University of Suffolk Staff Newsletter Issue 11

University of Suffolk NEWS

WELCOME

Transforming lives and our region

Welcome to this edition of the University of Suffolk newsletter. I hope the heading resonates with some of you – it’s the title of the University’s 10 year strategy and one that has never been more apt given the challenges that the pandemic has brought us during 2020 and 2021.

Survival and ‘keeping the show on the road’ have been important over the last year and our students and staff have yet again proved themselves to be committed and resilient, driving new approaches to learning and teaching and ensuring that our students continue to progress on their courses; our new team of student experience ambassadors have also helped contribute to communications as we strive to keep in touch across our community and beyond.

However, what has been really exciting are the developments that have continued despite the pandemic, many of which are showcased in this edition. Whether it’s the DigiTech Centre as an amazing resource for our students and staff to develop skills related to network and software engineering, or the Integrated Care Academy which is the first of its kind in the UK bringing professionals together across the health, social care and wellbeing system to support population health in our community, or the opening of The Hold with the unique opportunity for staff, students, residents of Suffolk and visitors to use modern techniques to explore the archives available - all of these initiatives are testament to thriving, vibrant and innovative opportunities

Issue 11 - Summer 2021

to transform lives and our region. Working with our town, county, region and beyond, we continue to grow the role of the University of Suffolk in supporting the educational attainment of our people, and the employment requirements and research impacts of our business and industries to make a difference.

For the last two weeks, I have had the privilege to talk to many students and their families and friends as we marked the graduation of the class of 2020. It was heartwarming to hear how they have progressed their lives and careers post university, their stories of jobs and work experiences that resulted from their studies with us, and to see how proud their families are of their achievements.

Being proud of achievement is important and helps us to raise our aspirations and ambitions further for the future. So, as we celebrate the achievements of our graduates and the achievements of our University we should look towards a bright future where we continue to work together to transform lives and our community.

Professor Helen Langton Vice - Chancellor and CEO

Contents

Welcome 1

In focus 3

In-Career Education and Training project receives European Social Fund support 3

Suffolk Business School partners with global leadership organisation 4

Mark Your Achievement celebrations 5

Challenging barriers to access, engagement and success 6

News and updates 7

Applaud Coffee History project 7

New Anglia Institute of Technology gets a step closer 8

First Research Excellence Framework submission for the University 9

Architecture course receives professional recognition 10

The Connected Town — have your say 10

New partnership with the Institute of Directors 11

Queering the Curriculum — a seminar series hosted by the University of Suffolk 11

Heist Awards shortlist for External Relations 12

Making a Difference Conference 12

East Building project update

13

Work begins on creating a new Health and Wellbeing Quarter 13

Sustainability 14

Education for Sustainable Development (SDG 4) The Princes’ Trust project 14

DigiTech Centre 15

Meet and greet 16

Research and publications 18

ICA launches global, award-winning research into elderly care 18

Podcasts to bring external speakers into modules 19

Student and graduate successes 19

Students’ Union awards 19 We are supporting... 20

IN FOCUS

In-Career Education and Training project receives

European Social Fund support

The University of Suffolk has secured just under £1m to enable increased support for small and medium sized businesses (SMEs) in the region.

The money comes from the European Social Fund and will give SMEs access to high quality Continuing Professional Development (CPD). Businesses within the region are able to obtain 50% of funding towards high level, quality training programmes to support their employees and the future growth of their business.

The In-Career Education and Training (ICET) project will focus on two key themes of training that have been identified as skills gaps in the region:

„ Professional Leadership and Management

„ Digital Innovation

Debra Gingell, Business Development Manager for CPD and the ICET Project Manager, said “This is a great outcome for the University and local SMEs. The CPD on offer will include courses in Agile Project Management; Front End Web Development; Data Analytics and Product Management and align with the development of the DigiTech Centre with BT and Suffolk Business School’s new Leadership Academy.

The Leadership Academy aims to equip SMEs to overcome challenges, recover from COVID-19, to become more sustainable and importantly, to grow! A key objective of the project is to encourage the progression of women in business and digital. To support this, there will be a leadership course designed specifically for emerging women leaders which is particularly exciting.”

To register your interest or to obtain information regarding the project and the funding available, please email icet@uos.ac.uk

EUROP EAN UNION European Social Fund

FOCUS

Suffolk Business School partners with global leadership organisation

Suffolk Business School at the University of Suffolk is pleased to announce its partnership with ILM (formerly known as the Institute of Leadership & Management) to run accredited short-course programmes for local businesses and for the dual-accreditation of degree programmes for Suffolk Business School students.

This collaboration is exciting news for new students and local businesses as it represents Suffolk Business School’s commitment to work closely with the business community and add value to courses by ensuring all programmes have external accreditation.

From September 2021, the newly formed Leadership Academy at the University will start to offer Level 3 and Level 5 Certificates in Leadership and Management –prestigious awards designed to enable people and organisations to develop their leadership skills. These courses, perfect for those looking to develop new skills or move into new roles, focus on applying leadership and management ideas to the day-to-day challenges of work and organisation.

Joe Bell, Higher Education Partnership Manager with ILM, said, “We are excited about this new

partnership with the University of Suffolk and look forward to supporting them to ensure their students have the very best opportunity to demonstrate their leadership skills. Our qualifications are all about work-based application, supporting our partners to create impactful leaders of the future.”

The dual-accreditation of degree courses means that students who complete a relevant programme of study will leave with more than a degree certificate. Students joining from September 2021 will also have the opportunity to receive certification from the ILM emphasising the real-world, applied nature of their courses. This new relationship means graduates of the new Suffolk Executive MBA, MSc International Business Management and BA (Hons) Business Management will receive Level 7 Diploma in Leadership & Management, Level 7 Certificate in Leadership & Management or Level 5 Certificate in Leadership & Management respectively.

Professor Gurpreet Jagpal, Pro-Vice Chancellor for Business and Entrepreneurship, is keen to emphasise the value of these awards. He said, “This is great news for our students and recognises the work that we have done to ensure that our courses will prepare them for fulfilling careers after graduation.”

IN FOCUS

Mark Your Achievement celebrations

Nearly 570 graduates were welcomed back in May to the University’s Waterfront campus for Class of 2020’s Mark Your Achievement events.

Due to the COVID-19 restrictions on large scale public events, Mark Your Achievement took place instead of the usual graduation ceremonies, which were scheduled in October 2020. Mark Your Achievement provided graduates with the opportunity to wear their gown and be formally congratulated by the University in the presence of their family and have their traditional graduation photographs taken.

Vice-Chancellor, Professor Helen Langton, said “Graduation is the culmination of all our students hard work and we are extremely proud of the Class of 2020. Although the last few weeks of their final year were not necessarily as they would have hoped given the national pandemic, nevertheless they all demonstrated resilience and commitment to their programmes of study. Mark Your Achievement provided a chance to celebrate accomplishments and we congratulate our graduates on attaining their awards. I wish our Class of 2020 every success for the future. I hope that they will take pride in being a graduate and alumni of the University of Suffolk and will be our ambassador in their future life and career.”

Read about the Class of 2020

IN FOCUS

Challenging barriers to access, engagement and success

Dr Ellen Buck, Director of Learning and Teaching

The COVID-19 pandemic has undoubtedly been a catalyst for change in how we deliver, design and consider approaches to the delivery of learning and teaching for our students. While a return to campus learning will result in a more blended approach with less online, it is important that we do not lose sight of the excellent practice that we have developed over the last year. In many cases it has shown us, and our students the benefits of a more flexible and proactive mode of delivery.

Our Learning and Teaching conference on the 9 June focussed on identifying and understanding some of the barriers for our whole community in access and engagement to enabling success. We heard from Dr Alexandra Mihai, Associate Professor of Innovation in Higher Education at Maastricht University how, through practising intentional learning design

we learn about our students, put them and their learning first in the academic experience and use technology in a considered way. We also heard initial key findings from the Access and Participation Plan research.

This conference also provided opportunities to hear from colleagues who have completed Centre for Excellence in Learning and Training (CELT) sponsored research projects and gave participants a chance to reflect on how our pedagogy and purpose is enhanced through hearing the student voice, using the learning data available to us and moving to support our students through coaching style conversations.

For those unable to attend or wishing to revisit the conference, presentations will be published in Brightspace and made available to everyone. I want to thank our speakers, and everyone who contributed to our rich conversations.

NEWS AND UPDATES

Applaud Coffee History project

In 2019, second year History students Hannah Castle, Maria Senior and Kerri Stevenson were commissioned by Applaud Coffee to conduct research on their café premises at 19 St Peter Street, Ipswich, and to develop an associated exhibition focusing on what turned out to be the 800 year history of the site.

Among the findings of the research it was revealed that the current Applaud site was once the premises of a butchers and wig maker, as evidenced by the large number of animal bones and hair found beneath the floorboards.

In 1839 the property was purchased by Robert Bowman, an Ipswich brewer, who gifted the property to his three daughters — Susannah, Harriet, and Amelia. All three married prominent Ipswich figures. Susannah married George Green Sampson, a doctor and mayor of Ipswich on several occasions. Harriet married Robert Burrows, artist and photographer, and Amelia married George Green Elliston, also a doctor and artist.

By the second half of the nineteenth century, the site was the home of immigrant families from the Black Forest region in south-western Germany

who established a successful clock and watchmaking business there. Later, the building became the home and business premises of an enterprising female milliner who saw the opportunities of the ‘shop style’ layout.

The cellar of the building was once a kitchen and it still contains a Victorian sink and some rare surviving delftware wall tiles dating to the early 1800s. Kerri became quite obsessed with these tiles, to the extent that her colleagues began to worry about her. She had the last laugh however when her article ‘Delftware tiles discovered in Ipswich’ was published in Issue No. 85 of Glazed Expressions (not making this up, promise) in 2020, the bi-annual magazine of the Tile and Architectural Ceramics Society.

The research and exhibition work were completed as part of the Group Project – Work Related Learning in History module, Spring 2020. However, the public launch of the exhibition, originally due to occur in March 2020, was postponed by COVID-19. The exhibition within the premises of Applaud Coffee is now rescheduled and will take place from Friday 23 July to Friday 3 September 2021.

New Anglia Institute of Technology gets a step closer

Institutes of Technology (IoT) are unique collaborations between universities and employers offering top-quality, high level education to help close the skills gap in key STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) areas. The Institutes form a key part of the governments shake up in technical education and the University of Suffolk is through the first stage of the selection process to secure a New Anglia Institute of Technology.

This is an exciting opportunity supporting the technology driven growth ambitions for the region. The IoT will address the economic strategy for Norfolk and Suffolk and the societal challenges relating to healthy aging, sustainable food production and the regeneration of coastal economies, with tech-based business solutions at the heart.

The New Anglia IoT sectors are identified as:

Agriculture, environment and animal care

Construction

Creative and design

Digital

Engineering and manufacturing

Health and science

Transport and logistics

With a focus on four core areas; clean energy, agri-food tech, ICT and creative digital and health informatics.

The University is leading the IoT bid for the Eastern region working with the University of the Arts Norwich, East Coast College, College of West Anglia and Suffolk New College, and partnering with British Telecom, EDF Energy and Muntons. The bid is further supported by Suffolk and Norfolk County Council, Ipswich and Great Yarmouth Borough Council, seven local MPs as well as the New Anglia Local Enterprise Partnership and a whole range of other business and community partners.

First Research Excellence Framework submission for the University

The Research Excellence Framework (REF) is the system from Research England for assessing research in UK higher education institutions and is carried out every six or seven years. The University of Suffolk made its first REF submission for assessment in March 2021.

The main purpose of the REF is to provide accountability for public investment in research; to benchmark information for use within the Higher Education sector and for the public, and to inform the selective allocation of qualityrelated (QR) funding for research.

The REF assesses three distinct elements:

„ Quality of research outputs (60%)

„ Impact of research beyond academia (25%)

„ The environment that supports research (15%)

The University of Suffolk’s submission for REF2021 was led by Professor Emma Bond, Director of Research and the outcomes will be published in April 2022. All staff who met the REF2021 definitions of having significant responsibility for research and being an independent researcher had to be submitted. At the University of Suffolk, the Suffolk Academic Model defines these staff as Category A staff. Although a relatively new university, we have quickly established a track record for excellence in social policy and social work research across several specialist areas.

For every member of staff submitted, an average 2.5 outputs were required based on ‘Originality’, ‘Rigour’ and ‘Significance’. For REF2021, Research England introduced an Open Access policy against which all journal articles and conference proceedings published since 1 April 2016 were required to be compliant, although some exceptions are possible. Our research outputs are available on OARS —Open Access Repository Suffolk, a digital archive of research outputs produced by University of Suffolk staff.

The ‘impact’ element of REF counts for 25% of the overall assessment. The number of case studies required in each Unit of Assessment (UoA) submission was determined by the number (full-time equivalent) of staff returned in the submission.

The University of Suffolk submitted two impact case studies to REF2021:

„ Addressing criminal and sexual exploitation of young and vulnerable people involved in “county lines” drug distribution networks

„ Sharing intimate images online –effectively responding to online sexual abuse and improving support for child victims

The ‘environment’ element of the REF counts for 15% of the overall quality rating and is assessed in terms of a UoA’s ‘vitality and sustainability’, including its contribution to the vitality and sustainability of the wider discipline or research base during the assessment period (1 August 2013 to 31 July 2020).

All universities submitting to REF were required to return a single Institutional Level (IL) environment statement in addition to an environment template for each unit they are submitting. The REF sub-panels use the information provided in the IL to inform and contextualise their assessment of the relevant the unit-level template.

The Director of Research co-ordinated and completed the statements for the institution and for the UoA 20 Social Work and Social Policy covering the following areas:

„ Unit context and structure, research and impact strategy

„ Section 2: People

„ Income, infrastructure and facilities

„ Collaboration and contribution to the research base, economy and society

Overall, there has been a 46% increase in the number of staff returned from the 157 universities who participated in REF2021. In total over 185,000 research outputs have been submitted for assessment by expert panels together with 6,700 case studies, describing specific examples of research impact. The assessment will take place over the coming year and the outcomes of REF2021 are due to be announced in April 2022.

NEWS AND UPDATES

Architecture course receives professional recognition

The University of Suffolk’s Architecture course has become one of just four in the region to be accredited with the Architects Registration Board (ARB).

The new accreditation means graduates of BA (Hons) Architecture at the University can become qualified Architects in practice once they complete all three parts of their training.

The ARB was established by Parliament in 1997 to regulate the profession in the UK and the title is protected under the Architects Act for those on the Register to practice.

Course Leader Dr Liana Psarologaki who founded the degree course at the University of Suffolk, said, “This has been a major step towards establishing Architecture at Suffolk. The team, the School of Engineering, Arts, Science

and Technology and the University have been behind this vision of making Suffolk a place well-known for training future architects in dynamic and forward-thinking ways, and this is an important milestone. We join four others in East Anglia in having this accreditation including Cambridge. Our academics are all qualified and our courses are designed in line with industry standards. We are now in the process of securing RIBA validation status for our Part 1 and expanding our portfolio with an exciting Masters in Architecture (ARB/RIBA Part 2).”

“We would like to thank all external partners to make this possible including RIBA Suffolk, visiting practitioners, colleagues at Ipswich Borough Council, advisors and examiners, graduate employers and supporters and of course our Architecture students.”

The Connected Town — have your say

Get involved and have your say on plans to transform Ipswich into a ‘connected town’.

A public consultation has been launched as part of bold plans to transform Ipswich town centre into a desirable place to live with easy access to all major facilities.

The Ipswich Vision Partnership — which includes local councils, the town’s MP Tom Hunt and business groups — has proposed the “connected town” concept as part of plans to recover from the Covid lockdowns.

The partnership is seeking views from residents on proposals to create better walking and cycling links between areas such

the Cornhill, Waterfront, railway station and parklands, creating a more viable place to live and work.

An online survey, which is available on Ipswich Vision’s website, has been launched for the scheme, which is being partly supported by the £25million Towns Fund cash Ipswich was awarded in March’s budget.

The survey asks for participants’ views on the importance of aspects such as public transport links, visitor accommodation, hospitality options, retail and digital connectivity in the town. Please do take a moment to fill in the survey — your voice matters.

NEWS AND UPDATES

New partnership with the Institute of Directors

The University of Suffolk is pleased to announce a partnership with the Institute of Directors (IoD) Suffolk to identify, support and develop the directors of the future.

The IoD has created a new training programme aimed at developing those aspiring to achieve director level or senior leadership roles. The ‘Tomorrow’s Director’ scheme will start in September 2021 and will consist of specific training including a boardroom simulation and opportunities for reverse mentoring.

The University has teamed up with members of IoD who run local businesses in Suffolk to sponsor seven Suffolk Business School students. These students will not only have access to the scheme, but they will also have a one year student membership to the IoD — allowing them to network with existing directors and get an insight into life as a director.

Queering the

Curriculum

— a seminar series hosted by the University of Suffolk

To celebrate Pride Month, the University of Suffolk hosted a seminar series entitled Queering the Curriculum.

The virtual event ran for three days from 24-26 June, and was hosted by the University’s LGBTQ+ Staff Network and the Gender and Sexuality Research Interest Group. It brought together academics, educators, students, activists, practitioners, and diversity trainers to discuss what Queering the Curriculum means in 2021.

Dr Sebastian Cordoba is a Lecturer in Psychology at the University and an organiser of the event. He said, “There is a need to recognise gender and sexual diversity in our educational practices. Many LGBTQ+ students do not feel represented in the teaching material — from pronouns, to the use of man as norm like chairman, policeman, etc., to assumptions about people’s genders and sexualities — making them feel disregarded and excluded. This event aimed to illustrate how — and why — the teaching curriculum should adapt to account for our students’ diverse identities and experiences, thus helping us promote a more welcoming and respectful teaching environment for all.”

In time the discussions will be uploaded to queeringthecurriculum.wordpress.com, though it might take a few weeks!

In the meantime, people can follow the LGBTQ+Staff Network on Twitter and see updates about the Gender and Sexuality Research Interest Group.

NEWS AND UPDATES

Heist Awards shortlist for External Relations

After a particularly challenging year, the External Relations Department is delighted to be shortlisted for two Heist Awards.

The Awards celebrate excellence and innovation in education marketing. We have been shortlisted in the Best Low Budget Initiative category for the ‘I Wonder Wednesdays’ series and also for Marketing Communications Team of the Year.

The winners will be announced at a virtual awards evening on Thursday 15 July.

Making a Difference Conference

Student Recruitment’s annual health and social care conference took place virtually on 26 May and this year, it was rebranded as the ‘Making a Difference: Health and Social Sciences Conference’.

More than 165 students and teachers attended from schools and colleges across East Anglia and beyond.

They had the chance to take part in academic taster sessions, ask questions at a student panel and receive advice on applying to study health subjects and working for the NHS.

Feedback from the day was overwhelmingly positive, with students particularly enjoying sampling their chosen subjects and hearing from our current students.

We look forward to welcoming students to next year’s event, which will take place in summer 2022!

EAST BUILDING PROJECT UPDATE

Work begins on creating a new Health and Wellbeing Quarter

Since the last issue of the newsletter, work has begun on the University’s East Building, adjacent to the Arts Building and the Library as it undergoes an extensive renovation to create a Health and Wellbeing Quarter.

The space developed will include the Integrated Care Academy (ICA); a unique alliance between the University, NHS Integrated Care System and Suffolk County Council. It will be an area of the campus dedicated to the promotion of

integrated care amongst our student body, practice partners and the wider community. It will house brand-new clinical simulation facilities, two state-of-the-art hospital wards, a midwifery birthing unit, a new sports and exercise facility, a working radiography imaging suite and counselling/physiotherapy clinic rooms.

We will share more news as this exciting initiative develops.

SUSTAINABILITY

Education for Sustainable Development (SDG 4)

The Princes’ Trust project

Five years ago the Princes’ Trust launched its Achieve Programme, specifically designed to support disadvantaged young people at risk of underachieving at school or college to engage and succeed in education. Through the Achieve Programme, the Trust works with over 500 schools and alternative educational settings every year helping to deliver a range of units and modules to contribute towards a recognised Prince’s Trust qualification, preparing young people to succeed in whatever they choose to do.

The Prince of Wales has long been a vocal advocate for sustainability, establishing a Princes’ Trust Group mission to transform lives and build sustainable communities across the world. We were therefore delighted to have successfully won a commission to create a nine-week showcase Sustainability module, sponsored by Howden Groups Holding, to be launched in the Achieve Programme this autumn. This module provides content rich material covering three core units in Energy and the Environment, Global Citizenship and Building a Sustainable Business.

Addressing equality of opportunity presents a unique set of challenges. In collaboration with the Trust, a careful iterative approach was adopted, that sought to utilise specific evidencebased learning strategies targeted at raising the outcomes of young people with a variety of barriers to learning. An approach that extended to the creation of detailed Advisors Guides designed to support the individuals responsible for module delivery.

Academic stretch and cultural extension activities were incorporated, aiming to raise aspirations, personal confidence and leadership growth and in partnership with Formula Media, four short video animations provide a crucial additional tool to reinforce the acquisition of learning for more complex ecosystem scientific processes.

With the UK fully committed to net zero carbon emissions by 2050 and national biodiversity targets about to receive royal assent in the new Environment Act, a successful green transition will need to be underpinned by a workforce equipped with sustainability skills and knowledge acquired across all levels of the curriculum. Upskilling and retraining the workforce will be dependent upon educational institutions and professional bodies working together to identify both general and specific curriculum inclusions. The recently re-launched QAA Education for Sustainable Development Guidance 2021 gives advice on curriculum design, as well as teaching, learning and assessment to support approaches for HE. Closer to home our work with the emerging Decarbonisation Academy seeks to assist in establishing a wider framework approach with our HE and FE regional partners. Education for Sustainable Development presents us with a powerful opportunity to provide learners of all abilities and all curriculum levels with the essential knowledge and tools to create and realise a better world. As we build back better — let’s build this.

For more information on The Princes’ Trust Project, or Education for Sustainable Development please email the Sustainability Manager

DIGITECH CENTRE

A photo update on the exciting new DigiTech Centre at BT’s Adastral Park. As previously covered, this is a £9.6m project funded by the New Anglia LEP, BT and the University of Suffolk to offer state-of-theart facilities in AI, Data Science, Cyber Security and Smart living.

MEET AND GREET

On 1 June 2021 Anna Sheldrake joined the University as its first Director of Digital. Anna will lead the IT Services team and will spearhead the development of our digital strategy and IT masterplanning as a member of the Senior Leadership Team.

Welcome to the University Anna. What was it about the Director of Digital role that first attracted you?

Thank you! The University of Suffolk is a figurehead for local communities within Suffolk and having worked for the NHS for the last few years, it was important for me to continue my career with an organisation that positively contributes to our local population. This role is a really exciting opportunity to deliver the Universities’ first digital strategy and to embed digital as an integral enabler adding real value to the organisation, its staff and students.

While IT has traditionally been seen as the ‘kit’ and its support, digital is about the change. This role signalled to me that the University wanted to embrace the potential that digital change can provide, developing itself as a digital leader and building on some of the great work already underway here.

Coming into the role from outside the HE sector has its challenges but also its benefits. What do you think are the key similarities compared to your career to date?

Digital and IT positively intersects with all types of organisations and sectors. Acting as a key enabler for development and success the ability to keep pace ahead of technological change is vital no matter which organisation you work in. Having most recently come from the NHS and responding to the covid pandemic, ensuring that critical health care services could continue to be provided via digital means as well as developing services like the vaccination hubs, there are direct similarities within the HE sector in terms of the scale and pace of change required from digital and IT teams to deliver. Balance the rapid delivery of digital change while ensuring

the fundamentals of things like cyber security are still prioritised, is challenging but absolutely vital to enabling organisations to work fully, no matter where their staff are.

How do you plan to get to know us as an institution and identify our digital and IT needs?

As with every new role, there is an opportunity to look at things with fresh eyes, while not making too many assumptions. My first step will be to meet as many of my colleagues across the organisation as possible and listen to their experiences and ambitions for their particular areas. While those discussions will give me a flavour of what people think they need now, I also plan to look proactively for opportunities to improve the provision of digital and IT services supporting the redesign of processes etc across the organisation. The list of needs will likely be long however, making it important to prioritise effectively to ensure we invest in the right areas.

Determining the right strategy and committing substantial investment can be a daunting process bearing in mind the rapid pace of technological change. What are your thoughts on how we can find the right digital path for the University?

Defining what the path contains will very much depend on the priorities for the University, but ensuring we commit as an organisation to taking an agile approach to digital change will be key. Any route taken will need constant review and challenge to ensure it remains the right direction - the pace of technology, as noted, doesn’t allow for traditional long-term planning, so while the strategic aims may be longer term, the delivery plans underpinning them will be subject to regular checks and balances. This will ensure

we can make rapid progress in some areas and allow the continual review of longer term pieces of work to make sure they are still on track to deliver the organisations needs.

Your new colleagues will no doubt have lots of ideas for improving and developing our digital and IT services. Do you have any early thoughts over how you might start to prioritise these ideas?

Once I have met my key colleagues and built a baseline of where we are now, I will be putting things into groups starting from the most urgent, needed to ensure compliance, all the way to the ‘nice to have’. These needs can then be measured against cost, effort and complexity of delivery and from there discussed between the different business areas to reach a consensus. So, while it’s not straightforward, it will be key to ensure we invest in the right thing at the right time.

Casting your mind forward, what will be the indicators that will show we are starting to achieve positive digital transformation in the provision of our services to students and staff?

Measuring the impact of digital transformation will very much depend on the types of projects and work prioritised, but I would expect to see evidence of internal efficiencies, increased staff and student satisfaction and the basics of better engagement with the Digital and IT directorate. Change is sometimes difficult to measure but one of the most important positive signifiers will be when digital and IT is not seen as a ‘silo’ or something that someone else does, but becomes integral to everyone’s daily working life. That cultural change can be the most challenging to achieve, but I believe the University of Suffolk can rise to the challenge!

RESEARCH AND PUBLICATIONS

Age Care Technologies (ACT), the lead partner in the Integrated Care Academy’s (ICA) research into the care of older people, has won the World Summit for the Information Society (WSIS) 2021 prize for Innovation in Healthy Ageing.

ACT received the highly prestigious international award ahead of competition from 80 digi-tech companies from around the world impressing the judging panel with online solutions to understanding and managing the complexity of need in old age.

Professor Ian Philp, CEO and Founder of ACT said, “Working with international experts, we see three key challenges for older people’s care worldwide. Firstly, most concerns for their health and wellbeing are not reported. Secondly, most people providing care for older people are insufficiently educated and trained in what really matters. The third challenge is the lack of intelligent data to inform policy, resources and services. By solving these problems, we can ease loneliness, reduce unnecessary pain and help people maintain an overall healthy active life. Our research over several decades has shown that we can increase independence, reduce suffering and add an extra year of highquality life on average.”

ACT’s research with 100 studies in over 50 countries, led to the development of accessible online tools to assess the growing, often unheard needs of the older population. These include online training and education for caregivers and data from older populations across the globe, providing analytics for service redesign and planning.

Suffolk and North East Essex is the first pilot site in the UK to work with the digital assessment, training and analytical tools. Through the new ICA, hosted by the University of Suffolk, Professor Ian Philp is working with local health and care providers to undertake assessments and training with older people and caregivers over the next three years.

Dr Mark Shenton, local GP and Professor of Integrated Care at the ICA is leading the initiative locally and said, “We are very excited to pioneer this technology with ACT. We will use the online assessment tool locally with 300 older people and their family carers and from 2022 onwards we will roll out the training for caregivers. An analysis of our data will be available nationally and internationally, in association with the World Health Organisation (WHO) benefiting health and care services in Suffolk and North East Essex.”

Professor Ian Philp added, “The Integrated Care Academy is a fantastic springboard for the UK research. I am pleased that our work will be the UK pilot site for the WHO programme promoting person-centred integrated care for older people.

ICA launches global, award-winning research into elderly care

RESEARCH AND PUBLICATIONS

Podcasts to bring external speakers into modules

The pandemic meant a sharp switch to online learning and teaching, which came with a number of challenges and opportunities for content design.

In the Suffolk Business School, one area of distinctiveness has always been business and external engagement in delivery and students benefit hugely from a range of guest speakers and live case studies.

Online teaching posed a number of questions on how to get external speakers involved in engaging and innovative ways.

For the 2020/2021 academic year, Dr Suzanne Albary, Senior Lecturer in Business Research Methods, has been producing podcasts on different areas of research methods, interviewing guests across the University of Suffolk and the UK, both academics and non-academics, to help students hear about different research methods.

These podcasts have been used across the different University of Suffolk schools to enhance teaching on research methods and have an international reach externally.

You can listen to the podcasts, and share them with researchers and students, here by visiting https://tinyurl.com/DoBetterResearch

STUDENT AND GRADUATE SUCCESSES

Students’ Union awards

The Students’ Union awards in May were an evening of celebration and an opportunity to say thank you.

ln particular, it was brilliant to hear that there were several nominees for the most engaging online teaching (academic award) category and given the year we have all had and how important online learning has become, this is a real testament to staff who have gone the extra mile to provide inspirational and engaging online learning.

So well done to all nominees, Nora Duckett, Fandi Ibrahim, Tom Vine and Colin Winter and congratulations to the winner, Lindsey Scott.

WE ARE SUPPORTING...

The University will be sponsoring the Best East Anglian Film Award at the Suffolk Shorts film festival taking place this autumn. The category is open to filmmakers based in the region or making work about East Anglia. The short film festival will run from 8–10 October 2021 at the Ipswich Film Theatre and online at IFT@Home.

Alexandra Leaney, Senior Lecturer and Course Leader in Digital Film Production and Screenwriting, said, “We are delighted that Suffolk Shorts is launching in Ipswich this year, and the School is supporting the festival. It’s a great opportunity for students, and those who are already involved have really enjoyed the professional experience.”

For more information about the Suffolk Shorts film festival

In 2022, St Elizabeth Hospice, in partnership with creative producers Wild in Art, have announced that their next art trail to be held in the town will be the Big Hoot Ipswich. As a community impact University, we are delighted to be supporting the trail again.

Between June and September next year, forty uniquely decorated owl sculptures will be scattered throughout the town featuring designs celebrating all things Suffolk and showcasing the wealth of artistic talent within the region. The previous two trails; Elmer’s Big Parade Suffolk and Pigs Gone Wild, were extremely successful in raising funds for the hospice and awareness of their work and encouraging more people to visit the town centre.

More information about Wild in Art 2022

OVER TO YOU

We want this newsletter to be a reflection of all of the excellent projects, research and work being undertaken by our staff. If you have any feedback and suggestions for content please get in touch by emailing Atlanta Blair at atlanta.blair@uos.ac.uk

Thank you.