Spring 2012 issue (pdf) - York St John University

NEWS
Guarding
presidents
and royalty
Mark Sullivan, a Senior Lecturer in Sport,
has been busy as a member of the
Queen’s Body Guard of the Yeomen of
the Guard since his appointment last
year. The Guard provide ceremonial
duties for, amongst others, state
openings of parliament, the Maundy
service, the Garter ceremony in Windsor
and royal garden parties. Sworn in at a
ceremony held at St James’s Palace at
the beginning of March, his first
engagement was the state visit of
President Obama in May. His role
included providing a ceremonial guard
to welcome the President and being
present at a state banquet. He has since
been present at events such as
Investitures, including one with Sir Bruce
Forsyth and Colin Parkin MBE. He was
also on duty in January at the Epiphany
service held in the Chapel Royal, the
first of several events for this Golden
Jubilee year.
Mark Sullivan in uniform.
Launching
the annual staff
awards
The first annual Celebrating
Exceptional People Awards have
been launched at York St John,
with a special awards’ ceremony
taking place on 11 June.
The theme for 2012 is Enhancing the
Student Experience. Vice Chancellor
Professor David Fleming said, “The awards
will be made to colleagues and teams
who deserve special recognition for their
initiative, effort, creativity and contribution.
All staff can have a positive impact on the
achievement of an outstanding student
experience in a number of different ways,
and I encourage nominations from across
all areas of York St John.”
Nominations are open from 1-31 March.
The awards’ committee, made up of senior
members of staff from across the University,
a representative from the Students’ Union
and an external stakeholder, will then select
three winners from a short list of six.
What are we looking for?
Do you know a colleague or a team that:
• enhances services to students that are
responsive to student needs and
demonstrates a commitment to
excellence
• promotes the student voice, providing
opportunities for student engagement
in aspects of campus life throughout the
student lifecycle
• enhances the campus environment
and community
• embeds inclusive practices in policies
and practices, promoting and celebrating
diversity
• delivers or facilitates exceptional learning
and teaching
• enhances the student offer?
If you would like to nominate a colleague
or a team for the Celebrating Exceptional
People Awards, please complete the
nomination form on the HR web page at
www.yorksj.ac.uk/hr. For further details,
please contact Jo Thompson, T: 6461,
E: j.thompson@yorksj.ac.uk, or Emma
Wilkins, T: 6618, E: e.wilkins@yorksj.ac.uk
Student applications:
bucking the trend
York St John University has experienced an
11 per cent increase in applications for its courses
starting this autumn, according to official statistics
published by UCAS on 30 January.
UCAS released statistics for the first main
deadline for applicants in mid-January.
Despite these statistics showing that
nationally applications have dropped by
an average of 7.4 per cent, York St John
has witnessed an increase in applications
of 11.2 per cent compared to the same
time last year. This placed York St John
fifth out of all universities in England in
terms of the biggest increase in
applications.
The rising popularity of the University’s
courses is part of a longer term
trajectory of growth in demand, the
result of a well-developed strategy. Since
2008, undergraduate applications have
risen by almost 60 per cent and for 2012
entry it received 9,068 applications by
15 January. International applications are
up by over 25 per cent this year, those
from the UK are up by almost 11 per cent
and there has been growth in the arts,
business, theology, education and health
and life sciences.
Commenting on the increase, Vice
Chancellor Professor David Fleming said,
“The community on campus and in the
city makes this a great place to come and
study. We’ve invested in the quality of our
teaching, the campus environment
and opportunities for students to get
fully involved in student life. Potential
students and their families are
recognising how much we are able to
offer and this has had a real impact on
our applications.
“We’ve also put together a strong
package of fee waivers and support and
coupled this with increased work with
schools and colleges and the provision of
more information, advice and guidance.
We want to get the message across that
a university education remains an
excellent choice.”
talk
CONTENTS
02 News
07 Widening participation
07 Research news
08 Focus on…
Learning & Teaching
Development
10 Student Services
update
11 In the spotlight
12 The view from the
Students’ Union
13 Opinion:
Bob Garvey reflects
on coaching and
mentoring
14 Announcements
16 Notice board
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