Campus News
Order direct from Blackwell’s with Sci-Quest
July 30th, 2018
Sci-Quest — the eProcurement system that staff at the University use to simplify the ordering process — has been expanded to link to Blackwell’s online catalogue.
This purchasing option will make it easier to directly order books and study materials from the bookshop. The catalogue is now live and orders should be placed via the University’s Finance system.
Blackwell’s already offers the potential for cost savings by providing many books and study materials at a lower price on average compared to online vendors, where you may find pricing higher, Blackwell’s can provide a price match option on most books, so please contact them outside of the e catalogue, to discuss your needs.
All enquiries can be made by contacting the Blackwell’s team on 01159 222 630 or notts.cpi@blackwell.co.uk.
Tags: Blackwell's, books, reading, Sci-quest
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Participants required for driving simulator study – earn £50 shopping vouchers
July 27th, 2018
Participants will be asked to undertake five drives, each lasting approximately 30 minutes.
The driving simulator study will investigate participants’ behaviours and opinions on the future of automated vehicles.
During the study, the vehicle will be capable of driving autonomously and participants of the study will be able to carry out their own activities during this time. Therefore, the participants will need to bring along any items (devices/objects) that they would like to use (and think they might use in a future vehicle of this kind).
The study will be conducted during a working week (Monday-Friday) and it will take 30-45 minutes per day. Participants should therefore ensure that they are able to attend at the same time on all five days. They will be reimbursed with a £50 shopping voucher for their time at the end of the week.
This study will take place at the Faculty of Engineering Human Factors Research Group Driving Simulator, ITRC building.
Participants must hold a full UK/EU driving licence. This study is unsuitable for those who suffer from motion sickness, migraines, epilepsy or dizzy spells, or who are pregnant.
If you wish to take part in this study, please contact davide.salanitri1@nottingham.ac.uk.
Tags: driving simulator, Human Factors research group
Posted in News, Opportunities, Research | 4 Comments »
Run the Robin Hood Half Marathon – and raise money for the Nottingham Breast Cancer Research Centre
July 27th, 2018
Take part in the Robin Hood Half Marathon and raise vital funds for the University’s Nottingham Breast Cancer Research Centre.
One in eight women will be diagnosed with breast cancer in their lifetime. We’re working to change this shocking statistic, but we need your help.By fundraising for our research, you will make new discoveries possible and help take our work from the laboratory to the real world.
We’re here to help at every step of the way. Please support our life-changing research if you can.
Contact Community Fundraising Manager, Dawn Broomfield on 0115 74 84809 or email dawn.broomfield@nottingham.ac.uk for support with your fundraising and your free running vest.
Can’t run for us? Why not volunteer instead? We need volunteer marshals to help cheer our runners along the route. Contact Dawn for more information.
Tags: Nottingham Breast Cancer Research Centre, Robin Hood Half Marathon, RRunning, Runner
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Staff invited to join University Executive Board committees
July 24th, 2018
University staff are invited to nominate themselves to join University Executive Board (UEB) committees, so that leadership is more distributed and benefits from a greater variety of the expertise, ideas and views from across our community.
The announcement is the second of two initiatives delivered from the Vice-Chancellor’s June ‘staff covenant’ blog today, alongside the appointment of the first Pro-Vice Chancellor for Equality, Diversity and Inclusion, Professor Sarah Sharples.
UEB committees will be reconstituted in the new academic year to include members of staff at different career stages as well as students, representing diversity in all its forms – from gender and ethnicity to roles, experience and expertise.
Further information is published at Committee Member Selection where staff can submit a short online nomination to join a UEB committee, setting out their interest in the role and the skills and experience that they would bring.
Initial selection for committee places will commence in September, and a further nomination and selection round will take place during the autumn term. Full training will be provided for successful candidates across October and November.
Places are available on all UEB committees including: Research; Education and Student Experience; Equality, Diversity and Inclusion; Global Exchange; Knowledge Exchange; People and Human Resources; Planning and Resources; Civic and Regional; Digital Strategy; Estates and Infrastructure; and also Reputation and Recruitment.
Vice-Chancellor Professor Shearer West said:
“Effective governance and decision-making is critical to our continued success as an institution and that requires a distributed leadership model which embraces the expertise which is found across our community at all grades, professions and career stages.
“During the last academic year, the work of such groups on the organisational effectiveness of student support, timetabling, and equality issues have demonstrated just how powerful and creative diverse groups can be in solving our institutional problems.
“I invite all members of our University community to consider how they might contribute to this work and help to deliver more delegated decision-making, a more inclusive environment, and to apply their expertise to address the challenges we face as an institution.”
Further developments from the ‘staff covenant’ blog will take place across the autumn term to delegate further decision-making, reduce duplication and increase joined-up thinking.
This will include a refined governance model to ensure that decisions are made at the right level – whether that is by School, Faculty or UEB — as well as increased use of dedicated ‘task and finish’ groups to improve the pace and quality of decision-making on specific challenges and issues.
Tags: committee member, community, University Executive Board
Posted in Announcements, Main News Story, News | 2 Comments »
British Academy honours Professor Judith Still
July 24th, 2018
Judith Still, Professor of French and Critical Theory, has been elected as a Fellow to the British Academy.
Professor Still, of the School of Cultures, Languages and Area Studies, joins a record 76 academics elected in recognition of their achievements in the humanities and social sciences.
This is the largest cohort of new Fellows elected to the British Academy in its 116-year history, after a vote to broaden and expand the fellowship.
These new Fellows of the British Academy join a community of over 1400 of the leading minds that make up the UK’s national academy for the humanities and social sciences.
Professor Still joins current Fellows including the classicist Dame Mary Beard, the historian Sir Simon Schama and philosopher Baroness Onora O’Neill.
She said: “I am absolutely delighted to join such a distinguished body. Nottingham Modern Languages and Cultures is completely exceptional in the UK (outside Oxford and Cambridge) in having now four colleagues as Fellows of the British Academy. I join: Professor Jeremy Lawrance (Hispanic Studies), Emeritus Professor Elizabeth Boa (German Studies), and Emeritus Professor Diana Knight (French Studies).”
Professor Still, whose research focuses on enlightenment thought and fiction in French and English; contemporary thought and fiction in French and English with particular reference to post-structuralism, feminism, hospitality, gift economies, inequalities and critical animal studies, added:
“I hope that I shall add to the diversity of the British Academy, not only as a woman and a critical theorist, but in that I was first in my family to go to University, supported by a loving single mother and a State that gave me a full and unconditional grant throughout my studies.”
Professor Sir David Cannadine, President of the British Academy, said: “I am delighted to welcome this year’s exceptionally talented new Fellows to the Academy.
“The election of the largest cohort of Fellows in our history means the British Academy is better placed than ever to help tackle the challenges we all face today. Whether it’s social integration or the ageing society, the future of democracy or climate change, Brexit or the rise of artificial intelligence, the insights of the humanities and social sciences are essential as we navigate our way through an uncertain present into what we hope will be an exciting future.”
Professor Jeremy Gregory, Pro-Vice-Chancellor, Faculty of Arts, said: “This is very well-deserved acknowledgement of Professor Still’s stellar contribution to knowledge in French Studies, Critical Theory and Modern Languages research more broadly. Election to a fellowship of the British Academy is one of the highest honours for scholars in Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences and I am delighted that Judith’s work has been recognised in this way.
Professor Dame Jessica Corner, Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Research and Knowledge Exchange, said: “I am delighted that our academics continue to be recognised by their peers as leaders in their fields. The British Academy is world-renowned and Professor Still’s election to its Fellowship is an achievement that demonstrates her commitment to scholarship of the highest order.”
The prime criterion for election to the Fellowship of the Academy is academic distinction as reflected in scholarly research activity and publication. Only one or two scholars a year are elected in most fields, even though there may be several hundred scholars active in the field in question. The electoral process is therefore exacting and rigorous.
The Academy is also a funding body for research, nationally and internationally, and a forum for debate and engagement.
Tags: British Academy, critical theory, fellow, french, Judith Still
Posted in Announcements, News, People, Research | 2 Comments »
Information security awareness training
July 23rd, 2018
As cyberattacks become more frequent, hackers get more sophisticated, and identify theft is on the rise, we’re introducing compulsory information security awareness training for all staff.
This will help us all be more confident that we are handling sensitive information securely, and help us protect the personal data which our staff, our students, and our research participants trust us with.
Can you spot a phishing email? Do you know what personal data is? Do you know how to browse the internet is a safe way?
The first set of training modules cover safe internet usage, phishing emails, and GDPR.
The total viewing time is about 15 minutes: The modules can be watched separately or together, and each ends with a short test. Completion of all of these modules is compulsory for staff at our UK campuses.
The link to the training modules will be emailed to you after the summer graduations have ended. You’ll receive the you from “UoN Information Security” (infosec@nottingham.ac.uk) and the link within the email will take you to a website hosted by our external provider, where it will generate a record that you have received the email, accessed the link and completed the training.
If you have any questions, please contact infosec@nottingham.ac.uk.
Tags: cyber security, GDPR, Information security, Information Services, phishing
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Professor Sarah Sharples to be new Pro Vice-Chancellor for Equality, Diversity and Inclusion
July 23rd, 2018
Vice-Chancellor Professor Shearer West has confirmed that Professor Sarah Sharples will become the University’s first Pro Vice-Chancellor for Equality, Diversity and Inclusion — taking up the role from 1 September 2018.
Professor Sharples is currently Associate Pro Vice-Chancellor for Research and Knowledge Exchange in the Faculty of Engineering, which has 800 staff across six departments with more than 4,000 undergraduate and postgraduate students.
As PVC EDI, Professor Sharples will hold a University Executive Board position with responsibility for driving equality, diversity and inclusion policy and initiatives across the University to tackle the challenges we face, for example, in the gender pay gap for our staff or the attainment gap for our black and minority ethnic students.
The appointment is the first of two initiatives to be delivered from the Vice-Chancellor’s June ‘staff covenant’ blog today, alongside an invitation to staff to nominate themselves to join University Committees so that leadership is more distributed and benefits from a greater variety of the expertise, ideas and views from across our community.
Professor West said: “Equality, diversity and inclusion is of crucial importance to our people, our culture and our success as a University. I am delighted that we have secured Professor Sharples in this role and as part of our executive leadership team.
“Sarah brings extensive academic, people and leadership experience not least through her APVC role, and recently led the extensive work to review and reform the organisational effectiveness of student support – demonstrating just how powerful and creative diverse groups can be in solving our institutional challenges.”
Professor Sharples said: “I am delighted to be given the opportunity to take on this vital role in supporting students and staff across the University. I will aim to build on the excellent work led by the Associate PVC for Equality Diversity and Inclusion, Professor Marion Walker, who has done an outstanding job in supporting diverse groups of staff from across the University.
“My first priorities will be to build and communicate an integrated understanding of the vast range of EDI activities which are already taking place across the University, ensure that we work well with our staff and student networks and develop a strategy to ensure that all are helped to do their very best in supporting an inclusive culture.”
A Chartered Ergonomist and Human Factors Specialist and Fellow of the Institute of Engineering and Technology, as Professor of Human Factors in the Department of Mechanical, Materials and Manufacturing Engineering, Professor Sharples’ research spans areas including transport, healthcare and manufacturing. She has particular expertise in design and evaluation of technologies and systems for effective use, and was President of the Chartered Institute of Ergonomics and Human Factors from 2015-2016. She was elected as a member of the Council of the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council in early 2018.
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Campus Solutions: Final implementation postponed
July 19th, 2018
Full implementation of the new Campus Solutions student records system planned for the end of July has been postponed until after the start of the 2018/19 academic session.
The Programme Board took this difficult decision to protect key activities around confirmation and clearing, registration and timetabling.
The system is very close to being ready for full implementation across the UK campuses. However, a small number of technical issues still need to be addressed, along with the completion of rigorous testing.
Project Sponsor Professor Sarah O’Hara said: “I am disappointed that we have had to make this decision and I apologise for not delivering the project at the end of July as expected. I know the internal project team, our Infosys partners and many colleagues across the University have been working incredibly hard over the last few months and have achieved an enormous amount.
“We are very close to implementing the final system, and postponement was a difficult but responsible decision for the Programme Board to make. The start of session is a critical period for the University, and we must ensure that staff and student interests are protected during this time.
“We look forward to implementing Campus Solutions in the very near future once we are clear of the start of session processes.”
The postponed implementation means that start of session processes and registration will be conducted using existing legacy systems and contingency plans have been put in place to minimise any impact on staff and students.
Confirmation and clearing will continue as planned in Campus Solutions, the third year that the process will take place in the system.
Our campuses in China and Malaysia are already running student administrative processes in Campus Solutions and new functionality has been tested ready for delivery on our international campuses shortly.
Though the system is not yet ready for full UK implementation, much has been achieved in recent months which gives confidence that full implementation can take place after the start of the 2018/19 academic session:
- Progression and award: the use of progression and award functionality by UNMC and UNNC is a significant move forward. This has allowed for the automation of marks, progression and award calculations – the first time that any institution has used Campus Solutions in this way to perform this function.
- Curriculum: Campus Solutions is now the system of record for Curriculum, underpinned by significantly-improved curriculum data. Colleagues in Student Services and schools have untangled a huge amount of text-based information on module requirements that has built up in Saturn. This is now consistent, clean data contained within the one system.
- Admissions: all Admissions processes are now managed through Campus Solutions. Confirmation and clearing will be managed in the system for the third year this summer.
- Timetabling: the teaching timetable for 2018/19 is being created using data derived from Campus Solutions. A first draft timetable featuring single group (eg lecture) activity and some – but not all – complex activity will published by Friday 27 July.
- Administrative processes: consistent standard operating procedures for all aspects of the student journey have been standardised and documented which will serve as the reference point for all our processes going forward.
- Infosys: support from our external partner, Infosys, has proved invaluable since appointment earlier this year, completing some 136 out of a total of 142 change requests and resolving more than 1,300 technical issues. Once they have supported final implementation, Infosys will also deliver ongoing support for the system.
Further project updates and confirmation of the new implementation date will be confirmed in due course. In the meantime, should you have any questions about processes, please contact Student Services.
Tags: campus solutions
Posted in Announcements, News, Side news story | 2 Comments »
University of Nottingham’s teaching is among the best in Europe
July 16th, 2018
The University of Nottingham has been ranked as 18th in Europe for teaching excellence in The Times Higher Education (THE) Europe Teaching Rankings 2018.
The THE Europe Teaching Rankings 2018 are the first to focus solely on teaching and learning. They are put together based on student responses to questions such as ‘Would you recommend your university to friends and family?’ and ‘If you could start again would you still choose to go to this university?’.
The metrics also look at the opportunities available to prepare students for life after university and analyse the different ways in which courses are delivered including how they develop skills in critical thinking, collaboration and applying learning to the real world.
Tags: Europe Teaching Rankings, THE, Times Higher Education
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University Park and Jubilee recognised among the UK’s best green spaces
July 16th, 2018
The University of Nottingham’s University Park and Jubilee campuses have once again been recognised by the Green Flag Award Scheme as two of the best green spaces in the UK.
Both of the campuses have won a Green Flag Award for 2018/19 – a sign to the public that the spaces boast the highest possible environmental standards, are beautifully maintained and have excellent visitor facilities.
Back in 2003, Nottingham was the first ever university to be awarded a prestigious Green Flag Award, when the award was given to University Park. It’s now the 16th year in a row that University Park has received the award – and this year also marks the sixth time that the award has been received by Jubilee campus.
The campuses are among a record-breaking 1,883 UK parks and green spaces that have achieved a Green Flag Award this year.
International Green Flag Award scheme manager Paul Todd said: “Each flag honours the thousands of staff and volunteers who work tirelessly to maintain the high standards demanded by the Green Flag Award. We are proud to have so many wonderful green spaces in the UK for people to enjoy, and hope that next year, we award even more flags.”
Tags: Green Flag Award, green space, Jubilee Campus, University Park
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