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BGU's New Deputy Vice Chancellor Looks to Future
Building the university's research profile and enhancing international links are two of the goals identified by the new Deputy Vice Chancellor of Bishop Grosseteste University. Professor Jayne Mitchell last week took up the new role of Deputy Vice Chancellor with responsibility for academic affairs. She was formerly Director of Research, Development and Partnerships at the Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education and before that Associate Dean at Staffordshire University. "My role at BGU is a completely new one and my remit is to focus on three areas: teaching and learning, research and international activity," she said. "One of our long-term aims is to grow the university's research capacity and capability and to raise the profile of the research work being undertaken by staff. We also want to enhance the internationalisation of the BGU experience both for UK students and students coming to BGU from overseas." Professor Mitchell is no stranger to Lincolnshire, having grown up near Cleethorpes, but it was the heritage and growing reputation of Bishop Grosseteste University that appealed to her. "I was attracted by the job and the institution - where it is now and where it's going in the future," Professor Mitchell explained. "This is a really exciting time for BGU. The university has a strong heritage and firm foundations, but there are also plans for development and expansion in a controlled way and scope to move to even bigger and better things. That was really attractive and something I wanted to contribute to." The Vice Chancellor of BGU, the Reverend Professor Peter Neil, welcomed Professor Mitchell to the university. "We are sure that Jayne will make a valuable contribution to the strategic direction of BGU and we are extremely pleased to welcome her as part of the senior leadership team," he said. Professor Mitchell completed her PhD in Physical Activity Epidemiology at the University of Exeter and holds a Master's in Public Health from the University of Birmingham. She has previously held a number of posts in higher education institutions that reflect her commitment to quality assurance and academic and research interests in physical activity and health. She will work at BGU alongside Hâf Merrifield, Deputy Vice Chancellor for strategy and performance. News release 11th March 2014 -
BGU Vice Chancellor Joins College of Canons at Lincoln Cathedral
The Vice Chancellor of Bishop Grosseteste University, the Reverend Professor Peter Neil, has joined the College of Canons at Lincoln Cathedral. When he was installed as Prebendary for Dunholme at an Evensong service held on St Hugh's Day yesterday (Monday 17th November) Canon Neil became the first head of the university to be made a Canon of Lincoln Cathedral in over 100 years. The first two principals of the original Diocesan College were Canons of the Cathedral: the Reverend Canon Hector Nelson (1862-92) and the Reverend Canon Alfred Rowe (1892-1912). Professor Neil has been worshipping at Lincoln Cathedral since his arrival in the city last year. “This is a wonderful honour and it enhances the relationship between Bishop Grosseteste University and the cathedral,” said Canon Neil. “I am very much looking forward to serving in this capacity.” The recognition given to the Vice Chancellor illustrates the continuing relationship between the cathedral and the university and the Diocese of Lincoln and the university, said Canon Neil. “As an Anglican foundation we are very proud of our roots in the diocese. In mediaeval times many of the great universities grew out of the cathedral schools. We are a growing university and we see ourselves integral to the fabric of Lincoln. We have something special to offer and that is enhanced by the connections we have with both the cathedral and the diocese.” Canon Neil has degrees in theology from Queen’s University Belfast (through Union Theological College) and from Cardiff University (through St Michael’s Theological College, Llandaff). He was ordained in St David’s Cathedral in the Church in Wales. Bishop Grosseteste University holds its graduation ceremonies each year in the Cathedral and its annual carol service will take place there on 3rd December at 3pm. -
Professor Leonard George Marsh OBE
We are saddened to learn of the death of the former Principal of Bishop Grosseteste, Professor Leonard Marsh. Professor Leonard Marsh OBE was Principal of Bishop Grosseteste College (now Bishop Grosseteste University) for 22 years from September 1974 until August 1996. Educated at Ashford Grammar School in Kent and Borough Road College in London, he studied for an Academic Diploma in Education and then an Advanced Certificate at the University of London Institute of Education before gaining his Master of Education research degree at the University of Leicester in 1965. His first teaching post was at Crofton Junior School, Kent, where he worked for six years from 1952 before taking up a post as lecturer in education and mathematics at St Paul’s College in Cheltenham. In 1961 he became Principal Lecturer and Head of Department at Goldsmith’s College, University of London, where he set up the prototype for his later work at BG as the ‘Plowden floor’, and from 1974 until his retirement in 1996 he was Principal of Bishop Grosseteste College in Lincoln. He was Chairman of the National Association for Primary Education from 1981 until 1983, a visiting lecturer and professor at various American colleges, an education consultant in Portugal, Puerto Rico and for the BBC and an external examiner for a number of colleges. He wrote many books for teachers and children on education and mathematics and was asked to form an advisory committee following the publication of the Plowden Report of 1967 on primary schools in England. Until very recently he was still being asked to advise schools and to speak on his vision of primary education, such was his reputation in the world of primary schools in the UK. Professor Muriel Robinson, Principal and then Vice Chancellor of Bishop Grosseteste University from 2003 until 2013, said: “Len Marsh made an immense difference to BG in his time there. He understood how children learn and what schools need to be like to facilitate that learning, and he gave the place a superb reputation for primary education. “BG had a huge in service programme for teachers across the country at that time and that’s how I first met him. I was teaching in London in the early 1980s and I was fortunate enough to take part in some of the programmes they ran in Lincoln. The sessions were amazing, truly inspirational. The physical environment at BG, from the model school environments of the primary bases to the furniture and buildings refurbished using excellent architects and craftsmen, not only raised the level of student achievement but offered practical and practice-changing ideas to many teachers. “His legacy was to create a worldwide reputation for primary education at BG. He worked with teachers all over the world, from Pakistan and Jordan to Mexico. Across the UK he gave BG a reputation for a particular model of primary education which was almost unique. Across Lincolnshire and well beyond there will be many teachers who will be saddened to read of Len’s passing and whose own careers have been shaped, like mine, by his influence.” Leonard Marsh’s funeral will take place at 2.30pm on 13th October 2014 at St Nicholas’ Church in Chislehurst. Bishop Grosseteste University will hold a minute’s silence in memory of Professor Marsh at today’s Grosseteste Day liturgy (8th October) in the University Chapel at 1pm. The service will be attended by the Bishop of Winchester. The university is planning a memorial service for Professor Marsh next month. -
BGU Sets Out Ambitious Five-Year Growth Plan
Two years after it achieved university status Bishop Grosseteste University in Lincoln has set out its ambitious vision for the next five years. Bishop Grosseteste University has chosen today, the annual celebration of the life and work of Robert Grosseteste, a mediaeval scholar, former Bishop of Lincoln and the university’s namesake, to launch its new five-year plan. The development of the strategy has been led by its Vice Chancellor, the Reverend Professor Peter Neil, in consultation with staff, students and key community and business leaders.The ambitious strategy will see the university build on its past success in encouraging and supporting students from non-traditional and low-income backgrounds to gain a university level qualification by offering a greater range of courses and subjects, and strengthening its partnerships with local, regional and national business communities to ensure students are prepared for life and employment in a global society. The plans also set out the investment the university is making in research, its buildings and facilities. “Bishop Grosseteste University is a thriving institution which has achieved a great many successes in recent years.” said Professor Neil. “Like all universities, however, we must always look forward and ensure that we are best placed to fulfil our potential as a 21st-century university. The strategy is both a call to action for our university community and a considered response to the challenges facing students and the higher education sector”. “Our strategy outlines the steps we will take to ensure that Bishop Grosseteste University remains a major player in UK higher education while staying true to its ethos and building on its already excellent levels of student satisfaction and graduate employability.” Professor Neil added that while the university wishes to see more students studying at BGU, new courses and new ways of teaching and learning mean that there will be opportunities for undergraduate students new to Lincoln to study alongside mature, part-time, postgraduate and work-based learning students who already live in the locality. “As a community university, we are committed to ensuring that the balance between ‘town and gown’ is maintained in the city. We intend to develop our existing campus and support the city and county’s economic strategies by creating educational opportunities and employment through the life of this plan.” -
New Degrees on Offer as BGU Expands Portfolio
Students at Bishop Grosseteste University will be able to take degrees in Health and Social Care, Sociology, Psychology, Counselling and Entrepreneurship from September 2015 thanks to a major expansion of courses announced today (Wednesday). In response to demand from students and employers BGU has reviewed its academic portfolio and will introduce a suite of new degree courses in a range of new and existing subject areas. BGU will introduce a new Health and Social Care degree as well as other courses for professionals working in this area. There will also be new degree courses in Psychology and Counselling. In Business and Enterprise, BGU will have an innovative programme promoting entrepreneurship that will focus on students working in teams to start and run new businesses in dedicated business units. The university will enhance its already strong Education programmes with the introduction of a new single honours degree in Education Studies, and there will also be new degree courses in Sociology as part of suite of Social Science subjects. “Developing BGU’s academic portfolio through a range of new and exciting courses is a key part of our growth strategy,” said The Reverend Professor Peter Neil, Vice Chancellor of Bishop Grosseteste University. “Like all universities we have to respond to what students and employers want, and these new courses will ensure that we can continue to provide students and businesses with the skills that they require to be successful in the future.” As part of the ongoing management of the courses it offers Bishop Grosseteste University will no longer teach Music or Visual Art at undergraduate level once current students have completed their studies. PGCE courses in Music will continue to be offered as part of the university’s postgraduate portfolio. BGU intends to continue its musical tradition through the University Choir and to maintain engagement with the local community through the work of the Community Music Development Co-ordinator. -
RAG to Riches for BGU Student Fund Raisers
Bishop Grosseteste University's Students' Union (BGSU) has been shortlisted for a prestigious national award after raising over £46,000 for charity. It's a finalist in the Most Improved Fundraising Group category at this year's FIG (Find, Invest, Grow) National Student Fundraising Awards next Wednesday (27th August). Run by elected students to represent the interests of students, BGSU raised around £5,000 during the last academic year. This year, however, it has managed to raise an impressive £46,031.32 - eight times more than last year! Chris Robertson, former Raise and Give (RAG) Officer and newly elected SU President, said: "It's amazing to see how far BGSU has come this year. To have raised almost 10 times more than last year's amount and be nominated for a top award are both incredible achievements! "I would like to thank everyone who has helped us either by taking part in an event or making a donation. We couldn't have done it without your support." The money has been raised through a number of activities including a week-long hitch-hike from Lincoln to Croatia and a jailbreak challenge where students had to travel as far away from Lincoln as possible in 36 hours without any money; the winning team managed to travel to Paris. The majority of the cash, however, was raised by a group of 41 students who went on a three-week volunteering trip to Romania to help teach English to children and renovate local buildings. The group managed to collect over £37,000 thanks to individual donations and taking part in various fundraising events including sponsored sports matches and the Lincoln 10K. Twelve different charities will benefit from the £46,031.32 raised, including Cancer Research UK, Leukaemia and Lymphoma Research and the Bishop Grosseteste University Foundation Fund. The Reverend Professor Peter Neil, Vice Chancellor of BGU, said everyone at the university is extremely proud of what the students' union has managed to achieve. "The amount the students have managed to raise during the past 12 months is phenomenal and will make a massive difference to a lot of people's lives," said Professor Neil. "I wish BGSU the very best of luck at this year's FIG National Student Fundraising Awards and hope they come back with a trophy. Even if they don't win it is still an incredible achievement and will hopefully inspire our students to raise even more in the coming academic year - although admittedly £46,031.32 is a hard target to beat!" The winners of the 2014 FIG National Student Fundraising Awards will be announced at a ceremony on 27th August 2014 at the National Railway Museum in York. -
Survey Shows Student Satisfaction Rising at BGU
Figures released today from the National Student Survey show that 88% of BGU students are satisfied with their university experience - that's higher than the national average of 86% and three percentage points up on BGU's score last year. BGU's Foundation Degree in Applied Studies (Early Childhood) achieved 100% satisfaction while three other courses - Primary Education with Qualified Teacher Status (QTS), Education Studies & English and Education Studies & Mathematics - recorded satisfaction levels of 95%. The proportion of BGU students completing the survey has also increased significantly; from 64% in 2010 to 72% in 2013 and 87% this year. The Reverend Professor Peter Neil, Vice Chancellor of Bishop Grosseteste University, welcomed today's data published by HEFCE, the Higher Education Funding Council for England. "This is an excellent result for BGU," he said. "We are always keen to hear what our students are telling us about their experiences here and the message is clear from these findings - we are doing better and better. "The most significant change this year is that the number of students completing the survey increased by 15 percentage points on last year; this means that the feedback from students is much more robust. The staff are committed to giving the students an excellent experience and will be looking at the areas the students are highlighting as things which they perceive needing improvement. But all in all this is a very good result for BGU." The latest figures come hot on the heels of a survey published last month which showed that BGU is one of the top five universities in England for the proportion of graduates who are employed or in further study six months after graduating. According to the DLHE survey (Destinations of Leavers from Higher Education) published by HESA, the Higher Education Statistics Agency, on 3rd July 2014, 96.5% of Bishop Grosseteste University graduates had found a job or were continuing their studies six months after graduating in 2012/13. The Which? University Guide currently ranks BGU fifth in England for graduate prospects and lists BGU as having the highest average graduate salary in the East Midlands. -
Awards to Recognise Heritage Education Excellence
From Buckingham Palace to the Walsall Leather Museum, and from Gainsborough Old Hall to Windsor Castle, heritage sites in the UK and Ireland will receive recognition for their education work on Friday (5th December). Forty-two museums, parks, zoos, houses and archives will receive a prestigious Sandford Award at the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich. Dr Lucy Worsley (pictured), author, TV presenter and Chief Curator of the Historic Royal Palaces, will present the awards, which are given every year in recognition of excellence in heritage education. The awards are jointly managed by Bishop Grosseteste University in Lincoln and the Heritage Education Trust, and BGU’s Vice Chancellor, the Reverend Canon Professor Peter Neil, will give the vote of thanks after the ceremony. The winners, which represent a cross-section of heritage sites from across the country, this year include Crumlin Road Gaol in Belfast, Fishbourne Roman Palace in West Sussex and the company archive of Marks & Spencer. Dr Tracy Borman, Sandford Co-ordinator at Bishop Grosseteste University, said: “The National Maritime Museum is a fitting setting for this year’s Sandford Awards, where we will be paying tribute to the innovative education work being undertaken by all our winners. “We look forward to an enjoyable ceremony and extend our congratulations to all the sites receiving awards this year.” The awards ceremony begins at 11am on Friday 5th December and members of the media are welcome to attend. If you would like to come, please contact Shooting Star PR by calling 01522 528540 or by emailing hello@shootingstar-pr.co.uk. Sandford Award Winners 2014 18 Stafford Terrace Benjamin Franklin House Bramall Hall Bowhill House and Country Estate Buckingham Palace Cannon Hall Chester Zoo Chiltern Open Air Museum Combe Sydenham Culzean Castle and Country Park Crumlin Road Gaol Cutty Sark Dunster Castle and Gardens Fishbourne Roman Palace Fort Nelson Gainsborough Old Hall Gawthorpe Hall Hill of The O’Neill and Ranfurly House Holyroodhouse Palace Llancaiach Fawr Manor House Lauriston Castle London Metropolitan Archives Lotherton Hall M&S Company Archive Moseley Old Hall Museum of Lancashire The National Archives National Museum of Ireland – Country Life No.1 Royal Crescent, Bath Roman Baths Museum Royal Museums Greenwich Sir John Soane’s Museum Sutton House Thackray Medical Museum Time & Tide Museum Ufton Court V&A Museum of Childhood Walsall Leather Museum Wilderspin National School Museum Wildlife Trust Countryside Centre Ramsey Heights Windsor Castle -
Research at BGU Recognised as ‘World Class’
Bishop Grosseteste University in Lincoln is celebrating after learning that research undertaken by its staff and students has been judged to be ‘world-leading’. Results of the Research Excellence Framework (REF 2014), a system used to independently assess the quality of research undertaken in all UK higher education institutions (HEIs), have been published today (Thursday). They show that research in Education, English Literature and History and have been judged to be world-leading and given the highest possible 4* rating.The University’s Vice-Chancellor, the Reverend Canon Professor Peter Neil, said: “We are delighted with the outcome. To have our research in these key subjects judged by experts to be world-leading is a fantastic achievement.” Professor John Sharp, who led the submission to REF 2014 on behalf of the university, paid tribute to his colleagues’ hard work, over several years, to develop the research. “Bishop Grosseteste University is committed to undertaking research that can be applied in ways that benefit our students and the general public and is useful to others,” he said. “The dedication and passion for research shown by staff and students from across the university has been rewarded by this result; to be recognised as undertaking research that is judged to be world class is very pleasing indeed.” The REF 2014 outcome is a further boost to Bishop Grosseteste University’s plans to grow its research as part of its overall new five-year strategy. -
Pedal Powering Through London for BGU
Two colleagues from Bishop Grosseteste University in Lincoln will be using pedal power to raise money for the university’s Foundation Fund this weekend. Accommodation Officer Rachel Crane and Leanne Chancellor, Executive Assistant to the Deputy Vice Chancellor, will take part in the London Nightrider – a 100km moonlit overnight cycle ride through the centre of London on Saturday 6th and Sunday 7th June 2015. Around 4,500 cyclists will raise more than £2 million for charity in one night and take in over 50 famous landmarks, including Tower Bridge, Canary Wharf, Piccadilly Circus, Trafalgar Square, the Royal Opera House and the London Eye. Rachel and Leanne will be raising money for the BG Foundation Fund, which provides funds for projects which the university would not normally be able to support through its core funding. “I had the original idea as I’m a runner and wanted to challenge my fitness further,” said Rachel. “I asked my friend and colleague, Leanne, if she wanted to join me, and as she was looking for her first challenge she agreed – although she actually thought I meant the London Moonwalk!” Rachel and Leanne can be found in the university gym most lunchtimes and they began training for the event in September last year. The ride will begin at 10.35pm at the Lee Valley Velodrome, Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in East London and after following a circular route in and out of the city will finish back at the Lee Valley Velodrome. If you would like to sponsor the pair please visit their JustGiving page.
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