Campus News
Disability December
December 8th, 2016
During December the University will be hosting a series of events which focus on raising awareness of, and showcasing our diverse disability cultures.
This is the first year we have run the programme as part of the People and Culture Events Calendar and we are excited to share these events with our staff, students and members of the wider community. This programme is in collaboration with the Disabled Staff Network (DSN), which is open to all staff from all job families in the University of Nottingham.
Take a look at the events on offer.
Tags: anxiety, comedy, disability, Disability December, Disabled Staff Network, events, health, mental health, mindfulness, people and culture
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Student Services – student enquiries and feedback
December 7th, 2016
The new Student Service Centres have handled a large volume of enquiries since opening. Staff have been working incredibly hard to respond in an accurate and timely manner, but we acknowledge we still have some way to go whilst staff adjust to their new roles and are learning a multitude of new processes. In the first three months since opening, Student Service Centres (excluding Derby and City) dealt with 21,574 email enquiries, 7,047 telephone enquiries and have responded to over 4,000 enquiries via the online enquiry form.
Our response time to all enquiry types is continuing to improve as improvements to our internal processes are made and training is rolled out to staff. The answer rate for telephone calls has increased from an average of 76% to a more consistent answer rate of 85% and we hope to see this improve further throughout the coming academic year.
Student Service Centres have been collecting feedback from students through a variety of channels including social media, the Student Services website and feedback postcards deployed at service centres. Feedback has been balanced with the main themes being:
- Customer Service: there has been extensive praise from students about the helpful, positive and professional conduct of our Front of House staff, and their friendly, supportive and sympathetic manner.
- Location of service centres: students have commented positively on the distribution of the service centres, in particular the presence of Student Service Centre in QMC.
- Communication: one of the main issues highlighted was the length of time taken to get back to students and occasionally the lack of specific information for individual departments. We are continuing to review our internal processes and roll out training to staff to ensure we are better equipped to respond accurately and promptly.
We will continue to collect and respond to both staff and student feedback as we progress through the year.
Tags: student enquiries, student feedback, student service centres, student services
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Looking back at confirmation and clearing, 2016
December 7th, 2016
During confirmation of undergraduate applications in August, the Admissions team processed approximately 13,000 applications through Campus Solutions, which included conditional firm and conditional insurance offer holders, and those accepted via clearing and adjustment. The recruitment position as of the end of October was 298 over target for HEU (planned overshoot of 200 to account for any Brexit impact) and 6 under target for international. Thanks to all whose hard work allowed us to achieve this. As this was the first year of paperless admissions, there was a considerable amount of preparation required.
One of the key benefits of the new system is having all of the data relating to an application stored in one place, accessible to both Admissions staff and Admissions Tutors. This is a significant improvement. The old paper-based system meant that accepting an applicant at confirmation was a two-stage process requiring two teams; with the new system this becomes a one-stage process, saving time that can be used elsewhere.
Certain other processes, such as contacting applicants where a result was missing and considering near miss applicants, were also more efficient. In the past the missing results process would have involved entering data into a separate database, but this year the team used the ‘checklist’ function to generate email communications, again saving time. Admissions has also received positive feedback from a number of Admissions Tutors about the new electronic near miss process, saying that it was a significant improvement on the previous paper-based system.
The extraction of certain data from the system was a challenge, and so a number of ad hoc reports were required. The main concern was making sure that no applications became ‘lost’ in the system, as this would have impacted both application statistics and the applicant experience. Despite significant user acceptance testing, there was still a requirement to react to certain processes that did not work in the live system quite as intended. Another key challenge was recruiting sufficient volunteers to assist with processing A Level results, which relies on colleagues from outside of Admissions. This year Admissions was restricted to those with experience of – and access to – the new system. The data transactions sent to and from UCAS took longer and were less frequent than expected, meaning that some applicants were not updated on the status of their application as quickly as anticipated. The new system has posed significant training needs for both experienced and new staff in the new organisational design.
Tags: Admissions, campus solutions, clearing, confirmation
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EU access to postgraduate funding confirmed
December 5th, 2016
The government has announced that EU nationals will remain eligible for postgraduate funding from Research Councils UK. Studentships will remain open to EU applicants beginning in the 2017/18 academic year, and funding will cover the duration of their courses even if the UK leaves the European Union during their period of study.
The announcement follows the government’s assurances for EU students’ access to student finance on undergraduate and masters courses.
Tags: EU, EU referendum, government, postgraduate, research, Research Councils UK
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Join a focus group for an Amazon voucher
December 5th, 2016
The University’s External Relations team works to promote the reputation of the University. They are working on some new ideas for campaigns and how the university represents itself to the student community and beyond, and would value your thoughts and opinions.
We’d like to invite students to a series of short focus groups. We will be holding three 30-minute focus groups around the University and are looking for both undergraduate and postgraduate students to join us. Participants will receive a £15 Amazon voucher for their time and assistance.
Sessions will take place:
- Friday 9 December – 30-minute session 10-10.30am in B16, Engineering Science Learning Centre, University Park
- Monday 13 December – 30-minute session 10-10.30am in A30, JC Dearing Building, Jubilee
- Monday 13 December – 30-minute session 2-2.30pm in B08, SB Lecture Block Building, Sutton Bonington
Email marketing@nottingham.ac.uk to register for a session. Please include your age, year of study, level of study, course/research area and fee status (home, EU or international). Spaces are limited for each session so we can’t guarantee that by registering you will be offered a place, but we will contact you to let you know the outcome.
Tags: External Relations, focus group, Marketing, money, take part, voucher
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Staying safe over the holiday season
December 5th, 2016
As we approach the end of term your diary is probably filling up with invites to various festive events. It’s a busy time in our city and it seems like it’s already dark out when you leave your 4pm lecture. Nottingham is a safe city to live in, but here are our top tips to ensure you stay extra safe over the holiday period while you’re out and about.
- Lock your doors and windows when you go out and also when you are in at night
- Try to walk with a group of people
- Avoid shortcuts and keep to well-lit areas
- Don’t travel home alone late at night – stay together and make sure you’re always with a friend
- Don’t show off any cash or expensive items such as smartphones or tablets that you may have with you
- Always use licensed taxis
Remember to be aware of your surroundings when you’re out and about in Nottingham, and make sure that your friends get home safely at night. Visit the website to find more advice on being safe.
Tags: holiday season, safer taxi, safer taxi scheme, safety tips, stay safe
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New appointments at The University of Nottingham International College
December 2nd, 2016
The University of Nottingham International College has appointed its inaugural College Director.
Diane Dale will take up the post from Friday 9 December, and will be leaving her current role as Academic Director at Kaplan International. Di studied Classics at Lancaster University, graduated with a masters in European Studies at Aston University and has recently completed a doctorate at The University of Bath. Di has significant teaching and management experience in both the School and further education sector, and she has worked extensively with international students as Academic Director and Centre Director at Kaplan International. Di is delighted to be working with The University of Nottingham and looking forward to returning to her home city when she takes up the post.
Tim Hubbard has been appointed as the new Head of College Operations, and will also take up his role on Friday 9 December. Tim has an honours degree in Economics from the University of Reading and joined Kaplan in 2009, working at Nottingham Trent International College. He has also worked at Liverpool International College, and has spent the past four years in Kaplan’sBeijing Office as Operations Manager. Tim is a fluent Mandarin speaker, is also learning Korean. Tim brings a wealth of experience in Customer Service and Operations roles. Nottingham is also Tim’s home city and he is delighted to be returning hereto start work in the new college.
The University of Nottingham International College (TUNIC) is a collaboration between The University of Nottingham and Kaplan International Colleges. Based in the Nottingham Science Park across the road from the South Entrance to University Park, TUNIC will offer a number pathways to prepare international students for study at the University at undergraduate and postgraduate levels.
Over the last decade, many UK universities have partnered with external providers to increase their foundation provision. Kaplan is one of the most well-established providers in the UK, and works successfully with a number of other universities including Liverpool, Glasgow, Birmingham and York.
Read our previous Campus News article for more information about The University of Nottingham International College.
Tags: college director, diane dale, head of college operations, international college, tim hubbard, university of nottingham international college
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School Holiday Soccer School
December 1st, 2016
The Summer Holiday Soccer School offers social sport for children aged 5-11 supervised by FA qualified coaches.
There’ll be fun, games and skill-building for all abilities, with a World Cup-style end event!
Soccer School is running at the Sutton Bonington Sports Centre during various school holidays:
- Wednesday 21 – Friday 23 December
- Monday 13 – Friday 17 February
Each day runs from 9am to 4pm at the cost of £20 per day.
For more information and to book, call the Sutton Bonington Sports Centre reception on 0115 951 6444. Places are limited – early booking advised.
Tags: football, soccer school, sport, University of Nottingham Sport, UoN Sport
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Joint research pump-priming fund now open
December 1st, 2016
FAPESP are once more funding a scheme for pump-priming research with researchers in Sao Paulo, following on from the success of previous rounds of funding which saw a number of researchers establish collaborations with Universities across the state of Sao Paulo, Nottingham and Birmingham.
The scheme will fund successful applications for up to £40, 000 over a two-year period and is open to researchers across all disciplines. Submissions are welcome from both early stage career researchers and established academics.
For more details, visit the FAPESP website.
Tags: collaboration, funding, research, Sao Paulo, Sau Paulo Research Foundation, University of Birmingham
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