Arts and events – November 2014

Blackout.fwSouthampton Blackout – 14 November

The award-winning Southampton Blackout is back on Friday 14 November. The initiative was introduced in 2012, as part of our efforts to highlight and reduce our energy usage. If you would like to get involved or have any further questions, please email Julia Kendal

 

John Hansard Gallery – Mark Anstee: Enchantment of Distance – open until 18 January 2015Mark Anstee.fw

Mark Anstee has been making work about war, conflict and the monuments that commemorate battle since his time at Goldsmith’s College in the 1980s. His focus has always remained on the markers at either end of conflict; the preparation manifested in toys, games, stories of the heroic, and the commemoration of the dead in the proliferation of public monuments.

 

Remembrance Day.fwTurner Sims – Remembrance Day – Sunday 16 November 19:30

Michael Finnissy is among the most distinguished British composers working today. Remembrance Day is a major new work of over an hour’s length for baritone soloist, choir and orchestra, setting wartime texts by Henry Lamont Simpson.

 

Vanesa Redgrave.fwNuffield – Vanessa Redgrave – Thoughts, Poems and Songs – Sunday 7 December 19:30

We are delighted to be welcoming Vanessa Redgrave to the Nuffield Theatre on 7 December. Vanessa will be performing readings of her favourite poetry in aid of SWVG (Southampton and Winchester Visitors’ Group), which befriends destitute asylum seekers. Performing alongside her will be her daughter-in-law: actor and singer Jennifer Wiltsie, and acclaimed guitarist Mike Outram.

Welcome to your November e-Voice

ILIaD2.fwThis month, we look back on some of the exciting changes that have recently been made at the University and look forward to the campus festivities coming up in the next two months.

Last week, the University launched the Institute for Learning, Innovation and Development (ILIaD), bringing together colleagues who are passionate about excellence in education. Find out about joining the ILIaD community in this video and on their website.

With the festive season fast approaching, Southampton alumnus and Chief Executive of Ministry of Sound, Lohan Presencer, will switch on our Christmas lights on 27 November.

Alternatively bring your children to A Family Christmas on Campus on 16 December – including fireworks, children’s entertainers and a chance to meet Santa in his grotto.

Meet Steve White, our new COO

On his third day in post, e-Voice talked with our new Interim COO, Steve White, about why he wanted the job, the transformation of Hyde Group under his leadership and that Saints defeat over his beloved Arsenal. There is also the small matter of the world record he created just a month ago.

Q What were your first impressions of the University?

A When I first came to the campus a few weeks ago what struck me was the energy of the place: lots of young people, a sense of excitement. The vibrancy and the energy here is palpable.

Q What appealed to you about working here?

A The vision for the University to change the world for the better – who could not be enthused by that? It’s easy in my line of work to go and work in the city or overseas, which I’ve done before. However the driver here is to make the world a better place and that’s compelling.

Q You have worked in many different sectors. How close is HE to any of them?

A Wherever I go, every organisation and every sector has its nuances. The university and higher education will be no different in that sense. What tends to be the constant is people:  how you work with people, how you build a team to deliver what the organisation wants to achieve. If you work with people in the right way and give people what they need to be successful in their jobs, then the organisation’s vision and goals will be achieved.

Q As someone whose career is built on interim roles, how will you quickly get to know the sector?

A By talking to people like you. I don’t profess to have all the answers to the questions and challenges people might have. If I have the opportunity to sit down and talk to lots of people, regardless of where they are and what they do, then that is the best way to get the feel for the place.

I’m a straight forward bloke. My natural style is not to be chained to a desk. Emails are great in certain ways, a necessary evil, but I will get more out of talking to you face to face for 15 minutes. If I can get people to engage with me in that way then we’ll make a lot of progress.

Q What do you regard as your greatest career success?

A I went to the Hyde Group as an interim and ended up staying four and a half years. They were at a very low ebb and were quite vulnerable. The staff there loved the organisation and what it did day to day but they were fed up of being the subject of so much external criticism. It was great to get them from that position to being rated best housing association in the country and to see how people felt about that, how much pride that created.

Q What is your greatest personal success?

A In September I broke a world record. As an above the knee amputee – I was injured in service in the 1980s – I was part of the first all-amputee team to swim the channel. It was filmed on the BBC and it is going to be broadcast at the beginning of November on national television. We did it with Blesma – a national charity that helps people who have lost limbs in service. Prior to that, I was the first above the knee amputee to swim from Alcatraz to the mainland in 2012.

Q What is your ideal Sunday?

Sport, newspapers and a good walk with my wife – my two children have left home now.

I enjoy current affairs but I rarely get a chance to read in the week – I listen to Radio 4 on the way in to work. So I like the analysis in the Sunday papers and I love the different political spin on the same story if you get three or four newspapers; that makes me giggle a bit.

There will always be a bit of sport on a Sunday if I haven’t been training but until recently I’ve been in the water a lot. I’m football mad and I’m a season ticket holder at Arsenal.

Q [e-Voice tentatively asks] Did we beat you recently?

A [SW laughs and jovially responds] Shut up! Don’t talk to me about Southampton stuffing us in the Carling Cup!

Steve invited e-Voice back to talk with him again in three months.

UKTI visit reinforces University’s reputation with Malaysian business community

UKTI visit to Malaysia Campus_1A large group from UK Trade and Investment, joined by members of the British High Commission’s Prosperity Team and the British Malaysian Chamber of Commerce, visited the University of Southampton Malaysia Campus on 15 August 2014.

The visit reflected the importance of the education sector to the UK’s efforts to deliver more business for the country in Malaysia.  During the visit, the group developed a better understanding of the University’s strategy in Malaysia which will enable the teams to do more in terms of promoting the University’s capabilities and help the development of more long-term partnerships between the University of Southampton and Malaysian businesses.

Tony Collingridge, the Director of UK Trade & Investment said:  “The visit was a great success, and the team came away enthused and with a clear understanding of what we on the commercial side of the UK government can do to assist USMC’s continuing development in Malaysia”.   

John McBride, Chief Executive of the University’s Malaysia Campus, added: “We’re delighted to welcome this very special delegation to our Malaysia Campus and looking forward to continuing to reinforce the University of Southampton’s reputation amongst the business community in Malaysia. Going forward, we’re confident and excited about the wide range of possible opportunities for our students and staff to engage more fully with the country’s business community to help support many of our enterprise, research and employability activities.”

Open day attracts over 100 potential new students

On 16 August our Malaysia campus opened its doors for a fourth open day this year and attracted over 100 visitors which included 30 science stream students from English College, one of the top local schools in Johor Bahru.

61 per cent of visitors were interested in our MEng Mechanical Engineering programme, 13 per cent in our MEng Electrical and Electronic Engineering (EEE) programme, 16 per cent in our Foundation Programme* and 10 per cent in our MEng Aeronautics and Astronautics* programme.  *These programmes are subject to MQA approval.

Visitors were organised into two groups, each attending talks, laboratory tours, a bus tour and an International Student Village tour. The visitors watched a student testimonial video which is available on our facebook site.

A workshop was introduced for students interested in studying electrical and electronic engineering. Students were given the opportunity to solder LEDs onto a small circuit board and were then shown how our in-house Il-Matto board, solders LEDs to produce a simple message fan. Students interested in studying mechanical engineering received a demonstration of our current students’ projects. They also received instruction on how to use drawings to manufacture an engineering artefact, using the quadcopter structure. One of our current students then shared her experience of working on the quadcopter project.

Meet Dr Victoria Korzeniowska

Dr Victoria Korzeniowska is the Assistant Director (Quality and Standards) in Student Academic Administration. She is Head of Quality, Standards and Accreditation and leads the University in preparing for our Higher Education Review to be carried out by the Quality Assurance Agency (QAA). The QAA reviews Higher Education Institutions to ensure that their academic standards and quality meet UK expectations.

Why is it important for our University to undergo a QAA review?

Universities undergo review by QAA every six years. These reviews are extremely important as they provide a peer assessment of an institution’s quality and standards benchmarked against a set of nationally agreed expectations.

A successful outcome is important for the University’s reputation both within the UK and overseas, providing public reassurance to the sector, to potential and current students, to employers and to overseas partners.

What new initiatives have been introduced since the last review to improve the student experience at Southampton?

In recent years the University has introduced a wide range of initiatives aimed at enhancing the experience of its students. These include the introduction of a new Quality, Monitoring and Enhancement framework, the introduction of the Curriculum Innovation Programme and significant investment in the estate, facilities and resources.

What is involved in preparing for the 2014/2015 QAA review?

A lot of work by a large number of people!

The University has to put together a self evaluation document (SED) and supporting evidence and we will submit this to QAA on 10 November 2014. SUSU also has to prepare a corresponding student submission and supporting evidence which is also submitted on 10 November 2014.

In the SED we have to demonstrate how we meet each of the expectations in the QAA’s UK Quality Code for Higher Education and also address a chosen theme. The University has selected student involvement in quality assurance and quality enhancement as its theme.

As the University’s Facilitator for the review I have been liaising with QAA as well as project managing the review preparations.

We will be submitting several hundred pieces of evidence to support the SED and an evidence collection group is in the final stages of pulling these together with assistance from faculties and professional services. The final selection will be agreed in October.

Early in January 2015, we will learn which topics the review team want to discuss and also which staff will need to meet the review panel. The actual visit from QAA will take place during the week commencing 2 February 2015. The review team will meet with a range of students and staff to explore issues and also areas of good practice that they have identified in our submission.

What part can each member of staff play to help towards a successful QAA review?

All members of University staff play an important role in a successful QAA review.  As I have said on many occasions, this is a ‘team sport’.

The review covers the whole of the student lifecycle from admissions to certification. The university’s policies, procedures and processes are therefore important but so is their systematic and effective implementation by all academic and professional services colleagues.

A number of staff will also be required to meet with the review team in February to discuss the areas identified by the QAA review team in January.

What will your role entail once our submission for QAA review is complete?

We can expect to receive requests for additional documentation during December so selection and co-ordination of this will have take priority over Christmas shopping!

We also need to ensure that staff who will be meeting QAA are fully briefed about the review and their role. This will be particularly important in January.

During the actual review visit, the SUSU representative and I will meet with the review team at the beginning and end of each day to take any requests for additional information or documentation and I will also sit in on all of the meetings except for the meetings with students.

How can staff find out more about our progress and results from the QAA review?

We have set up a SharePoint site which contains a range of information about the review and will carry regular updates. Take a look here: https://groupsite.soton.ac.uk/Administration/Higher-Education-Review-News/Pages/Home.aspx

We will also be updating colleagues through internal channels such as SUSSED, so please keep an eye out for this.

 

 

Launching the Institute of Learning Innovation and Development

The educational landscape is changing; the way students expect to go about learning has been altered by social media, on-line resources, MOOCs, and immediate access to all kinds of information. Our Vision 2020 states that over the next few years the University will ‘revolutionise education’.  The new Institute for Learning Innovation and Development (ILIaD) has been created to build a network across faculties to lead on this ambition and help shape the University’s future educational approach.

The University vision is that ILIaD will work with faculties and professional services to help them create and produce innovative learning environments which lead to the greatest student engagement and satisfaction.  In this rapidly developing world staff need to continually update and re-evaluate their approaches to education, and in order to support staff, ILIaD will also be responsible for professional development and ensuring its prioritisation.

ILIaD will also support the ongoing development of doctoral researchers via the Researcher Development Graduate Centre (RDGC).

The creation of ILIaD signals a change in the way such services will interact with staff; rather than having a centre ILIaD staff will work in partnership with staff, faculties and professional services to create communities of practice around delivering educational innovation and research in this area. Staff will be invited to become Affiliates and Associate Members of the Institute – collaborating to achieve its mission.

Sign up for the ILIaD Inaugural Conference on 3 November

THe ILIaD inaugural conference will consider the University’s future educational approach.  What will the approach look like? What will we need to do to make this happen? Will students be happy with the changes? How will research shape our educational offer?

The ILIaD Inaugural Conference will give staff, students and external participants the opportunity to discuss these questions and showcase and celebrate educational innovations. It will also provide participants with the opportunity to discover the many ways to engage with ILIaD and to network with others interested in educational innovation.

Sign up for the conference here.