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Welcome to in Focus Update… |
Past Issues << | Issue 272: 7 December 2011 |
All universities face critical situations from time to time so our Health Critical Incident Team is here to offer support to staff when dealing with these situations. Comprising staff from the Student Health and Wellbeing Team in Student Services, the team does not replace emergency or other services, but aims to reduce the impact of such crises so that students affected can carry on with their daily life as soon as possible.
What should you do if you are faced with a health critical incident within your School or Service?
1. Decide whether it is a:
Health critical incident – a potential threat to a student or group of students due to an emotional or physical health problem. This includes acute mental health episodes (an extremely depressed or distressed student) and communicable disease e.g. meningitis or tuberculosis.
Major incident – something which would constitute an actual or potential serious threat to the safety and security of students/staff e.g. fire, flood, criminal activity.
2. Actions:
• If it is a major incident contact the emergency services on 999 and the Pro Vice-Chancellor, Services and Infrastructure (Dusty Amroliwala), who is the normal first contact for major incidents; the first substitute is the Pro Vice-Chancellor, Director of Finance (Nirmal Borkhataria).
• If it is a need for first aid, contact the first aider within your School/Service. Check www.uel.ac.uk/hrservices/hs/emercontact.htm for an updated list of our first aiders or, if unable to reach a first aider, call the emergency services on 999.
• If it is a heath critical incident you should find the nominated critical incident person within your School/Service (contact School/Service Helpdesk if uncertain).
Alternatively, and if you feel there is a need for an urgent response, contact the Health Critical Incident Team directly on extension 020 8223 7599.
UEL are running a series of information sessions covering the changes in student fees and funding, which will be beneficial for all staff to attend. These sessions will cover the changes that will affect students applying for entry in 2012 and will be useful for staff who deal with prospective students, applicants and students on a day to day basis. Come and find out why we have decided to charge £9,000 for our undergraduate home FT courses from 2012 and about the many benefits, scholarships and bursaries we will be offering, including our unique National Scholarship Programme Bursary. For more information visit www.uel.ac.uk/nsp
An insight into the government’s finance initiative and how it affects UEL will also be provided. Finally, a question and answer session will give you the opportunity to raise any burning finance questions you might have.The events will take place on:
• Friday 9 December: 1 – 2pm, Duncan House (DH.0.01)
• Tuesday 13 December: 1 – 2pm, Stratford Campus (UH.1.36, tiered room)
• Thursday 15 December: 1 – 2pm, Docklands Campus (EB.G.08, tiered room)
Email 2012fees@uel.ac.uk to book your place. Lunch will be provided.
Facilities Services are reviewing the in-house catering operation at UEL, with a particular focus on establishing how the overall quality of the provision might be further improved. They will be looking at the selection of food and beverages, as well as the range of the overall provision, its locations and hours of service. As part of this review, Facilities Services are conducting an online survey giving staff the opportunity to shape the future of food and services offered. As an added incentive, they are offering a £50 Amazon voucher to one lucky person! Simply fill in your email address at the end of the survey and you will be entered into the draw (not compulsory). Complete the survey now at bit.ly/UEL_catering_survey NB: Some questions on page five relate to the Docklands Underground Bar; these are optional and may be skipped if particpants are not users of this service. The survey closes on Friday 16 December at 4pm.
Every year the University awards honorary doctorates to those people who have achieved academic distinction, held significant office, or given outstanding service in business and the professions, and those who have made a significant contribution to our local community. Examples of previous honorary graduates include the former England cricket captain Graham Gooch, filmmaker and actor Noel Clarke (pictured), and psychoanalyst and writer Susie Orbach. All UEL staff, students and governors are welcome to nominate those they think deserving of an award, and all nominations will then be considered by a specially convened nominations committee, with successful nominees put forward for graduation next November. If you would like to nominate, please download the nomination form here and submit your completed form to Thomas Williams on t.williams@uel.ac.uk by 23 January 2012.
Launched in November, the autumn wave of the International Student Barometer (ISB) is an online independent survey which tracks the international student journey. Nearly 50,000 international students take part in the survey worldwide and UEL performed extremely well in the last survey. The findings of the survey are used to help the University improve the student experience for current and future international students through the work of the International Student Experience project, chaired by Niru Williams. Your support is needed to increase participation rates so please encourage your students to fill out the survey at www.uel.ac.uk/isb or visit members of the International Office in the East Building Atrium on Docklands Campus tomorrow, 11am– 3pm. Participating students can win cash prizes of up to £1,000. Closing date is Friday 9 December.
December is a busy month for students, with many trying to revise for exams or finish off assignments. Here are a few ways the Library can help:
• All libraries are open 24/7 for quiet study or for borrowing and returning items.
• There are special silent study areas in all libraries where no talking or mobiles are allowed.
• Access to the library has been restricted to UEL students only during December.
• LLS make regular patrols to encourage students to study quietly.
• Facilities are increasing cleaning at all the libraries during the busy periods.
If students need help in researching their assignment, they can come in and talk to a librarian, chat online through the ‘Ask-a-Librarian’ service or get help online with the ‘Info Skills’ tool. To access these resources see www.uel.ac.uk/library
Taking place on Monday 12 December Secondary Music students and Senior Lecturer, Chris Dalladay, will be leading a Christmas carol recital. It will take place in the Atrium of the Cass School of Education and Communities Building (Stratford Campus) from 3.30– 4.15pm. Singing will take place on the second floor balcony and will also include a couple of special choral items along with the carols. Everyone is welcome to attend or take part.
A team of students from RDBS has demonstrated their business acumen and ability to think on their feet by coming runners up in a London-wide enterprise competition held at the Houses of Parliament.The ‘Rising Stars Challenge’ involved teams of young entrepreneurs battling it out in high impact business challenges. Following a business pitch from the RDBS team to Lord Wei, one judge commented, “Your pitch was excellent. I really felt comfortable and impressed with the scenario you were presenting, your teamwork was good and you gave genuine solutions to the problems you faced”. Overall it was a successful day, with the team showing the universities of London what UEL has to offer. Congratulations to all involved.
Congratulations to the Media and Inner World AHRC Research Network who recently received follow-on funding from the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC). The Network was awarded £117,685 for one year from January 2012, with the money enabling the team to carry out a programme of impact-related knowledge transfer activities in the form of panels, workshops and pilot CPD courses with the Tavi, the Freud Museum, Rada, The Royal College of Music, The East London Film Festival and an OFCOM policy event with film makers and psychotherapists. For more information email c.yates@uel.ac.uk
Professor Allan Brimicombe from the Centre for Geo-Information Studies has been appointed non-executive member to the new independent Crime Statistics Advisory Committee for an initial term of three years. The committee advises the Home Secretary, the Office for National Statistics and Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary on how best to ensure that official statistics on crime for England and Wales are accurate, clearly presented, comprehensive, transparent and trustworthy taking account of the needs of users and providers. To contact Professor Brimicombe email a.j.brimicombe@uel.ac.uk
For the latest on our activities visit the news releases section of our website www.uel.ac.uk/news
Communities and health: reflections on community development and lay involvement in public health: Friday 9 December, 1 – 2pm (EB.3.16, Docklands Campus)
Speaking at the seminar will be Sarah Frost, Learning Network Development Manager on the Altogether Better Programme at Yorkshire and Humber Public Health Observatory, and Jane South, Director of the Centre for Health Promotion Research at Leeds Metropolitan University. For further details email g.phillips@uel.ac.uk
Hereditary spastic paraparesis: from pathophysiology to rehabilitation: Wednesday 14 December, 6pm (AE.1.01, Stratford Campus)
Professor Jon Marsden will be presenting this public lecture. To attend, please email May Nahar at m.nahar@uel.ac.uk
Any Questions: Friday 16 December, 8pm (Sir John Cass Foundation and Red Coat School, Stepney)
Sir John Cass Foundation and Red Coat School in Stepney is hosting Radio 4’s Any Questions next month. The panel currently includes John Pilger, Andrew Motion, Michael Portillo and Anne Leslie. For your free ticket contact the School Business Coordinator, Catherine Bowler, on 020 7791 4986 or catherine.bowler@sjcr.net
See Events Calendar for a full listing: www.uel.ac.uk/marketing/support/eventscalendar.htm
UELSports has secured a 20% discount for all UEL staff and students at the Sweatshop at Westfield Stratford on Monday 12 December. This is a good opportunity to get a new pair of heavily discounted trainers, or a Christmas present for your running friends. Though Sweatshop focuses on running, they do have some stock which can be used for general fitness and other sports. To obtain this discount, just show your UEL staff or student ID card in store on Monday 12 December.
Welcome to the Green Thing, a regular section full of information on environmental projects, tips and ideas for staff at UEL. Visit our website www.uel.ac.uk/greenthing, follow us on Twitter at twitter.com/uel_greenthing or get in touch at greenthing@uel.ac.uk
We’d love to hear from you!
Environment Team, Facilities
Last week we reported that you could get a free bound notebook from the Print Centre if you brought in your old out-of-date letter headed paper or blank scrap paper. This is not quite the option that the Print Centre is offering, but the Print Centre can create notepads from your old paper, whether letter-headed or scrap that has been used on one side already (pictured). This is still very exciting and a great way to reuse perfectly good paper! Such pads would have a small lead time, but due to the interest they received following last week’s story, the Print Centre would certainly encourage staff to bring in their scrap paper and get a notepad. Apologies for any confusion caused last week.
One week ago, at a glitzy ceremony in central London, Toby from the Environment Team picked up the latest award for UEL. Our Good Egg award shows the commitment UEL has made to increasing the welfare of the chickens producing all the eggs we consume on campus every day, as all eggs on campus are from cage-free hens. Many thanks and congratulations go to the Catering Team for its hard work in ensuring UEL could pick up this award. For more information on Sustainable Catering at UEL, visit www.uel.ac.uk/greenthing/Catering.htm
It’s never too early to start: UEL is already looking ahead to Fairtrade Fortnight 2012. This two-week celebration of all things Fairtrade is happening at the start of March and we hope to spread it wide across all campuses this year, but we need help to do this. All staff can take part, whether by incorporating Fairtrade into a lecture or seminar or hosting a coffee morning for colleagues. And, if your department is taking part in Green Impact, you will automatically gain four bonus points, just for taking part in Fairtrade Fortnight! For inspiration, visit fairtrade.org.uk/get_involved/fairtrade_fortnight and email Sarah Ettlinger s.ettlinger@uel.ac.uk to express your interest.
…that the COP17 United Nations Climate Conference is still going on in Durban? Get updates on what has already happened and find live feeds, news articles, blogs, videos and much more at oneworldgroup.org/durban
The ReDS team provide administrative and development support to all research and knowledge exchange projects across UEL. Please contact the team on 020 8223 7776 or email reds@uel.ac.uk if you would like to discuss any opportunities. Do let them know as soon as possible if you’re developing a proposal – thank you!
Highlights
EPSRC Future ICT-enabled manufacturing – cross-disciplinary research clusters For cross-disciplinary research and networking activities to help new information and communication technologies (ICT) to transform future manufacturing. Programmes to include a suite of interlinked research projects and feasibility studies plus substantial networking and outreach activities. Collaboration with industry is essential. Around £1.7 million each. Grant five years. Closes 8 February 2012.
JISC and HEA OER Rapid Innovation To enhance digital infrastructure to support open content for education. Rapid Innovation projects. to fund projects targeted at addressing key strategic and thematic priorities whilst building on the lessons learnt within the first two OER Phases. An online meeting is being held on Friday 9 December 10am– 12 noon. £10,000– £25,000 per project. Grant four to six months. UK Research. Closes 27 January 2012.
JISC Transformations Programme To help HEI's move towards organisational change by using existing JISC and other resources to: enhance student experience; improve efficiency of their business and be agile in climate of change; enhance organisational capability for business and community engagement; improve environmental performance. £15,000. Grant 12 months. Closes 22 February 2012.
BIG Lottery Fund Communities Living Sustainably under 'Sustainable and Resilient Communities' strategy. For a range of different communities including vulnerable groups as well as geographically diverse communities to adopt integrated approaches to tackling the impacts of a changing climate that focus on social, economic and environmental challenges. Expression of Interest. Must partner with a registered charity. Development grants up to £10,000. Full grants up to £1 million. Closes 31 January 2012.
English Heritage: a brief for research on identification of areas and types of development pressure to prioritise resources to manage change Ref (BL) 6170: to undertake research on identification of areas and types of development pressure to prioritise resources to manage change as a means of determining research priorities within and beyond the present National Heritage Protection Plan period (2011– 2014). To understand which areas of England have been, are or anticipated to be: undergoing most change from development; most sensitive to change; and to consider the findings on these themes against those areas of the country considered to be least resourced to manage change. £45,000– £65,000 Research contract for five to six months. Closes 3 January 2012.
English Heritage Under-represented Heritages Consultation Ref (BL) 6460: to ensure the National Heritage Protection Plan (NHPP) is inclusive and recognises the diversity of cultural values around heritage, English Heritage ‘will actively seek the views of communities that might not otherwise be heard’ and take these views into account when reviewing and updating the NHPP. £45,000– £55,000 Research contract five months. Closes 3 January 2012.
BBSRC (UK) and FAPESP (Brazil) FAPESP Pump-Priming Awards (FAPPA) To pump-prime collaborations between scientists in the UK and the São Paulo State, Brazil. To enhance food security and bioenergy and industrial biotechnology research in the UK and Brazil. Mainly for networking and travel costs. £35,000 Grant for two years. International Research. Closes 31 December 2011.
NERC Large Grants Supports adventurous, large-scale and complex research tackling big science questions with a strong strategic element and potential to be world-leading. Multidisciplinary collaboration welcome. Can be any NERC relevant area, including curiosity-driven. £1.2 million– £3.7 million. Grant up to five years. Closes 1 March 2012.
The full spreadsheet of opportunities is available from a secure page on the ReDS website. Login with your UEL username and password at www.uel.ac.uk/secure/reds/current-opportunities/index.htm. Current external funding opportunities and other announcements can also be found on the ReDS Twitter feed at twitter.com/UEL_ReDS
Please send comments or contributions for in Focus Update to: infocus@uel.ac.uk
To contribute a UEL news item please supply a headline (c. 10 words), short paragraph (c. 50-100 words) with a call to action (email / web link or phone) together with a photo.
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© 2011
