Connect Autumn 2013

CONNECT AUTUMN 2013

Stephen’s Iona to Govan pilgrimage Also:

Northern talent in demand at London showcase Vice Chancellor’s Awards for Excellence 2012/13 winners International experts in Cumbria to share language teaching knowledge

04 Round-up 05 Fringe benefits 06 Inspiring Olympic hopefuls 07 Double doctorates 08 ‘A day in the life of Hannah Pears—WP access officer 10 White ribbon event fund-raiser 11 Congratulations!

12 Staff Profile—Karen Jones 13 Race for Life 14 Vice Chancellor’s Awards for Excellence 2012/13 winners

STUDENTS

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16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26

Jane’s degree joy Interprofessional student conference Charities receive boost from student fundraising Former student takes the heat Kendal Calling videos go online A first for the chapel?

Northern talent in demand at London showcase Students’ Union awarded £200,000 grant to promote sustainability Bridgette’s breast cancer recovery programme—‘The Wright Approach’ Students volunteer with storytelling campaign Stephen’s Iona to Govan pilgrimage

UNIVERSITY

STAFF

CONTENTS/AUTUMN 2013 ISSUE

28 29 30 31 32 34 36 38 39 40 41

Fairtrade steering group seeks new members Event highlights the benefits of ‘local’ currencies AHEC 2013 Class of 1963 returns to Ambleside for a trip down memory lane Two generations share the university experience Investment in our estates and resources Social work students to benefit from cash grant International experts in Cumbria to share language teaching knowledge Nursing employability conference University welcomes changes to improve standards in social work £1.5k donation helps to roll out university bike scheme

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If you would like to con tribute to the next issue of Connect , please contact a member of the commu nications team: lynn.clark@ cumbria.a c.uk julie.ratcliffe@ cumbri a.ac.uk fiona.hughes@ cumbri a.ac.uk elizabeth.henzell @cum bria.ac.uk The copy deadline for the next issue of Connect is 14 Novemb er 2013.

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FOREWORD With the start of a new academic year now under way, the outcome of the latest recruiting round has been the focus of our attention, not least because of the impact on our budgeting and future planning.

We approached Clearing this year knowing that last year we had seen

Early indications are that all of the hard work to support recruitment

a significant drop in student numbers in some programmes, almost

to School Direct has been successful, and we now face the

certainly as a result of the introduction of the new fee regime. The

challenge of working with our school partners to deliver the

pre-Clearing recruitment process had shown a pleasing increase in

programmes. We are determined that this new approach to teacher

applications, but we were concerned to see how this would translate

training will be supported by rigorous academic standards, and that

into firm acceptances and how much interest there would be in

high quality will remain our key priority. There will undoubtedly

Clearing itself. In the event, Clearing progressed very smoothly and

be challenges for schools in delivering their component of the

efficiently this year, thanks to an excellent cross-university effort from

programmes and we know from our experience of health service

both professional services and academic teams. Activity began on

placements that training for the trainers is the key to success.

15 August and as I write this column, regular meetings continue to be

We expect that the university’s support in terms of CPD will be

held reviewing applicants at all stages of the process, and interviews

important for those overseeing the training and for the success of

are ongoing, principally in teacher education. This is one area that

the trainee teachers in achieving their final outcomes. This will be a

has been affected by changes in government policy, and we continue

priority area for future development.

to work to mitigate the effects. However, we were delighted with the interest in our HEFCE-funded programmes and all of our health

As the autumn term begins, our new, two-faculty academic

courses have recruited particularly well. Overall, the university is

structure will bed in and provide a sound platform from which

in a good position for the coming year. We will examine the most

to deliver our programmes. This restructure has been a major

challenging recruiting areas over the next few weeks and develop

commitment for the university, and I extend my thanks to all those

plans to further improve the situation for next year.

involved in the planning and implementation. The restructure will allow us to make some new strategic staff appointments to support

Recruitment to this year’s teaching programmes was always going

the continued academic development of our university. There is

to be ‘unknown territory’, as the introduction of School Direct at

much to do in the way of delivering our ambitious plans, but I hope

break-neck speed made planning difficult. The university is one of

everyone was able to enjoy a relaxing and revitalising break over the

three main providers of this new programme, but even so, we were

summer. Now I look forward to working with you all towards the

given less than a year to put into place all the necessary provision

goal of achieving yet another successful and productive year at the

and resources to support this new scheme.

University of Cumbria.

Professor Peter Strike Vice Chancellor

Round-up

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Margaret’s role as guest editor Margaret Weaver, head of Library and Student Services, was recently guest editor of a special issue of New Review of Academic Librarianship. The edition documented the extended role of academic libraries (and their staff) in developing and supporting students across the entire student lifecycle—from preentry to post qualification.

It was hoped that readers of the themed issue would find the lifecycle approach helpful in determining

Successful partnership recognised “It was good to hear about how this has benefitted student experiences. A further strength is the coherence and consistency this provides across your diverse campuses and student body.

The ‘impressive’ partnership between the university and its Students’ Union has been recognised during a national awards ceremony, receiving a highly commended acknowledgment for the ongoing work which is benefitting our students and ensuring they receive a first-rate university experience. This recognition was part of the Higher Education Academy (HEA) and National Union of Students (NUS) joint Students’ Union and institution partnership award which was presented at the University of Warwick on Thursday 4 July. The feedback stated: “The panel were impressed with the values-based approach you take to partnership working…The diverse opportunities and arrangements offered allow this approach to be sensitive to context, and your diverse student body.”

future strategy; would be enthused by the positivity and innovation of fellow academic library staff, and that the ‘stories from the field’ would find credence with a wide group of professional services colleagues outside librarianship.

The New Review of Academic Librarianship publishes reviews, research, critiques and exemplar case studies on substantive topics relevant to those providing library and information services to academic communities.

NSS In this year’s National Student Survey (NSS) results, our scores have increased on every single question asked of our final year students, leading to the 2013 score for overall satisfaction being 83%, six points ahead of last year and only three per cent below the sector average. This has built successfully on our two per cent increase last year and positions us perfectly to exceed the national average of 86% in the future.

83%

for overall satisfaction

six points ahead of last year Ten of the university’s subject areas have received more than 90% overall satisfaction rate, with three achieving a 100% satisfaction rate from their students.

A great deal of hard work went into providing our students with an outstanding experience and the NSS results demonstrate our success in this area.

OUR STAFF G E T I N VOLVED Tell us about your achievements ...

FRINGE BENEFITS Keith Baty, senior lecturer in English and creative arts at the Fusehill Street campus, took his third original show, a new musical comedy called Brain Without A Body, to the Edinburgh Fringe in August. Based on the idea that people use only 10% of their potential brain capacity, it tells the story of a scientist’s attempts to unlock the other 90% per cent.

Above: Keith Baty

This year’s Fringe consisted of about 2,500 shows with an average audience numbering around six people, so Keith was very pleased with an audience of nine on the opening night, rising steadily to the final show on the Saturday night which sold out, with all 42 seats in the venue full.

Keith explains: “The production itself went very well. Putting on a Fringe show is a very protracted process. As well as writing the script and songs, I had to recruit a cast, book a venue, produce promotional material, do all the legal stuff, record and produce backing tracks, and build props (including a giant light-up brain).

“Luckily, I found an excellent director in Allison Rowe who is Carlisle-based but has had 13+ years’ professional acting and directing experience in London, and she really brought the show to life.

“I was also extremely lucky with the cast.

Recruited from Carlisle and Langholm, they were professional, talented, committed and—just as important—very friendly and supportive; we’d spent over three months in rehearsal so it was important that we got on! Audience response was overwhelmingly positive and some people even returned to see it a second time.”

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INSPIRING OLYMPIC HOPEFULS As local sponsors of this year’s Tour of Britain, the university sent a team to offer an experience to spectators at the start of the Cumbrian stage that was designed to encourage them to do more than simply watch the action.

“You never know, we may be able to watch future Olympic cycling events with even more interest, as we may have had a hand in helping to win the gold medal!”

Jeff Thorpe, sports coaching lecturer at the Fusehill Street campus and Duncan Orme, senior sports technician at the Lancaster campus, set up two Wattbikes in the centre of Carlisle on the day the Cumbrian stage started in the city.

Members of the public could test their stamina to compare their performance with that of the top cycling athletes in town on the day. Wattbikes are testing and training bikes developed in association with British Cycling, and the university sports staff use them on their programmes.

These sophisticated pieces of equipment accurately measure your power output, your pedalling technique and heart rate, and spectators were invited to record their time over a measured distance and see if they made the grade.

Jeff reported that he thoroughly enjoyed running the activity. He commented: “We had loads of young school children coming to have a go. They were really enthusiastic, and even though some of them were too small to even reach the pedals, the excitement around cycling in general and the Tour of Britain that day meant they all wanted to take part.

“Some of the teenagers were extremely talented athletes and completed impressively fast time trials. We discovered that one of them, sixteenyear-old Ellis Kirkbride from Carlisle, is actually trialling for the Olympic Cycling Development Squad soon. Part of the testing will take place on a Wattbike, to measure his overall performance, so we’ve arranged that he comes onto the campus to get some practice in before he attends the trial.”

“You never know, we may be able to watch future Olympic cycling events with even more interest, as we may have had a hand in helping to win the gold medal!”

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Left: John Campbell (left) and his brother Robert

DOUBLE DOCTORATES John Campbell, senior lecturer in nursing studies, took up his role after training as a psychiatric nurse at Garlands hospital and a general nurse at the Cumberland infirmary. His last full time clinical role was on the intensive care unit in the Cumberland infirmary.

In July, John was awarded his doctorate in nursing (PhD), and as a result of an interesting coincidence, this was at exactly the same time his brother Robert received his PhD. Robert is also a Carlisle lad, and by a strange quirk of fate, John now lectures in the same building where Robert was born. (The third brother David, also from Stanwix, has been a PhD for years!)

collected from his own students back in Cumbria. By comparing the results, he was able to develop new theories and methods of evaluation for the learning materials.

For many years John has been developing open learning materials which he distributes free of charge around several of the poorer countries in the world. This programme is financed by sales of his books and DVDs in Europe, the United States and Australia.

John decided to study for his PhD at another university to encourage crossfertilisation of ideas between institutions.

He felt this was important to help the University of Cumbria as it moves further into the field of research with the aim of eventually awarding its own research degrees. John comments: “This is vitally important as it should always be part of the role of any university to encourage innovation and to develop new areas of knowledge.”

John explains: “For example, I’ve recently distributed copies of my textbooks in Cambodia, Malawi and Kenya.

My videos are used in most Englishspeaking countries of the world and are increasingly used as online learning resources by students of all of the health care disciplines.”

John’s work has always sought to improve the quality of nurse education in Carlisle as well as distributing this quality around the world and he is not alone in this quest. Several of his colleagues in the department are also working on research improvements, which will lead to doctoral level qualifications.

John’s PhD was awarded in recognition of his development of new ways to present educational materials, such as YouTube videos, podcasts and ebooks, his work on methods of evaluating the effectiveness of those materials around the world and for monitoring and analysing the appropriateness of education methods in different parts of the globe. While teaching in Cambodia and Kenya, John collected statistics and data which he then compared to those

John believes one of our great strengths is that we prepare people for practical professions and John’s work is the perfect illustration of this principle. As he points out: “The end result of my educational materials is the relief of human pain, suffering and death in Carlisle, the United Kingdom and around the world. Providing even basic education to local people has the potential to transform the health of the communities in which they serve.”

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A DAY IN THE LIFE OF HANNAH PEARS— WIDENING PARTICIPATION ACCESS OFFICER AT THE UNIVERSITY OF CUMBRIA Right: Hannah Pears

10 . 0 0A M All systems go as the first coach arrives. Lisa and I have set ourselves up on the registration desk, ready to sign each pupil in, give them a pack with timetables, WiFi access and photos of everyone in the team and, of course, help them settle in.

10 .10A M

Monday 16 July 2013

The first stream of pupils comes in. They store their luggage in our luggage room and we get them signed in. The pupils are from Richard Rose Morton Academy and Richard Rose Central Academy.

7. 0 0A M

10 . 3 0A M

Up bright and early and getting ready to set off to the Brampton Road campus. It is day one of our summer university and we are expecting 43 year-10 pupils from across Cumbria to arrive. It has taken months of planning, liaising with colleagues at schools and many letters sent out to parents, but it is finally here.

The second stream of pupils arrives. Again we store the luggage and get them signed in. This time it is pupils from Solway Technology College, Netherhall School and St. Benedict’s Catholic High School who arrive.

8 . 0 0A M Arrive at Brampton Road. Lisa Jackson, my colleague who is also a widening participation access officer, is here too. We are meeting the student ambassadors; we have nine ambassadors working in total, with five day ambassadors and four night ambassadors. The student ambassadors are so integral to what we do; they give the summer university pupils a real taste of what being a University of Cumbria student is like.

We gather all the pupils into one of our lecture theatres; for some, it is the first time they have ever been to a university, so it is all very new.

We welcome the pupils to our summer university and explain what we will be doing over the next three days. It is very important that year 10 pupils get this kind of experience, as visiting a university now will give them the insight and tools to be able to make good decisions about their futures and hopefully enable them to feel confident when they want to access higher education.

9. 0 0A M

11.15A M

One hour till the pupils arrive. We are setting up our ‘hub’ with a registration desk, hanging up bunting, arranging accommodation keys, making sure we have packs for each student. The film crew also arrives—we film the summer university and each pupil will get a DVD of their experience when they start back in year 11 in September. It’s a great memento of their time at the university.

Our first ice breaker. We mix all the school groups up and assign them a student ambassador. They are off to do an orienteering task to familiarise themselves their new surroundings. This ensures they get to mix with new people and meet a current university student, which is very important for confidence building.

10 . 4 5A M

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12 .15 P M Lunch. The catering staff are fabulous and really look after our summer university pupils. Some of them are very hungry after such a busy morning!

6.00PM Dinner. Once again we have some fabulous food and there are some very hungry pupils and staff.

7. 0 0 P M 1.15 P M Our colleague Lenny arrives and does some interactive sessions with the pupils. It’s great to introduce the pupils to many new faces and by now they are all starting to get to know each other. These sessions are all based around higher education and ensuring the pupils feel comfortable with what university life means.

Off to bowling. A big part of becoming a university student is the social life—after all you will be studying for your degree for three years or more, so it’s good to have down time and make new friends.

The bowling is again a great opportunity to meet others in the group, and it adds a little competition into the mix.

11. 0 0 P M 2.25PM Again, the pupils are split into mixed groups and this time our ambassadors run fun sessions such as building a chair out of balloons and a tower out of spaghetti and marshmallows. There is a lot of discussion and laughter and again, it is great to see our summer university pupils start breaking out of their shells and begin interacting.

4.30PM Some free time. The pupils collect their luggage and accommodation keys. They are all staying in halls of residence, where our first-year undergraduates would live, and it all just adds to that ‘real life’ university experience.

Back at the Brampton Road campus, and, as it is such wonderful weather, many of the summer university pupils sit outside. It’s great to hear how many questions they have about higher education and Lisa, the ambassadors and I quickly draw a crowd and we answer all sorts of questions about being a university student, the degrees available and student finance. This is particularly rewarding for Lisa and me as it means, even after only one day, the summer university is really starting to have an impact on our year-10s and they want to know more.

12 . 0 0 P M Lights out ready for another exciting day tomorrow. Lisa and I definitely need some sleep after an exciting but exhausting day!

Above: Some of the university participants at the Fusehill Street campus.

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Above: Kizzy (bottom left) with midwifery staff, students and helpers at the event.

WHITE RIBBON EVENT FUND-RAISER The midwifery team hosted a fund-raising event in June in aid of a vital charity which protects mothers and babies across the globe.

As well as raising money for the charity, the university midwifery team also wanted to raise awareness of the White Ribbon Alliance (WRA) which is pushing for change so that all women and newborns in every country have the right to lifesaving healthcare.

Organiser Kizzy Lynch said: “The fundraising event started as something small, an idea to raise a little money and awareness and do our bit as a team to contribute. But the more our midwifery team and students discussed our ideas, the bigger the event became. The White Ribbon Alliance strives to make a difference and be a voice for women and children around the world whose voices are not being heard.

By working together as a team we can stand united to act as their voice, raise awareness and help reduce the needless deaths in childbirth that still occur worldwide.”

Sarah Brown, wife of former PM, Gordon Brown and global patron of the WRA, sent her written support for the event, saying: “Congratulations Kizzy, the midwifery team and the supporters at Cumbria University on all your work to support the WRA. Together we can make the voices of girls and women heard as we unite to make needless maternal deaths a thing of the past.”

The fund-raiser featured sales of delicious cakes, a raffle with some fabulous prizes generously donated by local and national organisations, live music and singing, games and massage, and the total raised was £550.

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CONGRATULATIONS! Max Hoad Belated congratulations to Tracy Hoad, catering administration assistant at the Lancaster campus, and husband Leigh, on baby Max’s birth towards the end of last year. Max was born on 4 October 2012, weighing 8lb 4oz.

Tamsin Rogers and Nigel Oldroyd Tamsin Rogers, UK recruitment manager in External Relations, married Nigel Oldroyd at Leighton Moss Nature Reserve on 14 September. As for their honeymoon, as a colleague explained, “All we know is they have gone to Scotland in a campervan with their dog, Jasper!”

Ethan Kole Watson Pam Watson, from AQD, and husband Jonathan’s first baby, Ethan Kole was born on 24 September, weighing 8lbs 4oz.

Craig Peter Rodham

Janice Dale and Dave Hodgson Janice Dale, partnerships officer in External Relations, and Dave Hodgson were married at Penrith Town Hall on Saturday 1 June. The new Mr and Mrs Hodgson spent their honeymoon in Barcelona.

Our travel plan manager, Ian Rodham was featured in the staff profile section of the last issue of Connect, and at the time he intimated he was expecting a happy event very soon.

Craig Peter Rodham arrived on 2 August 2013, weighing exactly 7lbs.

Congratulations to Ian and Jo on the birth of their son!

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STAFF PROFILE/KAREN JONES guidance. This year I’ve graduated from the Institute of Fundraising with a Diploma in Fundraising—currently the highest academic qualification in the subject area.

The assignments were all work-based and I’ve been able to put some of this work into operation as part of my strategy.

Your job title, how did you end up at the University of Cumbria and when did you start?

I’m the Development and Alumni Relations Manager based at the Brampton Road campus in Carlisle.

I joined Cumbria College of Art and Design in 1996 as PA to the Senior Management Team. After gaining an MBA, I progressed my career through academic planning and quality, ultimately to the director of Research and Creative Enterprise Services, prior to amalgamation.

Development and Alumni Relations was a new appointment within the university so I’ve had to devise the strategy and create the infrastructure to build a successful alumni community and generate momentum for philanthropic giving with support from senior colleagues and a number of university directors. Shortly after I moved into the job I was awarded a Leadership in Development Management scholarship through the professional body CASE (Council for Advancement and Support of Education).

Through this I spent ten days in Boston, USA, visiting universities and community colleges to research how they engage with their alumni and develop philanthropic programmes, and gained a network of colleagues from other universities across the country for mutual advice and

Describe your job.

Basically my job is about people. We keep in touch with a growing alumni community of over 25,000 through social media and e-newsletters. We’re keen to capture their stories of career progression to use in marketing material, while their contact information is vitally important as we plan future alumni events and giving programmes. Many are keen to remain involved as ambassadors, mentors and through providing work experience, and we’re working with the Careers and Employability Team to put this into action.

What brightens your day at work?

No two days are ever the same. I could be travelling the county meeting new honorary fellows or potential donors, organising class reunions, writing speeches and copy for newsletters or developing donor acquisition plans and disbursement strategies. One of my favourite quotes is ‘life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away’.

The best days come from seeing students develop their employability skills and being supported by our graduates, when I can put people in touch with each other and make a difference. Even better days are when there’s been a charitable donation from a donor that will help continue to support and sustain this activity for the future.

Our first fundraising campaign ‘Bright Futures’ is linked to the Career Ahead programme and provides financial support to students undertaking activities to enhance their employability prospects. Our individual giving campaign is growing and we are delighted that this philanthropic income has now reached a level which allows us to disburse funds and support activity.

Another part of my role is that of guiding new honorary fellows through the conferral process, writing their citations and acting as their first point of contact with the university, and I liaise with the 47 existing honorary fellows over their engagement with faculties and service areas.

I am the current chair of the Board of Carlisle Leisure Ltd (CLL), representing the education sector. This company manages all the leisure and entertainment facilities on behalf of Carlisle City Council and Allerdale District Council.

What do you like to do in your spare time?

I enjoy fell-walking and have completed 92 of the 214 wainwrights in the Lake District over the last few years. However, this comes second to my passion for road cycling which is a great way of keeping fit and healthy as well as exploring the amazing countryside and its cafés! I enjoy cycling around north Cumbria and south-west Scotland and cover on average of 4,500 miles a year. In May of 2013 I completed a 550-mile tour of Scotland in seven days with 36,000 feet of climbing including the mighty Bealach na Bà through the mountains of the Applecross peninsula.

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We were raising money for Tearfund and our group raised over £10k. We were constantly amazed by the human acts of kindness we received along the way. I enjoy doing cyclo-sportives, which are events covering long distances with many hill climbs and try and do four to five a year. As a total contrast to my sporting endeavours I sing in a community choir and like to knit and garden – not all at the same time though!

Name your ideal dinner party guest and why Peter O’Toole and Bill Nighy – love their gravelly voices and they would be wonderful story tellers. My parents as they were 30 years ago – there is so much I would have wanted them to know that now remains unsaid. I’d also want Paul Hollywood to do a bread-making demonstration (need I say more!)

Name your favourite book and why I like autobiographies and have recently read Bradley Wiggins My Time (of course!).

I adored Dancer in Wartime, the story of the dancer and choreographer, Gillian Lynne, which took me back to my time when I worked with the Moscow City Ballet—a stark reminder of just how hard the life of a ballet dancer is. I also think the author Khaled Hosseini is a great writer.

Name your favourite film and why About twelve years ago we (the then Cumbria Institute of the Arts) worked on a Northern Arts funded project. Going to see these films opened my eyes to ‘cultural’ film and I’ve enjoyed many over the years.

Worthy of particular mention are Cinema

“It was a brilliant day with 950 women attending, all of them united for the same cause.”

Paradiso (1988) and also the 1997 film Life is Beautiful starring Roberto Benigni. The James Bond films are always a must see and I particularly enjoyed the film version of Les Miserables – even if Russell Crowe cannot sing!

And finally, your favourite or dream holiday destination and why!

Favourite holiday destination has to be Mallorca and I’ve been going there for a cycling holiday for several years. If I were an athlete I’d say it was for pre-season warm weather training but I’d rather say it was for the excellent cycling, great climbs and fabulous cake! When I was there this year I met Bradley Wiggins in a café at the end of his day’s cycling—though he was training. We had a chat and he was saying he was looking forward to riding through Cumbria in the Tour of Britain this year and its challenging climbs. As for a dream destination I’m planning a trip to Asia with my sister within the next few years.

RACE FOR LIFE Michelle Aldridge, executive assistant at the Lancaster campus completed the 5K Race for Life on Sunday 14 July.

She says: “It was a brilliant day with 950 women attending, all of them united for the same cause, but also tinged with sadness, with the names of those they were running for pinned to the back of each one. I crossed that finish line with a big lump in my throat and a not a few tears!”

Sponsorship from friends and colleagues led to Michelle raising a total of £165 which far exceeded her initial target of £50. In Michelle’s words: “Thank you all so much!”

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VICE CHANCELLOR’S AWARDS FOR EXCELLENCE 2012/13 WINNERS The Vice Chancellor’s Awards for Excellence are presented annually in the three areas of Teaching and the Support of Learning, Innovation and Enterprise, and Research in recognition of outstanding work by the university’s staff.

There were a total of 20 applications for the awards this year—14 for the individual awards, and a further six for the team awards. The three panels of judges included representation from Board members, the Students’ Union and previous award winners, and all were very impressed with the overall enthusiasm and dedication demonstrated by the applicants.

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The 2012/13 Winners of the Vice Chancellor’s Awards for Excellence in Innovation and Enterprise were:

APPLICATIONS THIS YEAR

John Berry

Alexandra Ward

for his innovative and creative approach to the design and implementation of the Knowledge Area Network (KAN) project, which supports small to medium enterprises (SMEs) in Cumbria, and draws in ERDF funding for the university.

for her entrepreneurial approach to the management of the Stanwix Theatre.

Since joining the university, she has led a steady increase in income from shows, and is commended for her creative and professional approach.

Ann Powell-James and Fiona Cassells for the development and provision of maternal mental health training for health visitors, midwives and other professionals.

Stephen Wrigley for his work on the West Coast, for the establishment of collaborative research and development projects with businesses through the Energy Coast Campus project, and for the development and securing of funds for the £1m Renewable Energy Test and Education Centre (RETEC), to be based in Egremont.

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2012/13 winners of the Vice Chancellor’s Awards for Excellence in Research

Mark Wilson for his work that focusing on collaborative research practice using specific human/animal relationships to examine human-cultural behaviour in respect of the environment.

2012/13 winners of the Vice Chancellor’s Awards for Excellence in Teaching and the Support of Learning Richard Bourne and Kim Campbell received a Vice Chancellor’s Special Commendation to recognise their work in the development of an outstanding Collaborative Partnership Relationship—their application demonstrated real innovation, but fell outside the criteria for this year’s theme of creativity.

Nesta Hartley

Ashleigh Hunt

Andy Robb

for her creative approach to curriculum change by finding novel solutions to the long term and complex challenges of interprofessional learning across the undergraduate curricula within the Faculty of Health and Wellbeing.

for her work in developing an innovative and motivational learning environment for students, transcending the conventions of classroom teaching by taking forensic science into the simulated environment of a major incident.

for turning his passion for learning support into designing excellent work packages that are accessible and sustainable as a learning resource.

Simon Davies and team (Dwayne Bell, Tony Peart, Jim Millington, Rhianna Robinson, Zoe Garnett-Scott)

Ruth Harrison-Palmer and team (Jan Ashbridge, Rose White)

for their comprehensive approach to developing and embedding an effective assessment strategy, that is right at the heart of our institutional focus on assessment and feedback.

for the work they have produced to support students and workplace colleagues to teach reading using synthetic phonics.

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OUR STUDENTS G E T I N VOLVED Tell us about your students’ achievements ...

JANE’S DEGREE JOY Originally from New Zealand, but now living in West Cumbria, Jane’s route to success was not an easy one. She explains “I am a single parent and for three years I travelled the 130-mile round trip to attend the lectures in Lancaster.

“This meant getting up at 5.30am to arrive on time for a 9.00am lecture and frequently having to stay for late lectures and arriving home around 8.00pm... only to repeat the same schedule the next day.”

Jane supported herself and her son throughout this time, working a minimum of 16 hours per week. During block placements, working as a full-time classroom teacher, she had to work seven days a week: Monday to Friday at school and then at a pub at the weekends. A very hectic and tiring schedule!

Above: Jane with son Issac

Jane Marinovich enjoyed a double celebration on 8 July when her graduation ceremony as a qualified teacher coincided with her 38th birthday.

Then, in January 2012 she suffered a relapse of Graves Disease, the symptoms of which include increased heartbeat, muscle weakness, disturbed sleep, and fatigue, which made Jane’s hectic schedule even more challenging. “I remember falling asleep in a lecture and falling off my chair – it wasn’t funny at the time, although I think it is hilarious now!”

In the end Jane was awarded a first-class honours degree, with her lowest grade being 70% and she is justly proud of her achievements. “My marks reflect the many hours spent early in the morning before work, and the many long days committed to achieving my best.” The university acknowledged this dedication by presenting Jane with an Outstanding Performance Award.

Jane feels positive about the future: “Now I’ve completed my degree I will achieve a much better work/life balance and my health will reflect this and improve. I’m also delighted to say that I have been appointed to a full time teaching post, only fifteen minutes from my front door, in the school in which I completed my first placement.”

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INTERPROFESSIONAL STUDENT CONFERENCE Students completing their degrees in MSc Physiotherapy, MSc Occupational Therapy and MA Social Work presented their dissertation research during an interprofessional student conference at the Fusehill Street campus on 2 July.

More than 40 second-year students gave talks on their dissertation research due to be submitted later in the summer, with the aim of sharing their knowledge and offering feedback to their fellow practitioners.

Keynote speakers Dr Steve Mee, senior lecturer in learning disability nursing, delivered a lecture on ‘Consent and compliance: what does this really mean?’ and Dr Iain Cole, extended scope practitioner in physiotherapy, gave a talk on ‘Evidence based practice – myth or reality?’.

Students’ research included ‘Unemployment and role identity’, ‘Are older adults subject to abuse in residential homes?’ and ‘Is there a link between muscular trigger points and headaches?’.

They were each presented with a certificate following the conference.

Dr Tom Grimwood, senior lecturer and programme lead for MA Social Work, said: “The aim of the event is for all of the students to come together to share their research to aid their dissertation work, and they receive valuable feedback because of the different disciplinary perspectives of their fellow practitioners.

“This conference is extremely beneficial for the students – not only do they receive feedback on their work from their peers but it also helps to build their confidence, enhances their employability skills and helps with their academic work.”

Left: Dr Iain Cole presenting certificates to the students •

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Top: Rebecca Stevens (24) from south Staffordshire studying MSc Physiotherapy Centre: Adam Robinson (23) from Sunderland studying MSc Physiotherapy Lower: Michael Ogunjinmi (26) from London studying MA Social Work

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CHARITIES RECEIVE BOOST FROM STUDENT FUNDRAISING Final year sports students on both Carlisle and Lancaster campuses have collectively raised over £3000 for four charities as part of their ‘Managing Sports Events’ module.

Above: Mark (centre) with representatives from Derian House Children’s Hospice (right) and Lancashire Boys & Girls Clubs (left).

Right: Mark presenting the cheque for £1100 to Emma from Eden Valley Children’s Hospice

In total, students delivered eleven community sports events during March, April and May, with specific targets being met for the numbers of participants attending each event, as well as the charity fundraising targets for each team.

Examples of events included a Sports Volunteering Conference in Carlisle, two 3km family fun runs in Bitts Park (Carlisle) and Williamson Park (Lancaster), and schools sports festivals in numerous sports such as handball, football and tennis involving primary aged children from years 1 to 6. All the event teams worked in partnership with a local industry partner, this year including Lancaster City Council, Carlisle City Council, Carlisle Leisure Ltd (CLL), Lancashire FA and the Carlisle Sport and Physical Activity Alliance Foundation (SPAAF) and they were supported throughout by senior lecturer and module tutor Mark Christie.

Mark commented: “The students were really motivated by the challenge of putting together a high quality event experience for their target audience, and the opportunity to raise money for good causes at the same time. The charities were delighted with the outcome and were full of praise for the creativity and hard work shown by the students in raising funds.”

Examples of fundraising activities running alongside the event delivery included four students cycling from the Cumbrian coast to Carlisle, several male students having their legs waxed, a quiz night at Calva bar at the Fusehill Street campus, a tea party at the Gateway in Lancaster, teams bag packing at a variety of local supermarkets, and a group persuading a member of staff to have her hair dyed some vibrant shades of pink, green, orange and yellow!

The charity beneficiaries this year were: Eden Valley Children’s Hospice in Carlisle (£1100); Derian House Children’s Hospice in Lancashire (£1110); Cash4kids (£350); and Lancashire Boys & Girls Clubs (£480) – this was split 50:50 by the charity with £240 going to the Lancaster branch of the association.

The charities supported the students in their fundraising efforts by supplying collection buckets and tins, fun mascots, banners, t-shirts, leaflets and other useful items, and it is hoped to repeat the fundraising as part of the module next year.

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FORMER STUDENT TAKES THE HEAT

Cycling 120 miles in the fierce heat of the Arabian sun in return for sponsorship, wouldn’t appeal to everyone, but former student Jonathan Knott took it on for an excellent cause.

exactly how the money can be spent to maximise the impact we can have on the local community.

Really, UniSun is still in its early stages and fundraising events like this will allow us to provide services for more people, more of the time. Our long term aim is to be able to buy a plot of land that we can develop into our own sports facilities, meaning that we can run more teams as well as providing an affordable venue for members of the community to use.

“Through UniSun, we now run three adult football sides and four junior sides and have had great success on the pitch. Every season we add a new junior side and are looking to create our first girls’ team and a disability football side. We pride ourselves on being different to all other clubs in the area and see ourselves very much as an inclusive, community project.”

Which is why Jonathan and two friends undertook a gruelling sponsored cycle ride in Abu Dhabi on 30 August.

Jonathan continues: “This is by far the hardest thing that I’ve ever done. It’s not just the distance or the time that we cycled that made it difficult, it was the conditions more than anything.

Image (L-R) Jonathan with Chris Ball from PIC Investments Middle East (white cycling kit), Mark McLaughlin (friend and event helper), Emma Whitfield (Mark’s daughter and event helper), James Green from PIC Investments MIddle East (white and blue cycling kit), Mark Whitfield, and Anisur Mohamed Rahman (event helper).

Jonathan graduated from the three year BA (Hons) Primary with QTS course in 2010. He then became a primary school teacher in Carlisle for a couple of years but moved to Abu Dhabi in November 2012.

While at university, he was one of a team who set up Unisun Athletic, a footballing initiative they started with a view to involving the local community. Unisun has now been running since 2009 and already has close to 100 adults and children who benefit from the club. Many current students play in the teams and there are plans to make the link between the organisation and the university more official and offer PE students placement and coaching opportunities.

Jonathan explains: “People are always doing sponsored events for charities and good causes, but UniSun Athletic is something that we started so that we could make a positive difference to the community in the area around the university. There are so many good causes that we could be doing this for, but the difference is that by raising money for the club it gives us an opportunity to witness the changes we make at first hand. We also get to decide

“Temperatures and humidity levels as high as we endured can make the body start shutting down pretty quickly. If it was easy though, nobody would have sponsored us. We had to make this a real feat of endurance to spark enough interest in people to make them give up their hard-earned money!”

Pivotal to Jonathan’s success was the support of Mark Whitfield whom colleagues will remember as associate dean in the Faculty of Education until 2012. Mark is also working in Abu Dhabi and was instrumental in organising the event. As Jonathan explains: “Mark was a massive part of the event.

He put a lot of work into making sure we were safe on the roads, and helped us prepare physically for the event. Without him, the event probably wouldn’t have happened, and if it wasn’t for him then I definitely wouldn’t have finished. He kept me going for the last few miles.”

This event was part of a campaign to raise £50,000 towards buying that plot of land, and succeeded in netting an amazing £7800.

And Jonathan will be escaping the heat next summer as he’s moving back to teach in Carlisle again in July.

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KENDAL CALLING VIDEOS GO ONLINE A crew of students and staff from our film and TV courses successfully ran, filmed, edited and delivered the ‘Lakeside Sessions’ at Kendal Calling 2013. In total, they organised and filmed 36 bands performing acoustic versions of their songs.

Left to right student Ross Monaghan, artist Ben Dyson and student Jago Miller

The finished videos were posted online by the festival, not only on the Kendal Calling website but also on You Tube, Facebook , Twitter and other popular music sites, such as NME.

“The online exposure the videos have received is amazing. The amount of views and potential views is quite staggering and was well in excess of eighty thousand at the time of writing.”

Lecturer Clive Tonge explains: “We were in the thick of the festival, we had a place on the press bus and were solely responsible for running the Lakeside Sessions. Many of the bands are high profile acts who performed on the main stage of the festival.

The university logo is featured at the beginning and end of every video so our brand is highly visible. A huge ‘well done’ to all who helped out – it’s great to see our students’ hard work on display in so many prominent places!

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A FIRST FOR THE CHAPEL? Carl Sowerby and Rowena George The wedding of former graduates Carl Sowerby and Rowena George took place in the chapel at the Fusehill Street campus on Saturday 14 September, and the occasion was a first, not only for the university, but quite possibly for the chapel.

Chaplain Matthew Firth explains: “Having looked at the parish records for the parish in which the Fusehill Street Chapel sits (St John the Evangelist, Carlisle), this is certainly the first wedding that has taken place in the chapel both since the university was created in 2007 and during the time of St Martin’s College.

Records which I have seen, which go back to 1955, also indicate that no wedding took place during the period 1955-2013.

“And given that weddings in either hospital chapels or work-house chapels are extremely rare, (the chapel has been a work-house chapel, a hospital chapel, a college chapel and a university chapel), it is likely that this wedding was actually the first to have ever been conducted in the chapel (although I would need to do a further search of parish records to confirm this). So, since the chapel was built in 1901, this could well be the first wedding to have taken place.

“I was thrilled to conduct this wedding for Carl and Rowena, and would be very happy to work with current or former students and members of staff who would like to consider a Church of England wedding either at the Carlisle Fusehill Street chapel or the Lancaster St Martin’s chapel.”

“Since the chapel was built in 1901, this could well be the first wedding to have taken place.”

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NORTHERN TALENT IN DEMAND AT LONDON SHOWCASE The pick of new talent from the North West travelled south to take centre stage in a London theatre in July. For the first time, the university sent over 25 of their students the length of the country to showcase their skills in the capital.

They performed in front of an invited audience of agents, directors, producers and casting agents from the West End and leading film and television companies. Each of the students had earned one of the coveted places by winning through earlier auditions.

“To perform in front of such an influential audience and then be signed is amazing.

I’m looking forward to working with my agent and building a successful partnership—my hope is to have a long and varied career within the performing arts industry.”

Lecturer Richard Milburn explains:

Una Evans-O’Connell from EOC Management comments: “I am delighted that Joshua has signed to EOC Management as I believe he has the necessary skills to have a very successful career. I was not familiar with the students’ work in the past so am pleased that the university showcased their talents in London. I feel it is very important that students are seen by industry professionals.”

“It has become increasingly important to focus our degree courses on employment skills and giving our students the best opportunity to launch themselves into the industry. We want to challenge the view that only students from prestigious drama schools like the Royal Academies get the chance to secure agency representation.

While it is possible to find work as a performer without an agent, having professional representation to put you forward for jobs and support you in the early stages of your career is invaluable.

We have very talented students and we wanted to offer them this opportunity.

“Although the media industry in general has become less London-centric, especially with the BBC’s move north to Salford, there is no doubt that we needed to make the 350 mile journey to show off their talents. Agents do most of their work in and around the West End, so they came to our showcase in their lunchtime!”

Above: Joshua James Vening

“The showcase in the heart of the West End was the ideal location for us to show off our skills and the talents that we have developed over the last three years during our degree studies.“

So far, as a direct result of the London showcase, five of the students have been signed by national agents.

Joshua James Vening (21) from Thronton-Cleveleys was signed by EOC Management and says: “The showcase in the heart of the West End was the ideal location for us to show off our skills and the talents that we have developed over the last three years during our degree studies.

Following the success of this inaugural showcase, the university has already pencilled in the date for next year’s West End appearance, when more of our students will get their chance of hitting the big time.

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STUDENTS’ UNION AWARDED £200,000 GRANT TO PROMOTE SUSTAINABILITY A major campaign to promote sustainable living in the region will be funded by a £200,000 grant which has been awarded to UCSU.

Above: Community Sabbatical Officer Matthew Hayhurst. Left: The NUS Green Fund grant will allow UCSU to expand its current sustainability projects.

The project’s mission is to educate university students by raising awareness of the positive impact they can have on the environment and by challenging them to change their behaviour. It also aims to inspire FE students by creating partnerships with colleges across Cumbria and Lancashire, and will bring students together through a range of activities based around sustainability.

UCSU was awarded the grant following a successful bid to the NUS Students’ Green Fund. This national funding programme is managed by the National Union of Students but the money itself comes from the Higher Education Funding Council for England which has pledged £5million to the fund.

UCSU will build on existing environmental projects at the Lancaster campus such as ‘Student Eats’ which enables students to grow their own vegetables as well as encouraging wildlife and biodiversity, and the ‘Switch It Off’ campaign which

encourages students to switch off electrical items which are not being used.

These projects will now be rolled-out across the other campuses.

UCSU Community Sabbatical Officer, Matthew Hayhurst, said: “We’re very excited that our bid has been accepted and are looking forward to seeing how the funding will benefit our students and the wider community. The money gives us the chance to extend our current schemes and will allow us to develop a new sustainability module for all students at the university to access and use.

“Our volunteers will then use the knowledge gained through this module to educate college students about important green issues through a series of workshops, and these events will also give sixth form students the opportunity to find out what university is really like and the benefits that can come from further study.”

In addition to joining forces with local colleges, UCSU is creating links with organisations such as Local Effective Sustainable Solutions in Lancaster, Carlisle One World Centre, Fair Food, and Sustainable Carlisle to organise joint events with students which raise awareness of Fairtrade products, seasonal food, buying locally grown, and growing your own fruit and veg.

Students will also be encouraged to join with sixth form students on volunteering projects organised by biodiversity and wildlife groups including the National Trust and Cumbria Wildlife Trust.

Matthew added: “UCSU is proud to be leading the way in promoting sustainability and encouraging future generations to respect and look after their environment.”

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BRIDGETTE’S BREAST CANCER RECOVERY PROGRAMME—‘THE WRIGHT APPROACH’ Having undergone treatment for breast cancer herself, occupational therapy lecturer Bridgette Wright discovered that, once surgery and acute treatment were over and she was considered a ‘survivor’, there was little or no support available in what remained a challenging stage of her recovery.

At this point, Bridgette enrolled on the university’s MA in Academic Practice, and as part of her course she developed the idea of a programme addressing the needs of breast cancer survivors.

She worked closely with consultants and nurses at the Royal Lancaster Infirmary to develop a pilot project. Her innovative work has also won support from Breast Cancer UK, MacMillan Cancer Support, Cancer Care, Rosemere Cancer Foundation( who funded the research project) Bridgette received many personal letters of gratitude for the programme. One participant wrote: “When we first met, the room was full of anxiety, sadness, fear, anger and negativity.

We had all had our treatment, so why were we so unable to cope and get on with our lives?

Bridgette taught us that what we were feeling was normal, after what we’d been through, but that there were things we could do to change it.

Now the room is full of laughter, optimism and plans for the future. The transformation is quite extraordinary.”

The pilot project of Bridgette’s programme has now reached its conclusion and the findings are yet to be evaluated as part of her MA dissertation, but early findings indicate the project has been positively received with individuals reporting behaviour changes in diet, exercise and career.

Bridgette is hopeful that this programme will be endorsed and funding found for its continuation and further expansion.

Bridgette (front left) with her ‘pink ladies’ taking part in a sponsored walk

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STUDENTS VOLUNTEER WITH STORYTELLING CAMPAIGN Nine student volunteers have been taking part in a programme, backed

by MP Eric Ollerenshaw, which demonstrates to parents and teachers the importance of encouraging children to tell stories orally.

The students have been involved in a number of activities in and 25 OCTOBER around Lancaster LANCASTER LIBRARY and Morecambe A ONE-DAY STORYTELLING such as manning TRAINING COURSE FOR TEACHERS storytelling stalls, assisting naomi@universallearningsolutions.org with storytelling www.storyshapes.eventbrite.co.uk/ workshops at FOR FURTHER Lancaster library and organising a INFORMATION storytelling day for parents and teachers at a Lancaster nursery.

The parents and teachers also receive tools and techniques to help with their own storytelling skills, giving them confidence to tell stories orally and to encourage the children to do the same.

By introducing the concept of storytelling, the programme helps to promote the development of language, literacy and communication skills by encouraging children to talk and increasing their vocabulary.

It also supports creativity, imagination and personal, social and emotional development by building confidence and self-esteem, and by its nature, includes children of all abilities.

Daniel Pickard (BA (Hons) QTS Primary Education), is one of the participating students.

He says: “The campaign has enabled me to develop my professionalism due to having increased responsibilities. It has shown me the benefits of oral storytelling—when the children start thinking creatively you can really see their confidence grow!’’

Naomi is one of our teaching graduates, now working with two education charities which support teaching development in Nigeria.

Following this meeting, Naomi approached Ruth to see if the students would be interested in volunteering for the campaign.

Naomi says: “This campaign will greatly benefit from the energy and insights of our student volunteers. Already they have given valuable feedback on the curriculum, dressed up like medieval knights, promoted our free story events and they are now learning to tell stories using an inclusive and inspiring technique called ‘Storyshaping’. We are extremely grateful for their involvement and their desire to make a difference.”

And an additional result of the collaboration is that the university’s approach to training primary teachers how to teach children to read (The Cumbria Teacher of Reading) will be used with Naomi’s teachers in Nigeria.

Above: Daniel Pickard

The students became involved through Ruth Harrison-Palmer. Ruth was introduced to Naomi Foxcroft through an international conference at which Ruth was presenting.

A story campaign site has been created www.tell-me-a-story.info with advice for parents and teachers.

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STEPHEN’S IONA TO GOVAN PILGRIMAGE 2013 is the 75th anniversary of the Iona Community and its founding in the parish of Govan, Glasgow not, as many believe, on Iona.

5 15 IL M ES 1DA3YS

As a new member of the community, I chose to make a pilgrimage from Iona to Govan to highlight those origins in the grittiness and deprivation of working class Govan in the midst of the Great Depression.

Pilgrimage to sacred sites has been with us for millennia in all faiths and has shown signs of increasing popularity in recent years. The point is, we usually pilgrimage to such a sacred place, like Iona, for worship, as a spiritual exercise, an endeavour to get closer to God. A place of pilgrimage is a ‘thin place’, like Iona, where it is said the veil between heaven and earth has least substance. Yet here was I seemingly doing a reverse pilgrimage, a review reinforced by many comments en route when people would exclaim with astonishment – “You are on pilgrimage from Iona to Glasgow, why would anyone want to do that?”

Keeping a daily blog, I kept the community informed as the long march unfolded, setting out on 27 May, making the crossing from Iona to Mull then across the sea to Easdale, down through Argyll to Achnaba and another sail over to Otter Ferry. From there it was a hike again ending up at Dunoon and from there a ferry ride to Gourock.

The last stretch on foot was a heavy plod along the tarmac roads of the south bank of the Clyde to Govan.

It was a time of extremes—brilliant hot days to drenching downpours, drunk on the scent of bluebells in Argyll and nauseated in the acrid fumes of traffic on Clydebank, stunning mountain views and seascapes to the claustrophobia of deprived estates and rubbish in the streets.

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At every level it was a challenge: Physically – I was way too confident of my stamina. I’m used to walking the hills of Cumbria – easy peasy – but the weight of my backpack and a tendency to overestimate how much ground I could cover often left me exhausted to the point of collapse. But, oh, the joy and deeper re-appreciation of hot baths and a comfy bed in a B&B at the end of the day!

Spiritually – hour upon hour of silence and solitude.

Time for reflection, meditation, contemplation and prayer—sometimes in churches or by standing stones, sometimes sitting on the kerb in a busy street or by a muddy bank of the Clyde. The pilgrimage became a prayer – an opening to God, a rite of passage into the depths of the soul, an expansion of awareness of self and the sacred. A pilgrimage lays us open to questioning many givens about our faith and in this case affirmed for me that there is nowhere that God is not. We don’t have to pilgrimage to ‘special’ places for the encounter with the divine. The ‘thin place’ is everywhere, and it is not so much a matter of a place, rather our relationship to it, to each other, to self. It is a question not so much of a place, but a question of awareness.

Thirteen days and 155 miles of walking later, as the road signs for Govan began to appear I was weary and footsore yet exhilarated. I had passed through many different landscapes and encounters both interior and exterior. As I reached Govan Old Church I entered the hall where the Iona community was gathering. I was excited…but tired, very tired.

It had been a long journey in every sense. That’s what pilgrimage does to you. Yes, does to you.

Although I did all the walking and all the planning and organising, it became clear to me that it was not so much that I had taken a pilgrimage, but that the pilgrimage had taken me.

Above: The Iona Abbey Right: GALGAEL project boat sails in to pick up Steven

Emotionally – I’ve been a ‘seeker’ for decades, including much inner psychological and spiritual work, but by crikey did some old demons I thought once vanquished return with a vengeance, especially when I was physically stretched. I was taken aback by the power of some of those old childhood echoes: “you’re not going to make it”, “you’re not safe”, “you’re not good enough”. I became more aware of my bourgeois comforts – the certainty of knowing where I am, of a bed for the night, of access to food. Yet beyond all this, the ecstasy of overcoming challenge, the immersion in nature and time to take in the details and a deepening awareness and joy at simply being alive in the world. I think it was about a third of the way through, as I approached Loch Fyne and looked across to Otter Ferry to see my sailing boat (a Drascombe Lugger manned by the boys from the GalGael project, www.galgael.org) that for the first time since setting off it sunk in that “I can do this”. Old doubts laid to rest, I climbed into the boat for a glorious sail, silent upon the water.

Reverend Professor Stephen G Wright FRCN MBE (Professor Wright is an honorary fellow of the university)

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OUR UNIVERSITY G E T I N VOLVED Tell us about news and developments in your area …

FAIRTRADE STEERING GROUP SEEKS NEW MEMBERS Earlier this year, we achieved Fairtrade status and the challenge then became that of retaining the status into 2014.

A steering group was set up to achieve this goal and new members are now being sought. Ideally the group needs representatives from across the faculties and services, and meetings take place once a term. To achieve a balance across the university, at the moment volunteers from amongst academic staff are especially needed, although everyone is welcome to join. If you are interested in becoming a member of the steering group, please contact John Powell for more details.

The university has been using Fairtrade products since its inception in 2007, and Fairtrade status was awarded in recognition of the wide range of products used and sold across the campuses, including coffee, teabags, sugar, juice and cakes.

The steering group continues to look at ways in which we can use more Fairtrade products, such as the Chaplaincy stocking Fairtrade communion wine and the Students’ Union aiming to source products using Fairtrade cotton.

Lucy Roberts, commercial services manager, said: “We have been championing Fairtrade for a number of years now and we were pleased to be recognised.”

Left to right, Andrew Boyd (sustainability manager) Linda Akins, Lancaster catering, John Powell, commercial services manager, Matthew Hayhurst UCSU, Dr Stephen Bloye, head of Facilities Management.

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THE EVENT WAS ORGANISED BY THE UNIVERSITY’S NEW INSTITUTE FOR LEADERSHIP AND SUSTAINABILITY IN ASSOCIATION WITH LANCASTER’S ETHICAL SMALL TRADERS ASSOCIATION AND TRANSITION CITY LANCASTER.

Right: Professor Jem Bendell, director of the Institute for Leadership and Sustainability.

EVENT HIGHLIGHTS THE BENEFITS OF ‘LOCAL’ CURRENCIES An open lecture held at the Lancaster campus in July tackled a topical and contemporary subject of particular interest in the current economic environment.

Alternative currencies are in the news and already local businesses in Brixton and Bristol can pay their rates in local pounds. The financial crisis, recession and austerity are making people reconsider money, with some creating alternatives to exchange goods and services locally.

John Rogers studied this movement for the book People Money and in this lecture explained the latest innovations from Kenya to Cape Town, Brazil to Brixton. To add context, the famous community economist Thomas Greco Jr returned to the university from the USA to provide a keynote response and Michael Hallam from the Ethical Small Traders Association introduced one of Lancaster’s own local currency projects.

The speakers were introduced by Professor Jem Bendell, who has been recognised for his work on this topic by the World Economic Forum appointing him a Young Global Leader. He says: “In the North West, new time banks and currencies are being created in Liverpool, Lancaster and Carlisle.

They are part of a global movement in community currency.

“People will have their eyes opened to one of the most innovative fields of social action in the world today.”

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AHEC 2013 The fourth Assessment in Higher Education Conference (AHEC) which took place in June provided an opportunity for delegates from 15 countries to debate key issues and developments in current assessment research, policy and practice.

Assessment continues to be high on the agenda of those in higher education with numerous reports, research and student surveys signalling it as no longer ‘fit for purpose’ and ‘not meeting students’ expectations’. This conference was an opportunity to debate concerns and increase understanding of assessment practice within and across academic disciplines. The conference themes were: • Engaging students in assessment and feedback • Marking and academic standards • Assessment for learning • Assessment technologies • Transitions in assessment • Academic writing development.

AHEC, which is a University of Cumbria initiative, began in 2008 as a largely internal event for university staff, and has now developed into the UK’s leading forum for debate on higher education assessment research and development.

The chair of the conference is Cumbria’s Professor Sue Bloxham, although the organising group now includes representatives of five other UK universities and the Higher Education Academy.

The conference successfully attracted sponsorship from the Higher Education Academy in the form of bursaries for early career researchers and a prize for the best poster. Income was also derived from a large number of exhibitors.

The conference was oversubscribed with 170 delegates attending at the Maple House Conference Centre in Birmingham, UK. The conference has also developed into a truly international event with delegates from 15 countries, an Australian keynote speaker, and presentations by academics from ten different nations including representatives from USA, several European countries, Australia, New Zealand, Mexico and Malaysia. The intimate conference space, the limited numbers and the quality of the papers ensured a highly stimulating yet friendly event. The evaluations have been overwhelmingly positive.

The conference was addressed by Professor Margaret Price from Oxford Brookes University on the topic of ‘Assessment literacy: making the link between satisfaction and learning’ and by Associate Professor Gordon Joughin of Queensland University on ‘Plato versus AHELO: The nature and role of the spoken word in assessing and promoting

learning’. The iPad prize for the best poster, sponsored by the Higher Education Academy, was awarded to Anna FernandezCaparros Turina from the University of Extremadura.

Cumbria presenters, whose papers were selected from a competitive field, included Amanda Chapman, Caroline Marcangelo, Pete Boyd, Donna Hurford, Sue Bloxham and PhD student Mark Carver.

“Congratulations on running a fantastic conference. I have attended many T&L conferences over the years and this was by far the best” Delegate email

The conference is linked to another Cumbria research initiative, our online, open access journal, Practitioner Research in Higher Education. It will be publishing a special issue comprising papers from the conference. All those presenting their work at the conference via a research paper have been invited to submit an article for this special edition.

The next conference is scheduled for summer 2015.

Above: Anna Fernandez-Caparros Turina, winner of an iPad for best poster competition, with Linda Shore (right).

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CLASS OF 1963 RETURNS TO AMBLESIDE FOR A TRIP DOWN MEMORY LANE Over the weekend of 14 and 15 September, the university welcomed a group of ladies back to its Ambleside campus.

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1 The group studied there at the Charlotte Mason College in the early 1960s and have many fond memories of their time in the Lake District. They travelled from the far reaches of the country to be together again.

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The group toured the campus on Sunday morning and visited a small exhibition of photographs, stories and memorabilia from their time as students, as well as recreating a photograph of the group originally taken on campus 50 years ago.

As a memento of the occasion, each former student took away with them their own piece of the original Charlotte Mason College in the form of a slate coaster, made from a roof tile taken from one of the buildings demolished as part of the redevelopment.

Pamela Moorhead (class of 1963) who co-ordinated the weekend’s activities, said: “The three years I spent at Charlotte Mason College, where I gained the skills which enabled me to have a successful career in the teaching profession, were the best three years of my life. I have revisited Ambleside often with my family and I am sure that future students will come to love the Lake District as I do.”

PHOTO KEY 1 Elizabeth Blishen 2 Margaret Allan 3 Pat Ormerod 4 Gwynneth Fitters 5 Jenny Jennens 6 Joan Stephenson 7 Pam Moorhead 8 Gillian Betts 9 Pam Cooper

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TWO GENERATIONS SHARE THE UNIVERSITY EXPERIENCE The university recently took an innovative approach to encourage more male students to enter higher education.

The ‘Jumping Genes’ initiative was held over two days in June, with nearly 30, year-nine students attending from Furness Academy, West Lakes Academy, Unity College Blackpool and Heysham High School.

The first day of activities, held at the Penrith campus, was for students only.

This was followed by another day at the Ambleside campus, when their fathers or carers were encouraged to accompany their sons to hear more about the opportunities available and share their experiences. They were able to take part in various course-related activities including conservation, forensic science and outdoor studies.

The range of sessions on offer, such as mountain biking, surveying breeding birds, taking footprint casts and learning paddling skills, meant there was plenty to please everyone.

The day was rounded off with a motivational speech by John Crosbie, chair of the Institute for Outdoor Learning. Currently studying for a PhD, John has held positions with both the Outward Bound Trust and Calvert Trust in the past. John talked through some of his key lifechanging moments, including his own educational experiences, as well as some of the real adventures he has enjoyed throughout his varied career.

Karl Anton, widening participation access officer and organiser of the event explains: “The Office for Fair Access has identified a national gender imbalance in undergraduates and the university is committed to addressing this disparity. Last autumn, women were a third more likely to start a degree than their male counterparts, despite the fact there are currently more young men than women in the UK. We hope that by giving these year-nine students and their fathers or carers a real experience of what university is like, we will encourage more of them to apply in the future.”

The latest statistics released by the University and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS) revealed a 22,000 drop in the number of male students enrolling at university and, according to Higher Education Statistics Authority (HESA) data, there are 20 institutions where there are twice as many female full-time undergraduates as there are male. Whilst this can be influenced by the types of subjects on offer at each university, some experts believe it is also associated with what happens in schools. Educationalists say the under-representation of male university students is down to attainment patterns in schools; girls outperform boys and are more likely to stay on at sixth form.

Statistics have revealed a

22,000 drop in the number of male students enrolling at university

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Whatever the underlying reasons, there’s no doubt the ‘Jumping Genes’ initiative, held on Father’s Day weekend, was a big hit with everyone involved.

Matthew Rigg (13) was one of the students taking part from Furness Academy. He said: “It was definitely informative about the options open to me—the closeness to home, the facilities available for the specified courses and the outdoor life. I particularly enjoyed the photography part of the conservation session.”

Andrew Petcher, whose son Lewis also attends Furness Academy, was impressed by the information provided by the initiative: “The event gave a real insight into university life and Lewis’s future options.”

Robert Benn (14) from West Lakes Academy said: “I thought the event was fantastic as I learned all about the options and courses available to me.”

His father, Andrew Benn, added that the event had prepared Robert well for his future education.

Matthew Dorrington, whose son Ross attends Heysham High School, said: “Ross was very upbeat about the forensic information following his first visit and I feel today has been very beneficial for us both.”

Above: Lewis Petcher and his father Andrew try out the mountain bikes Left: Robert Benn and his father Andrew take part in a survey of breeding birds

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INVESTMENT IN OUR ESTATES AND RESOURCES The last few months has seen significant investment being made around the university in our estates, equipment and facilities. Here is a round-up of the activities.

Investment of £3.1m in infrastructure such as key IT assets and systems

A M B L ES I D E The Ambleside campus development work continued throughout the summer and we welcomed 99 new undergraduates on 16 September. The next stage sees the demolition of the ‘airport lounge’ to the side of Scale How, and the construction of the new, through route to the top of the site. The new Barn theatre will be completed soon and will form a focus for students and staff on the site.

LO N D O N Staff moved from English Street to the new location in East India Dock Road during the third week of July. An incredible amount of work has gone into getting the campus ready for the start of term and it is all credit to the team there, LiSS, IT Services and Facilities Management that everything was in place in time.

IT As part of an overall investment over five years of £3.3m, in the academic year 2012/13 the investment in IT has been just under £1m. The implementation of a new, fully-managed IT infrastructure service with hugely increased speed and capacity of computers and storage will reduce operational costs and cut IT management time. It will also offer a flexible, scalable solution for the university as it continues to grow, as well as meeting our green values by saving 272 tonnes of Co2 and cutting cooling costs by 47% each year.

Inevitably there have been minor teething problems, but these have been more than compensated for by improvements such as more pleasant surroundings, faster broadband connection and the direct dial facility with the rest of the university.

Overall there is satisfaction with the new premises and it must be said that the University of Cumbria is even more firmly on the map in London now – the London Transport Authority has named the bus stop after us!

Investment in our video enhanced teaching project, known as the BigBlueButton, has seen £25k spent on cameras and microphones. In addition, other major expenditure on IT has been made through the individual budgets of projects such as the Carlisle Business Interaction Centre (CBIC) and Ambleside projects, and the London move to new premises.

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FAC U LT Y O F H E A LT H A N D S C I E N C E FAC I L I T I ES A state-of-the-art Gammex Ultrasound Doppler phantom will allow students to be taught the practicalities of measuring image quality and flow characteristics as part of the quality assurance (QA) processes used in real-life clinical practice.

New trauma/resuscitation trolleys were bought for the Clinical Skills Labs in Carlisle and Lancaster.

A new Midwifery Practice Suite has been created at Fusehill Street. Designed to emulate a home setting, it contains a life-size pregnancy simulator, anatomical models and midwifery equipment. New anatomical models were also purchased.

The sports and PE programmes now have: Bodymetrix Ultrasound system which measures body fat percentages, BMI, basal metabolic rates, and can assess relative disease risks in subjects. It will also track fat loss and muscle gain over time.

Technogym Excite Run 700 Treadmill which can run at speeds higher than standard treadmills. It can be used for cardiovascular workouts and through a choice of adjustments, height, and length, all users can perform exercises correctly in terms of posture, balance, and safety. The treadmill was recently installed in the new Human Performance Laboratory at Fusehill Street.

Other items purchased included medicine balls, training mats, suspension trainers, and core balance trainers. Students on our social work and cognitive behaviour courses now have access to approximately £6,000 worth of new camera and digital recording equipment to use during interviews and assessments during their time on their course.

FAC I L I T I ES M A N AG E M E N T Intensive work has been taking place for the purposes of fulfilling our green agenda. More than £150,000 has been invested in a low loss transformer, room and loft insulation, energy efficient boilers, air handling unit inverters, and student halls lighting. These improvements were put into place where needed across the campuses.

Some of this work is ongoing, while a further £52,000 is earmarked for future work to be carried out early this term.

In addition to the energy-saving activity, staff will have noticed the results of a general scheme of improvement round the university’s premises.

Redecoration and recarpeting has taken place in a number of areas, particularly those that experience high levels of traffic, while new classroom furniture has been delivered and distributed and the Carlisle gym has taken ownership of some new equipment.

Colleagues will already be aware of the MFD (multifunction device) project, the consultation period for which is now over. The roll out of this project will now begin later this term.

In total, our estates will have benefited to the tune of £275,000

by October this year.

36

SOCIAL WORK STUDENTS TO BENEFIT FROM CASH GRANT Future social work students are being offered a learning grant worth £1,500 by the university to celebrate the launch of its course in a state-of-the-art centre for learning.

The bursary is available to all first-year BA (Hons) Social Work students for the 2013-14 period who choose to study at the university’s centre in Furness College’s revitalised campus, which has undergone extensive redevelopment.

The university has worked closely with Furness College to part-fund and develop a dedicated higher education hub within the £43million purpose-built site which sits on the top floor of the learning centre and has facilities including a resource area and interactive lecture rooms.

Students who opt to study the full-time course at the university’s centre in Furness College from September 2013 will be eligible for the nonrepayable bursary, and they will be supported by dedicated and qualified university staff, including the BA (Hons) Social Work programme leader, throughout their three-year degree.

Louise Nelson, quality group lead, said: “We are delighted to offer this well-established course which the university has taught at the Carlisle campus for a number of years.

“We have a long history of partnership with Furness College and have been developing this opportunity over some years. It will allow us to develop students nationally and from the local area to serve the needs of this area.

“The Furness campus offers a vast range of student facilities and will ensure a positive student experience.”

Pro Vice Chancellor, Professor Liz Beaty, said the college is an ‘iconic’ new centre of learning and training excellence for the area.

Above: BA (Hons) Social Work students will be studying at the university centre housed in Furness College’s new state-of-the-art building.

37

www.cumbria.ac.uk/ Courses/Subjects/ HealthAndSocialCare/ Undergraduate/SocialWork.aspx

She added: “Our growing partnership with the college is such an important one for both institutions. We share a commitment to raising the aspirations of learners and supporting the economic and social environment development of Furness and wider Cumbria through further and higher education.

“Higher education is now offered in increasingly flexible modes, closer to home and closer to work with integrated access to academic and real world environments so that learning can be supported wherever the learner is.

“This partnership provides a ‘gateway’ into the University of Cumbria in Barrow. The space has been designed to enable higher education learners to take advantage of university courses and services from a convenient and modern access point set in the heart of the community.

“The top floor of the building accommodates flexible, formal and independent study and, combined with modern technology, is closely connected to the work of employers, the university and the college.

FOR MORE INFORMATION ON THE BA (HONS) SOCIAL WORK COURSE AND THE BURSARY

“Students and visitors from a number of organisations will be able to use the centre which, by its co-location in the college’s innovative learning hubs, visibly shows possible progression routes from further to higher education.

“This new development will see the partnership grow, creating a real focal point for education, learning and industry training for the future.”

38

INTERNATIONAL EXPERTS IN CUMBRIA TO SHARE LANGUAGE TEACHING KNOWLEDGE In June, the university hosted an international seminar on the teaching of languages in primary schools, at the Fusehill Street campus.

Over five days of intensive activity, the group of 14 language specialists from 12 countries, including Bulgaria, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Hungary, Macedonia, Malta, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Spain and Turkey have, through individual presentations, revealed their personal experiences of language teaching to young children, and also attended sessions to discuss a range of techniques and best practice.

The seminar was held against the backdrop of new directives from the Department for Education, requiring that schools offer one of seven languages to children between the ages of five and eleven. The suggested languages include the traditional, such as French and German, but also Mandarin, Latin and Greek.

Alison Gilvey is the international programme manager for the Faculty of Education, and, as organiser of the seminar, she commented: “The study visit is a great opportunity to showcase and share expertise with our European partners and colleagues. In early languages education we have a great deal to be proud of in the UK and in our local area.

"This visit allowed us to fly the flag for our achievements so far, and to correct perceptions of the British as poor language learners. Colleagues in Cumbria were able to share our excellent practice locally, to make useful contacts with our visitors and also to learn from their experience.

Our international visitors were overwhelmed by the warmth of the welcome they received, and by the achievements, enthusiasm and the expertise of our Cumbrian pupils and their teachers.”

As well as sharing their expertise, the delegates visited Norman Street Primary School, Pennine Way Primary School and Trinity Secondary School in Carlisle to find out about their approaches to language teaching. They also travelled to Liverpool Hope University where they received a briefing on Primary 'Content and Language Integrated Learning' (CLIL) a system that teaches traditional curriculum subjects using the foreign language as the means of communication, exploiting the natural synergies between the two subjects, and thus enhancing the pupils' learning experience.

Eva Major associate professor at ELTE University, Budapest in Hungary said of the week's activities: "The visit has been very professionally organised and the programme is perfectly balanced to suit our needs. The methodology is skilfully woven into the sessions through the week, enabling us both to experience and to reflect.”

Above: the delegates (displaying cultural artifacts) with members of university staff, including Alison Gilvey, international programme manager (front row, far right), and Pro Vice Chancellor Liz Beaty (front row, fourth from right)

39

NURSING EMPLOYABILITY CONFERENCE A pilot employability conference for nursing students was held at the Fusehill Street campus on 8 July.

The conference was held in conjunction with LiSS and Blackpool Victoria Hospital and attracted 60 delegates from all subject areas in nursing including adult, child, mental health and learning difficulties.

THE CONFERENCE ATTRACTED

60 DELEGATES FROM ALL SUBJECT AREAS IN NURSING INCLUDING ADULT, CHILD, MENTAL HEALTH AND LEARNING DIFFICULTIES.

All of the attendees were third-year students, who subsequently completed their degrees and diploma courses in September.

The Careers and Employability Service attended the conference to provide advice and support to students applying for jobs, and operated an information stall throughout the event, while talks were given by the scheduled and unscheduled care team at Blackpool Victoria Hospital, Randstad recruitment agency, Cumbria Partnership and the university’s alumni team.

40

UNIVERSITY WELCOMES CHANGES TO IMPROVE STANDARDS IN SOCIAL WORK The university has embraced recent changes within the field of social work which aim to enhance professional standards for students throughout their career.

These changes mean from September, all final placements must have some statutory social work experience and have a registered social worker in the role of practice educator.

The university welcomed around 20 placement providers to its inaugural Social Work Placement Conference on Friday, 26 July at the Fusehill Street campus to provide training, discuss the new changes and share best practice. Workshops and talks were held in a number of areas including assessing students, expert by experience involvement and supporting critical thinking and reflection in placement. A placement provider’s experience presentation was also given by People First, which has provided student placements to the university for a number of years.

Angie Boyle, lecturer in social work at the university, said: “Since the changes were brought in, we have been working closely with the local authority in securing more statutory placements and developing opportunities with the private, voluntary and independent sectors.

Left to right: Cilla Clarke, manager of Eden Carers, which has provided the university’s students with placements for many years, Angie Boyle, lecturer in social work at the university, and Carol Swainson, manager of West Cumbria Rape Crisis Team – a new placement for the university.

These changes have a direct impact upon social work students in terms of placement assessment, supervision and availability. As a result of the Social Work Reform Board review, the General Social Care Council which governed social work was replaced by the Health and Care Professionals Council last summer. This brought the profession in line with the way other disciplines are regulated such as occupational therapy and radiography.

A new framework was also brought in which maps out what needs to be achieved at each stage of a social worker’s career from a junior to a senior practitioner level.

“We used to invite students and practice educators back into university on set days, but we have now moved to providing more opportunities for placement staff and educators to come together to network and have provided a series of days about the new changes in regulations culminating in our first ever placement conference.

“The feedback was extremely positive and we are looking at holding another conference next year.”

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£1.5K DONATION HELPS TO ROLL OUT UNIVERSITY BIKE SCHEME The university is rolling out an environmentally-friendly transport scheme to its Carlisle campuses following a generous donation from a national foundation.

Enterprise Holdings Foundation, the charitable wing of Enterprise Rent-A-Car, has donated £1,500 towards helping us to expand our bike loan scheme. Currently the scheme runs at our Lancaster campus with 48 bikes available for students and staff to borrow at low cost.

This scheme is part of Velocampus Cumbria, a programme of activities developed by the university and Students’ Union to promote cycling and to help students and staff to get around more easily and cheaply. Thanks to Enterprise Holdings Foundation we will now be able to buy five bikes which will be available to loan from the Fusehill Street and Brampton Road campuses in Carlisle.

Travel plan manager Ian Rodham said: “Many people would like to cycle more, but there can be a number of obstacles which prevents our staff and students from using this green mode of transport. The university is helping to tackle these issues in a number of ways, which includes assisting staff and students to get hold of good quality bikes at low prices.

“Providing safe and affordable transport solutions to and from campus means our students have one less thing to worry about, and we hope that will enable our members to continue exceeding their academic ambitions.”

“We are extremely grateful to Enterprise Holdings Foundation for its generous donation which will help to launch the bike loan scheme in Carlisle.

Martin Gaunt, regional business rental sales manager for Enterprise Rent-A-Car, commented: “We're very pleased to be able to provide funding to support the launch of the new University of Cumbria’s bike loan scheme.

“As well as providing alternative ‘clean’ modes of transport for staff and students, this initiative seeks to reduce our carbon footprint and to protect our unique environment.”

“Over the years we have forged a great partnership with the university, and have had the opportunity to talk to many of the talented students about great career opportunities with Enterprise once they graduate.

Anna Bradley, the Students’ Union information and advocacy manager, said: “Having operated a successful bike loan scheme at our Lancaster campus for the last two years, we know how valuable the service can be, especially for those without access to their own vehicles or public transport.

“To be able to support an initiative like this is a fabulous way to thank the university and the students for their ongoing support.”

Above: Ian Rodham), Jade Green (UCSU Information & Advocacy Assistant, and administrator of the bike loan scheme), Martin Gaunt (Enterprise Rent-a-Car Regional Business Rental Sales Manager for NW England and N Wales).

IFLAS open lectu re on sustainable busin ess

Arts Research Initiative Practice/Research Symposium Faculty of Education, Arts and Business staff are invited to attend this event being held at Caldewgate, Carlisle on Wednesday 23 October from 9.30am – 5.00pm. A full programme of presentations is scheduled as well as an opportunity to share ideas and opinions on practice and research issues.

In addition to staff presentations, guest speaker, artist Dr Simon Morris of Teesside University and CEO of INFORMATIONASMATERIAL publishers, will present a short but entertaining paper entitled Top 10 Tips for DIY Publishing.

Tuesday 1 Octobe r, 5.00 – 7.00pm , Charlotte Mas Building, Ambles on ide campus The first IFL AS op en lecture of th e academic year delivered by a se will be nior United Natio ns official. Dr An Miller is Econom thony ic Affairs Officer with the United Conference on Tra Nations de and Develop ment (UNC TAD) .

His presentation will address ques tions such as “H do countries comp ow are in the ethical and environment practices of their al largest firms? Ho w are stock mark responding to th ets e challenge of cli mate change, co poverty and hu rruption, man rights abus es ?

What is the Unite Nations’ view on d the future of vo luntary corporat responsibility ef e forts? How can governments he kind of internatio lp? What nal leadership is needed?”

For further deta ils email iflas @c umbria.ac.uk

CaCHeT e invisible, th g in e se : rs so n “Se Ultracane & e th d n a , d n li b flying people” d e ir a p im y ll a u Ultrabike for vis 0 pm at Energus, r 2013, 4.00 – 6.0 be to Oc 23 : re Public Lectu mbria, CA14 4JW Workington, Cu , Instrumentation onic Sensors and ctr Ele of r so es of Brian S Hoyle, Pr eds University of Le d entertaining e, accessible, an s e an informativ id ov pr to s nsing technologie se aim The talk d capabilities of an ies e nit tiv rtu sis po as the op oint focus on introduction to ns ; with an endp strative applicatio illu of e ng le. ra op a in impaired pe blind and visually technology for umbria.

Email cachet @c

ormation. ac.uk for more inf

If you would like to con tribute to the next issue of Connect , please contact a member of the commu nications team: lynn.clark@ cumbria.a c.uk julie.ratcliffe@ cumbri a.ac.uk fiona.hughes@ cumbri a.ac.uk elizabeth.henzell @cum bria.ac.uk The copy deadline for the next issue of Connect is 14 Novemb er 2013.

Editor: Lynn Clark Features : Communica tions team Design: External Relat ions

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