University Updates
21 September 2007
News
Coming soon! Staff survey
In mid-October the University will be carrying out a survey to give staff the opportunity to voice their opinions on a number of subjects: from pay to job satisfaction, the way the University is managed to how it supports your work-life balance. You’ll also be asked what you like about working at the University and what you think could be improved. Look out for more details on the homepage next week
New Director of Postgraduate Research Development
Dr Alan Wheals, from the Department of Biology & Biochemistry, has taken up the role of Director of Postgraduate Research Development for three years (from 1 August 2007). The core of Dr Wheals' new role is to maintain oversight of all activities involving postgraduate research student provision, to provide timely advice and to develop coherent policies and direction for postgraduate development.
New Postgraduate Skills Training Coordinator appointed
The University of Bath has recently appointed a new Postgraduate Skills Training Coordinator, Dr Tracey Stead, who started at the University on 10 September. The new post is funded by ‘Roberts money’ and the aim is to develop, provide and source developmental training for research postgraduates and to coordinate provision across the institution.
MSc in Management listed in FT's Masters ranking for third consecutive year
Bath’s MSc in Management programme has once again been listed in the Financial Times’ ranking of the top 40 European Masters in Management programmes, published this week. The School of Management is very pleased to be ranked 7th in the UK and 30th in Europe.
Could you inspire school students?
Academics, researchers and PhD students who would like to inspire and encourage local primary and secondary school pupils into higher education are invited to get involved with the University’s outreach programme.
Classic printing press donated to Library
A Victorian handpress, used in Bath for fine letterpress printing for more than a century, officially found a new home at the Library & Learning Centre where it will accompany the Pitman archives held within the Library’s collection.
Translation firm launches language news online
Staff in businesses with overseas markets can get help with translations into foreign languages by using a new website launched by the University's translation company, Syntacta.
New short courses for local business people
Business people can access an extensive range of short, practical courses to develop their business skills in a programme launched by the University of Bath in Swindon.
New course develops management skills
Local people who want to enhance their career prospects can study for a diploma qualification in management, through a new part-time course at the University starting on Monday 24 September.
Plenty of interest in Pleasure Gardens Symposium
A highly successful symposium was held at the Holburne Museum this week; the event was sold out with over 80 delegates attending. The day concluded with a topic of interest to all Bathonians, ‘The Future of the Pleasure Garden; Sydney Gardens restored’. This brought the pleasure gardens theme into the 21st century with the proposal to restore Bath’s jewel - the only remaining eighteenth-century pleasure garden, which is still largely intact.
Information
Personal details held by HR - over 1500 staff respond to call
Human Resources are asking each member of staff to check their own personal details currently held on the University’s main HR system. You can access your Personal Data Statement via a simple webpage, which shows your data including name, personal details, addresses and contacts. The checking process is designed to be easy and is the first stage in ensuring the University holds correct up-to-date information about you. Special arrangements will be made for those without access to email. Thank you to those who have completed the form already; if you have not yet had the time, HR would encourage you to check your own personal details.
Consultation on academic staff appraisal
The University is beginning a consultation on the appraisal of academic staff following clear signs of dissatisfaction with the current system. A consultation paper plus a draft of a new form has been sent to all the academic departments. This is also available online so that any individual members of academic staff can also make a response. Responses should be sent to Professor Ian Jamieson, Pro-Vice-Chancellor Learning and Teaching, Vice-Chancellor's Office. Deadline: 26 October 2007.
Sign up for October Half-term Playscheme
The University Playscheme will run from Monday 22 October to Friday
26 October at St Martin's Garden Primary School from 8.30am till 5.30pm.
Cost: £8 a day for students; £15 a day for staff: £16 a day for community. Parents are welcome to use the Care4 Voucher Scheme.
Ramadan
Please note that we are currently in the season of Ramadan. This means that Muslim students (and staff) may be fasting during daylight hours. Please be aware that this may effect performance and concentration in lectures and seminars.
Book your Christmas lunch early
Wessex Restaurant is now taking Christmas bookings. The Christmas lunch menu is available from 3 December until 21 December. Please book early to avoid disappointment. Call ext: 5345.
Jobs
Vacant posts: www.bath.ac.uk/jobs
Lectures
Public lectures at the University
The programme for 2007/8 has been published. Members of the general public, staff and students are all very welcome to attend the lectures which are usually free. The list will be updated as more lecture titles become available.
Lectures to launch new Masters course
On Friday 5 October, Professor John Dixon Hunt of the University of Pennsylvania will give the opening lecture to students on the new MSc in the Conservation of Historic Gardens and Cultural Landscapes, provocatively titled ‘What is it about gardens that you want to conserve?' This will be followed by a public lecture from 6-7pm in the Department of Architecture & Civil Engineering, to which all are invited, entitled: ‘The disappearing margin: The issue of meaning in modern landscape architecture’.
Wiltshire’s inspirational landscape: lunchtime lecture
The role of Wiltshire’s landscape in inspiring artists through time will be explored in a lunchtime lecture entitled 'Spirit Country' at the University of Bath in Swindon (Tuesday 25 September).
Online resources
Websites take on new corporate look
The Student Support Services generic website has been updated to bring it in line with the University template, and to ease navigation for students and staff. The departments of Mechanical Engineering and European Studies & Modern Languages have also moved their sites to the new look recently.
Training & development opportunities
- Effective Delegation - 10 October
- IT Training timetable: Autumn 2007
In the media
- Geoff Hammond (Mechanical Engineering) appeared on the ITV West programme, 'The West this week', discussing Liberal Democrat green policies on a carbon-neutral Britain.
- Chris Riddoch (Sport & Exercise Science) talked on Sky News, BBC Radio 5 Live, IRN, and BBC Radio Somerset talking about his findings that children are not getting enough exercise.
- Felicity Wikeley (Education) described the educational disadvantages that poorer children suffer because they are excluded from extra-curricular activities on BBC Radio 4's ‘The Learning Curve.’
- Adam Joinson (Management) gave an interview on the BBC World Service where he discussed the risks involved with using internet-based social networking sites.
- Clothes for Death, the ICIA exhibition by Margareta Kern, presented in conjunction with DDD conference, was reviewed in Metro Newspaper & Bath magazine.
- Darren Mew, one of Team Bath's Olympians, will pass on some of his top swimming tips on tomorrow's (22 September) edition of the BBC’s popular Sportsround programme.
Exhibitions
Judith
Tucker - Resort | ICIA Art Space 1, Claverton Rooms foyer, till
12 October
Judith Tucker's haunting drawings of the Baltic seaside resort of
Ahlbeck are inspired by photographs her grandmother brought with her
when she fled Nazi Germany to England in 1938. The charcoal drawings are infused with a sense of loss that shimmer with regret and yearning. Through melancholic coastal settings, the exhibition evokes memories of a vanished past.
Margareta Kern - Clothes for Death | ICIA Art Space 2, till 4 January
Interdisciplinary artist presents powerful and intimate photographs as a personal response to a tradition in Croatia and Bosnia & Herzegovina of women preparing clothes for their own burial.
Canaletto & the
English Pleasure Garden | Holburne Museum, till
30 September
Two magnificent paintings by Canaletto form the centre-piece of an exhibition which explores the phenomenon of the Georgian pleasure gardens. The Holburne's building was the gateway to Sydney Gardens where Jane Austen once strolled and this exhibition both celebrates its position and offers an enticing glimpse into eighteenth-century leisure.
Arts
Booking now open for ICIA classes and performances
All classes start week commencing 8 October. Classes in dance, art and music. Sign up at ICIA box office (1E2.1) or call ext 6777
Sport
Sporting success to be featured on TV
A series of items about sport at the University of Bath will feature on BBC One’s regional Points West programme each day next week (week beginning Monday 24 September).
National Performance Centres for hockey announced
A consortium between the University of Bath, University of Bristol and University of the West of England has been named by England Hockey as one of four new National Performance Centres (NPC).
Team Bath FC face Cheshunt challenge
Team Bath FC aim to keep the pressure on at the top of the league when the travel to bottom of the table Cheshunt tomorrow (Saturday 22 September). The date of Team Bath FC’s FA Cup trip to Portsmouth to play Moneyfields has been changed to Friday 28 September.