Watch our brand new film

connectivity video.fw

This month we premiered a new film showcasing our University’s success under the theme of ‘connectivity’. The film underlines the connected nature of our world-leading activities and how they lead us to making a global impact on society. The film is online so please share it with friends, family and colleagues and look for it soon on national TV and in cinemas in London, Birmingham, Manchester and Newcastle over the coming months.

Search “we are connected” to find out more and share your own connections via our new ‘Telling our Stories’ portal. And do join us to celebrate our connections on Tuesday 1 July in the SUSU square.

Preparing for our 2015 QAA Review

The University’s Higher Education Review by the Quality Assurance Agency for higher education will take place during the week commencing 2 February 2015. Success at the Higher Education Review is vital to all higher education providers as it provides a public assurance of the quality of a University’s education and the qualifications that it awards.

Preparations at the University have been underway for some months. A first draft of the University’s self-evaluation document  has been produced with contributions from colleagues across the University, while a Higher Education Review Steering Group involving Alex Neill, Victoria Korzeniowska, Anne-Marie Drummond, Peter Smith, Russell Bentley and David Mendoza-Wolfson is managing preparations for the review.

Professor Don Nutbeam, Vice-Chancellor, says: “I am very aware that many staff are engaged in a huge effort to ensure that we meet or exceed all the requirements of the 2015 QAA Review.  This work will ensure that we get the recognition we are due for the quality of our education, and for our commitment to enhancing the experience of our students. Thank you for the work to date, and for your continuing focus over the next nine months leading to the review.”

New head of the Business School

Jean Chen, Professor of Accounting and Finance, and a leading international expert in corporate governance, started work as the Interim Head of the University of Southampton Management School on 1 May. She joined from the University of Surrey and will lead the transition of the Management School to the new Business School. 

Jean’s ultimate goal is to support the University in developing a world-leading Business School.

“Establishing a more prominent research-led profile, leveraging our connections with other faculties and enterprise, will be the key to winning greater recognition for the Business School. The achievements of our academic staff in research and within the wider business community need to be better known” says Jean. Another challenge is to achieve a better balance between research and teaching. Capturing a significant share of the regional executive education market and realising the potential to offer executive education with international collaborations will also be a key activity within the School,” she explains.

Jean’s own research interests centre on corporate governance and financial management and she has over 112 publications in world-leading journals, books and book chapters. She has substantial management and internationalisation experience within higher education, including roles as Head of Accounting and Finance and Associate Dean. Jean was also the Chief Executive Officer leading the University of Surrey’s overseas arm – the Surrey International Institute (SII) –  prior to joining Southampton. 

With Jean on board, supported by the Interim Deputy Head of the Business School, Martin Broad, work is ramping up in preparation for a ‘soft launch’ on 1 October. This is when the change of name, from Southampton Management School to Southampton Business School will be formally announced. Adam Wheeler says: “This will be an important moment as it clearly signals our intention to create a much larger and stronger Business School over the coming years; one that is distinctive through its interdisciplinary approach and is integrated into the major world-class strengths of the University.”

Where’s Don? – w/c 2 June

On Monday, Don met the Chief Executive Officer of the ESRC, and his senior team, in their annual visit to the University. Then he hosted the visit and Distinguished Lecture of Professor Robin Grimes, Chief Scientific Advisor of the Foreign & Commonwealth Office.

On Tuesday, he welcomed Sir George Buckley, former Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of 3M (and Southampton alumnus), who was meeting the whole of UEG as well as some of our enterprising students. Later that day he attended the Beating of the Retreat in London as a guest of First Sea Lord and Chief of Naval Staff, Admiral Sir George Zambellas, another alumnus.

Wednesday and Thursday morning are taken up with internal meetings, and on Thursday afternoon Don is meeting Southampton graduate, Jason Cowley (Editor of the New Statesman) in London, before meeting Gill Rider, Chair of Council.

On Friday, as well as internal meetings, Don is meeting Southampton MP John Denham, and Chief Executive Officer of the Worldwide Universities Network, John Hearn.

Campus Connections

Create new connections and celebrate old ones at this year’s staff party – save the date for Friday 25 July – more details to follow.

Your voice and views make up our institution – let them be known in this year’s staff survey.

Join senior managers to discuss how the University can grow with quality in an increasingly competitive global marketplace. Sign up on Monday 16 June, Tuesday 1 July or Monday 7 July.

Have you seen the tags across campus that showcase a selection of the University’s innovative investments in reducing our carbon emissions?

Connecting for impact

Bringing distinction and growth to the University, meet the Head of our new Business School.

Find out how a new agreement with IIT Roorkee, the oldest technical institution of Asia, based in India, will help us to promote collaborative research and extend our global partnerships.

Congratulations to the talented PhD students who were awarded for their ability to communicate their research project to a non-specialist audience in just three minutes.

Along with 44 other UK universities next week, we are showcasing some of our most innovative and inspiring research at the Natural History Museum as part of Universities Week.

Have a story to tell? Let’s connect.

With the Connectivity campaign helping us to tell the world about our groundbreaking work in a bold new way, we are also looking internally to ensure we are aware of all the best stories within our University.

In just a few clicks on this new easy-to-use portal, you can let the Communications and Marketing department know that you have a story for them to tell. So if you have won an award, secured new funding, or made a new discovery then visit our portal and let’s connect. The press team, our social media experts, our publication editors – or one of our other story tellers – will be in touch to help spread the news about your achievements.

We want to know about your news and it’s so easy to tell us your stories:

Either pick up the phone to the relevant person found in this database or fill in an easy online form with the basics of your story and we will help you to share your story.

Welcome to this special edition of e-Voice

Throughout this edition of e-Voice, we highlight the University’s brilliant and distinctive connectivity. Our ability to connect for world-changing impact sets us apart and will be at the heart of an awareness raising campaign launching later this month which aims to showcase the world-leading work happening here. Keep an eye out for connectivity stories across campus and the UK over the next few months.

Connectivity often begins with a simple conversation between colleagues that sparks a new idea. So this month, we are asking you to sign up to participate in a conversation about how we grow our University while maintaining quality in what we do (choose between 16 June, 1 July and 7 July). And as part of a continuing dialogue about how you feel about your working life at the University, you are invited to share your views, through the 2014 Staff Survey.

Along with news and events which highlight our connectivity, in this edition we introduce you to Dr Julia Wolny, who describes in her own words what connectivity means to her work at the University. And, you can also watch our new video, narrated by Southampton alumnus, Radio One DJ Chris Stark, showcasing our diverse city.

Dr Simon Boxall from Ocean and Earth Science has been kept busy over the last few weeks with the media reporting on the missing Malaysian plane, flight MH370.
 
Professor Anna Scaife, from the University’s Astronomy Group will be part of a team to help design and build the world’s largest telescope.
 
Next week, the University opens the new Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) Centre. Researchers from Chemistry and Centre of Biological Sciences have joined forces in a unique and highly interdisciplinary centre to develop new concepts, instrumentation and applications in magnetic resonance.