Communicator, Issue 28 (Winter 2009) - University of Portsmouth

06
University update
Sue Harper retires after 41 years’ service
I first came to Portsmouth in September 1968, as a Junior Lecturer in Literature. Portsmouth was then a College of Advanced
Technology and the arts and humanities were very much a small adjunct of Portsmouth’s work. Since then, I have progressed
to Professor in Film History and the areas of film, media, literature and popular culture make an important contribution to the
University’s work. So my profile, and that of Portsmouth, has been completely transformed.
Mentoring@
portsmouth
Over the next six months Foundation Direct (Centre for Excellence
in Teaching and Learning) is developing ‘Mentoring@portsmouth’.
This new, University-wide Victory site will contain generic mentoring
resources, support and online basic mentor skills training,
supplemented with context-specific resources and guidance
for various programmes.
Building on the success of the CETL’s existing website, Mentor Direct,
the new site will be available to support both formal and informal staff
to staff, student to student and student to work-based professional
mentoring (a limited number of places are available for external users).
Mentoring@portsmouth will be launched in late spring/early summer
next year. If you are interested in using this site to support your own
mentoring scheme and would like to contribute resources or be
involved in the redevelopment, please contact sarah.fielding@port.
ac.uk or look out for further information at the University’s Christmas
Learning and Teaching Conference on 15 December.
European Health
and Safety Week
To mark European Health and Safety Week, the City Council
joined forces with the Emergency Services and the University’s
Health and Safety Team to run an event called ‘Health and
Safety – Am I Bovvered!’ The event was held on Tuesday 20
October in Cascades Shopping Centre.
Pauline Hamblin, Mark White and Ben Laker from the Health and
Safety Team ran an exhibition and offered advice on back care
through good posture and correct lifting techniques.
The event had a light-hearted side with a conker tournament
designed to dispel some of the myths surrounding health and
safety and the image of the Health and Safety Officer as a killjoy.
Communicator | Winter 2009
When I first came here, English
and history were taught as external
degrees to London University. Now
we grant our own degrees. I have
been in five different departments and
taught on about ten different degree
programmes. External research grants,
PhD supervision and writing books
have taken up my energies in the last
few years. It has been hard work,
but stimulating and I have been very
fortunate in the support of SCAFM and
CCI, where I have felt really at home.
Retirement for me doesn’t mean stopping
intellectual work – far from it. It just means
I have time to write the books, without
having to teach or go to meetings. I hope
that as an Emeritus, I will be maintaining
those links with Portsmouth that I value
so much.
Graduate
Recruitment
Fair 2009
The Graduate Recruitment and Placement Fair 2009 saw almost
1,900 students and graduates attending. Held on the 4 November
2009 and organised by Purple Door Careers and Recruitment, the
event provided an ideal opportunity for students and graduates
to talk to employers face-to-face about graduate vacancies and
industrial placement opportunities. They were also able to ask
current graduate trainees, many who are alumni of the University,
what it’s really like to work within the company.
Despite the current climate, the fair attracted a range of top
employers including Ernst & Young, IBM, Lidl, Armed Forces,
Microsoft, VT and the Civil Service. Julia Hughes, Head of
Employability, advised that feedback from both students and
employers had been very positive – another successful event!