Tag Archives: Professor John Vinney

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

Athena SWAN Charter holds talks at BU

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The Athena SWAN Charter commenced a series of talks at BU last week.

The charter is dedicated to improving recognition for women in Science, Technology, Engineering, Medicine and Mathematics (STEMM) academia.

Guest speakers included members from Queen’s University in Belfast, with the discussion covering key topics that are high on the list of the Athena SWAN agenda.

Hosted by Vice Chancellor Professor John Vinney, among the many issues debated was the notion of ‘unconscious bias’ and gender inequality.

Equal Opportunities Officer for Queen’s University, Jane Garvey, gave some background as to the visit from Queen’s to BU.

“Queen’s have been involved with Athena SWAN since its conception and we were invited by Bournemouth University to share our experience.

“Bournemouth is off to a good start with the application for the Athena Bronze Award, and that sets a foundation for a potentially successful journey.”

The second guest speaker was the Director of the Queen’s Gender Initiative, Professor Teresa McCormack.

Professor McCormack, who has chaired the SWAN Champions group of representatives from academic schools in Queen’s, is also known for her work with the Athena SWAN awards, promoting gender equality in the sciences and engineering.

Professor McCormack gave her take on what the Athena SWAN Initiative is hoping to achieve.

“I think that the whole ethos that surrounds the Athena Swan process is one that does not want to discriminate against men or devalue their contribution in anyway.

“It’s about making a fair workplace for everybody. We know that there are balances that need to be addressed at the senior levels of management in academia, but a lot of our work actually focuses on creating an equal working environment for both men and women to thrive in.”

BU started the journey to Athena SWAN accreditation in December 2012 and has now completed the application for a Bronze Award.

More details about BU’s work with Athena SWAN

David Willetts MP to open BU’s Festival of Learning

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Minister of State for Universities and Science, the Rt Hon David Willetts MP, will open BU’s Festival of Learning on Monday 9 June.

The visit, which coincides with Universities UK Week, is an opportunity to showcase BU’s excellent student work and world-leading research to this influential government figure.

The Minister will begin his visit with a tour of the University, taking in a range of Festival of Learning events including ‘Are you a super-recogniser’, ‘VeggiEAT’ and an exhibition of student projects.

The tour will be led by BU Vice-Chancellor Professor John Vinney, along with Chancellor The Rt Hon The Lord Phillips of Worth Matravers, MP for Bournemouth West Conor Burns and Chairman of the BU Board Sue Sutherland OBE.

Following the tour, Mr Willetts MP will give an opening speech about the Festival and the value of Higher Education. This will be followed by a Q&A session.

The Festival of Learning allows professionals, students and members of the public to find out more about BU’s work and how it can impact the lives of those around the world. More details about the events Mr Willetts MP will attend are as follows:

Some people are exceptionally good at remembering faces, whereas others are very poor at this skill and may have ‘face blindness’. This event assesses where you lie on the spectrum through a live experiment.

This event is a graduate exhibition by the BA (Hons) Interactive Media Production course, with the opportunity to experience work from award-winning students about to enter the industry. The scope of work ranges from computer games to alternative realities, and projection mapping to brain-powered lamps.

VeggiEAT is an EU project addressing the global challenge of reducing obesity and coronary heart disease. This event will introduce VeggiEAT and investigate if there is a reason why you like or dislike vegetables.

To book an event or find out more information, visit www.bournemouth.ac.uk/fol.

Vice-Chancellor Professor John Vinney appears in The Telegraph

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Bournemouth University Vice-Chancellor John Vinney was featured in The Telegraph in an article discussing a new government policy, which promises to open the door to more students by removing the cap which controls numbers of students that universities can recruit.  

Professor Vinney said the reforms would make an impact, irrespective of “discussions about affordability and implementation. Higher Education is a fundamental good for both the individual and society, and any effort to make it more accessible to a larger number of people should be applauded”.

He went on to say, “Speaking as a father, I am pleased that when my children start thinking about going to university they will have a much better chance of entering higher education, and will be much more likely to get a place at the university they want to study at, provided they put in the hard work required”.

“Speaking as a Vice-Chancellor we will now have a true market in Higher Education, with all the joys and sorrows that come with it”.

From autumn 2015, the controls limiting the numbers of students that universities in England can recruit will be scrapped. David Willets, Universities Minister, said the decision will “free universities to recruit the students they want and give people far more choice over where to study”.

BU celebrates Chinese New Year

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Bournemouth University celebrated Chinese New Year with traditional entertainment organised by BU’s Chinese Student and Scholar Association (BU CSSA).

The event, held at BU’s Kimmeridge House, included a traditional lion dance, songs sung by a Chinese choir and a number of musical performances.

VIPs in attendance included Bournemouth University Vice-Chancellor Professor John Vinney and The Mayor and Mayoress of Poole Councillor Philip Eades & Mrs Helen Eades.

Xinglong Ma, vice-president of BU CSSA, was part of the team to organise the event and said, “There were lots of Chinese people celebrating together, including students, scholars as well as local Chinese people. It was great to promote our cultures in Bournemouth and Poole.

“Chinese New Year, just like Christmas,  is the most important festival for the Chinese people and all family members get together to celebrate. This event was brilliant. I really want to thank all our supporters from BU’s different departments and external organisations.  When we heard the roars of applause, every BU CSSA members felt very glad. Because all our work was not in vain.”

Over 100 people attended the event, with BU staff members, students and members of the public in attendance. Caroline Earth, Transition and Wellbeing Officer at Bournemouth University, said “I’ve attended a number of Chinese New Year events at BU over the years and this was certainly the biggest and best! The students had clearly put a lot of effort into organising it. It was a really interesting insight into Chinese culture and the high-point for me was the traditional lion dance. It was great to see so many people from the local Chinese community there, as well as students and staff from BU.”

Ian Jones, Head of Regional Community Partnerships at BU, said, “It was a great event and very enjoyable. I have to congratulate the organisers on creating such an amazing array of talent. I was also struck by how many from the community attended, a real testament to how hard the students worked to make it happen.”

Other entertainment at the event included a Traditional Chinese Costume and Tea Show and a solo by Dr Ping Hua using a traditional Chinese lute instrument.  Chinese buffet-style refreshments were also provided by some of the event sponsors.

John Vinney speaks to Guardian Higher Education Network

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Bournemouth University’s Vice-Chancellor, Professor John Vinney, spoke to the Guardian to give his thoughts on George Osborne’s plans for the future of Higher Education, announced during the autumn statement.

The plans centred on freeing the restriction currently placed on the number of students universities can recruit each academic year.  Funds will be created for the new plan by selling the loan book that supports students while they study.

The blog post started with Professor Vinney declaring that ‘Christmas had come early’ for Higher Education institutions as the cap on the number of students was relaxed, “It is easy to get caught up in discussions about affordability and implementation, but the real headline in the chancellor’s autumn statement is that Christmas just came early for a future generation of students. Higher education is a fundamental good for both the individual and society, and any effort to make it more accessible to a larger number of people should be applauded.”

In the article Professor Vinney weighed the pros and cons of such a move, stating, “Speaking as a father, I am pleased that when my children start thinking about going to university they will have a much better chance of entering higher education, and will be much more likely to get a place at the university they want to study at, with their likelihood of success being dependent solely on their academic ability.”

Professor Vinney continued, “Speaking as a vice-chancellor, we will now have a true market in higher education, with all the joys and sorrows that come with it. But competitive, innovative providers who genuinely care about the future of their students and graduates should have absolutely nothing to fear from that.”

Professor Vinney concluded by saying, “The freeing of controls is a landmark moment for the sector and I for one am glad that a little bit of ideological policymaking has prevailed at last.”

Read the article in full on the Guardian website.

Sociologist and 7/7 survivor receives Honorary Doctorate from BU

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An eminent sociologist who survived and became a symbol of the 7/7 terror attacks in London has received an Honorary Doctorate from Bournemouth University.

Professor John Tulloch became a Doctor of Letters during the Media School graduation ceremony.

John, who grew up in Bournemouth, has held academic positions at universities in both the UK and Australia and has published more than 20 books, looking at everything from film history and theory, to Doctor Who and risk in the media.

He received worldwide media attention when his bandaged face following the Edgware Road bombing became one of the iconic images of the terrorist attacks, which took place on the London Underground in 2005.

John, who has previously worked with BU’s Media School on preparing for the Research Excellence Framework (REF), said his close connections with both the area and the university made receiving his Honorary Doctorate extra special.

He said: “It’s terrific, I’ve got two reasons to be pleased – one is that I come from Bournemouth, I spent all my primary and secondary education here, and secondly I’ve got a close knowledge of the staff in the Media School, having been an adviser to them last year.

“I admire the research, it’s very good research. It goes from comics to media ethics to globalisation. It’s very broad but it’s all very robust and it’s interdisciplinary and I like that.”

He added that the Media School students were graduating at a critical time for the creative industries.

“I think my central words of advice are that students are going into the media industries and creative industry at a very critical time, given that we’ve got worries about security state and surveillance, worries about phone hacking, and the Royal Charter on press regulation has just been signed.

“Therefore, they are going to be the people – in whatever creative industry they are in – to continue the struggle for democracy.”

More than 5,000 graduates from across Bournemouth University were handed their degree certificates in six different ceremonies at the Bournemouth International Centre.

Professor John Vinney, vice-chancellor of Bournemouth University, said: “Bournemouth University takes great pride in our Honorary Graduates.

“We recognise people who have excelled in their chosen field who will act as inspirational role models, both for our graduates and their families at the awards ceremonies and for our whole student body in the coming years.”