Campus News

Information Services News update August 2019

August 6th, 2019

Information Services (IS) are pleased to share the following updates and news taking place over the next couple of months: 

University systems using student data 

Do you use local school systems that might still link into Saturn student data? If so, IS need your help to identify any systems before Saturn is archived. 

Following the roll out of Campus Solutions, the Saturn student records system will cease to be used. For the start of session in September 2019, all student records will be in Campus Solutions. Access to Saturn for historic records will be maintained whist an archive system is being put in place. 

There are a number of systems in use throughout the University that use student data from Solar, the Saturn database. IS are aware of most of these systems and work is underway to mitigate risks.

However, over many years, other systems have been developed. Therefore, colleagues are asked to urgently identify all systems in use that contain student data by contacting Helen Jenkins as soon as possible. A list of systems that IS are already aware of and do not need reporting are listed on Campus News.

Changes to University Print Service coming soon 

In recent news, it was announced that a contract has been signed with Xerox for a further three years. The new contract will deliver a number of benefits to the existing print service:  

  • Replace 238 printers with new, faster devices 
  • Replace ‘Scan to Home’ with ‘Scan to OneDrive’ app 
  • Reduce the cost of printing for all University users 

The project is expected to be delivered for the start of session. There will be some interruptions to the service as the new print infrastructure is implemented in late August and early September. During this time IS will simplify and install new print queues on University PCs, revise the staff recharge process and migrate student balances. 

Further updates will be posted on the Digital Network blog.  

Important changes to Remote Desktop 

Earlier this year, IS introduced Multi-Factor Authentication as part of the overarching Security Remediation project to secure remote access services.  

The new Virtual Private Network service went live successfully earlier this year and we are now ready to introduce the new Remote Desktop service: gateway.nottingham.ac.uk 

The new Remote Desktop Gateway service will require the use of Multi-Factor Authentication when establishing a remote connection from outside the University campus network. New guides have been produced and are available via workspace. Later in the year, the current rdgateway.nottingham.ac.uk service will be decommissioned. 

For further information, please see the Digital Network blog.  

Campus Solutions / MyNottingham support request forms 

As we near the start of a new session, IS will be mandating that support requests for Campus Solutions and MyNottingham are only raised with the Service Desk via telephone or by submitting a dedicated support request form and not via direct email. This will ensure a consistently positive and timely experience for all users and comes into effect from Monday 2 September. 

For all the latest news from Information Services, see our Digital Network blog, Office 365 news or follow us on Twitter.  

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Nottingham Reward Scheme is live

August 5th, 2019

The new Nottingham Reward Scheme is now live, with full guidelines published on the HR website.

The scheme allows colleagues and line managers to nominate University employees from across all job families for rewards which recognise outstanding work.

The Nottingham Reward Scheme is administered through the Employee Hub. The hub’s Reward Scheme functionality is now online, with vouchers and the £500 non-consolidated bonuses now available.

The Nottingham Reward Scheme has been developed in partnership with staff, following contributions from more than 450 colleagues across the University via focus groups and with Trade Union colleagues. It is entirely separate to the new Appraisal Development Conversations (ADC) performance and objective setting process, which has no direct link to performance-related reward.

The Nottingham Reward Scheme:

  • will provide opportunities for staff to be rewarded for excellent performance, which is over and above the normal expectations of their role.
  • is a flexible four-tiered performance related reward scheme, ranging from vouchers to consolidated reward.
  • will give opportunities for individual, manager and colleague nominations for rewards.
  • includes a number of points in the year for higher-value nominations and rewards to be applied.

The scheme will be promoted at key points throughout the year, coinciding with non-consolidated and consolidated award deadlines, and encouraging a continuous cycle of recognition and reward across the institution.

Training and Support

A series of one-hour briefings have been organised on a number of campuses in September and October. Staff can book onto these sessions via the Professional Development website.

These briefing sessions will cover how the Nottingham Reward Scheme will operate, the criteria for each reward and the different levels of reward along with how the administration via the Employee Hub will work.

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Estates and Hospitality staff enjoy team focus day

August 1st, 2019

Estates and Hospitality colleagues from across the University took part in a team focus meeting on Thursday 25 July.

The day included a variety of wellbeing and sport activities, as well as a barbecue, fairground attractions and food stalls.

Director of Estates & Facilities, Linda Goodacre, said ‘With around 1000 staff across Estates and Hospitality it’s not easy to get everyone together, but we were delighted to see so many of our hardworking and committed staff. Whilst we know how important the quality of our campus is, the staff really valued the feedback they received from the Deputy Vice Chancellor and the Director of Estates and Facilities. Our inaugural awards were really well received by the staff and it was great to celebrate those who’ve done so well in the past year’.

The full list of winners can be seen below:

Outstanding Leader

Winner

  • Chris Brown – Head Chef, Lenton & Wortley Hall

Highly Commended

  • Michael Wroblewski – Team Leader, Grounds Auxiliary

E&H Outstanding Colleague

Winner

  • Viet Cuong Hoang – Catering Assistant, Lenton & Wortley Hall

Highly Commended

  • Wendy Johnson – Catering Assistant, Medical School QMC
  • Ali Morgan – Senior Security Officer

E&H Outstanding Community Champion

Winner

  • The Estates Administration Team: Jos Wallace, Helen Cooper, Kim Hale, and Steph Bowskill

Highly Commended

  • Julie Murphy – Team Leader, Retail Catering
  • Anne Bowbanks – Catering Assistant, Retail Catering

E&H Customer Service Champion

Winner

  • Andrew Miller – Security Officer

Highly Commended

  • David Humphreys – Hall Porter, Florence Boot Hall
  • Matthew Gyles – Team Leader, Grounds Team
  • Ousman Rashid – Catering Team Leader, Hugh Stewart Hall

E&H Sustainability Champion

Winner

  • Ian Chetwynd – Groundsworker

Highly Commended

  • Sebastian Rozanski – Building Attendant, KMC
  • Bob Crossley – Catering Operations Manager

E&H Outstanding Team

Winner

  • The University Farm Team: Nigel Armstrong, Lucy Shaw, Krzysztof Sek, Przemyslaw Czajka, Joseph Barton, John-Joseph Armstrong

Highly Commended

  • The Auxiliary Grounds Team: Michael Wroblewski, Stephen Hartshorne, Bob Fletcher, Alex Martindale and Anthony Kinton
  • The Health Centre Cleaners Team: Steven Walton, Denise Goode, Nigel Bosworth-Brown, Amy Wilson, Julett Walker, Donna Wilson, Erizal Lugman, and Mohamed Amesnaou Alouat
  • The Lower Cripps Team: Nicki Kiernan, Susan Roberts, Brian Launders, Tracy Geary, Nicola Wood, Teresa Adcock, Lorraine Watt, Julie Blatherwick, Penelope Rose, Christiana Okhomina, Ciptoaji Ciptoaji and Sharon Kirk

E&H Outstanding Collaborative Individual/Team

Winner

  • The Sustainability & Catering Teams for the #WasteNott Campaign: Gavin Scott, Nicola Penn, Bob Crossley, Serena Brown, Emma Kemp, Hema Jankee

Highly Commended

  • The Willoughby Hall Team: Richard Beck, Ben Morrison, Ben Mason, Jon Hendren, Ery Sunarsih, Elaine Moon, Tarek Zakaria, Susan Brown, Emma Gazeley, Dorcas Szuchnicka, Andrea Holmes, Beata Oborska, Jeanette Musson, Paula Draper, Philip Clarke, Gary Hopkinson and Vila Pecke

Special Award for Community Champion

  • Steve Wright – Chauffeur, Transport & Logistics

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Anne McLaren and Nottingham Research fellowships: apply now to develop your research career

July 31st, 2019

Nottingham Fellowships are recruiting 100 Nottingham and Anne McLaren Research Fellows.

These prestigious fellowships bring world-class talent to the University and offer outstanding people already here the opportunity to develop their career.

These schemes are a fundamental part of the University’s mission for the delivery of exceptional research that changes lives in the UK and across the world.

The fellowships offer:

  • a prestigious first step into an independent research career
  • three years’ independent research funding
  • a role linked to a permanent academic position at the University

Professor Dame Jessica Corner, Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Research and Knowledge Exchange, said: “Our highly competitive fellowship schemes are bringing exceptional talent to the University from renowned research institutions such as Oxford and Cambridge, Aalto University, Finland; University of Wurzburg, Germany; McMaster University, Ontario, and Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Anne McLaren Research Fellow Dr Helen Russell has re-joined the School of Physics and Astronomy, bringing her Science and Technology Facilities Council Rutherford fellowship from the University of Cambridge.

“We’re also delighted that researchers already at the University are successfully applying to these schemes and choosing to build their careers at Nottingham, which supports our mission of retaining as well as attracting world-class people.

“Colleagues from across the University mentor inspirational researchers who are considering important next steps in their career.

“I would ask them to share details of Nottingham and Anne McLaren Research Fellowships, and support early career researchers who are looking to seize these fantastic opportunities.”

Further information is available on the Nottingham Fellowships website.

To apply, please register your interest by 22 August 2019 via the relevant school/faculty vacancy.

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Nominations open for the Black Achievers Award 2019

July 31st, 2019

Nominations are live for the Black Achievers Awards, which will take place on 28 September 2019.

The Black Achievers Awards were initiated in 2012 by Nottingham City Councillor Merlita Bryan to recognise and promote the achievements of Nottingham’s black community. Categories include Young Achiever of the Year, Outstanding Parent of the Year, Most Transformed Life and the Community Volunteer Award.

This year, the University will be sponsoring the Learning, Skills and Employment Award. Previous winners of this category include nursing alumna Aquiline Chivinge, who was recognised for her work at Nottingham University Hospital as a positive role model for BME staff and students. Aquiline has swiftly progressed to the role of Matron after graduating with distinction from the University of Nottingham’s MSc in Advanced Nursing in 2015.

Cllr Merlita Bryan commented:
“Black men and women have experienced many years of negative press. We aim to change this by showing the local community that there are real, positive black role models out there.”

Nominations for all categories close on Friday 9 August 2019. To nominate a colleague, fellow student, or another member of our University community who inspires you, please visit blackachieversaward.co.uk/.

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Anniversary celebrations for Natural Sciences programme

July 26th, 2019

Celebrations are underway this year for the tenth anniversary of the Natural Sciences degree programme.

Natural Sciences began life in the School of Chemistry and then moved to the School of Mathematical Sciences in 2015.

Today, it is a cross-faculty flagship undergraduate programme which involves teaching from eight schools and four faculties at Nottingham.

There were 29 students in the first cohort and the programme currently recruits 45-50 students per year, with aims to grow the programme to around 100 students per year.

Highlights from the past 10 years include visiting the Natural History Museum to celebrate the opening of the Cocoon with the first cohort, seeing 340 students graduate with degrees in Natural Sciences and head off into the world to start their careers and watching Natural Sciences students present their multidisciplinary project work at the National Natural Sciences Conference alongside students from institutions around the UK.

Natural Sciences aims to secure a permanent space on campus for the course within the next couple of years. Having a shared interest in encouraging work across the boundaries of academic subjects the programme has a good relationship with the Liberal Arts programme and will be holding a joint conference for students to showcase interdisciplinary research in 2020/21.

The programme also has strong relationships with other Institutions which offer Natural Sciences in the UK and will be a founding member of the Society for Natural Sciences which will be officially launched at an event in London in Spring 2020. This is a professional society for Natural Sciences which will accredit programmes and will work towards common goals of enhancing interdisciplinary education, promoting the values and benefits of Natural Sciences and cross-disciplinary approaches to schools, prospective students and employers and providing opportunities for networking among members including an annual National Conference for students.

Three separate events were planned to celebrate the tenth anniversary:

  • a student-organised ball for staff, students and alumni to celebrate the 10th cohort
  • a celebratory lunch for the first cohort of Natural Sciences students which will be followed by a ‘speed dating’ networking event with current students
  • a London-based Alumni Event which will feature a speaker from each graduating year and will be open to alumni, current students and prospective students.

The first of these event – the student ball – took place on Saturday 15 June 2019 and was attended by 150 people.

The next event will be a celebratory lunch for the first cohort on Saturday 19 October 2019 to mark 10 years since they started. This will be followed with a speed networking event with current students where they can find out more about what they have been doing since they finished.

Finally, the Alumni event will round off the celebrations on Sunday 17 November at the Crick Institute in London. The Director of Natural Sciences will speak at the event, and guests will consist of alumni, current students and prospective students.

To find out more about the Natural Sciences degree programme, visit https://www.nottingham.ac.uk/naturalsciences/.

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Summer tram track works

July 25th, 2019

Essential track replacement work on Nottingham’s tram network is set to take place during August, between The Forest and High School. The work will take place between Monday 5 August and Sunday 18 August.

Throughout the works, a special timetable, with trams from every 10 minutes, will be in operation between Hucknall, Phoenix Park and The Forest, as well as between Toton Lane, Clifton South and Old Market Square.

Read more on the NET website.

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Lord Dearing Award winners 2019

July 25th, 2019

The winners of the Lord Dearing Awards have been announced for 2019.

The Lord Dearing Award Scheme has, since 1999, acknowledged the world-class contribution made by University staff to creating a learning environment which is nurturing as well as challenging, creative and innovative.

The scheme was supported personally by Ronald Dearing, Lord Dearing the fifth Chancellor of The University of Nottingham, and it has seen more than 100 members of staff receive an award for high quality teaching and the support of learning.

The Awards are held annually, with nominations from staff and students considered in late winter and awards conferred in spring. Awards are given to individuals and teams who have successfully demonstrated the impact of their teaching and learning (and/or associated projects) to enhancing the student experience.

In 2019, 18 individuals and nine teams received Lord Dearing Awards. The full list of recipients can be seen below:

Individuals

  • Allan Beverley, Life Sciences, UNUK
  • Bell Douglas, Education, UNNC
  • Braithwaite Karen, Veterinary Medicine and Science, UNUK
  • Brignell Chris, Mathematical Sciences, UNUK
  • Brown Ruairidh, Centre for English Language, Education, UNNC
  • Buckland Carl, Classics and Archaeology, UNUK
  • Goodwin Edward, Law, UNUK
  • Janssen Steve, Psychology, UNM
  • Kaliannan Maniam, Business, UNM
  • Kidd Ian, Philosophy, UNUK
  • Le Hang, Business School, UNUK
  • Mareta Sannia, Centre for English Language Education, UNNC
  • Merton Joe, History, UNUK
  • Rodriguez Flores, Sergio, Language Centre, UNNC
  • Sarma   Vengageshvaran, Business, UNM
  • Wapenaar Wendela, Veterinary Medicine and Science, UNUK
  • Webster-Deakin Tara, Cultures, Languages and Area Studies, UNUK
  • Welsen Sherif, Electrical and Electronic Engineering, UNNC

Teams:

  • Advanced Clinical Practice Apprenticeship, Health Sciences, UNUK
  • Agriculture Interactive Learning Activity with Simulation, Bio-Sciences, UNUK
  • Coaching and Support, Centre for English Language Education, UNNC
  • Learning Technologist Team, Education, UNUK
  • NAA IEP, Business, UNNC
  • Open-source Prosthetic and Assistive Devices, Engineering, Health Sciences and Sports Centre, UNUK
  • PGCHE, Education, UNUK
  • Public Health Team, Medicine, UNUK
  • Social Work Teaching Team, Sociology and Social Policy, UNUK

The Lord Dearing Award for Excellence in the Learning Environment — an award first introduced in 2017 to recognise the achievements of an entire School or Department in achieving excellence in the student experience across all its provision — was given to the Student Activity and Innovation Centre, UNNC.

Many congratulations to all of our award winners for 2018. For more information about the Lord Dearing Awards, visit the Professional Development website.

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New Director of Research & Innovation — Pip Peakman

July 24th, 2019

Pip Peakman has been appointed as the University of Nottingham’s new Director of Research & Innovation, taking up the role from 23 September 2019, to deliver the University’s research, impact and business engagement strategy.

Reporting into the Chief Financial Officer, Margaret Monckton, Pip will lead the research support, business engagement, enterprise and graduate services functions including oversight of the Innovation Park (UNIP).

In particular, Pip will lead operations to support research bidding, the development of postgraduate, postdoctoral and early career Researchers, knowledge exchange, spin-outs, licensing, and regional innovation programmes. She will also support the development and provision of alternative programmes, for example online and higher apprenticeships.

Confirming the appointment, Chief Financial Officer, Margaret Monckton said:

“I am delighted to have secured someone of Pip’s calibre for this vital role. Her insights and leadership will be invaluable as we continue to develop our research and knowledge exchange aspirations for the future as part of the next University Strategy.”

Looking ahead to her role, Pip said:

“In the current environment, all Russell Group universities face challenges to maintain sustainable, broad-based research programmes at scale and are looking to enhance their existing activity to increase research income as well as looking new opportunities to further their research ambitions.

“The University of Nottingham, with its established research base and reputation, its international presence and strong links to industry and innovation is well-positioned to thrive in this environment. I am looking forward to working in such an exciting organisation with such potential for ever greater success.”

A Biochemistry graduate from the University of Birmingham, Pip is currently Director of Research Operations and Strategy at the renowned Manchester Cancer Research Centre, a partnership founded by Cancer Research UK, The Christie NHS Foundation Trust and the University of Manchester. She has worked for the University since 2012. Prior to this she had a career in industry.

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Brexit: an update following the appointment of the new Prime Minister

July 24th, 2019

Boris Johnson was elected as Conservative Party leader yesterday and will be appointed Prime Minister today.

During the leadership campaign, Mr Johnson’s stated preference was for the UK to leave the EU with an agreement in place, but he also committed to the UK leaving the EU on 31 October “come what may”.

Mr Johnson has ruled out compromise on the Irish ‘backstop’ issue and/or close alignment with EU rules, whilst remaining committed to maintaining the Union between Great Britain and Northern Ireland. This makes reaching an agreement with the EU that can command majority support in the House of Commons unlikely, increasing the possibility of a ‘No Deal’ Brexit.

The government holds an increasingly small majority in the Commons which, combined with opposition to a ‘No Deal’ Brexit in Parliament, makes a General Election an increasing possibility. MPs are attempting to prevent Mr Johnson bypassing Parliament to pursue a ‘No Deal’ Brexit but that remains the default position in law.

The University’s Global & Political Affairs Unit explores what might happen next in this comprehensive briefing document. Further information is also posted on the University’s Brexit Information Hub.

Universities UK has also published a briefing to government setting out the consequences of exiting the EU without a deal and the stabilising policies required for the higher education sector.

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