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Vice-Chancellor’s Staff Award Winners – Faculty of Health & Social Sciences

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DrCarolClarkCongratulations to Dr Carol Clark, from the School of Health and Social Care on winning the Academic Staff – Individual Achievement Award at the Vice-Chancellor Staff Awards 2014.

Dr Clark was nominated for her infectious enthusiasm and inspirational ‘fused’ approach either to leading, or to working together with staff and students, while maintaining her own research and scholarship.

“Despite her challenging role as Framework Lead, Carol has maintained a ‘fused’ approach, enthusing and inspiring her students to be a part of that.”
Professor Vanora Hundley, Deputy Dean for Research and Professional Practice, School of Health and Social Care

“For me, Carol’s greatest achievement is her innovation in teaching, promoting the independence of her students such that seven out of twenty-one achieved a First in her Unit.”
Dr Judith Chapman, Senior Lecturer in Physiotherapy, School of Health and Social Care

Find further information on the 2014 Vice-Chancellor’s Staff Awards.

Vice-Chancellor’s Staff Award Winners – Faculty of Science & Technology

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Durotrigues-375x250Congratulations to The Durotriges Project Team being Collaborative Team Award Winners 2014 at the Vice-Chancellor Staff Awards 2014.

The Durotriges Project Team were identified as a ‘beacon of Fusion’ to win a VC Staff Award 2014.

The Durotriges Project Team were nominated for the innovative way in which they have blended research, education and professional practice over a sustained period of time in order to enhance the student learning experience, but also to engage the wider community.

“The Durotriges Project Team combine, in a wonderful way, research, education and professional practice.  Research because through excavation, they are attempting to unravel the history of the late Iron Age/Early Roman Period in South West England; education because they train generations of students from BU and further afield in the skills of the trade, and professional practice because they engage the wider public and volunteers and help people take the skills they’ve learnt into real life experience”.

“This project is a beacon of Fusion that does BU proud.”

Professor Holger Schutkowski, Professor of Bioarchaeology, Faculty of Science and Technology

Find further information on the 2014 Vice-Chancellor’s Staff Awards.

 

Postgraduate loans

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Last week the government announced a new postgraduate student loan system, with the aim of increasing access to postgraduate university courses.

Further details of the postgraduate scheme announced are below.

  • The loan scheme will come into effect for the 2016-17 academic year
  • Loans of up to £10,000 will be available for all postgraduate taught masters courses
  • Loans are income-contingent, meaning the amount to be paid back by the student depends on their income
  • The loan will be available to students under the age of 30
  • Interest rates will beat commercial rates
  • Graduates will pay back their PG loan alongside their UG loan. This could mean giving around 18% of their monthly income above £21,000 in student loan repayments.

To bridge the gap in 2015-16, the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) will allocate £50 million so universities can offer bursaries on a match funded basis. Bursaries will be £10,000 each and will benefit 10,000 students.

More information on the bursaries, including how students can apply, will be available as soon as details are confirmed.

Adverse Weather Conditions

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snow_carouselAll staff, students and visitors are asked to take extra care when travelling to and from the University and while on campus during the winter months. Access routes, paths, roads and car parks will be gritted as required and we will try to keep the university campuses open for business whatever the weather.

In the unlikely event of severe weather conditions, please check for travel updates before leaving home and always follow police travel advice. We will post updates on Twitter, Facebook, the BU website, staff and student portals, myBU, iBU and by email to all staff and students. You can also check the BU Information Line (01202 968999) for recorded updates.

More information and advice is available on the Bournemouth Council website.

Vice-Chancellor’s Staff Awards Winners 2014

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The winners of the Vice-Chancellor’s Staff Awards 2014 were announced at a prestigious ceremony held on the evening of 27 November 2014 in Kimmeridge House. Vice-Chancellor, Professor John Vinney recognised the achievements of shortlisted staff, along with those who had achieved long service, qualifications relevant to their role and promotion to Professor.

Staff from across the university were praised for their excellence either as individuals or teams – with awards for Individual Achievement, Unsung Hero, Collaborative Team and SUBU’s ‘Most Outstandingly Brilliant’ Gold Award. Among the audience were close friends and family and there was a huge sense of pride as people stepped up to receive their awards.

Congratulations to the following winners of the Vice-Chancellor’s Staff Awards 2014:

Academic Staff – Individual Achievement Award

Dr Carol Clark, School of Health and Social Care

Academic Staff – Unsung Hero Award

Dr Chindu Sreedharan, Media School

Collaborative Team Award

The Durotriges Project Team, Faculty of Science & Technology

SUBU “You’re Brillant” Awards

Dr Louise Preget & Roger Fox, Business School

Affiliated Staff – Unsung Hero Award

PC Andy Scarratt, Member of the Universities Safer Neighbourhood Team

Professional and Support Staff – Individual Achievement Award

Dan Ford,  Marketing and Communications

Professional and Support Staff – Unsung Hero Award

Lauren Duff, Estates

BU Wireless Network Update

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cloudIT Services is pleased to announce the wireless service ‘The Cloud’ has been upgraded from the 3 hour limited connection to a 24/7 unlimited connection. The service is available at both campuses and will enable users without a BU account to connect their mobile devices to the internet quickly, easily and free to ‘_The Cloud’ without any time restriction.

IT Services strongly recommend all staff and students ensure their mobile devices are connected to one of the secure BU wireless networks listed below:

  • BU-Staff
  • BU-Student
  • eduroam

Please be aware any mobile devices not connecting to the secure BU wireless networks listed above are on an un-secured wireless network which has a much slower connection and restricted access to the internet.

Please note the commercial wireless solution ‘_The Cloud’ is only recommended to be used by visitors to BU for limited internet usage, such as checking emails and light browsing on the Internet.

You can connect to the appropriate wireless network by viewing the network options on your mobile device, selecting the wireless network BU-Staff or BU-Student and entering your BU username and password.

For more information, please visit http://www.thecloud.net/free-wifi/.

If you have any problems connecting to ‘_The Cloud’ wireless network, please log with the Cloud support 0845 333 0402.

Tweet the Tree

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tweet-treeThe 20ft Christmas Tree in the Atrium on Talbot Campus is hard to miss – but now you can decide the colour of the lights, and win yourself some prizes in the process. So join in with us, have some Christmas fun and enjoy our interactive Christmas Tree!

The rules:

 

Simply answer the question ‘What makes you #BUproud?’ on Twitter by sending a tweet to @bournemouthuni using one of the hashtags.

Choose from #BUcourses (pink) #BUsupport (white) #BUcommunity (blue), tell us why you voted for it and watch the colours on the tree change!

The tree looks at the last 10 tweets sent to @bournemouthuni and the colour of the tree will change depending on the volume of tweets for each hashtag.

Each morning the best tweet from the day before will be selected and the tweeter will win one of the following prizes:

  • AFC Bournemouth tickets
  • Dorset produce hamper
  • BU mugs
  • BU hoodie
  • Bottle of Champagne
  • £10 food voucher to spend on campus
  • Two free Odeon cinema tickets
  • £50 amazon voucher
  • sportBU one term membership
  •  BU t-shirt
  •  BU tankard
  •  £20 SUBU voucher

Winners will be invited to pick a present from under the tree and collect their prize.

This is all being done in a sustainable and cost effective way as the tree itself has been donated by New Forest Energy and after Christmas we’ll be chipping the tree to use it to fuel our biomass boiler, providing renewable heat for BU.

So Happy Tweeting and Happy Christmas from all at BU!

Connor Byrne

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bu-logo“We were very sad at BU to hear of the death of our student Connor Byrne last week. Connor was studying on the Computing pathway and was working at Vauxhall on his placement year.

“Connor was friendly, affable and a very dedicated student. He was liked by many students and staff, and will be sorely missed by all those that knew him within the Faculty of Science and Technology and beyond.

“Our thoughts are with his family, friends and fellow students at this time.”
Frank Milsom, lecturer

If any students need support at this difficult time, please visit the Chaplaincy or Counselling pages of the Student Portal.

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E-cigarettes, Batteries & Chargers

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BU’s Health, Safety and Wellbeing Team would like to remind students about the risks of using mains/USB chargers for E-Cigarettes.e-cigs-1

Electronic cigarettes have been linked to more than 100 fires. Fire services in the UK are now attending at least one blaze involving the devices each week. They have attended dozens of incidents suspected to have been sparked by e-cigarettes or related equipment – including chargers – in less than three years.

Students should be aware of the fire hazard associated with the use and recharging of e-cigarettes, disposable electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes), cigars, pipes and similar battery powered tobacco replacement products which use a heating element (atomiser) to produce a vapour which resembles smoke.

The devices should not be left whilst being recharged either by using a mains adaptor, USB port on a laptop, or computer in case they catch fire. This applies to all BU vehicles as well, including those hired in.e-cigs-2

They should not be used in an oxygen rich environment given the increased risk of ignition and explosion.

They should only be used outside at least 10 meters away from buildings as they are treated the same as normal smoking material with regards to BU’s policy on smoking.

Equipment used for charging should be marked with a CE mark to provethey have been tested to an approved higher standard.

You Said, This Happened: the myBU app goes live today

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myBU-appMany students have told us that a myBU app would be helpful, and we know that lots of you access myBU via a mobile device.

From today, in addition to using myBU online, you’ll be able to view your myBU unit information, announcements and communities on your mobile device using the Blackboard Mobile Learn app. This will make it easier for you to access study materials, including:

  • Unit information
  • Blogs
  • Discussion forums
  • Journals
  • Tests.

You’ll also be able to view assessment marks/grades and receive notifications when new announcements and resources are added to a unit or communities such as the Careers & Employability Service, Academic Skills and Languages@BU.

You can still use iBU to access reading lists, library resources, and check PC availability, and we’ve added a tab that will link you through from iBU to the new myBU app, so it’ll be easy to switch from one to the other.

Download the Blackboard Mobile Learn app now from your app store or via the myBU tab in iBU. When you install the app you will need to select BU from a drop down list of institutions. Then simply login with your usual BU username and password.

Blackboard Mobile Learn is available on IoS, Android and Blackberry devices. Other users can continue to access myBU online.

If you experience any issues downloading or using the myBU app, please contact the IT Service desk, or read this useful ‘help information’.