The free magazine for The University of Manchester 3 October 2011 UniLifeIssue 1 Volume 9 2 Message from the President Assessment and evaluation are key to what we do, but are not without complications and controversy. Behind the scenes at graduation At the Whitworth Art Gallery Meeting schoolchildren inspired by science At the Graduate Recruitment Fair The Ahmed Iqbal Ullah Race Relations Resource Centre At Manchester Museum Albert Einstein reportedly had a sign on his wall In research, the University is judged by research An excellent example is the National Student Survey which said: “Not everything that counts can be grant income, citations of our publications and Survey (NSS) which represents the opinion of many counted, and not everything that can be counted for some league tables, by factors such as how thousands of students across 300 higher education counts’. Few of us would dispute this, but count many of our staff appear on US ‘highly cited’ lists, institutions. Whatever the limitations of this survey we must. have published in the very top science journals or or our personal reservations about the have won Nobel Prizes. On the latter we do have methodology, the fact is that we, as a University, Evaluation and assessment are at the core of what an advantage! score very badly in the NSS. We do well in some we do as a university, but this is often complicated areas, so this cannot be a generic ‘University’ and almost always attracts controversy and But the problem recognised by Einstein is that for problem, but one we must tackle in the specific argument. many activities, and certainly for most that we areas of poor performance. undertake as a University – it’s not about counting We assess students all the time, through their or objective measures, but about judgement, Opinions are heavily influenced by the way we course work and exams. This determines their opinion and perception. present ourselves to our students and staff, and to degree classification and may influence their future the outside world. In a nutshell - how we market career. We strive to be transparent and consistent in Our success depends on the opinions and what we do. But for us, marketing is not about the how we assess students, but there are difficulties. perceptions of our many stakeholders, including hard sell and it must be about much more than How do you compare different subjects and our students, alumni, funders and our own staff. simply changing a logo or creating a new strapline. disciplines within the same university? And how ‘Reputation’ in research and teaching depend on does a qualification from one university compare much wider opinions, nationally and We need to be clear about what it is that we do with a similar one from another institution? internationally. It is even more difficult to quantify really well and about how The University of our performance and achievements as a socially Manchester is different to other institutions. We Our staff are assess ed frequently by their students, responsible university. should not be reticent about telling the rest of the and by their peers who make judgements on the world about our successes an d what makes us a quality of their teaching and research, their funding In many of these areas, we rely on surveys and great place to study, work, visit or work in proposals and their suitability for promotion. focus groups to gauge the opinions and perceptions partnership with. This is where we will be focusing of our key stakeholders. But these subjective Institutionally we are judged by many measures. our efforts in the coming months. measures are not without their limitations. Market From a teaching and learning perspective these research experts tell us that the outcomes are highly Einstein was right. It is really hard to ‘count’ much include things like student entry grades and dependent on the methodology: when the survey of what we do in a truly objective way. But we employment rates after graduation. These will was conducted, how the questions were phrased cannot afford to overlook the opinions of those become ever more important as the government and who chose to respond. people who really count – our students, our staff, requires us to publish Key Information Sets (KIS) our stakeholders, our funders and our peers. We for each of our programmes to further inform But in spite of these reservations, opinions and ignore these at our peril. student choice. perceptions gathered in this way really do matter. News Features 3 News Museum allotment flourishes page 9 Research Diamond planet discovered page 12 International students arriving at Manchester Airport Profile ‘Ask Me’ campaign makes Will Spinks Registrar, Secretary students feel at home and Chief Operating Officer Thousands of staff and students from across Rothwell, supported the initiative by donning the the University gave new students an extra distinctive purple badge. page 14 warm welcome at the start of term by taking The campaign was part of a range of new activity, part in the ‘Ask Me’ campaign. developed and delivered by a team from the Around 1,500 staff wore ‘Ask Me’ badges to Directorate for the Student Experience. encourage the new intake to approach them and Banners and flags adorned Oxford Road and there Contents ask for help. was a new look ‘Start of Year Fair’ outside Badges were distributed across all Schools, Faculties University Place. and Directorates and participating staff were given Add to that a Facebook page for students living at 2 Message from the President a campus map and a special briefing gui de to help home and a new online induction, and we’re sure them answer queries. this will go down as one of the warmest 3 News Senior staff at the University, including President Manchester welcomes yet. 10 Research and Vice-Chancellor Professor Dame Nancy 13 Student News 14 Profile: Will Spinks 16 What’s On 20 Discover the Whitworth Front cover by Scott Foley: Hundreds of volunteers supported the ‘Ask Me’ campaign to welcome students to Manchester. Pictured are student interns Freya Wagstaff and Katie Franklin 4 News Recognising success The Professional Support Services and Academic Services Distinguished Achievement Awards were held earlier this summer to recognise achievements from across the University. The winners were chosen for their outstanding performances and included teams and individuals who demonstrated professionalism, teamwork, support, openness and continuous improvement. Sadly the award for Undergraduate of the Year was ma de posthumously to Stuart Casley who had a rare genetic disorder called Neurofibromatosis 2 which led to almost total deafness and balance problems at the end of his second year. He was nominated for his award for the inspirational way in which he dealt with his year abroad, especially during his time in Russia, where the ability to cope with his condition and make a success of his time there, was described by his initially rather concerned Russian teachers as admirable. Stuart had made a successful start to his final year at Manchester when he died in November 2010. Stuart’s parents collected his award. The President and Vice-Chancellor presided, and Albert McMenemy, the former Registrar and Secretary, Professor Luke Georghiou, Vice- President for Research and Innovation, and Professor Clive Agnew, Vice-Pres ident for Teaching, Learning and Students, presented the awards. Professional Support Services (PSS) and Academic Services Awards PSS and Academic Services Postgraduate Research Students School of Electrical and Electronic Individual Winner – Geoff Carter, of the Year Engineering – Hassan Hakim Khalili. Small Team Award – Faculty of Life Teach ing and Learning Manager, Sciences Recruitment and Admissions Faculty of Medical and Human Teachers of the Year 2011 – Faculty of Medical and Human Team. Helena Collins (team leader), Sciences – Tracy Briggs, School of Distinguished Achievement Sciences. Elizabeth Hambleton, Amanda Biomedicine. Awards Cangelosi, Joanne Cohen, Nichole PSS and Academic Services Institute of Development Policy and Teaching Fellow and Faculty Trainer, Nevison. Individual Winner – Dr Helen Baker, Management from the School of Faculty of Medical and Human Graduate Policy Coordinator and PSS and Academic Services Large Environment and Development – Sciences – Dr Judith Williams. eProg Project Manager, Graduate Team Award – School of Electrical Dr Asad Ghalib. School of Languages, Linguistics and Education Team, Research Office. and Electronic Engineering Workshop Faculty of Life Sciences – Cultures, Faculty of Humanities – and Laboratory Technician Team. Researchers of the Year 2011 Dr Sumaira Hasnain. Dr Rachel Platonov. Norman Axon, Malcolm Bailey, School of Biomedicine – School of Chemical Engineering and Faculty of Life Sciences – Derrick Bradshaw, John Bramwell, Professor Yanick Crow. Analytical Sciences – Paul Bassan. Dr Stuart Allan. Glyn Ireland, Vincent James, Keith Politics, School of Social Sciences – Kahn, Chris Kirkham, Frank McCann, Undergraduates of the Year 2011 Faculty of Engineering and Physical Professor Rosaleen Duffy. Natalie Parish, Paul Shaw, Danny Vale School of Dentistry – Michael Hicks. Sciences – Dr Esther Ventura Medina. Faculty of Life Sciences – and Sam Walsh. School of Languages, Linguistics and Dr Graham Pavitt. PSS and Academic Services Cultures – Stuart Casley, Individual Award – Lindsay Blank, School of Mathematics – Professor (Posthumous Award). William (Bill) Lionheart. Practice Learning Unit Administrator, Faculty of Life Sciences – School of Nursing, Midwifery and Andrew McLean. Social Work. 5 News in brief Remembering 9/11 An international music event spanning two continents was held to mark the tenth anniversary of 9/11. Two specially written works by Dr Kevin Malone, Head of Composition at the University, brought together Britain and America in an act of international solidarity to remember the victims ten years on. The event was held at the Imperial War Unearthing Whitworth Park’s past Museum North and Wake Forest University’s Staff, students and local Wait Chapel in North Carolina.