Colleagues,
I recently attended a Universities UK (UUK) meeting. UUK is the voice of the majority of universities and Higher Education (HE) institutions in the UK including the devolved nations; Universities Scotland is the national council in Scotland of Universities UK and it works closely with UUK on matters that are reserved to Westminster but directly affect universities in Scotland, for example research and immigration policy.
With the Higher Education and Research Act having been passed by Westminster at the end of April, we had a very timely debate about the new regulatory framework which it introduces. Of particular interest to Scotland is the creation of a single strategic UK-wide research body, UK Research and Innovation and the legislative basis for the Teaching Excellence Framework and its link to fees charged by institutions in England. The new Act may also affect the competitive landscape across UK higher education as it gives powers to the new Office for Students to facilitate diversification of providers and provision in England. The morning’s discussion and debate focused on students in the new regulatory environment and what a student-centred approach to regulation should aim to achieve and prioritise.
Here in Scotland Sally Smith, Dean of Computing, attended a round table discussion on my behalf, hosted by John Swinney, Shirley-Anne Somerville and Mike Russell on the topic of brexit and its implications for Higher Education. University colleagues reiterated the benefits that Scottish HE currently enjoys from EU membership, and on this basis outlined the core elements of a future policy environment that would support Scotland and its HEIs after brexit.
University Leadership Team Update
You may have heard that Iain McIntosh, Assistant Principal and Interim Dean of the School of Engineering & the Built Environment (SEBE), will be retiring at the end of July after 21 years at Edinburgh Napier. I will miss Iain greatly from the University Leadership Team, and in due course we will formally (and no doubt in other ways) wish him well. But for the moment I'm delighted to confirm that he has agreed to return in August to continue to lead SEBE until a new Dean is identified.
Our students
I recently spent some time with Beth Wallace, the Edinburgh Napier Students’ Association Sports and Societies Vice President, who updated me on the many successes this year. Now I do not proclaim to be a sports enthusiast, but I am told that our American football, women’s football and women’s volleyball teams were all undefeated in their respective leagues. You can check how all of our teams did in the British universities & Colleges Sport Leagues on their
website. Three new sporting clubs were established - athletics, triathlon and sailing, as well as 14 new societies ranging from academic and charitable to activity based. Read more about our
25 sports clubs and
35 societies.
A particular highlight for the year was the first time ENSA have taken part in the
healthy body healthy mind awards. This award scheme encourages students to get active to improve their mental wellbeing and ENSA has run campaigns and events as part of the awards.
Growing our academic repuation
Great teaching: This month I want to highlight the work placement module which forms part of our MSc in Applied Criminology & Forensic Psychology. The module has played a key part in building the reputation of the MSc – feedback from applicants and students tell us that it is exactly what they want. This academic year the programme team have put in place work placements with 14 different organisations including: Police Scotland, Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary in Scotland and Sacro. Students work with their employer to create a learning agreement and identify their own learning objectives. The module is going from strength to strength and is helping to deliver an excellent experience for our students, grow our academic reputation and build employer relationships with the University. For more information please contact
Gary Hutchison.
Dr Debbie Palmer from the School of Applied Sciences has recently been awarded £90,000 by the World Olympians Association (WOA) to find out more about the musculoskeletal issues faced by retired athletes. An important part of the research will be asking Olympians to reflect on previous injuries and training practices in their own careers to try and identify possible causes, to inform evidence based prevention initiatives.
Your views and feedback
I have recently completed my school and department visits for the year. Thank you to everyone for helping me to understand your areas of expertise and work – I was particularly struck by the dedication and commitment of staff in support of our students, each other and delivering Strategy 2020. I would welcome feedback on these visits for you/your service/area of work, as part of my broader engagement with staff across the University. I am always seeking to try out new ways and meeting with staff in a meaningful manner.
Keep up with the latest news
I hope you have all had the chance to read the first issue of
‘The Bones’, if not I would encourage you to have a look and feedback your thoughts to
ednapiernews@napier.ac.uk. A few others stories I wanted to highlight are:
- University has been awarded £320,000 to carry out the first study of the Parents under Pressure
- Three Edinburgh Napier finalists in Converge Challenge
- Project develops media skills of young people at HMP & YOI Polmont
Get in touch
As always please get in touch with any questions or feedback you have for me at
principal@napier.ac.uk or ext. 6401.
We are coming to the end of the pilot of the monthly Campus Conversations and I’d like to thank to everyone who has made it along to one of the sessions and/or taken the time to ask questions and give feedback. In my next newsletter I will be asking you all to fill in a survey on how you have found these, in the meantime the final sessions will be run in June, so please do try and make it along.
Kind regards
Professor Andrea Nolan