Dr Nagamani Bora, Programme Director in the School of Biosciences, has been appointed to two important new academic roles related to the university’s commitment to the Race Equality Charter – as academic lead for the degree awarding gap, and module convener for a new introductory student module on anti-racism.

Taking up role from 1 October, Dr Bora will be working closely with Professor Mark Bradley, Associate Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Teaching and Curriculum Leadership, and Professor Katherine Linehan the university’s new Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Equality, Diversity, Inclusion, and People.

She will also work alongside Alison Reeves, Head of Education Excellence Support, and the Education Excellence Team to help Schools work towards the Access and Participation Plan by closing the degree awarding gap for BAME students and promoting the values of an inclusive curriculum.

Nagamani will also lead a team of colleagues to prepare a university-wide anti-racism module for new students, which the university plans to pilot for September 2022 with the aim of a fuller roll-out in 2023. In all this work, she will maintain a close working relationship with the Students’ Union to promote effective student engagement with all these initiatives.

Dr Nagamani Bora

Nagamani has been working as a lead from access to employability supporting diverse populations of students for more than five years. She said: “I have witnessed the student ‘lifecycle’ at the university from recruitment, retention, progression to employment – supporting them through their journey.

As a subject-specific curriculum lead my interests have been in unravelling the hidden curriculum to promote equal participation and opportunities for diverse learning communities of students by creating positive learning experiences for all.”

“Belonging to an ethnic minority group myself, I am grateful to the university for taking the initiative to tackle racism at its roots. I am committed to supporting and helping students across the university to overcome these challenges to perform with confidence in their future careers. This is an opportunity to identify, reflect and implement change in the face of the cultural barriers standing in the way of Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic students’ success.

“I am looking forward to working alongside students and staff from across the university to bring about change by being a part of our ‘One Team’ and ‘One University’ goal. I am confident that we as a ‘Global Inclusive University’ can bring about this change with collective effort that exemplifies the core values we all stand for and equal opportunities we provide.”

Nagamani is an experienced lecturer and curriculum lead, who has served as Academic Director for International Teaching Partnerships and Academic Employability Lead, and sits on academic board councils as an advisor at a range of international institutions. She is a Nottingham Recognition Scheme mentor and Senior Fellow of Advance HE, and has received a Lord Dearing Award for excellent student support.

Professor Emmanuel Adegbite, co-chair of the Bronze REC Implementation Group, said “I am absolutely delighted that Nagamani will be taking on these vital roles. Our analysis as part of the REC showed how important it was for us to take strong action in delivering a culture of inclusion in the teaching and student experience activity across the university.

The cross-university module that Nagamani will be leading aims to be sector-leading in embedding consideration of anti-racism in our taught programmes, and Nagamani’s experience and enthusiasm means I am confident that together, we can deliver the impact that the REC analysis showed is needed, on our journey to create a university that works for all.”