Transforming diabetic foot care - Glasgow Caledonian University
Transforming diabetic foot care - Glasgow Caledonian University
Transforming diabetic foot care - Glasgow Caledonian University
Create successful ePaper yourself
Turn your PDF publications into a flip-book with our unique Google optimized e-Paper software.
the<strong>Caledonian</strong><br />
News and views for the people of <strong>Glasgow</strong> <strong>Caledonian</strong> <strong>University</strong><br />
<strong>Glasgow</strong> <strong>Caledonian</strong> <strong>University</strong> is a registered Scottish charity, number SC021474<br />
<strong>Transforming</strong><br />
<strong>diabetic</strong> <strong>foot</strong> <strong>care</strong><br />
How academics are bringing about change in India<br />
May 2012<br />
In this issue...<br />
Celebrating International<br />
Nurses Day<br />
page four<br />
Stand(ing) for up science<br />
page seven<br />
Win a John Smith gift card<br />
page eight
<strong>Glasgow</strong> <strong>Caledonian</strong> <strong>University</strong> is a registered Scottish charity, number SC021474<br />
May 2012<br />
page two<br />
Welcome<br />
Whilst it’s generally seen as a<br />
manageable condition in developed<br />
countries, diabetes leads to the<br />
amputation of a limb every 30 seconds<br />
around the world. The disease and its effects<br />
are particularly virulent in India, where it’s been<br />
identified as a pandemic. The <strong>Caledonian</strong><br />
reports on the GCU academics who travelled<br />
to India to train podiatrists in managing the<br />
complications caused by diabetes. Read more<br />
about the difference they’re making on page five.<br />
Also sharing her global expertise is Professor<br />
Barbara Parfitt, Principal of the Grameen<br />
<strong>Caledonian</strong> College for Nursing, who spoke at<br />
a health conference in Mongolia as part of the<br />
celebrations for International Nurses Day.<br />
Elsewhere, we report on research that<br />
explains why Scottish tourism figures are<br />
rocketing and the academic who tried his hand<br />
at stand-up comedy, with surprising results.<br />
Finally, get a head start on your summertime<br />
reading with this month’s competition, where you<br />
can win a John Smith & Son £50 gift card.<br />
Happy reading, and as always, don’t<br />
forget to share your news, views and<br />
stories.<br />
The Communications Team<br />
Contact us:<br />
• Alison Arnot, Head of Communications<br />
and Public Affairs, x8670<br />
• Charlotte Bozic, Internal Communications<br />
Officer, x8680<br />
• Roisin Eadie, Press Officer, x8614<br />
• Lynn McGarry, International<br />
Communications Officer, x8684<br />
• Kenny Fleming, Public Affairs Officer, x1695<br />
• PJ Meiklem, Research and Community<br />
Communications Officer, x8671<br />
the<strong>Caledonian</strong><br />
News and views for the people of <strong>Glasgow</strong> <strong>Caledonian</strong> <strong>University</strong><br />
<strong>Transforming</strong><br />
<strong>diabetic</strong> <strong>foot</strong> <strong>care</strong><br />
How academics are bringing about change in India<br />
In this issue...<br />
Celebrating International<br />
Nurses Day<br />
page four<br />
Stand(ing) for up science<br />
page seven<br />
Win a John Smith gift card<br />
page eight<br />
On the cover: Professor Stuart Baird in India.<br />
“The programme was well<br />
received…(there was) a high<br />
appreciation for the eminent<br />
speakers”<br />
Jerry Philip, Kerala Institute of<br />
Medical Sciences<br />
Read more on page five.<br />
the<strong>Caledonian</strong><br />
43,172,027<br />
people visited<br />
Scotland’s<br />
attractions in<br />
2010<br />
(2010 Visitor<br />
Attraction Monitor)<br />
Tourist numbers<br />
rocket by<br />
four million<br />
GCU’s influential Moffat Centre Visitor<br />
Attraction Monitor 2011, which compiled<br />
the findings of 649 tourist sites across<br />
Scotland, has found that visits to main<br />
tourist attractions rocketed by four million<br />
to nearly 47million last year.<br />
Numbers soared with the re-launch of the<br />
National Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh and<br />
the opening of Riverside Museum in <strong>Glasgow</strong><br />
boosting the figures. The ‘big winners’ were<br />
Scotland’s free-admission attractions, which<br />
overall welcomed twice as many visitors as<br />
paid-for sites.<br />
A collection of rare material from the GCU<br />
archive which sheds light on a unique<br />
period of <strong>Glasgow</strong>’s history was on<br />
display in the city’s Scotland Street School<br />
Museum.<br />
More than forty posters, songbooks, leaflets<br />
and books have been loaned to the new project<br />
called The <strong>Glasgow</strong> Schools, which explores the<br />
city’s Socialist Sunday and Proletarian Schools,<br />
which were secular left-wing alternatives to<br />
church Sunday Schools and active in the city<br />
from 1896 to 1980.<br />
The project, created by artist Ruth Ewan,<br />
comprise an exhibition, a series of events at<br />
Scotland Street School Museum and a printed<br />
publication. It ran from April 20 to May 6.<br />
Items loaned from the university’s ‘Gallacher<br />
Memorial Library’ and the ‘Papers of Jane<br />
McKay’ collections included a book of<br />
proletarian catechisms, the Socialist Sunday<br />
School song book and catalogue of minutes,<br />
reports and letters related to the schools.<br />
Carole McCallum, GCU’s Research Collection<br />
Archivist, said she was “delighted” to lend items<br />
to the exhibition.<br />
She added: “We are committed to sharing<br />
<strong>Glasgow</strong> and Scotland’s proud heritage and our<br />
The findings for 2011, identified by the<br />
Moffat Centre for Travel and Tourism Business<br />
Development Survey, named the free-to-enter<br />
National Museum of Scotland as 2011’s busiest<br />
attraction with 1,494,728 visitors following its<br />
extensive refurbishment completed in July 2011.<br />
The new Riverside Museum in <strong>Glasgow</strong> had<br />
1,068,986 visitors since its opening in June<br />
2011 and St Giles’ Cathedral in Edinburgh<br />
enjoyed a 20% rise to 851,375.<br />
The National Trust for Scotland’s Robert<br />
Burns Birthplace Museum in Alloway saw an<br />
increase of 49.1% to 444,947, following its relaunch<br />
in 2010. Ayrshire and Arran enjoyed the<br />
greatest increase in visitor numbers – up 29.6%.<br />
Professor John Lennon, Director of the<br />
Moffat Centre for Travel and Tourism Business<br />
Development, said: “Partly as a result of the<br />
new and upgraded attractions, the Scottish<br />
Tourism industry continues to develop and we<br />
see positive trends. In previous years we’ve<br />
had shocks such as the volcanic ash cloud and<br />
security issues which have negatively impacted<br />
on the figures. No doubt the recession and fuel<br />
costs have also taken their toll, particularly on<br />
the smaller and more remote attractions without<br />
a secure source of funding.”<br />
Did you know…<br />
The Moffat Centre, a world leader in<br />
tourism business development, has<br />
been surveying Scotland’s attractions<br />
since 1999.<br />
Rare collection illuminates<br />
<strong>Glasgow</strong>’s ‘forgotten’ history<br />
active involvement in exhibitions breaks barriers<br />
and opens our doors to the local community<br />
and beyond.”<br />
Established in London, the Socialist Sunday<br />
School movement’s aims were designed to<br />
counter the dominant influences of Liberalism,<br />
Conservatism and ultimately Capitalism, thought<br />
to be promoted by both church and state<br />
schools. Lessons were grounded in ethics,<br />
morality and love, borrowing heavily from<br />
Christian frameworks, although the schools<br />
were secular.<br />
The schools flourished in the early 1900s, with<br />
over 150 running across the UK in the 1920s.<br />
The movement declined during the following<br />
decade, although some of the <strong>Glasgow</strong> schools<br />
stayed open until 1980, albeit under the new<br />
name of the Socialist Fellowship.<br />
The exhibition was accompanied by a<br />
programme of talks and discussion, song,<br />
performance and magic on Sundays throughout<br />
the <strong>Glasgow</strong> International Festival of Visual Art.<br />
Artist Ruth Ewan thanked GCU for opening<br />
its collection. “I am delighted to be presenting a<br />
unique collection of material from the research<br />
collection at GCU. This has enabled us to shed<br />
light on a forgotten piece of <strong>Glasgow</strong>’s history.”
page three<br />
The legacy of<br />
healthy eating<br />
One in seven<br />
children was found<br />
to be overweight<br />
in the most recent<br />
survey<br />
(NHS)<br />
News<br />
Research in brief<br />
GCU is using its share of profits from the<br />
hugely successful centenary edition of<br />
the <strong>Glasgow</strong> Cookery Book to promote<br />
healthy eating among families in<br />
Drumchapel.<br />
Parents of children attending Cloan Nursery<br />
have been visiting the campus every week<br />
this month to take part in the <strong>Caledonian</strong><br />
Club’s Cook And Eat project, under the expert<br />
guidance of GCU’s staff, students from Human<br />
Nutrition and Dietetics and student mentors.<br />
Thanks to impressive sales of the iconic<br />
recipe book, plus donations from alumni and<br />
friends of GCU, nearly £10,000 was raised.<br />
The <strong>Caledonian</strong> Club, GCU’s awardwinning<br />
widening participation and community<br />
engagement initiative, received £4,000 to<br />
develop a hands-on healthy eating and<br />
nutrition programme.<br />
Parents are taking part in workshops relating<br />
to food hygiene, budgeting, nutrition and<br />
healthy lunchbox/school snacks. There will<br />
also be cookery classes after which parents<br />
will dish up healthy, homemade meals such as<br />
Lisa Roberts has been presented with the<br />
Nursing Times award for Student Nurse of<br />
the Year: Mental Health.<br />
Lisa, in her third year of the Bachelor of<br />
Nursing in Mental Health, impressed adjudicators<br />
with her enthusiasm and passion for her chosen<br />
profession. The judges were looking for people<br />
who were willing to go that extra mile, and rated<br />
each entrant on criteria including academic<br />
excellence and placement performance.<br />
When asked what made Lisa stand out,<br />
a Nursing Times spokesperson said: “Lisa<br />
demonstrates many of the contemporary<br />
values of mental health nursing, she is genuinely<br />
concerned about service and dignity and is<br />
ambassadorial.”<br />
The awards were presented during a grand<br />
ceremony at St Paul’s Grange Hotel, London, in<br />
front of student nurses, nurse leaders, university<br />
<strong>Caledonian</strong> Club’s Cook and Eat project<br />
spaghetti bolognaise and vegetable soups, as<br />
well as healthy, tempting treats for the kids, for<br />
example, fruit smoothies and fruit faces. The<br />
children will be invited along to enjoy the final<br />
cookery class with their parents.<br />
Headteacher at Cloan Nursery, Anne<br />
O’Grady, said: “We continue to be delighted<br />
to be working in partnership with <strong>Glasgow</strong><br />
<strong>Caledonian</strong> <strong>University</strong>.<br />
“This latest project allows us to continue<br />
our journey of aspiration to university life. It<br />
will enhance the health and well being of our<br />
families as well as being great fun.”<br />
Top nursing accolade<br />
for GCU student<br />
Lisa Robert (third from left)<br />
representatives and lecturers from across Britain.<br />
Lisa said: “Winning the Nursing Times award<br />
has been a truly overwhelming experience and<br />
I cannot thank the Mental Health team at GCU<br />
enough for their support and encouragement.<br />
“I have had fantastic clinical placements<br />
during my course and feel ready to act as an<br />
ambassador for GCU and the nursing profession<br />
when I qualify, but most importantly to support<br />
those who use mental health services. I feel<br />
incredibly proud to have my efforts recognised<br />
by Nursing Times and I am excited about the<br />
prospects that may now follow. Winning the<br />
award is both the perfect end to my training and<br />
the perfect start to my <strong>care</strong>er.”<br />
Val Howatson, Lecturer/Pathway Lead: Mental<br />
Health, said: “We are absolutely delighted that<br />
Lisa has won this prestigious award. We are<br />
very proud of her achievement. She deserves<br />
the title of ‘Student Mental Health Nurse of<br />
the Year’ in recognition of her relentless hard<br />
work, enthusiasm and continued effort to<br />
make a difference to the lives of those who are<br />
experiencing mental distress.<br />
“Lisa has demonstrated a high level of<br />
nursing skill throughout the programme. It is<br />
clear from feedback that she receives from her<br />
clinical placements that mentors view her as a<br />
knowledgeable, genuine and skilled nurse. Lisa<br />
is a role model for other students too through<br />
questioning and examining the deeper rationale<br />
for practice, and is always eager to share her<br />
insight with her fellow students.”<br />
Parenting Support Programme For<br />
Domestic Abusers To be Studied<br />
The impact of a new parenting programme<br />
- which will complement current social work<br />
practices designed to minimise the chances of<br />
domestic abuse occurring in high risk families -<br />
will be studied by a team of GCU researchers.<br />
A team led by Professor Liz Gilchrist has<br />
received £100,000 over two years from the<br />
Scottish Government and NHS <strong>Glasgow</strong> to<br />
implement and evaluate the impact of providing<br />
parenting interventions for a group convicted of<br />
domestic abuse offences.<br />
The interventions will be delivered by criminal<br />
justice social workers and women’s support<br />
agencies alongside the ‘service as usual’ work<br />
specifically related to domestic abuse.<br />
One of the project’s main aims is to further<br />
increase safety and improve health and social<br />
outcomes for children in families where there is a<br />
high risk of domestic abuse occurring.<br />
The Parenting and Family Support Research<br />
Programme team, drawn from the Institute for<br />
Applied Health Research and the Institute for<br />
Society and Social Justice Research, includes<br />
Principal Investigator Professor Liz Gilchrist,<br />
Professor Matt Sanders, Dr Keri McPherson and<br />
Tania Loureiro.<br />
Health<strong>care</strong> Associated Infection Team Win<br />
Research Grants<br />
The performance of the World Health<br />
Organisation’s “five moments for hand hygiene”<br />
campaign – which promotes hand washing<br />
amongst health professionals – will be evaluated<br />
in a new project involving Dr Lesley Price,<br />
Professor Jacqui Reilly and staff from Health<br />
Protection Scotland.<br />
The team has received £10,012 from the<br />
Scottish Infection Research Network to evaluate<br />
the success of the campaign in the prevention of<br />
infection transmission.<br />
GCU’s Dr Sue Lang and Dr Lesley Price have<br />
also received £9, 960 from the same funding<br />
body to develop an in vitro model of nasal<br />
colonisation by MRSA to investigate the efficiency<br />
of decolonisation using the antibiotic mupirocin.<br />
Dry Eye Treatments Examined<br />
GCU researchers have tested and evaluated<br />
the efficacy of three types of lubricant eye drops<br />
used in the treatment of the common condition<br />
dry eye.<br />
Professor Alan Tomlinson was awarded<br />
more than £70,000 by health<strong>care</strong> company<br />
Allergan to complete the study.<br />
Want your research to be featured in the<br />
<strong>Caledonian</strong>? Contact PJ Meiklem, Research<br />
and Community Communications Officer, on<br />
peter.meiklem@gcu.ac.uk<br />
the<strong>Caledonian</strong>
page four<br />
News<br />
Anchorman praises<br />
award winning students<br />
John MacKay with REAL WoRLD winners<br />
23,000 nurses serve<br />
145 million people<br />
in Bangladesh -<br />
compared to 680,000<br />
nurses serving 60<br />
million in the UK<br />
(GCCN)<br />
STV news anchorman John MacKay<br />
was full of praise for GCU’s journalism<br />
students when he presented awards<br />
to the winners of the Real WoRLD<br />
employability competition.<br />
John, who also presents Scotland Tonight,<br />
urged students to take advantage of every<br />
opportunity, and to make the most of work<br />
experience placements to get their feet in the<br />
door of the highly competitive media industry.<br />
“Work experience is invaluable and it is a<br />
great chance to make a good impression.<br />
Many people in this industry have built<br />
successful <strong>care</strong>ers on the back of an<br />
impressive work experience placement. The<br />
most important thing is to demonstrate that<br />
you are interested in the opportunities and<br />
experiences to be gained by work experience<br />
– you wouldn’t believe how many people<br />
come in and just sit on Facebook and Twitter,”<br />
said John.<br />
“That’s not to say that social media is not a<br />
useful tool. I am a big fan of GCU’s Caley Chat<br />
opening title sequence, which I first saw on<br />
Twitter.”<br />
Competitors were tasked with interviewing<br />
fellow students who have improved their<br />
employability skills through work experience.<br />
They then told their stories in a print article,<br />
radio/video package or on-line slide show.<br />
First prize went to Rachael Fulton for her<br />
film about Events Management students Ally<br />
Turnbull and Claire Stuart, who set up their<br />
own company, ‘The Company of Wolves’.<br />
As well as a cash prize, Rachael will spend a<br />
week at STV on a work experience placement.<br />
The other winners were Craig Telfer,<br />
Louise Douglas, Antony Bushfield and Harriet<br />
Brace. They won a cash prize funded by<br />
GCU LEAD’s Real WoRLD project and an<br />
internship with one of the employers involved<br />
in the competition, including the Daily Record,<br />
PR companies and the press offices of the<br />
Scottish Funding Council and British Transport<br />
Police.<br />
Professor Barbara Parfitt<br />
Celebrating<br />
International<br />
Nurses Day<br />
Professor Barbara Parfitt ensured that<br />
International Nurses Day was a truly global<br />
experience, with events taking place in<br />
Mongolia and Bangladesh.<br />
Starting with an address to a global health<br />
conference in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, Professor<br />
Parfitt then returned to the Grameen <strong>Caledonian</strong><br />
College of Nursing in Dhaka, Bangladesh, to<br />
celebrate with students.<br />
She says: “Our students held a small event in<br />
the college on the 12th but on the 17th, when<br />
I got back, we held a celebration and candle<br />
ceremony with first and second year students<br />
taking their nurses oath.<br />
“Last year, Princess Anne attended the<br />
ceremony and this time we invited the new<br />
Director of Nursing Services in Bangladesh<br />
to be our chief guest. We emphasise that<br />
our students will be ‘international nurses’ to<br />
distinguish them from those being trained<br />
in poorer quality colleges and schools. We<br />
want them to feel proud and to feel part of the<br />
larger, international community of nursing. The<br />
profession is looked down on here but I believe<br />
we are changing attitudes.”<br />
Professor Parfitt’s five decade long <strong>care</strong>er<br />
has taken her across the world. She has<br />
worked in the rural mountains of Afghanistan<br />
and Bhutan as a community nurse and midwife,<br />
as well as posts closer to home in London and<br />
at Manchester <strong>University</strong>.<br />
A move to GCU in 1995 led to a new <strong>care</strong>er<br />
direction when Professor Parfitt agreed to take<br />
on the challenge of establishing the Grameen<br />
<strong>Caledonian</strong> College of Nursing in Bangladesh,<br />
a country where nurses are poorly regarded but<br />
desperately needed.<br />
In 2009, Principal and Vice Chancellor<br />
Pamela Gillies, and Nobel Peace Prize winner<br />
Muhammad Yunus, founder of the Grameen<br />
Trust in Bangladesh, reached agreement to<br />
establish a college for the education of nurses<br />
and midwives in Dhaka.<br />
The college opened to students the following<br />
year, offering the opportunity to train to the<br />
highest standards through the provision of<br />
quality education and research. Two years on,<br />
it continues to go from strength to strength,<br />
with regular visits from GCU nursing students,<br />
academics and researchers helping to maintain<br />
close links with the <strong>Glasgow</strong> campus.<br />
Professor Parfitt believes the college offers<br />
young women more than the chance of a<br />
<strong>care</strong>er – its work will impact on the community<br />
health needs of Bangladesh while encouraging<br />
new life skills for young women who are too<br />
often caught in a cycle of early marriage, early<br />
child-bearing and early death.<br />
Professor Parfitt has also recently returned<br />
from the World Health Congress in Washington,<br />
which was attended by more than 3,000<br />
delegates and aims to promote social business,<br />
technology for health and innovations in health<br />
<strong>care</strong>. She said: “I was part of the delegation with<br />
Professor Yunus, and we met potential donors<br />
and partners for health projects, including the<br />
nursing college.”<br />
Did you know…<br />
Bangladesh currently has more doctors<br />
than trained nurses and high maternal<br />
and child mortality statistics.<br />
“I believe we<br />
are making<br />
progress and<br />
that attitudes<br />
are starting to<br />
change”<br />
the<strong>Caledonian</strong><br />
Barbara Parfitt with Grameen <strong>Caledonian</strong> College students<br />
Professor Barbara Parfitt
<strong>Transforming</strong> <strong>diabetic</strong><br />
<strong>foot</strong> <strong>care</strong> in India<br />
At 60 million,<br />
India has more<br />
<strong>diabetic</strong>s than<br />
anywhere else in<br />
the world<br />
(International Diabetes<br />
Foundation)<br />
News<br />
Flying colours for LILAC<br />
page five<br />
LILAC Ladies<br />
Professor Stuart Baird and Christine Skinner in India<br />
Two GCU podiatrists have been helping<br />
transform the <strong>care</strong> of India’s diabetes<br />
patients, where the disease has been<br />
identified by WHO as a pandemic.<br />
Professor Stuart Baird and Christine Skinner<br />
have been training physicians in managing the<br />
complications caused by diabetes, which leads<br />
to the amputation of a limb every 30 seconds<br />
around the world.<br />
The former World Health Organisation<br />
consultants in <strong>diabetic</strong> <strong>foot</strong> disease partnered<br />
with Calicut’s Institute of Palliative Medicine<br />
and Trivandum’s Kerala Institute of Medical<br />
Sciences to run academic and practical<br />
workshops for 140 physicians last month. The<br />
workshops were funded by Dr P Mohamad Ali,<br />
Chair of the Mfar Group and the <strong>University</strong>’s<br />
partner in Oman, <strong>Caledonian</strong> College of<br />
Engineering, and demonstrated to physicians<br />
the techniques required to assess and manage<br />
the complications caused by diabetes. The loss<br />
of sensation and poor blood supply to the feet<br />
and legs caused by diabetes contribute to high<br />
levels of amputation across India.<br />
It is the second time Stuart and Christine<br />
have run the workshops. Last year the duo<br />
reached hundreds of physicians in Mumbai,<br />
Delhi and Chennai after winning South East<br />
Asia Development funding from the Scottish<br />
Government to take their expertise to India.<br />
Stuart said: “Diabetes is a massive<br />
problem in India, and its complications can be<br />
devastating for individuals and an enormous<br />
burden on the health <strong>care</strong> system. Additionally,<br />
the socio-economic burden of limb amputation<br />
cannot be overestimated. There is a limited<br />
knowledge base and expertise in India and<br />
physicians have limited knowledge of the vital<br />
early identification, detection and management<br />
of <strong>diabetic</strong> <strong>foot</strong> disease, which is considered<br />
as the major risk factor in non-traumatic limb<br />
amputation worldwide. We hope the physicians<br />
we met can use this new knowledge to assess<br />
<strong>diabetic</strong> feet early, identify complications and<br />
advise their patients on practical issues such<br />
as not walking bare <strong>foot</strong> when they have lost<br />
sensation in the soles of their feet as bare<strong>foot</strong><br />
walking is a common practice in India. That kind<br />
of advice can make an enormous difference to<br />
patients’ lives.”<br />
Said Christine: “We were so impressed<br />
with the participants’ eagerness to learn and<br />
improve their skills for the benefit of their<br />
patients. We felt humbled by their enthusiasm<br />
and by the amazing work and great standard<br />
of <strong>care</strong> at both institutions. The Institute of<br />
Palliative Medicine, for example, is run largely on<br />
charitable donations and has extremely limited<br />
resources, but it is doing incredible work in<br />
difficult conditions. The <strong>care</strong> its patients receive<br />
is superb.”<br />
Jerry Philip, of Kerala Institute of Medical<br />
Sciences, said: “The programme was well<br />
received by senior doctors, diabetologists,<br />
podiatrists and senior nursing and palliative <strong>care</strong><br />
personnel who had a high appreciation for the<br />
eminent speakers. We look forward for many<br />
more associations like this in the near future.”<br />
“ I am delighted that the<br />
university agreed to send its<br />
eminent professors across<br />
the continent to train our<br />
physicians and medical staff<br />
to effectively manage and<br />
deal with the complications<br />
related to <strong>diabetic</strong>s”<br />
Dr P Mohamad Ali, Chair of the Mfar Group<br />
GCU hosted the international LILAC<br />
(Librarians’ Information Literacy Annual<br />
Conference) last month – the first<br />
time the conference has been held in<br />
Scotland.<br />
For four days, the Saltire Centre was<br />
home to 109 delegates, from 20 countries<br />
spanning five continents. They enjoyed a<br />
lively programme featuring three prestigious<br />
keynote speakers, interactive workshops,<br />
symposiums, presentations and a popular<br />
‘speed dating’ session, where delegates got<br />
to exchange different ideas.<br />
Feedback from conference delegates has<br />
been very positive, with praise for everything<br />
from the location to the catering – with<br />
Tunnocks wafers proving particularly popular!<br />
Student Malgorzata Fedorowska helped<br />
with the conference as part of her MSc<br />
in International Events Management. She<br />
says: “The conference in general was well<br />
organised and offered a healthy variety of<br />
workshops and networking opportunities.<br />
From my observation I noticed that the<br />
location of GCU, the support of university<br />
staff and volunteers who backed the project,<br />
and the facilities and strengths of the campus<br />
were as significant in shaping the conference<br />
in a practical sense as the chosen theme set<br />
the academic parameters.”<br />
“ LILAC is a truly<br />
international conference<br />
and showcased GCU<br />
and <strong>Glasgow</strong> as a great<br />
venue. Staff from across<br />
the departments came<br />
together to make it such<br />
a successful event. I feel<br />
the quality of the keynote<br />
speakers and session<br />
presenters was very high<br />
and we have had excellent<br />
feedback from the<br />
attendees”<br />
Heather Marshall, Senior Librarian<br />
the<strong>Caledonian</strong>
page six<br />
News<br />
The view from here:<br />
Moyra Muir<br />
the<strong>Caledonian</strong><br />
90% of new<br />
jobs will require<br />
excellent digital<br />
skills<br />
(JISC)<br />
Who? Moyra Muir,<br />
winner of the Studentled<br />
Teaching Award<br />
for Effective Teaching<br />
That: Offers Support<br />
and Recognises<br />
Students as<br />
Individuals. My primary<br />
responsibility has been<br />
Moyra Muir<br />
in relation to practice<br />
education facilitation and supporting students<br />
to integrate theory into professional practice in<br />
occupational therapy.<br />
What? My approach to facilitating learning<br />
is based on the FAIR principles: FEEDBACK<br />
that is constructive and frequent; ACTIVITIES<br />
promoting self directed learning behaviours;<br />
INDIVIDUALISED approaches to learning<br />
and RELEVANCE for enhancing motivation<br />
and ensuring learning outcomes meet the<br />
learner’s needs. I use this when students<br />
experience challenges on practice placement<br />
modules. It can be used with active listening,<br />
whilst encouraging students to reflect on their<br />
performance, consider other viewpoints and<br />
agree a future development action plan.<br />
So what? I have found this approach useful<br />
when students are underperforming on<br />
placement. Interpreting feedback from their<br />
practice educator to support students in<br />
accepting responsibility and being able to move<br />
forward with a positive approach to their future<br />
learning is crucial at this stage. Students require<br />
a level of insight and some may have difficulty<br />
identifying their learning needs. In such cases it<br />
is useful to use the Johari Window for learningneeds<br />
analysis, whilst educating both student<br />
and practice educator in strategies to manage<br />
blocks in the learning cycle can offer practical<br />
help. This can empower students to take control<br />
of their learning and explore with their educator,<br />
individual activities and strategies in order to<br />
achieve personal, agreed goals which meet the<br />
learning outcomes.<br />
Our external assessors have commented on<br />
the high quality of support provided to students<br />
on placement by our team, whilst students<br />
have appreciated the “warm and receptive<br />
approach”.<br />
What next? Applying FAIR principles in our<br />
teaching practice can be beneficial in developing<br />
confident and employable graduates.<br />
Do you have a teaching/assessment<br />
method or tool which you’d like to share<br />
with colleagues? Contact a.nimmo@gcu.<br />
ac.uk at GCU LEAD.<br />
The Future of Libraries<br />
By Heather Marshall, Senior Librarian<br />
When discussing libraries, I find there<br />
is an assumption that if hard copy<br />
books become obsolete then surely the<br />
library that houses them would now be<br />
redundant. A library is so much more<br />
than the building or the stock - the true<br />
heart of a library is the service provided.<br />
The format of resources changes constantly<br />
but as our core purpose is enabling access<br />
to those resources we adapt our tools and<br />
grow our skills as necessary. The role of the<br />
staff in a library is to empower the searcher<br />
to use the most relevant resource for them.<br />
For instance, the GCU library has books<br />
and journals, extensive eresources, archives<br />
of primary source materials and special<br />
collections, conference proceedings and<br />
many other resources. Our library catalogue is<br />
available on Facebook and on mobile devices,<br />
we are investigating the future use of tablets<br />
such as iPads and ebook readers, and are in<br />
a time of exciting change where the next new<br />
development could change the library field<br />
completely.<br />
There is a real skills gap between being able<br />
to search the internet for information or use it<br />
for social media and effectively selecting and<br />
searching a complex, professional database.<br />
Digital literacy is increasingly important; JISC<br />
states that improving digital literacy is an<br />
<strong>Caledonian</strong><br />
insight<br />
essential component of developing employable<br />
graduates.<br />
Librarians seek to address this gap by<br />
helping you assess the quality and reliability<br />
of information, and so we help users to refine<br />
and narrow their searching - finding too much<br />
information is the most common problem<br />
today’s searchers face. Tara Brabazon<br />
described this as Information Obesity at the<br />
recent LILAC conference held here at GCU.<br />
Think of your librarian as a personal information<br />
trainer that can cut out the excess and help<br />
you to detox your information diet!<br />
Journalism award established<br />
in Darren’s memory<br />
Graduate Darren Joliny, who died<br />
suddenly in January, is to be remembered<br />
through an annual prize for journalism<br />
students. The <strong>Glasgow</strong> School for Business<br />
and Society is establishing the award<br />
to recognise the top students in the BA<br />
Journalism graduating class.<br />
Darren, 21, from East Kilbride, collapsed<br />
while playing <strong>foot</strong>ball on Saturday, January 7.<br />
Doctors have stated that the cause of death<br />
was ‘sudden arrhythmic death syndrome’.<br />
Nick Bevens, BA Multimedia Journalism<br />
programme leader, said: “We are delighted<br />
to launch this award in memory of such a<br />
talented and popular student as Darren.<br />
“Darren’s untimely death stopped us all in<br />
our tracks. He only just graduated last summer<br />
and he was justifiably looking forward to a<br />
very promising future. Darren was enormously<br />
popular among his tutors, his peer group, and<br />
right across the university; he was an integral<br />
part of every class he was in, a larger-than-life<br />
character in every sense.<br />
“His loss was felt by everyone here, so we<br />
hope this annual award will act as a timely<br />
reminder of what a great person he was, and<br />
what a great contribution he made to so many<br />
people, and to GCU.”<br />
Darren’s uncle, Michael McCann MP, said:<br />
“Darren was only with us for 21 short years<br />
but his family knew he was a special individual.<br />
The Darren Joliny Prize for Journalism will be<br />
awarded annually in his memory and a lot<br />
more people will find out how special a person<br />
he was.<br />
“On behalf of the family, I’d like to thank the<br />
<strong>Glasgow</strong> School for Business and Society for<br />
remembering Darren in such a unique and<br />
special way.”<br />
Rory Herron, Darren’s classmate, friend<br />
and GCU Student President 2010-2011,<br />
said: “Anyone who was lucky enough to have<br />
taught, studied alongside or even had the<br />
pleasure of meeting Darren will welcome this<br />
important and meaningful way to remember<br />
him and celebrate his achievements.”<br />
To find out more about<br />
how to support the<br />
Darren Joliny Award,<br />
please visit<br />
www.gcu.<br />
ac.uk/alumni/<br />
makeadonation
Stand(ing) up<br />
for science<br />
Professor Keith Stevenson proved science<br />
does have a funny bone when he delivered<br />
a stand-up comedy routine on Science,<br />
Physiology and the Body at the Edinburgh<br />
International Science Festival<br />
He performed to over 160 people at an<br />
event hosted by the Physiological Society and<br />
presented by the Bright Club, which encourages<br />
academics to blend their research with comedy<br />
and performance, resulting in what the Guardian<br />
has described as ‘a thinking person’s comedy<br />
night’.<br />
The Professor of Interprofessional Education<br />
in the School of Health and Life Sciences, who<br />
has never performed comedy before, says:<br />
“I’ve always had an interest in the delivery of<br />
information, and been fascinated by stand-up<br />
comedians - not so much what they say but<br />
how they say it, how they develop ideas and<br />
keep people’s interest. I liked the idea of using<br />
stand-up to deliver hard scientific facts whilst<br />
also amusing people. So when an email asking<br />
for volunteers to perform with the Bright Club<br />
appeared, it seemed the ideal opportunity.”<br />
His pitch to the Bright Club involved statistics<br />
- but a rather controversial way of testing out<br />
a newborn baby’s reflexes won<br />
organisers over.<br />
“I tried to put science, physiology<br />
and the developing body together in<br />
a way in an eight minute routine that<br />
the audience would appreciate and<br />
leave the session having engaged<br />
with some aspects of science<br />
and how it is applied to predicting<br />
the developmental physiological<br />
processes of newborn children...and I<br />
suppose they will also have left with a<br />
concern that I am as mad as a hatter.”<br />
As for stage fright, Keith admits<br />
it was a daunting experience. “As a<br />
lecturer, I’m used to standing in front<br />
of students but these people had<br />
paid to come and listen and laugh,<br />
so I suppose they were quite entitled<br />
to walk out if they were not enjoying<br />
themselves!”<br />
However, reviews were positive.<br />
“I was described as ‘eye-wettingly<br />
funny’ and one of my jokes actually<br />
got applause, which I hadn’t<br />
expected, because the last time I tried<br />
it out it resulted in shocked silence<br />
from my student audience.”<br />
Keith doesn’t believe that applying<br />
comedy to research demeans<br />
it; rather, the opposite. “Standup<br />
comedy can be enlightening,<br />
educational and can bring an<br />
understanding of how the process of<br />
research works to a wider audience.<br />
I’d certainly recommend it to my<br />
academic peers. It’s also good for<br />
PhD students as a way of helping them explain<br />
what they are doing, why it’s important and being<br />
able to present it in an easily understandable<br />
format - useful skills for a viva (oral exam) and<br />
academic life generally.”<br />
“ It’s an excellent opportunity<br />
for academic public<br />
engagement and provides<br />
educational information<br />
whilst ensuring your audience<br />
are enjoying themselves”<br />
Professor Keith Stevenson<br />
Will Keith take to the stage again? “Yes, but<br />
I may need to try a new routine - perhaps next<br />
time I will try out my idea of making statistics<br />
stand up and be counted” (pause for laughter).<br />
Professor Keith Stevenson will be performing<br />
at The Stand in July – look out for more details in<br />
<strong>Caledonian</strong> Connected. Any academics who are<br />
interested in being part of the Bright Club should<br />
contact 0702496H@student.gla.ac.uk<br />
Professor Keith Stevenson<br />
2009 was<br />
Bright Club’s<br />
first appearance,<br />
at UCL on the<br />
theme of lust<br />
(UCL)<br />
Pass it on...<br />
News<br />
page seven<br />
The question of new or increased charges<br />
for resits and retaken modules has been<br />
reviewed and it has been decided that there<br />
will be no resit fees and the structure of the<br />
schedule of fees will remain unchanged for<br />
retaken modules.<br />
Please ensure that your students are aware<br />
of this.<br />
The Public Relations team are in the<br />
process of updating the media experts list,<br />
which lists academics and their subjects<br />
of expertise. If you would like to be included,<br />
please get in touch with Roisin Eadie with your<br />
speciality, phone and email at roisin.eadie@<br />
gcu.ac.uk<br />
Your input is needed for the new GCU<br />
People Strategy, which is being pulled<br />
together by the Director of People, with<br />
support from a steering group of academic and<br />
support colleagues and JCC members. Email<br />
peoplestrategy@gcu.ac.uk to find out more.<br />
The Moffat Scholarships are now open<br />
for applications from travel, tourism<br />
and events students. Scholarship awards<br />
worth £3,600 are available to be won by<br />
undergraduate and postgraduate students.<br />
www.moffatcentre.com/scholarships/<br />
The spring wave of the International<br />
Student Barometer survey is now open.<br />
Please promote the survey to all international<br />
students and encourage them to take part.<br />
Students will get the opportunity to enter a prize<br />
draw where they can win £1,000, as well as a<br />
number of smaller prizes.<br />
Green fingered staff should join the GCU<br />
gardening group, responsible for new raised<br />
beds at <strong>Caledonian</strong> Court which are being used<br />
as allotments. Email joseph.humble@gcu.<br />
ac.uk to find out more. If you can donate or<br />
lend un-needed tools for the use of the group,<br />
please let Joey know.<br />
Novelist and cultural fellow Anne Donovan<br />
will be holding further writing workshops<br />
and book groups for staff and students this<br />
summer. To find out more, email charlotte.<br />
bozic@gcu.ac.uk<br />
the<strong>Caledonian</strong>
page eight<br />
Competition<br />
Win a £50 John Smith<br />
& Son gift card<br />
One in six<br />
people in the<br />
UK struggle<br />
with literacy<br />
(Literacy Trust)<br />
Where do you read yours?<br />
Where did you read your copy of<br />
the <strong>Caledonian</strong>?<br />
With Plato during the 3rd International<br />
Professional Doctorate Conference<br />
at the European <strong>University</strong> Institute in<br />
Florence.<br />
Where would you rather read it?<br />
On a Florentine hillside of olive trees and<br />
rosemary overlooking the Cathedral of<br />
Santa Maria with the sun in the sky and<br />
a large glass of Montepulciano.<br />
If you’re looking for summertime reads<br />
to take on your holidays, don’t forget that<br />
there’s a book shop right here on campus,<br />
with special deals for GCU staff and<br />
students.<br />
John Smith & Son, named Academic &<br />
Professional Bookseller of the Year 2006, 2007,<br />
2008, 2009 and 2011, is the oldest bookselling<br />
company in the English speaking world. In<br />
addition to a wide range of academic and fiction<br />
titles, the campus store also stocks stationery,<br />
greetings cards, confectionary and more.<br />
Offers this summer include a 25% discount<br />
on all children’s fiction and graphic novel<br />
selections. Going abroad? You can get money<br />
off your travel guide/phrasebooks and plan for<br />
the year ahead with new academic year diaries.<br />
John Smith’s are also willing to buy back<br />
books that have been used by students. This<br />
offer is available on a wide range of subjects,<br />
from marketing to nursing, and the store has<br />
agreed to buy selected titles if they are in good<br />
condition. For a list of what these books are,<br />
please contact chris.mclaughlin@johnsmith.<br />
co.uk.<br />
The store, which is located opposite the<br />
ARC Health and Fitness Centre, will be open all<br />
summer and will have more promotions running<br />
throughout, so make time to pop in and see<br />
what’s on offer!<br />
John Smith & Son is offering <strong>Caledonian</strong><br />
readers the chance to win a £50 gift card, which<br />
can be used at any John Smith store. To be in<br />
with the chance to win, all you need to do is<br />
answer the following question, the answer to<br />
which can be found in the pages of this issue.<br />
At which festival did Professor Keith Stevenson<br />
make his stand-up comedy debut at? Email<br />
your answer to thecaledonian@gcu.ac.uk or<br />
send a postcard to Room H216, by no later<br />
than Tuesday June 5.<br />
From l-r: Dr Brian Ellis, Hilary Tennant, Prof Bonnie Steves<br />
and Dr Dan Soule<br />
Who are you?<br />
Professional Doctorate Team in the Graduate<br />
School.<br />
What do you do?<br />
Lead, teach and administer the Professional<br />
Doctorate Framework programme.<br />
Best thing about your job?<br />
Working with each other.<br />
Worst thing about your job?<br />
Working with each other!<br />
Your<br />
month in<br />
pictures:<br />
Got a photo that captures<br />
your month? Send it to<br />
thecaledonian@gcu.ac.uk<br />
or to Charlotte Bozic in Room<br />
H216, along with a brief<br />
explanation. The team’s favourite<br />
will be published.<br />
Water fun at Greenbank Gardens<br />
Carol Chisholm<br />
Freshers and farewells<br />
Who would you like to read it<br />
with?<br />
Socrates.<br />
What would you do afterwards?<br />
Try to not be around him when the Athenians<br />
condemn him to drink hemlock! ....and check<br />
whether we can incorporate Italian courtyards<br />
into ‘GCU Campus Futures’.<br />
Have you got a hidden talent?<br />
Yes, we all do, but we can’t decide whose is the<br />
best talent to include here!<br />
Where will you be in 10 years time?<br />
Proudly watching another group of our students<br />
walking across the platform to graduate with their<br />
Professional Doctorate Degrees.<br />
New York City Cop -<br />
David Scott<br />
Welcome: Beverley Gardiner; John Kerr; Amy Cartwright; Carol Emslie; Peter Seaman; Peter Kirby;<br />
Robert Ruthven; Jan Pringle; Robert Taylor; Nancy Lombard; Jackie Main and Richard Watson.<br />
All the best: Janice Fairlie; Maureen McQueen; Ailie Ferrari; Adelle Hopkins; Andrew Eadie; David<br />
Love; Yan Xu; Emma Sterry; Gerard McCarthy; Anne Calderhead; Anthony Harrison; David Stribling;<br />
Linda McKie and Louisa Alexander.<br />
the<strong>Caledonian</strong><br />
If you have an idea for a story or want to tell us your views, please contact Alison Arnot,<br />
Head of Communications and Public Affairs, x8670, Charlotte Bozic, Internal Communications<br />
Officer, x8680, Roisin Eadie, Press Officer, x8614 Lynn McGarry, International Communications<br />
Officer, x8684 or email thecaledonian@gcu.ac.uk<br />
Design and Print: Print Design Services, <strong>Glasgow</strong> <strong>Caledonian</strong> <strong>University</strong> © <strong>Glasgow</strong> <strong>Caledonian</strong> <strong>University</strong> 2012<br />
Please recycle your copy of The <strong>Caledonian</strong>