Campus News
Pioneering presence in China wins praise
November 2nd, 2014
The University of Nottingham’s work in building Sino-UK links has been praised at a national awards ceremony in Shanghai.
The British Business Awards is organised by the British Chambers of Commerce in China to promote the British business community in the country.
The University — one of only five British businesses to be nominated for the British Company of the Year award — has a prestigious reputation in China.
As well as becoming the first Western university to establish a campus in China, opening in Ningbo in 2004, the University has excellent links with businesses in the country.
The University this year entered a £1m research contract with the car manufacturer FAW. Later this year, executives from Beijing Pharma, one of China’s largest pharmaceutical distributors, will join the University’s transnational development programme in Ningbo and Nottingham.
In addition, the University has formalised research agreements with the food and drink business Wahaha, and worked with China South Rolling Stock to deliver high-impact development training.
The University is also helping develop young managers from China as part of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office’s Chevening Young Leaders programme.
The University of Nottingham’s Chancellor, Professor Yang Fujia, who in 2001 became the first Chinese academic to be made a Chancellor of a UK university, said: “Being nominated for the British Business Award is a great honour. We have made huge strides in a relatively short period of time in China, and we have established an excellent reputation amongst officials and businesses in the country.”
The University is also continuing to invest in China-facing operations in the UK. Last year it set up the Asia Business Centre to strengthen partnerships with Chinese businesses. Also in Nottingham, the Si Yuan Centre for China studies is being built.
The University’s reputation in China is further underlined by Vice-Chancellor David Greenaway’s role with the UK Government’s Asia Taskforce, while Pro-Vice Chancellor Chris Rudd is on the board of the China Britain Business Council.
Tags: Asia Taskforce, Beijing Pharma, British Chambers of Commerce in China, Chancellor of The University of Nottingham, China Britain Business Council, Ningbo, Professor Yang Fujia, ro-Vice Chancellor Chris Rudd, Shanghai, Vice-Chancellor David Greenaway
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Our Shanghai vision
November 2nd, 2014
The University of Nottingham has deepened its engagement with China with the launch of a joint venture in Shanghai with the East China University of Science and Technology (ECUST).
The Shanghai Nottingham Advanced Academy (SNAA) will deliver joint courses in China’s biggest city.
Primary areas for collaboration at the Academy will be in life sciences, green technology, aerospace, and global food security — key strengths of both universities.
These subjects will complement courses at the Nottingham campus in Ningbo, in nearby Zhejiang province.
Professor Hai-Sui Yu, Pro-Vice-Chancellor for International Campuses at The University of Nottingham, said: “Our vision for the Academy is to develop an international hub of higher education, research, training and business engagement of the highest quality in science and technology through dynamic partnerships between universities, industries and government organisations.
“At the Academy, future generations of industry and academic leaders will undertake unique undergraduate and postgraduate courses and doctoral training within a research-led and industry-focused environment.
“We are confident that the Shanghai Nottingham Advanced Academy will establish a long-term partnership between the leading UK and Chinese universities and industry, and provide a major platform for international collaborative research and knowledge transfer activities, particularly between the UK and China.”
The Academy will deliver courses and training as part of degree programmes at both Nottingham and ECUST.
Undergraduates and postgraduates will spend time at ECUST, the Academy and The University of Nottingham. At doctoral level, 30 PhD students will be recruited over the next three years to research in life sciences, green technology, aerospace, and global food security. An International Doctoral Innovation Centre will also be established at the Academy, integrating innovation-led research and doctoral training, while exposing students to industry and entrepreneurship internationally.
The two universities will later work with the Fengxian District Government and industry partners to establish an R&D innovation park in Fengxian. The park, the International Translational Research and Business Engagement Centre, will work to commercialise some of the fundamental discoveries produced from the International Doctorial Innovation Centre.
Tags: ast China University of Science and Technology, ECUST, International Translational Research and Business Engagement Centre, Pro-Vice-Chancellor for International Campuses, Professor Hai-Sui Yu, Shanghai, Shanghai Nottingham Advanced Academy, SNAA
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Help share the student experience
November 2nd, 2014
Giving students the opportunity to share the richness of their experience at university is more important than ever.
Rising fees are putting more emphasis on excellence in teaching, resources and experience. Increased attendances at university open days also suggest prospective students are becoming more discerning.
These changes have been reflected in the introduction of Key Information Sets (KIS), a national standard to help prospective students make an informed decision when choosing a university course.
As KIS include data from the National Student Survey (NSS), how the university experience is rated by students is becoming increasingly important.
To reflect this, the University has targeted an overall satisfaction score of 90% in the NSS and a top 20 place in each question area by 2015.
While results are improving, with satisfaction reaching 88% among final year undergraduates, more needs to be done if the University is to rise from its current NSS position of 39th overall.
Pro-Vice-Chancellor for teaching and learning, Professor Alan Ford, who is overseeing the University’s ambitions for excellence in the survey, says school staff have a vital role in ensuring that students take part.
He said: “Schools across the University have a clear commitment to educational excellence; obtaining and responding to students’ views is an important means of achieving excellence and thereby meeting schools’ educational aims. With ever greater competition amongst universities for the best applicants, being able to demonstrate that courses and their delivery are tailored to students’ requirements can also be vital in attracting the number and quality of students schools need to fulfil their overall academic ambitions.
“The increased improvement seen in 2012 is a tribute to the efforts of academic and support staff to meet the needs of students and to enhance their University experience. These efforts must continue and this year we are looking to raise significantly the level of support for students in their academic skills development, review assessment practices and feedback, while continuing to invest extensively in IT and teaching spaces.
“There is more to high-quality education than is measured by levels of satisfaction — not least maintaining the highest education standards, providing rigorous intellectual challenges and gearing education to the wider needs of society. Achieving strong and rising levels of student satisfaction through listening to our students and adapting our practices is an important means of producing educational excellence.”
Schools will be kept up to date with response rates after the survey starts in late January and will be provided with examples of best practice to help them promote the survey. For more information, email: studentcommsoffice@nottingham.ac.uk.
Tags: Key Information Sets, KIS, National Student Survey, NSS, Professor Alan Ford, ro-Vice-Chancellor for teaching and learning
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University Park’s stunning hotel
November 2nd, 2014
A stunning new eco-friendly hotel, The Orchard, has opened on University Park.
Designed to complement the University-owned De Vere Venues East Midlands Conference Centre next door, the £20m hotel has been built to the highest environmental standards and includes a green roof, photovoltaic panels, and energy-efficient lighting, heating and ventilation systems.
The hotel was built on the site of a former orchard. Rare variteties of apple tree, including Nottinghamshire’s own Bramley, were carefully moved to make way for the development.
Pro-Vice Chancellor for Environment and Infrastructure, Professor Karen Cox, said: “The University is proud to open The Orchard as a unique and environmentally-driven addition to our conferencing facilities. It is a beautifully designed complex, funded entirely by the University, and will be available for use by conference delegates, university visitors, businesses and the public. The hotel will aim to achieve an ‘Excellent’ rating under the Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method (BREEAM), which recognises low-impact buildings that incorporate the best environmental practice. The Orchard underlines our commitment to sustainable architecture and construction.”
The Orchard has 202 bedrooms, a brasserie-style restaurant, bar, terrace, gym and meeting rooms. The design by RHWL Architects was inspired by the parkland setting. RHWL associate Corrie Jones said: “We have focused on minimising the building’s impact through sustainable features and careful location within the surrounding hillside.”
The hotel has roof-top gardens and a glass atrium which is flooded with natural light. A mezzanine provides a stunning area for private hire.
To book at The Orchard, visit: www.deverevenues.co.uk, call 0844 346 1216 or email: emcc@deverevenues.co.uk.
Tags: BREEAM, Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method, De Vere Venues East Midlands Conference Centre, Pro-Vice Chancellor for Environment and Infrastructure, Professor Karen Cox, RHWL Architects, The Orchard
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FBI informer at heart of fight for US civil rights
November 2nd, 2014
New research by an American historian at The University of Nottingham could rewrite the history books on the US civil rights movement during the 1960s after revealing that a key racial equality official was also an FBI informer.
Herbert Hill was the highly respected national labor secretary of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) for more than two decades and is traditionally remembered as a major force in the fight to eliminate racial discrimination within the American trade union movement.
The shocking revelation that at the height of the civil rights movement in the 1960s Hill informed on socialists he knew in his youth has come to light during Dr Christopher Phelps’ analysis of Freedom of Information Act releases now digitally archived and publically available on the FBI website.
The research, just published in the journal Labor History, focuses attention on memoranda in the FBI’s COINTELPRO, or Counter-Intelligence Program, to disrupt and neutralize the Socialist Workers Party (SWP), which the federal government had classified as “subversive.” Hill belonged to the SWP during the Second World War and after, resigning in 1949.
In May 1962, WC Sullivan, head of domestic intelligence for the FBI, wrote to another high-ranking FBI official that an “SWP member during the period 1943-1949 who is currently employed by the NAACP as a labor relations official” had been “contacted on several occasions by New York Agents and has been cooperative”.
Dr Phelps, Associate Professor in the Department of American and Canadian Studies, said that while Hill’s name was redacted in the documents, every indication points to him alone as the cooperative informant referred to by top FBI officials.
Dr Phelps conducted tape-recorded interviews with Hill, who died in 2004, before the FBI connection was known, in which Hill supplied corroborating information used by Dr Phelps to draw the connection.
Dr Phelps explained: “That a key official of the mainline civil rights organisation in the United States was assisting the FBI in pinpointing political radicals is a significant revelation that shows how extensive was the federal government’s monitoring of social movements, including within the civil rights movement — so often taken to be a shining example of American democracy.
“It is laden with irony that an official dedicated to civil rights for racial equality could simultaneously provide assistance in naming names that would contract political and civil liberties.”
Dr Phelps observed that political dissenters in the 1950s and 1960s often lost their jobs, faced deportation, or experienced other reprisals when identified by the FBI as radicals, so many chose to refuse to cooperate with its investigations.
In addition to informing on socialists, documents show that Hill was unwittingly used by the FBI in a 1962 attempt to obstruct a suspected fraternisation between the moderate NAACP and the more militant Committee to Aid the Monroe Defendants (CAMD), an organisation initiated by SWP members in support of the controversial black advocate of armed self-defence Robert F Williams and the movement he led in Monroe, North Carolina.
The FBI feared that the CAMD, a group formed to help Williams and other black defendants in a complicated racial riot and kidnapping case, would gain legitimacy and power through support of the NAACP.
The Special Agent in Charge (SAC) of the New York FBI office advised his fiercely anti-Communist FBI boss, J Edgar Hoover, in 1962, that an anonymous telephone call should be placed to Hill complaining about the SWP’s involvement with the CAMD: “It is felt that as a disruptive tactic, considerable damage could be done to the SWP by having the NAACP aware of the controlling influence over the CAMD.”
Dr Phelps said: “The FBI’s attempts to make use of Herbert Hill supply a vivid example of the FBI’s general practice under J Edgar Hoover of actively but covertly opposing the civil rights movement and of sowing dissension within it, especially between black militants and moderates.”
This revelation comes in the wake of controversy in the United States over a journalist’s claim that a Japanese-American member of the Black Panther Party (an African-American socialist revolutionary party advocating black armed self-defence), Richard Aoki, was a paid FBI informer.
A video interview with Dr Phelps is available. Visit: http://tiny.cc/YouTubeFBI.
Tags: Associate Professor in the Department of American and Canadian Studies, Dr Christopher Phelps, Herbert Hill, National Association for the Advancement of Colored People
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A new Chancellor
November 2nd, 2014
Sir Andrew Witty has been appointed as the University’s 7th Chancellor.
Sir Andrew, Chief Executive Officer of GlaxoSmithKline and a Nottingham alumnus, will succeed distinguished Chinese physicist Professor Yang Fujia on 1 January 2013.
Professor Yang has played a fundamental role in the University’s development since he was appointed in 2000, particularly in its increasing engagement with China.
Professor David Greenaway, Vice-Chancellor, said: “Professor Yang has provided outstanding assistance and guidance as our Chancellor, and the University’s position in global higher education owes much to his exceptional contribution.
“As our incoming Chancellor, Sir Andrew will provide a continuation of this excellence and bring new perspectives to the leadership of our University.
“His achievements as one of the UK’s most respected and inspiring business leaders have been a source of pride to us. I am genuinely excited by the prospect of working with him in his new role.”
Sir Andrew graduated from Nottingham in 1985 with a joint honours BA in Economics. He joined Glaxo in the same year, holding roles in the UK, South Africa, the USA and Singapore before being appointed President of GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) Europe in 2003.
He became Chief Executive Officer of GSK in 2008 and was knighted in the 2012 New Year Honours.
Sir Andrew said: “I am honoured to accept this position. I greatly enjoyed my time at Nottingham and it was pivotal to my choice of career. The University is a world-leader in both teaching and research, and has a long tradition of raising aspirations and supporting achievement.
“Importantly, in a time of rapid change and challenges in higher education, it is pioneering initiatives in many areas, including in biosciences and sustainability and is deepening its relationships here in the UK and internationally.”
Sir Andrew’s term of office is four years, which can be renewed subject to University Council approval.
The Chancellor’s unpaid role includes ceremonial duties, acting as an ambassador of the University and acting as a key adviser on the University’s development strategy.
Tags: Chancellor of The University of Nottingham, GlaxoSmithKline, Professor Yang Fujia, Sir Andrew Witty
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Twins: business is in our blood
November 2nd, 2014
Inspired by their grandmother’s resilience in starting businesses during the Cambodian genocide of the 1970s, twins Meyka and Meyta Chea have enrolled at Nottingham University Business School.
Meyka and Meyta’s grandmother Kuy Van built successful businesses despite living under the rule of Cambodia’s Pol Pot. That’s why the 21-year-old sisters, determined to maximise their business potential, chose Nottingham’s MSc in Entrepreneurship.
Meyka said: “Our grandmother is a very entrepreneurial type of person. During her life she has faced many problems, including the Khmer Rouge Genocide.”
The twins’ grandmother owned a jewellery shop and then, following the genocide, sold jewellery at a market. From an early age, the twins saw how to build a business from scratch.
Meyta said: “She did not run any big businesses, but to us my grandfather and grandmother are very admirable. They raised eight children and eight nieces and nephews; and, while some Cambodian people didn’t value education then, my grandparents saw its importance and sent all 16 children to school.
“My grandmother managed to save the lives of all the children and after the regime ended she could start over her business again from zero. Later she was robbed and lost all the money again. Seeing another business opportunity, she had to force herself and my grandfather to move to another province and left her children in the city for education. After a few years doing business in the province, she earned quite a lot of money and was able to move back to the city to live with her children.”
The twins make most of their decisions as a pair and took the same undergraduate degrees in Cambodia.
Meyta said: “We don’t mind doing things separately, but most of the time we have similar interests — we always discuss our future plan and choices with each other. That’s why we always choose the same things, including university.”
Despite having never lived outside Cambodia, the twins decided that Nottingham was for them.
Meyta said: “Through my rigorous search for the right programme in my selected field, I discovered The University of Nottingham offers the best programme available. The University can enrich me with a set of core analytical and technical skills of business approaches and decision making applicable to Cambodian companies.”
Tags: Cambodia, Meyka Chea, Meyta Chea, Nottingham University Business School, Pol Pot
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A little of your time can go a long way
November 2nd, 2014
The University has helped launch a volunteering scheme in Nottingham which is aimed at professionals who don’t have the time to make a regular volunteering commitment – but who would still like to help community groups by lending their skills.
As well as helping to pilot the Nottingham Skillsbank, the University’s Community Partnerships Team hopes to encourage employees to sign up.
The scheme, which was launched this month by the Nottingham Community and Voluntary Service (Nottingham CVS), has been described as “bite-sized volunteering for busy people”.
Volunteers register, offering to share their professional or practical skills and are approached by community groups requiring support for a particular project.
The University’s involvement in piloting the scheme – members of staff were the first to sign up – underlines its commitment to actively engage with the wider community.
Skills Sharing and Knowledge Exchange Manager Jacqui Storey said the University was delighted to join other major employers, such as Boots and Experian, in encouraging staff to sign up and share their skills for small, one-off projects.
Jacqui said: “We are not looking for a weekly or regular commitment. This ‘bite-sized’ volunteering can suit the busy person who has work commitments but nevertheless has skills and something valuable to offer.
“There are more than 7,000 staff here and every one of us has something to offer. The volunteering could take place at a Nottingham organisation or the person could provide support from home. Flexibility is important.
“A small amount of input can make a massive difference to organisations.”
She added: “The University supports staff by giving time off to volunteer and Nottingham Skillsbank will be an excellent vehicle to maximise this opportunity to support our local community.”
Anyone interested in helping voluntary and community groups can register direct at
www.nottinghamcvs.co.uk/skillsbank
Once registered, community groups will search for the skills they need and will contact volunteers to discuss how they can work together.
The Skillsbank is open to student volunteers as well as staff, offering skills ranging from IT and accounting and HR advice to social media and marketing.
The scheme was developed by Jacqui Storey and Stacey Foster of Nottingham CVS, which is now running the project. Stacey said: “We are working with a number of businesses and employers. It offers them a great way for to help fulfil their corporate social responsibility by encouraging their staff members to use their skills to help their local community.
“Nottingham Skillsbank is also great from a professional development point of view for employers, as by getting their staff involved it gives them a chance to broaden their experience by using their skills in a different setting.”
Olumide Adisa, Fundraising and Marketing Office, at Nottingham Women’s Centre, said volunteers were just as valuable as staff. “Without the skills, ideas and enthusiasm they bring we simply could not be as effective as we are in the current economic climate,” she said. “Through Skillsbank we will be able to offer volunteering opportunities as smaller tasks, making it ideal for people who might otherwise not be able commit to a volunteering placement with us.”
Sharon Clancy, Head of Community Partnerships, said: “The University is delighted to have been involved in Skillsbank right from its conception. With a large number of staff and students willing to give their time and skills to the local community, Skillsbank will do much to enable people and organisations to connect in an effective way. We will be promoting it extensively across the University and look forward to Skillsbank going from strength to strength.”
To find out more and to register visit:
www.nottinghamcvs.co.uk/skillsbank
For more on Community Partnerships at the University and volunteering visit: http://tiny.cc/UoNPartnerships
Gemma Wilks, a web designer in the Marketing, Communications and Recruitment team, is signed up with the Skillsbank, pictured, said:
“I’d often thought about doing more charity work and when Community Partnerships invited employees to the NCVS Skillsbank session in July I instantly signed up. I listed the services I’d be happy to provide and the time I’d be willing to commit.
“My first project through the Skillsbank was to design an information leaflet for NCVS to showcase what they do as an organisation.
“I’m also due to start work on a website for SFICE who reduce poverty by educating children in India.
“Branding, website design and designing for print are the main services I offer via the Skillsbank and I chose to do this in the capacity of my brand and design agency which I run in my spare time.
“Aside from making a positive impact on the day-to-day running of Nottingham charities and organisations I’ll have a bunch of artwork to showcase in my portfolio. Whatever your area of expertise and whatever skills you have, I’d strongly recommend offering them via the Skillsbank.”
Tags: Community Partnerships, Gemma Wilks, Head of Community Partnerships, kills Sharing and Knowledge Exchange Manager Jacqui Storey, Nottingham Community and Voluntary Service, Nottingham CVS, Nottingham Skillsbank, Olumide Adisa, Sharon Clancy, Stacey Foster
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Alumni pride on Eco Street
November 2nd, 2014
An entire street of eco-houses at University Park has been completed with the opening of the Mark Group EcoHouse. The house showcases some of the latest designs and building techniques to improve energy efficiency and bring down fuel bills.
The steel frame building features 12 different energy-saving and power generating technologies and demonstrates how they might be used to improve energy efficiency of social housing stock and tackle fuel poverty.
The house is the last of seven energy efficient homes of the future which have been constructed in partnership with industry. Run by the Department of Architecture and Built Environment in the Faculty of Engineering the Creative Energy Homes Project is a ‘living lab’ of specially designed houses built to test and research different aspects of modern methods of construction and sustainable and renewable technologies.
Mark Gillott, Professor of Sustainable Building Design, said: “Research undertaken through industry/academia partnerships is a vital part of developing sustainable housing solutions to tackle the key issues of climate change, fuel poverty and the provision of warm and affordable housing. It is also vital that we educate the next generation of professionals with the knowledge to design and deliver these solutions — something we are doing here at Nottingham with our own students. We are delighted to be working with the Mark Group on this exciting innovative project.”
Leicester based energy saving business, Mark Group, is spearheaded by a team of alumni who have built the company into one of the country’s leading domestic insulation specialists.
Lee Cottingham, Mark Group’s Global CEO and Chairman graduated with a degree in Industrial Economics while Jay Hensman, Commercial Development Director, has a Nottingham degree in Civil Engineering and a Masters in Building Design.
Bill Rumble, Mark Group Chief Commercial Officer, who also graduated from Nottingham − with a degree in Manufacturing Engineering, said: “We are extremely proud of the development of the EcoHouse, of our partnership with The University of Nottingham and of what this project will help us to achieve in the fight against fuel poverty.”
The Mark Group EcoHouse has been designed as a concept house, detached and built over three levels with four bedrooms and a first-floor balcony. The technologies installed through the project showcases the very latest in insulation and solar power.
Pictured:
TV’s Dick Strawbridge, who gave a speech at the unveiling of the Mark Group EcoHouse, and Professor Mark Gillott.
Tags: Bill Rumble, Creative Energy Homes Project, Department of Architecture and Built Environment, Jay Hensman, Lee Cottingham, Mark Gillott, Mark Group, Mark Group EcoHouse, Mark Group’s Global CEO, Professor of Sustainable Building Design
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