecturers at international Socnet98 event

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Students and lecturers from the BA (Hons) Social Work degree travelled to Austria for an annual conference, looking at social work from an international perspective.

Eight students from their first and second year of study in BA Social Work, plus two BU lecturers, travelled to Linz in Austria to take part in the Socnet98 annual conference.

The conference has been running since 1998, and a European network of universities meet to discuss themes relating to Social Work from an international perspective, with students and lecturers invited to deliver seminars about either research their own university is involved or an issue which is important.

Taking place at the University of Applied Sciences Upper Austria, the theme for this year was about Intercultural Competencies. Seminars and lectures were delivered by ten different nationalities (all in English) covering topics such as Working with Volunteers, Kinship Care, Developing Multicultural sensitivity and many more.

Included in the programme was the opportunity to create international networks between students, visit local charities and organisations working with people in the city of Linz and time to enjoy the city itself.

The World Café was a student-led afternoon where each university displayed information about what it had to offer, both regionally and internationally, plus local delicacies were shared with international friends. Bournemouth bought along the famous seaside rock, which was enjoyed by everyone.

The whole event was declared a great success by the head of the organising committee, Dagmar Strohmeier, and everyone was encouraged to attend next year.Next year’s venue is yet to be organised.