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Welcome to in Focus Update… |
Past Issues << | Issue 303: 14 August 2012 |
The London 2012 Olympic Games has been a great occasion to celebrate London and Great Britain, and it has been no less successful than at the University of East London. The short-term stay of Team USA, alongside the several partnerships formed during the Games, has produced many long-term benefits for the University, none of which would have been possible without the support of UEL’s workforce.
I have been extremely impressed with the professionalism demonstrated by staff in adapting to a change in working patterns and going above and beyond their day to day duties, and I would like to thank all staff, both support and academic, who have helped months of planning come to fruition over the last two weeks.
London 2012 has been an exciting time for UEL. Over the past few weeks, we’ve had a large number of guests and high profile visitors on campus and a range of exciting events and activities taking place in SportsDock. In the forthcoming weeks, our involvement is set to continue with the Paralympic Games, with many more exciting opportunities coming up. But what has UEL gained from involvement in the Olympic and Paralympic Games?
In financial terms, our involvement in the Games has generated over £1 million which we are intending to use across a range of areas to enhance the student experience and improve how things work at UEL. This includes:
• Research – partly thanks to Olympic revenue, we have been able to raise the amount allocated to research in 2012-13.
• ASICS student scholarships – several fully funded PhD studentships, based in the School of Health, Sport and Bioscience.
• Improve the applicant experience – improvements will be made to online application and processing to ensure it is a smoother and quicker process.
• Upgrading IT systems – to benefit both students and staff.
• Reducing the need to make further savings following funding cuts
• Further investment in sport – to make UEL number one university in London for sport by 2015.
Students
Our students have also benefited from this involvement, namely in terms of the opportunities created both during and after the Games. Many of our students undertook unique opportunities to volunteer or work at the Games in a range of different roles. Furthermore, a select group of Sports Journalism students had the chance to work with the United States Olympic Committee (USOC), gaining once in a lifetime experience that will be invaluable for their future careers.
Visibility
During the Olympic Games we have heightened the visibility of UEL, with increased visits to our website and over 1,500 media hits across a range of international channels from CNN to the Financial Times. This is a fantastic achievement as it demonstrates that UEL is a modern, capable and reliable organisation to a wide and international audience.
Ongoing partnerships
We have also created good partnerships with a range of organisations across London and internationally, which will be long-lasting well beyond Games-time. Student scholarships with ASICS, a global footwear and sports equipment manufacturer, provide a high profile reminder of our involvement, providing selected students with the funding and support to pursue their research.
All tickets for the wheelchair basketball game have now gone, following a fantastic response from staff and students. If you have already applied for tickets, you should shortly receive an email confirmation to let you know that you have been successful in obtaining tickets. Please contact gbvusa@uel.ac.uk with any queries.
UEL fine art and photography students are exhibiting their work at a free exhibition, organised by the National Portrait Gallery, in east London. Created over a 10-week photography course in spring 2012, the students have created a portrait of local communities in east London, documenting their feelings about the impact of the Olympic and Paralympic Games on their neighbourhood.
When: Monday - Saturday, 10am-6pm, until 9 September
Where: Four Corners, 121 Roman Road, London E2 0QN
More information: http://roadto2012.npg.org.uk/participation/facing-east
For the latest on our activities visit the news releases section of our website www.uel.ac.uk/news
2012 Annual Conference of the Association of Tourism and Leisure Education (ATLAS)
12 – 14 September, Royal Docks Business School, Docklands Campus
• The conference, ‘Re-creating the Global City: Tourism, Leisure and Mega-Events in the Transformation of 21st Century Cities’, brings together academics, practitioners and policy-makers to discuss the relationship between sporting mega-events, tourism and wider questions of urban economic and cultural regeneration, as well as social justice and sustainability.
• Keynote presentation from Dr Beatriz Garcia of Liverpool University and Head of Research in Cultural Policy and Impact at the Institute of Cultural Capital
• Talks also from Professor Gavin Poynter, Professor Maurice Roche and Professor Kevin Hannam.
• More info > r.bianchi@uel.ac.uk
Partnership in learning: working together towards excellence – UEL’s annual learning, teaching and assessment conference
Wednesday 31 October, time and location TBC
• Staff are invited to submit proposals for presentations, debates, round-table discussions and workshops, and posters. Poster submissions also welcome from UEL students only.
• Conference is free and open to all staff and UEL students.
• View the guidelines for submission of abstracts and submit via the conference registration or email apse@uel.ac.uk
• Deadline is 5pm, Monday 3 September.
Stratford Allotment Club
Every Wednesday, 12.30 – 1.30pm, Stratford Campus
• Grow your own fresh fruit, herbs and vegetables at the Grow Your Own Club.
• All gardening tools provided.
• To tend to the allotment outside of club hours, collect a Grow Your Own kit bag from RB.2.21.
• Contact > Emily Hamilton
See Events Calendar for a full listing: www.uel.ac.uk/marketing/support/eventscalendar.htm
SportsDock reopens on Thursday 16 August from 6.30am. All exercise classes are now included in the gold membership.
For further information on SportsDock membership contact enquiries@sportsdock.co.uk
Welcome to the Green Thing, a regular section full of information on environmental projects, tips and ideas for staff at UEL. Visit our website, follow us on twitter or email Green Thing. We’d love to hear from you!
Environment Team, Facilities
UEL has free cycle maps available for colleagues who are interested in cycling in London, either for work or for pleasure. If you would like a free cycle map, please contact Emily Hamilton, Environmental Projects Officer.
This year Green Week will be held from 17 – 21 September. Events will include the ever popular Dr Bike Workshop, Grow Your Own taster sessions, with energy and water saving tips and the launch of UEL’s Green Impact. Keep an eye on our website for more information, coming soon!
ironmental Projects Officer.
During the Games the London Eye lit up each night with colours to represent how the country was feeling about hte Olympics, based on tweets posted on Twitter. Find out more
about Energy of the Nation on the EDF Website .
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.
To contribute a UEL event please supply a headline (c. 10 words), date, time, location, short description, with call to action (email / web link or phone)
© 2012
