Welcome to the the March edition of the alumni enewsletter. I hope you will enjoy reading it and that you will find something of interest. The exciting news is that we will be launching our first ever alumni magazine very soon! This will be posted out to our entire alumni community - over 13,000 of you!. Therefore, the enewsletter is slightly shorter than usual but will still give a round up of what's been happening in terms of events and offer you a range of special offers and opportunities. If you have any comments about the newsletter or want to make any suggestions, feel free to let us know.
Best wishes,
Emma Cale, Development and Alumni Officer
As you may have noticed, there has been lots of news recently about the new tuition fee scheme for those students who wish to start their studies in September 2006. UEL, along with almost every university in the England, will be charging £3000 a year for tuition fees for undergraduate full time programmes for students from the UK and EU. The charges will be invested in areas such as teaching, resources and facilities to help us provide a high quality education for our students. The good news is we have received over 10,300 applications for entry to its undergraduate degree programmes in summer 2006, according to official statistics published on 16 February by UCAS, the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service.
This is a 7.4% year on year increase, among the highest in the UK and the third highest in London. This compares with an average 3.4% decline among universities nationally.
The number of students enrolled at with us has now exceeded 19,000 for the first time, with over a thousand new entrants starting their degrees in February.
This means both our enrolment and applications are at an all time high, continuing a trend of strong growth, and representing a 60% increase over the past five years. Professor Michael Thorne, Vice-Chancellor of our University: “These figures are extremely encouraging, showing that UEL is increasingly seen as a first-choice university, not only in London but nationally and internationally too. Students are becoming increasingly discriminating in their choice of both institution and courses, and we are committed to providing innovative programmes that equip our students to succeed.”
“We are proud to be a diverse and multicultural learning community, with excellent facilities and a growing reputation for our teaching and research that attracts students from over 110 countries worldwide. East London is an incredibly exciting place to live, work and study, and offers wonderful opportunities to students and graduates alike.”
In 2005, we received over 16,000 applications through UCAS by July, up nearly 20% up on the previous year.
UEL is rated London’s leading post-1992 university, and in the top 5 post-1992 universities in the UK by The Guardian University Guide 2005/06. It is among the top 15 universities in the UK for graduate starting salaries, according to The Sunday Times University Guide.
We are introducing a new scheme to begin in September 2006 for international students enrolling on postgraduate programmes at UEL. This may be of interest to any alumni who are thinking of futher study with us. The scholarships are for full time students applying for postgraduate programmes. To apply students should submit an application form for 06/07 for the programme of their choice. For full details, please visit the international office website at www.uel.ac.uk/international. Overseas students with the equivalent of a UK 2.1 undergraduate degree will be eligible for a Scholarship of £2000, those with the equivalent of a 2.2. undergraduate degree will be eligible for scholarship of £750. Successful applicants will be notified of the Scholarship with their offer letter.
Please note that they don't apply to PhD students or students just wishing to study for a semester
A group of ten UEL students have been sharing their stories after returning from a recent field trip to The Gambia in West Africa.
At a public presentation held at the School of Education at our Longbridge Road campus on Wednesday 22nd February, the students spoke of their experiences, which included visiting various Gambian schools and early years settings, taking part in an interactive workshop with fellow students at the new University of The Gambia, and investigating how they could support the resourcing of schools in remote areas.
Sheena Penfold of Leyton is studying for her BA (Hons) degree in Early Childhood Studies and Special Educational Needs. She said: "This field trip has been an amazing opportunity to gain experience in a new and different environment, mixing with local people and learning about their culture. I also learnt a great deal about myself and would strongly recommend other students to take part."
Amanda Stone from Upminster, an Education and Community Studies student, said: "I'll definitely never forget this trip. The Gambia is a beautiful country with the friendliest people. As an artist, the highlight of the trip for me was an art class we took at Sutokoba Primary School. With glitter, glue, paints, and pens that we provided, the children decorated the walls of their poorly resourced class room beautifully."
The week-long field trip was led by Dr Abiola Ogunsola, Senior Lecturer in our School of Education, and facilitated by Gamworld Education Link, a Gambian organisation aiming to promote educational tourism in the Gambia. It has become an annual event - now in its sixth year - and is supported by our School of Education and the UELSU Linguistics Society.
Dr Ogunsola said: "It is now the sixth time that this exciting field trip has taken place and, as always, it has provided a wonderful opportunity for our students to learn, both about different lifestyles, cultures and people and about themselves and how to work together as a team. I'm very happy that ten students were involved this year - twice as many as last time - and we are very much looking forward to increasing UEL's educational and development links in The Gambia."
As you probably remember from the last newsletter, we advertised out first business networking event for alumni and our first event of 2006. The evening was a great success with lots of interest from our local alumni.
The event gave our alumni community the opportunity to learn about new business opportunities in East London, as well as to informally chat, network, and build business contacts. Recent graduates were also able to learn more about the Alumni Network and the varied services we can offer.
Alison White, Thames Gateway Programme Manager for the East London Business Alliance (ELBA), delivered the evening's key presentation, focusing on the regeneration of East London and the Thames Gateway region and discussing opportunities for graduates to get involved.
Alison said: “We at ELBA very much feel that UEL is in a unique position right at the heart of the Thames Gateway and has a vital role to play in the regeneration of the region. I urge all of you to keep your eyes open for the ever-expanding opportunities to help our community and your own careers develop in tandem.”
In his welcoming speech, Jonathon Swan, one of UEL's Governor and Director of Training at Operis Ltd, a leading financial modeling consultancy, said: “It’s very easy to lose touch with your old university, so it’s wonderful to see so many of you back here this evening, swapping stories and advice and seeing for yourselves the fantastic developments that have been taking place at UEL in recent years.
“Tremendous home-grown talent abounds in East London, and I very much hope all of you leave here tonight with renewed confidence and a reinvigorated sense of what we can all achieve by working together.”
Sean Kerrigan, who graduated from the North-East London Polytechnic (now UEL) in 1981, is now working as an independent financial advisor. Sean said: “I really enjoyed the evening and was pleasantly surprised by how open and forthcoming everybody was. I didn't expect to stay to the end but I did!”
Emma Cale, Development and Alumni Officer, added: “It’s great that our first networking event has been such a success. Many of our alumni are interested in developing their own business ideas and it was a great opportunity for them to meet other people, hear about what’s going on in the local area and make new contacts, as well as have an enjoyable social evening".
The Alumni Network is in the process of setting up a London regional group for those alumni living in the London area. A meeting was held at at the end of February to discuss ideas about what our alumni would like to get out of the group. The enthusiastic attendees discussed ideas around career development, social events, community work and promoting UEL. The group is led by volunteer group coordinator Osa Jesuorobo (2005 MBA) and facilitated by Emma Cale in the Development and Alumni Office. If you would like to be part of this group and join in the forum, please contact Emma at alumni@uel.ac.uk or call to discuss it further on 020 8223 2222
Each issue we will be focusing on one of our international alumni groups.
Bernd Zimmermann (2005 MBA), Gerald Koenen (2005 MBA) and Christian Metzner (2005 MBA) have recently started a German speaking regional group for the regions of Germany, Austria and Switzerland. They are keen to hear from any German alumni who would be interested in becoming part of the group. They have set up an OpenBC group which can be found at http://www.openbc.com/net/uel_alumnis_for_d_a_ch The web page is a forum where you can chat to your old friends and colleagues and find out about gatherings and events that the reps are putting on. In the future, we hope to extend this to current students to develop an active network. To become part of this, let the alumni office know at alumni@uel.ac.uk
Whatever you studied at university, if you love reading, you’ll be delighted to find The Reader.
The Reader is a quarterly literary magazine aimed at everyone who reads for serious pleasure. It was first published in 1997 by tutors of the University of Liverpool’s Continuing Education English department, and has since gone from strength to strength, with the last issue recently launched in America. Over the years The Reader has built up a loyal base of subscribers and enthusiastic supporters, including some well-known names:
"One of the best things to thump through the letterbox…Full of pithy, passionate and precise things..it’s a nonpareil gift to the rest of us" Seamus Heaney
Issue 20, ‘Flora and Fauna’, is bursting with new poetry, fiction, essays, reviews and recommendations, as well as regular features which focus on the experiences of ordinary readers - making The Reader unique among more academic literary publications.
A self-funded unit within the University of Liverpool, The Reader also delivers a programme of reading-based activities, ranging from seminars for schools, reader's days and public readings by visiting writers. To find out more, to subscribe or to submit your own writing to the magazine, visit www.thereader.co.uk, email readers@liv.ac.uk or phone the office on 0151 794 2830.
50,000 women in the UK are qualified in SET subjects but not currently in relevant employment. The RETURN campaign, a government funded initiative, is being promoted by The UK Resource Centre for Women in SECT, The Open University and JIVE Partners to encourage some of these women to return to SET careers.
For women interested in resuming their careers, the Open University is offering a free course (T160). Free networking events will be held in London and Manchester in May, where women will have a chance to take part in workshops, meet employers and representatives from professional associations as well as other women in similar situations. Free assessments and advice can be arranged for women who need upskilling or re-training, and a mentoring scheme is being set up. Please see below for details of the forthcoming free networking events to be held in London and Manchester.
London: 10.30 – 4.00 May 2006
The Institute of Physics
76 Portland Place
London W1B 1NT
The event will feature
Workshops
Employer Information Stands
Questions Time with Employers
Networking Opportunities
Professional Women's Networks represented
Lunch is included and expenses for childcare and travel are available
To book your place, please email s.driscoll@bilk.ac.uk or call on 01274 437168
Recruitment fairs can be a beneficial tool in your job search. They have the advantage of presenting a wide range of employers under one roof who are actively looking for graduates. The alumni office would like to draw your attention to Prospect – the official graduate careers website. It lists all the graduate recruitment fairs across the UK. To find out more visit www.prospects.ac.uk
Brush up your IT skills, learn how to take stunning photographs or become a novelist; discover psychology, take a business course or even a wine appreciation Master Class!
These are just some of the exciting short courses we are running.
COMING SOON....Life drawing, Counselling, Computing and Photography
Our courses are designed to reflect the interests and needs of both individuals and business in the London community and are constantly updated to embrace what is current in society.
Our courses are tutored by our expert lecturers or in partnership with specialists from industry and our aim is to inform and delight. And remember as an alumnus, you are entitled to a 10% discount!
For further information or advice please contact:
Frances Bronzite or Liz Rowan
Knowledge Dock
University of East London
4-6 University Way
London
E16 2RD
Tel: 020 82234368/7076
E-mail: f.s.bronzite@uel.ac.uk
Nabil Manzoor completed his MBA in 2004 (June) and shortly afterwards was appointed Senior Manager responsible for Performance Management at Newham Primary Care Trust
While working as a Performance Analyst at Audit Commission, Nabil had an opportunity to work on a couple of business improvement projects and it was at this point he realised that he need to develop his business management and re-engineering skills to have a better input.
"My employers also realised the need of this development and some senior colleagues suggested me to study for an MBA. The reasons for deciding to study MBA at UEL were they offered a pathway in 'Project Management and Consultancy' and it was conveniently located for me to study in a part time capacity. - My overall experience on this course was very good and I enjoyed the element of 'Interactive debates' in the class rooms as it gave me an opportunity to understand management issues from different perspectives.
Most of my colleagues were in full time jobs and this was a good opportunity for all of us to learn from each other and I made very good friends with most of them. The most useful aspect of my MBA which fits very nicely with my current role is looking at the management information of the organisation and then use it to influence the strategic and financial decisions"
After Nabil the completed his MBA, he felt well equipped to move on to some more challenging roles and was soon offered a couple of jobs in a very short span of time. His preferred choice was to work for Newham Primary Care Trust over another very good offer made by Mouchel Parkman as a Management Consultant. One of the main reassons Nabil accepted the role with Newham PCT was that although they had a performance information infrastructure in place there was no true performance management/monitoring framework and he saw a challenging opportunity to develop the PCT's performance framework and create an organisation wide presence of performance management rather than settling into some predecessor's working practices.
Nabil found he had excellent support from his family, friends, lecturers at UEL and his senior managers at Audit Commission.
"Without their support, I can't imagine studying MBA in part time capacity. Towards the end of this course I made some really good friends with whom I had opportunity to work on various course work projects. Finally, the successful completion of this course have boasted my morale high and I would really recommend this course".
Laura Wood, a UEL graduate who is now a Script Supervisor at the BBC. She has recently returned to our Docklands Campus to speak to BSc Hons Media and Communication Technologies students about her work, as part of the 'Television: Technology, Policy and Power' course.
Laura, graduated from UEL in 1999 with first class honours in the same degree, which included a project on digital television and public service broadcasting. After graduating she joined the BBC as a team assistant in the training department and has since progressed her career in television production working on programmes such as EastEnders, BBC Proms, CBBC to name but a few.
"The degree I studied was one of a kind and available only at UEL. Not only did I gain an understanding of the media institution and its effects on society but it was largely responsible for developing my interest in television and focusing my future career. Without the support given by my at tutors at UEL I would certainly not have gained a First Class honours degree and would never have had the opportunity to carve out a career that I find so interesting and love so much!"
"I visited the new Docklands Campus for the first time recently and I am very impressed! It has a real 'university' feel about the place with some absolutely amazing views across the docks and not forgetting the runway in the middle! It's definitely a far cry from the Stratford campus where I studied, though I will always have fond memories of my time there."
Course Tutor Kathy Walker said: "Laura is a great example of how our students use the wide range of skills they develop on the Media and Communication Technologies degree to help them build a career in the media area. Laura was a highly motivated and hardworking student who made the most of the time she spent on the degree to focus her career interests and build her contacts."
For details of media and communications courses at UEL, contact 020 8223 3333 or click on http://www.uel.ac.uk/cultural-innovation/teaching/teaching.htm
East London is now recognised as a great place to live, work and study. With the success of London’s bid for the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, we are on the threshold of tremendous change, and at the heart of the most exciting urban development project in Europe. Infrastructure projects including the Channel Tunnel Rail Link, the Thames Crossing and DLR extension are already underway, and many more developments are planned.
Here at UEL, we are engaged in a £110 million programme of expansion and renewal at our campuses in Docklands and Stratford, and our partnership with the new Barking Learning Centre. We are creating a world class learning environment that is attractive, accessible and welcoming, open 24 hours a day, seven days a week, with state-of-the art computing facilities, lecture theatres and learning resource centres.
Our transforming vision for the region means the development of a new kind of university, serving the needs of our student community, and actively engaged in outreach and networking activities with local communities and businesses.
The Development Office has launched its campaign to seek support in raising capital and endowment funds for this major programme of development that will underpin our strategic commitment to the regeneration of East London and the Thames Gateway as a region of national and international social and economic importance.
Our campaign was launched in September 2005 with a donation of £500,000 from the Jack Petchey Foundation to create the Petchey Centre for Entrepreneurship.
Our campaign is supported by a wide range of individuals, businesses and trusts, including alumni.
“I am proud to be supporting Transforming Horizons, UEL’s campaign for East London and the Thames Gateway which will bring immense benefit to education, enterprise and the economy of the region.” Colin Kingsnorth, Chairman Laxey Partners UK Ltd and UEL graduate in Economics 1986.
“UEL has a proud track record of providing opportunities for local people, raising aspirations and educational attainment in a region with historically high levels of deprivation. Today, UEL is at the forefront of working with partners in industry, education and the diverse communities of East London to find new ways to tackle social exclusion and boost employability and enterprise for people of all ages…Together, right now, we can transform the horizons of millions of Londoners.” Mayor of London Ken Livingstone.
We would like to involve our alumni to in this important campaign. If you are interested in obtaining further information about it, please contact the development office on e.cale@uel.ac.uk 020 8223 2222
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