Bath Spa University Annual Review 2010-2011

MAKING.HISTORY.

00:

I am delighted

to introduce this

review of the

activities and

achievements

of Bath Spa

University over

the past

academic year.01 Introduction

02 Looking to the future

04 Academic highlights

06 Staff successes

08 Research expertise

12 Student and graduate achievements

16 Working with business

18 Spotlight on the arts

20 Community links

23 Going for green

24 Influence in the region and beyond

27 Update on Human Resources

28 Facts & figures

29 Governors and senior staff

:01

Bright. Future.

Bath Spa is a distinctive, vibrant

and creative university where

students are encouraged to

achieve their academic and

personal potential. As a ‘teaching-

led’ university there is a particular

emphasis on teaching quality,

but much attention is paid to the

whole student experience – and

this includes ‘extra-curricular’

activities such as volunteering,

work experience, and participation

in clubs and societies. All of the

850 staff working at Bath Spa

University contribute to this

student-centred ethos, and my

thanks go to them for their

professionalism and dedication.

Bath Spa University is a popular

and highly rated university, with

applications per place among the

highest of the 65 modern

universities. National indicators

confirm our success in high

levels of student satisfaction;

the employment skills we help

our students to gain; and high

completion rates.

The University is particularly

proud of its strong record in what

is termed the social agenda:

places filled by students from the

widest range of backgrounds;

action on widening participation

and inclusivity; partnership with

FE colleges to offer routes into

higher education on a more

localised basis.

In the past year Bath Spa has

continued to enhance its academic

reputation through improved

research output and extended

taught course provision. It has also

cemented its position as one of the

best teacher training providers in

the country following an Ofsted

inspection that rated all three of

its programmes leading to

qualified teacher status in primary,

secondary and further education

as ‘outstanding’. This outcome is

virtually unique in the UK.

The University’s profile and

standing will be further enhanced

from 2012 by a major development

of academic facilities, social

amenities and student residences

at the Newton Park campus.

The development will be innovative

and sustainable and will be in

harmony with the unique and

historic setting.

Our close links with business

help provide a range of

opportunities to ensure that

students have the best preparation

for their future careers, despite the

current difficult economic climate.

Industry mentors guide students

in fulfilling their career ambitions;

entrepreneurs-in-residence

provide advice on start-up

companies and freelancing

careers, and a range of

experts-in-residence in different

disciplines help students to

develop a deeper understanding

of the employment market.

Bath Spa is committed to making

a significant contribution to the

prosperity of Bath and the wider

region. Our partnerships with Bath

and North East Somerset Council

and other agencies in Bath are

many and varied, and have a

cultural as well as an economic

impact on the region.

Notwithstanding this regional

contribution our global connections

are important to the success of the

University and to the experience of

our students, and our international

links have strengthened and

expanded in the past year.

The University is also proud of its

strong profile in both governance

arrangements and finance. With

regard to the latter, Bath Spa

University is one of only several

universities (of a total of over one

hundred) that has no borrowing

on its balance sheet; the financial

strength is the bedrock which

enables academic development

and quality.

Bath Spa University is particularly

well placed to embrace the

opportunities and challenges

of the future.

Professor Frank Morgan

Vice-Chancellor

LOOKING TO THE FUTURE02:

New Vice-ChancellorappointedProf Christina Slade has

been appointed as the new

Vice-Chancellor of Bath Spa

University. Professor Slade,

Dean of the Schools of Arts and

Social Sciences at City University

London will take up her post at

Bath Spa from January 2012,

following the retirement of the

current Vice-Chancellor Prof

Frank Morgan.

Before joining City University

London in 2009, Prof Slade was

Dean of Humanities at Macquarie

University, Australia and Professor

of Media Theory at the University

of Utrecht, Netherlands.

Prof Slade said she was delighted

to be joining Bath Spa University:

"Universities are under increasing

pressure to prove their worth and

deliver outstanding value to

students. Bath Spa is a unique

university in a wonderful setting.

While I'm sad to be leaving City

University London, I'm excited

about leading Bath Spa to take

advantage of the opportunities

that the current climate creates."

Stella Pirie OBE, Chair of the

Board of Governors, expressed

'great pleasure' in making the

announcement: "Prof Slade has

impressive experience both

internationally and in the UK.

I am sure this experience will be

invaluable for the University's

development including its

student-centred approach and

research and estates strategies.

“Prof Slade will be able to build on

the significant achievements made

by Prof Morgan and I have every

confidence that she will lead the

University well through what will

certainly be the greatest changes

for a generation in the way UK

universities are financed."

Plans move ahead forcampus development In July Bath and North East

Somerset Council granted

permission on a planning

application for a substantial

re-development of the University’s

Newton Park campus, following

a lengthy process of stakeholder

consultation and design

development. The Council's

Development Control Committee

voted unanimously in favour of the

proposal, and congratulated the

University on the quality of the

proposal and on the exemplary

nature of the consultation process.

The plans are for a new academic

building and energy centre, and

represent the first phase of a

Masterplan that also includes

new residential accommodation

for up to 600 additional students

on campus in the first phase of

development.

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Thinking. Ahead.

The campus improvement project

is the most important buildings

development at the University in

the last 20 years, and will provide

considerably improved academic

facilities for future generations of

students. The development will

transform the central part of

Newton Park, providing a visually

stunning building that will blend

sympathetically into the existing

estate to form a unique blend of

modernity and history. The superb

new learning and social facilities

for students are an important

element of Bath Spa’s response to

the new university funding regime

where students will in future pay

higher tuition fees - but will expect

an improved student experience.

The new building has been

designed with the highest criteria

of sustainability, in keeping with

Bath Spa's impressive

environmental credentials.

Vice-Chancellor Prof Frank Morgan

said: "The new development will

provide the best facilities for

teaching digital media-related

courses in the south-west, and this

development confirms Bath Spa as

an exciting, ambitious and creative

place in which to work and study.

It is also a significant boost for

the local creative and cultural

industries."

The next stages in the campus

development project are to obtain

approval from the landlord (the

Duchy of Cornwall) to commence

building and then seek tenders

from building contractors before

a final recommendation is made

to the University’s Board of

Governors.

Fees approved Bath Spa’s planned tuition fees

for courses starting in September

2012 have been approved by the

Office for Fair Access (OFFA). The

University intends to charge £9,000

for all campus-based honours

degree programmes and between

£6,000 and £7,800 for Foundation

degree courses. However in

measures designed to help ensure

students from lower income

backgrounds will not be put off

applying to university, Bath Spa

will introduce a support package

of widening participation initiatives

and financial assistance worth

some £2.3 million in 2012/13 –

more than double the amount it

will spend in 2011/12.

OFFA, the independent body

responsible for safeguarding fair

access to higher education, has

now approved Bath Spa’s plans

or ‘access agreement’. It gave the

go-head to individual access

agreements for a total of 139

universities and colleges across

England. Figures published by

OFFA for all these institutions

show the estimated average fees

per student after allowance for

financial support including fee

waivers and bursaries. The

estimated average cost per student

in Bath Spa’s case, when all these

factors are included, will be £8,177.

Bath Spa University’s

Vice-Chancellor, Professor Frank

Morgan, said he was delighted

with the approval from OFFA for

the new tuition fee levels: “We

already have an excellent record

for recruiting students from

lower income backgrounds.

In our submission to OFFA we

wholeheartedly met the

Government’s criterion for

widening access to a university

education through a range of

increased financial support.”

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ACADEMIC HIGHLIGHTS04:

New postgraduateresearch fundingBath Spa has received an award

worth some £300,000 to provide

financial support for postgraduate

students. The award is from the

Arts and Humanities Research

Council (AHRC), and was granted

following a competitive bidding

process to the AHRC by

universities across the UK. In

a major boost for the University's

Master's level courses the

studentships will cover tuition

fees and student maintenance

allowances for arts and humanities

subjects - Fine Art, Fashion and

Textiles, Investigating Fashion

Design, Ceramics, Creative Writing,

Writing for Young People,

Scriptwriting and Songwriting.

The studentships cover the period

2011 to 2014, and Bath Spa has

also been awarded additional

funding for PhD studentships in

Creative Writing from 2012 to 2014.

The announcement coincides with

the University's expansion of its

existing postgraduate portfolio to

include new Master's level courses

in Applied Neurosciences, Heritage

Management, Filmmaking, Nature

and Travel Writing, Performing

Shakespeare, and Business

and Management.

Top marks for teachereducationBath Spa University has received

a resounding endorsement for its

Teacher Education programmes

from the quality regulator Ofsted.

Following a week-long inspection

by 17 Ofsted inspectors in May the

University has been graded as

‘outstanding’ in all three of its

programmes leading to qualified

teacher status in primary,

secondary and further education.

The rarely achieved ‘straight

Grade 1’ accolade for overall

effectiveness in all three

programmes has only been

afforded to one other teacher

education provider, and on these

measures Bath Spa is not only the

best teacher training university

in the South West, but among the

very best in the country.

During the visit the inspectors

visited 70 students (Bath Spa

Teachers) on placement in 70

schools and 10 lecturers in FE

colleges and two health service

trainers at Weston, Bridgwater

and Wiltshire Colleges. The Ofsted

report heaped praise on the

University, noting its “extremely

good reputation”, its “very clear

and well-articulated philosophy,

which has the needs of learners

at its heart”, the “outstanding”

school-based elements of the

training, and the fact that the

training and assessment are

“universally highly regarded”.

Boost for biologyThe University’s Biology BSc award

has achieved recognition by the

Society of Biology. Bath Spa is

one of only four new universities

to have been given this status

by the UK’s professional body for

the subject. The recognition will

demonstrate to potential

employers a commitment to

being a professional biologist.

Graduates will also be able to

use the distinguished post-nominal

letters AMSB (Associate Member

of the Society of Biology) after

their name. They can then apply

for full membership after

appropriate work experience

and take advantage of the support

and continued professional

development the Society offers.

New recognition fornutritionistsThe BSc Human Nutrition degree

at Bath Spa has been accredited

by the Association for Nutrition,

the professional body for

regulation and registration of

nutritionists. This is a great

achievement for the Food and

Nutrition team since only 18

universities across the UK have

gained this accreditation status.

Accreditation means that

graduates of the BSc Human

Nutrition course at Bath Spa will

now be automatically eligible to

join the Register with Associate

Nutritionist status and can use the

post-nominal letters A.Nutr. They

can then apply for full registration

after three years of appropriate

work-based experience.

Association forNutrition

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Top. Awards.

New partnership with ICTprofessional body The School of Education has

agreed a new partnership with

Naace, the subject association

for ICT professionals. It means

the School now recognises Naace

professional CPD qualifications as

a way of joining the Professional

Master’s Programme with

advanced standing – in particular

a qualification called the Certified

Naace Professional (CNP). This will

be equivalent to a third of a normal

Master’s degree, so is very

significant. The partnership with

Bath Spa was launched by Naace

at its annual national conference

in Reading. Naace now represents

all ICT professionals working in

schools, government and local

authorities throughout the UK

and beyond.

Health and the media The portrayal of health issues

in the media was debated at an

international symposium held at

Corsham Court. It was the first

event organised by members of

Bath Spa’s new Media Futures

Research Centre. The ‘Health and

the Media’ symposium explored

this area of pressing public and

political concern in terms of

representation, journalistic news

practices, engagement with the

public and the role of emerging

technologies.

The one-day symposium included

a keynote talk from Prof Jenny

Kitzinger, of Cardiff University,

and more than 20 papers by

academic speakers from the UK,

Spain, Finland, Germany, Italy,

Canada and Australia. Topics

ranged from news coverage of

swine flu and stem cell research

to HIV/AIDS and obesity. Among

the speakers from Bath Spa

were senior lecturers in Media

Communications Dr Daniel Ashton

and Dr Rebecca Feasey, who

presented their research on

celebrity cancer stories in the

tabloid press.

Curriculum developmentA number of new Master’s courses

were added to the portfolio during

the year, significantly boosting the

University’s postgraduate

provision.

MA Business and Managementprovides the knowledge necessary

to gain a broad understanding of

the complexities associated within

modern day organisations and

their effective management,

along with specialist pathways in

Marketing and Creating and

Developing Your Business.

MA Heritage Management is

designed to reflect on and respond

to the challenges currently

confronting the heritage sector,

including how it shapes its future.

MA Travel and Nature Writing is

ideal for writers seeking advanced

skills in creative non-fiction

inspired by the natural world and

contemporary journeying.

MA Feature Filmmaking gives

students an industry-focused

education in the business and

practice of modern low-budget

feature filmmaking for fact

or fiction.

MSc Principles of AppliedNeuropsychology examines the

uses of neuropsychology in the

clinical world and looks at social

cognition as well as the emerging

field of the neoropsychology of

psychopathology.

Three further programmes are

planned to start in 2012:

MA Performing Shakespeare;

MA Theatre for Young Audiences;

MA Visual Communications.

Design Buddy Graphic Communication students

this year benefitted from a new

scheme designed to give them a

unique taste of industry as part of

their course. Participants in Design

Buddy - a successful mentoring

scheme created by the South West

Design Forum, with the support

of Universities South West and

National Council for Graduate

Entrepreneurship – partnered

students with design professionals

throughout the year, providing

them with one-to-one support

from industry experts. Adding

a new dimension to their course,

students reported that it built their

confidence in networking with

business and provided new

opportunities to learn about the

design business. Our industry

partners also found the experience

to be beneficial through their own

personal and professional

development and gained a greater

understanding of the university’s

approach to learning in the creative

industries. A number of students

secured placements – and

subsequently employment –

following their Design Buddy

experience and the pilot

programme will be repeated in

2011/2 and rolled out to other

subjects, with students across the

university set to benefit from this

exciting, new mentoring initiative.

STAFF SUCCESSES06:London poetry prizeThe first collection of poems by

Bath Spa lecturer Carrie Etter

won the London Festival Fringe

New Poetry Award 2010.

Carrie’s volume, The Tethers,

was published by Seren Books

and has been widely and positively

reviewed. Carrie Etter is an

American poet and senior lecturer

in Creative Writing at Bath Spa,

where she has taught since 2004.

She is also a regular reviewer of

contemporary poetry for the

TLS and various periodicals.

David Bevington AwardHead of English Literature and

Cultural Studies Dr Tracey Hill has

won a prestigious academic prize

for her recent book about the Lord

Mayor’s Show in London,

Writer in Residence Julia Green, Course Director for

the MA in Writing for Young People,

became Bath Children’s Literature

Festival the first official Writer in

Residence at Bath Children’s

Literature Festival. Julia,

a well-known novelist herself,

was delighted to be offered this

new role. Throughout the 10-day

festival in late September and early

October she kept a blog about her

experiences going to events and

meeting other authors, readers

and writers of all ages. Julia’s own

most recent novels, for teenage

readers, are Breathing Underwater

and Drawing With Light (published

by Bloomsbury).

Nomination for Prof RobMears Professor Mears has accepted

the nomination to be the next

President of the Association for

Teachers of Social Sciences.

Radio drama award Writer and lecturer Hattie Naylor

won a national award for one of

her radio plays. She received the

Tinniswood Award for best radio

drama script with Ivan and the

Dogs, broadcast on BBC Radio 4.

The judges chose her drama from

a shortlist of five for the prize,

which is awarded by the writers’

and broadcasters’ professional

body the Writers’ Guild of Great

Britain. Hattie, a part-time lecturer

on the MA Scriptwriting course,

has written 40 radio plays,

mainly for the BBC.

Ivan and the Dogs is based on

the astonishing but true story

of a four-year-old Russian boy

who walked out of his family home

in Moscow in 1996 and lived on the

streets with a pack of wild dogs.

The drama was first broadcast by

BBC Radio 4 as an Afternoon Play

in November 2009. Hattie has also

written a stage version of Ivan and

the Dogs, which was shortlisted

for a Laurence Olivier award.

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Pageantry and Power. The David

Bevington Award for best new book

in early drama studies is conferred

by the US-based Medieval and

Renaissance Drama Society.

Pageantry and Power is the first

full and in-depth cultural history

of the Lord Mayor’s Show in the

early modern period. Dr Hill’s

book covers the late sixteenth to

mid seventeenth centuries, when

the Show had reached its absolute

peak of splendour and influence.

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People. Power.

Religious education in ZurichProf Denise Cush, Head of Study of

Religions, was invited to speak at

the University of Zurich Institute of

Educational Sciences as part of a

conference on ‘Religious Education

in Public Schools’.

The Canton of Zurich has recently

introduced a new approach to

teaching religious education in a

non-confessional and multi-faith

way, as a response to increasing

religious and cultural diversity.

Prof Cush was invited in order

to share the English and UK

experience of taking this approach

to religious education and looked

at the lessons learned in the light

of the latest research.

Davey Ray Moor co-writesCarl Barat albumCommercial Music subject

leader Davey Ray Moor enjoyed

considerable success with four

Channel 4 food showDr Iain Haysom, Course Leader

in Diet and Health, became the

microbiology expert on Channel 4’s

show Food: What Goes in your

Basket? The series of six hour-

long programmes, in autumn 2010,

looked at every aspect of what we

eat, including food storage and

spoilage. The show’s producers

invited Iain to develop a ‘Rotting

Room’, where a range of foods

were left at room temperature

for up to four weeks and the

decomposition filmed with time

lapse cameras.

Six different boxes of foods were

used – bread, fruit and veg, meat,

fish, dairy products and takeaways.

Iain’s role was to oversee this

experiment, take samples of the

bacteria and mould for laboratory

analysis and discuss the results

on camera. His ‘Rotting Room’

resulted in some very graphic

images of natural decomposition

and advice from Iain to viewers

on how to store their food safely

at home.

Maths lesson for HRH the Prince of WalesDr Snezana Lawrence, PGCE

Course Leader for Secondary and

KS2/3 Mathematics, sat next to

HRH the Prince of Wales at a

teachers’ workshop that he was

observing. The event formed part

of a schools programme day in

London in July 2011 organised by

the Prince’s Teaching Institute.

Dr Lawrence has been

Mathematics Subject Leader for

the Prince’s Teaching Institute

since 2009, working with the

Institute to raise levels of

achievement in Maths and to

inspire teachers of the subject

nationwide. During the schools

programme day the Prince joined

a workshop on the history of

Maths, where he talked to

Dr Lawrence and other teachers.

It was his first visit to such an

event as a participant.

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songs he wrote with Carl Barat

of the band the Libertines. The

songs all feature on Carl Barat’s

solo album and include the lead

single Run With The Boys, along

with three other songs co-written

by the pair - Carve My Name,

Shadows Fall and Death Fires

Burn At Night. The Libertines star

had invited Davey to join him in a

song-writing collaboration.

RESEARCH EXPERTISE08:Comprehensive schoolsand social mobility Claims that children are worse

off if they go to a comprehensive

rather than a selective state school

were disputed by new research

from academics at Bath Spa and

the University of Oxford. The study,

published in the British Journal

of Sociology, was carried out by

Dr Vikki Boliver, from the

Department of Social Sciences at

Bath Spa, and Dr Adam Swift, from

the Department of Politics and

International Relations at Oxford.

They found that those who went to

comprehensive schools were not

disadvantaged in terms of social

mobility compared with those who

attended grammar schools and

secondary moderns.

The researchers analysed data

from the National Child

Development Survey, which tracks

all children born in Britain in a

particular week in 1958. Some

of these children were among the

first comprehensive school pupils,

during the transition away from a

selective system. Unlike previous

researchers Boliver and Swift not

only compared the social mobility

of children who attended

comprehensives with those

from grammar schools, but

also included secondary modern

schools in their analysis. The study

measured children’s subsequent

progress in terms of income and

class and found that overall the

selective schools gave no

advantage.

New approach to primaryschool curriculumEducation researchers are

investigating how to develop a

primary school curriculum that is

designed by schools and their local

communities. The new curriculum

would be based on sustainability

and the relationship between each

school and its local environment.

A team from the Children and

Environment Research Centre

in the University’s School of

Education, led by Prof Robert

Barratt, won a grant of £30,000

from the AstraZeneca Science

Teaching Trust to carry out the

study. The researchers have joined

forces with eight primary schools

in the Bath and Bristol area to help

each one develop a place-based

environmental curriculum and

associated teaching strategies

of its own.

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Team. Work.

Emotion coaching Education policy experts Richard

Parker and Dr Janet Rose are

pioneering a new strategy to

improve relationships between

children and young people and

their communities. They have

introduced a technique known as

‘emotion coaching’ in Wiltshire.

The scheme, funded jointly by Bath

Spa and the local Community Area

Board, was piloted in Melksham

for six months from January 2011.

It aims to develop a coherent

approach to children and young

people across all ages and

services.

‘Emotion coaching’ originates

from the United States. It focuses

on understanding the reasons for

an individual’s behaviour, working

with them to develop alternative

responses to their difficulties and

enhancing their confidence and

self-esteem. Schools involved in

the pilot project include a

secondary school (Melksham Oak)

and two primaries (the Manor,

Melksham and St George’s,

Semington). The University

anticipates this will provide a

model for other schools and

communities and will be seeking

funding for an expansion of the

scheme in future.

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The Jade Goody effect Two senior lecturers in Media

Communications, Dr Daniel Ashton

and Dr Rebecca Feasey, teamed

up with a national cancer charity

to investigate how young women

responded to the media coverage

of reality TV star Jade Goody’s

death from cervical cancer. They

were researching what has been

termed the ‘Jade Effect’ - the

massive surge in the number of

young women who came forward

for cancer screening after daily

coverage of Jade’s illness for

weeks in the tabloid media.

The researchers worked with

Jo’s Trust, the only UK charity

dedicated to women and their

families affected by cervical cancer.

Their aim was to find out what

young female tabloid readers and

cervical cancer sufferers, in

particular, think of Jade’s portrayal

in the media. The Bath Spa team

are examining how disclosures

about the illness of a celebrity can

influence public understanding of

that disease, how celebrities are

used to communicate health

messages to the public, and how

those messages are interpreted

by different people.

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Understanding alcoholissuesDr James Nicholls, senior lecturer

in Media and Cultural Studies,

was awarded a British Academy

Mid-Career Research Fellowship,

worth almost £80,000, to

investigate the portrayal of alcohol

issues in the media over the past

decade. The competition for the

Fellowships was very strong and

only 10% of applications were

successful. The title of James’

award is: ‘The altered state - public

discourse on alcohol in England

and Wales since 2000’.

In his research Dr Nicholls will be

looking at media news reporting on

alcohol over that period alongside

an analysis of national policy

documents and parliamentary

records. He will also interview

key figures in alcohol policy to

find out their views on the role of

media reporting in shaping public

debates on drinking.

Dr Nicholls has set up a new

Alcohol Culture Exchange forum

as a 'knowledge transfer' project,

funded by the Arts and Humanities

Research Council in partnership

with the South West Alcohol

Improvement Programme.

James’s purpose is to bring

together licensing authorities,

health workers, GPs, police,

charity workers and academics

to discuss drinking cultures in the

UK and how understanding them

can shape policy on alcohol at a

regional level.

RESEARCH EXPERTISE10:

Motor cycle hearing lossThe research of Dr Nigel Holt from

the Psychology Department at Bath

Spa University and colleagues at

the University of Bath received

widespread international media

attention. The studies, funded by

the Leverhulme Trust have looked

at how the sound experienced by

the rider can be dramatically

influenced by the motorcycle

helmet. The research aims to

provide guidance on motorcycle

helmet design and data on how the

noise experienced influences the

cognitive performance of the rider.

The group presented their work

in April at the largest acoustics

conference in the world, that of

the Acoustical Society of America

in Seattle where it was well

received by academics and press.

Abstract cinema pioneer Dr Joseph Hyde, who is MA

Composition course director,

was awarded a £40,000 Fellowship

grant from the Arts and

Humanities Research Council for

a study on the work of film-maker

Oskar Fischinger. He was a

pioneer of abstract cinema and

animation, working in Germany

then the United States, mainly

between the 1920s and the 1940s.

Dr Hyde’s interest centres on

Fischinger’s concept of ‘visual

music’ - musical ideas being

expressed through visual means -

which had a big influence on later

artists and musicians. Many of

OSKAR FISCHINGER - ‘FRAMES’

his films were essentially ‘music

videos’, in which pieces of music

are accompanied by tightly

integrated animation. Dr Hyde will

carry out his project over five

months, from February to June

2012. Part of it involves travelling

to California and visiting the Oskar

Fischinger Archive, which has

recently been made public for the

first time, under the curation of

the Center for Visual Music in

Los Angeles.

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Media. Attention.

Cross-gender castingPerforming Arts and Drama

lecturer Dr Terri Power presented

her research on cross-gender

casting in Shakespeare at a major

conference in the United States.

She was a speaker at the 25th

anniversary conference of the

Association for Theatre in Higher

Education (ATHE) in Chicago in

August. Dr Power presented a

paper entitled ShakesQueer:

Bearded Women, Men in Tights.

This discusses representations

of cross-dressing in the Full Tilt

Theatre Company’s production of

The Taming of the Shrew, which

she directed in 2009.

In her version of the play male

actors played the women and

females played the men. The

production gained favourable

reviews locally and on a UK tour,

which included the Edinburgh

Fringe.

In her paper Dr Power looks at

whether cross-casting men in

female roles elicits performances

of camp or depth, and whether

placing women in male roles

offers more dynamic characters

and performances than in

‘traditional’ casting.

Living ReligionA Bath Spa team that have recently

completed their ‘Living Religion’

project, aimed at extending and

improving the use by university

Theology and Religious Studies

departments of experiential

placement learning in religious

communities. The project –

involving Prof Denise Cush,

her colleague Dr Catherine

Robinson and Publishing Lab

technician Gavin Wilshen - was

funded by the Higher Education

Academy Philosophical and

Religious Studies Subject Centre.

It builds on Bath Spa’s pioneering

work in this area over several

decades. The week-long placement

in a religious community has been

a special feature of the Study of

Religions programme at Bath Spa

for many years.

As well as researching the extent

to which UK universities provide

such experiences for students in

Britain and abroad, the Bath Spa

team have created a website

containing research and resources

to facilitate fieldwork placements

and encourage dialogue between

religious communities, tutors and

students. The Bath Spa staff visited

several of the communities

themselves and interviewed the

hosts about their experiences of

our students.

AHRC AwardDr Ellen McWilliams, Senior

Lecturer in English Literature,

was awarded a AHRC Early

Career Fellowship (October 2011

- June 2012).

Folger ShakespeareLibrary Dr Ian Gadd, Senior Lecturer in

English Literature, was awarded

a Bath Spa University sabbatical

for 2010-2011. From January to

August 2011, he was based at the

Folger Shakespeare Library in

Washington, DC, as the Director

of a semester-long seminar on

the Stationers' Company, and the

Charlton Hinman Research Fellow.

FoTh

STUDENT AND GRADUATE ACHIEVEMENTS12:

Two graduates from the

University's creative writing

courses have been included in

a list of the most important new

voices in British literary fiction.

Evie Wyld and Samantha Harvey

were identified by a panel formed

by the BBC's Culture Show in a

programme broadcast as part of

World Book Night celebrations in

March. The panel examined the

debut novels of writers published

in the last two years and narrowed

their final selection to just 12

writers.

Evie Wyld has already won the

John Llewellyn Rhys literary prize

with her debut novel After The Fire,

A Still Small Voice. Samantha

Harvey's first novel The Wilderness

was shortlisted for the Orange

Prize for Fiction 2009, longlisted

for the 2009 Man Booker Prize,

shortlisted for the Guardian First

Book Award and won the 2009 AMI

Literature Award and the Betty

Trask Prize.

Creative writing student, Maudie

Smith, has secured a publishing

deal for three children’s books.

She will have her Opal Moonbaby

series, for children of seven

upwards, published by Orion

from early next year. Maudie, who

writes under that name but is

known at Bath Spa as Amanda

Smith, has been studying on the

MA Writing for Young People this

year. The course has an excellent

track record of graduates achieving

publication. However it is rare for

students on any university creative

writing course to have their debut

work accepted by a publisher

before graduation.

Lauren Nixon, an English

Literature student at Bath Spa

and guide at the Jane Austen

Centre in Bath, has written a book

about the famous author’s novels

and life story, being published in

autumn 2011.

21-year-old Lauren used the

knowledge gained from her course

and from working at the Jane

Austen Centre to compile her book,

Jane Austen: a Celebration of Her

Life and Work. She has been a

guide for visitors and gift shop

assistant at the Centre throughout

her studies. Her illustrated book

is aimed at the general public,

combining biography with essays

on each Austen novel, their

successful portrayal on screen

and a selection of her letters. The

book is being published by Worth

Press to coincide with the 200th

anniversary of Austen’s first

published novel, Sense and

Sensibility.

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Fashion students’ catwalksuccesses

Bath Spa’s budding fashion

designers made a big impression

at Graduate Fashion Week (GFW)

at Earls Court in London before

taking their catwalk show to the

Assembly Rooms in Bath in June.

An amazing array of collections

showcased expressive prints,

clean-lined tailoring and loosely

draped fabric. Among them was

Hannah Harwin Barclay’s collection

of dark scooped skirts, with tight

tropical orange and yellow reptile

skin prints; Isabella Kent Webb’s

collection, providing smart outfits

with a nod to vintage for the

modern woman; Victoria Rich’s

“Urban Poacher? range;

Sophia Hallam’s army-inspired

garments utilised soldier motifs

as ‘camouflage’; and Emily

Booker’s collection for men,

inspired by technical bike wear.

Music student Alfie Pugh had his

own composition performed by

a London orchestra.

He won a composing competition

run by the London-based orchestra

Charities Philharmonia, which is a

non-profitable organisation that

raises money for charity through

its concerts. The competition was

also run with the charity Dreams

Come True, which grants wishes

for terminally and seriously ill

children, and Classic FM.

Entrants had to write a piece

for full orchestra lasting 10-20

minutes for an audience of young

children. Alfie's piece, entitled

Vasilisa the Beautiful, retells the

old Russian fairytale of the same

name. The judging panel deemed

his composition to be the most

well-written and appropriate entry.

The piece was played by the

Charities Philharmonia in June

at a concert in St Paul's Church,

Covent Garden, where Alfie

received his award.

English PhD student, Jo Howe, has

been awarded full funding by the

Arts and Humanities Research

Council (AHRC) for her research.

Jo is one of only six students in

the whole country doing PhDs in

English to gain AHRC funding.

She is working on a scholarly

edition of an early 17th century

play by Samuel Rowley called

When You See Me You Know Me.

It is a chronicle history of Henry

VIII, dramatising key events of

his reign.

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STUDENT AND GRADUATE ACHIEVEMENTS14:

Prize. Winner.

A group of England football fans

enlisted the help of students from

Bath School of Art and Design

to give them a new ‘identity’.

Eight third year Graphic

Communication students were

each asked to design a logo

for London England Fans, an

organisation within the official

England supporters’ club.

The project was arranged by

senior lecturer Tim Vyner. In a

competition between the students

each gave a five-minute

presentation to a panel of the

fans, while being filmed by Sky

Sports News for a programme

about England friendly

internationals that was broadcast

in March. The judging panel

chose a logo created by one of the

students, Sarah-Jane Griffey. It will

be used by London England Fans

on all their T shirts, flags,

postcards, lapel badges and

even beer mats.

A recent Sociology graduate from

Bath Spa, Fleur Dewsnap, has had

her research published on crystal

healing, which she undertook for

her final-year dissertation.

It appears in the online

Reinvention: A Journal of

Undergraduate Research. Fleur

decided to investigate why some

people invest time, money and

faith in crystal healing, even

though the practice is discredited

by mainstream biomedical

professionals. Her interviews

with people who attended crystal

therapy workshops or healing

sessions revealed that they

associated crystals with ‘well-

being’, including feelings of

relaxation, protection, confidence

and support. It was notable,

however, that despite appearing

to believe in the therapeutic power

of crystals, commonly these

respondents did not reject

mainstream medicine.

Author Lucy Christopher, who is

a creative writing graduate from

Bath Spa, was shortlisted for

the Costa children’s book prize.

Her second novel, Flyaway,

made a shortlist of four for this

prestigious literary award.

Lucy graduated from Bath Spa

University with a Master’s degree

in Creative Writing in 2004, having

earned a distinction on the course.

She is currently undertaking a

PhD at the University, where she

also teaches part-time. In 2010

Lucy’s first book, Stolen, won

the Branford Boase Award, given

annually to the author of an

outstanding debut novel for

children. It was written as part

of her studies at Bath Spa.

An art installation designed

by Creative Arts student Jane

Sargeant has been chosen to

hang in Bath Abbey to mark

this year’s Advent.

Jane won a competition to design

a decoration for the Abbey in the

four weeks before Christmas.

Her piece, which resembles a

glass-effect chandelier was

selected by a judging panel that

included Bath Abbey’s Vicar

Theologian Dr Alan Garrow.

The competition, open to all

students on the University’s

BA Creative Arts course,

attracted 14 entries and Jane

was commissioned from a

final shortlist of five.

Her chandelier-like structure -

wide at the top and narrow at

the bottom - is intended to reflect

some of the Abbey’s interior

architecture, especially its fan

vaulting, and will have an

Advent theme of darkness

turning into light.

Lisa Hartung, a student on

the new MA Curatorial Practice,

was awarded the Elizabeth Perkins

Fellowship in Museum Practice

and Research at the Museums

of Old York in the American

state of Maine.

The prestigious three-month

fellowship provides aspiring

humanities professionals with an

opportunity to experience museum

work and conduct original

research. The internationally

recognised scheme attracts

undergraduate and graduate

students from all throughout the

world, who compete for selection.

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Introduction ofuniversity-wide student prizesThis year saw the introduction

of a series of prizes for students

in order to recognise excellence

and specific achievements both

in academic success and to

reward effort and excellence

not otherwise captured through

degree programmes. A total of

48 prizes were awarded covering

the majority of subject areas and

embracing all academic year

groups. Celebrated at this year’s

graduation ceremonies, the

prizes were sponsored both

by external organisations and

university departments and

included: The Oxford University

Press Achievement in

Biosciences Prize; The British

Psychological Society

Undergraduate Award; The

Pilgrim’s Choice Outstanding

Textile Design Student Prize

and The Bath Philharmonia

Prize. Businesses are already

committing to sponsor more

prizes for next year and will

further contribute to recognising

student achievements in this way.

Graduates Khyan Mansley and

Ciaran O'Brien were amongst the

eight winners of the UK YouTube

NextUp competition, which aimed

to identify talented film-makers

with the potential to follow a

‘path to stardom’.

They first worked together when

they were students at Bath Spa

University, producing video as

part of their Creative Writing and

Creative Media Practice courses.

Since graduating they have been

developing their creative output

on YouTube, and have established

a successful and growing

YouTube channel -

http://www.youtube.com/Khyan1.

The pair joined an elite group of

25 European winners of the 2011

NextUp competition, and their

prize included the opportunity

for personalised training and

mentoring from leading industry

and YouTube experts, significant

online promotion to boost their

future careers, and €20,000

prize money.

Bath Spa’s student polo team took

first place in the Schools and

Universities Polo Association

Summer National Championships.

James Gambs, Harry Hall and Lexi

Dyer exceeded all expectations by

winning their section of the

competition. The fact that none of

the players had even attempted

the fast and furious sport of polo

before coming to university made

their victory over more experienced

players even more remarkable.

The polo tournament was one of

the biggest in the world with 103

teams taking part. The Bath Spa

team did exceptionally well by

winning every single match and

not conceding a single goal.

Bath Spa Textiles student Henrietta

Scholes won the Graham & Brown

graduate design award at the New

Designers exhibition.

The prestigious competition looked

for ‘a designer who has a fresh,

creative, inspirational approach

along with personality and

passion’. Henrietta, who has just

completed her Textile Design for

Fashion and Interiors degree

course, won the award of £1,000

cash and a three-week studio

placement at Graham & Brown

for her innovative lace embossed

wallpaper design. Her beautiful

wallpapers were produced by

combining traditional embroidery

techniques with a creative use of

laser ‘plotter cutter' equipment,

more generally used for sign-

writing applications.

UK YOUTUBE ‘PATH TO STARDOM’ WINNER

WORKING WITH BUSINESS16:

Cheesy dresses and shoesBath Spa design students grabbed

the national headlines with their

range of dresses, shoes and

accessories made from cheese.

Fifty first-year students from the

BA course in Textile Design for

Fashion and Interiors were

commissioned by a Somerset

cheese manufacturer, Pilgrims

Choice, as part of a national

‘cheese couture’ competition for

the Royal Bath and West Show.

One student, Lisa Dillon, crafted

her ‘Jimmy Cheese’ shoes from

Cheddar and bread, sculpting the

heel from a block of Cheddar and

using a stale cheese sandwich for

part of the platform sole. They also

made a collection of stunning

dresses from Cheddar and Red

Leicester, before modelling them

on the catwalk at the Shepton

Mallet showground. The design

students spent hundreds of hours

making five dresses for the

occasion. These included a ball

gown encrusted not with jewels,

lace and embroidery but with a

delicate montage of melted and

carefully crafted cheese.

Speedy students In May 2011 over 20 students

enjoyed a speed-networking

experience in Bath, orchestrated

by the Bath Spa Employability

team in association with Creative

Bath. Eager to establish contacts

in publishing, copywriting and

advertising, the students met

with representatives from Bath's

creative sector - including Future

Publishing, the Bath Chronicle,

MediaClash, Attinger Jack and

Marcom PR. Each student had just

three minutes to pitch their talent

and impress an employer, before

moving on. The quick turnaround

ensured everyone got a chance to

meet and, as the final whistle blew,

the evening continued with more

informal networking.

Student entrepreneursromp to successAn enterprising student start-up

business called ROMP beat four

other finalists to win £1,000 from

the University’s annual Business

Plan Competition.

Benjamin Jackson-Cook, Adam

Rockall, Adam Vooght and David

Goosen, who are all studying

Commercial Music, will invest the

prize money in their live music

promotions business. ROMP brings

student audiences to small venues

around the country. It also runs

Romp Comp, a competition for

unsigned artists to showcase their

talent, and Romp Tour, which is a

five-day European tour for the

winning artists from Romp Comp.

The runner-up in the competition,

ethical clothing business Bodhi

Image, was awarded a £500 prize.

Set up by Psychology and

Environmental Science students

Joshua Taylor and Michaela Coote,

this is a Bath-based fashion

initiative, sourcing beautiful silks

and cottons for its garments and

using small family-run businesses

in India for design and

manufacture.

Bath Spa Business ClubSpring 2011 saw the successful

launch of the Bath Spa Business

Club. Hosted by the Department of

Business and Management within

the School of Science, Society and

Management, this new initiative

offers students and staff across the

University additional opportunities

to interact with business leaders

and practitioners to discuss

contemporary business issues

in an informal and interactive

manner. Over 30 participants

attended the inaugural event

including students, staff and local

:17

New. Ideas.

business practitioners. Keynote

speaker was Professor Chris

Bones, Professor of Creativity

& Leadership at Manchester

Business School who led an

energetic discussion about the

role of the contemporary leader

in modern business life. Look out

for more events sponsored by

the Business Club in 2011/2012.

Student employee of the yearEmma Lilley, a student who works

part-time at the Priston Mill

wedding reception venue near

Bath, became Student Employee

of the Year for the South West.

The competition, organised by the

National Association of Student

Employment Services, recognises

the contribution and achievements

of students who combine a part-

time job with their studies. For the

past two years Emma Lilley, who

studies History at Bath Spa, has

been one of a 40-strong team of

students from the University

employed as waiting staff at

Priston Mill. Emma won Bath Spa’s

own award for Off Campus Student

Employee of the Year and went

on to win the South West regional

heat.

The University’s own award for

On Campus Student Employee of

the Year went to Creative Writing

student Becky Holden. For two

years she has worked part-time

for the Employability department,

assisting with events such as

careers fairs as well as being an

assistant in the Student Job Shop.

Industry MentorsProgrammeDuring 2010/11, Bath Spa’s

Industry Mentors Programme

contributed to the local community

by acting as a catalyst for bringing

people together, making networks

mutually accessible and developing

long-term relationships and follow

on activities with the businesses

that joined the scheme. To date,

over 100 students have received

expert advice, career guidance

and access to business practices

from businesses and organisations

in their chosen field through

individual work-related mentoring

partnerships lasting up to six

months. As organisations

become more familiar with

Bath Spa University’s range of

expertise through the mentoring,

the scheme has led to work

placements, jobs and internships

for students as well as the

exploration of collaborative

projects with academic

departments.

Music students model for BurberryTwo Bath Spa music students

have been recruited as models

by the Burberry fashion house.

Stephanie Ward and Sebastian

Brice, who are both in Bath-based

rock bands, were chosen by

Burberry to showcase their music

and the company’s luxury clothes.

Stephanie plays piano and sings

for the five-piece band Kill It Kid,

which formed at the University in

2008 while she was studying

BA Music. Sebastian, who is just

starting his final year on the

BA Commercial Music course,

is guitarist and lead vocalist for

the band Avius.

Stephanie and Sebastian have

been modelling in fashion photo

shoots to publicise both Burberry

clothing and their own bands’

music. Stephanie Ward was

spotted by Burberry when Kill It

Kid were performing in Texas. The

band’s two albums have s received

widespread critical acclaim.

Sebastian Brice has worked mainly

for Burberry but has also featured

in campaigns by the Topman and

Uniqlo clothing brands.

‘Graduate Success’programme of career andbusiness start-up supportDuring the summer of 2011, the

university’s employability team

presented an exciting mix of

monthly events, weekly clubs,

online and face-to-face career

development activities to support

our students’ transition in to the

world or work. The ‘Graduate

Success 2011’ programme

provided more opportunities than

ever before for recent graduates

to develop strategies on everything

from networking skills and

impactful CVs to succeeding at

interview and developing business

plans. Described by students as

providing “a wealth of information”

and, simply, “Phenomenal!”,

the summer programme is an

extension of the university’s year-

round employability and enterprise

support, which draws on the

expertise of our staff and our links

with local employers and industry

professionals. A greatly valued part

of the student experience, a wide

range of free career development,

self-employment and business

start-up advice and support is

available to students throughout

their studies at Bath Spa and for

up to three years after graduation.

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A whale of a timeTwo members of staff from

Creative Arts, Angela Cockayne

and Nick Atkinson, have been

collaborating throughout 2011 in

a series of high-profile events with

whales and Moby Dick as their

theme. The Dominion exhibition,

featuring Angela’s artistic work

across a wide range of media,

was the centrepiece of the Whale

Festival at the University of

Plymouth, which brought together

science, art, music and literature.

It included Angela’s film Dominion,

for which Nick composed the

music. At the festival Nick led

a concert performance of his

music for another film by Angela,

Rachel’s Orphan. Nick also

delivered a conference paper -

For Those in Peril: Music,

Melville and Charles Olsen.

Angela has co-curated with author

Philip Hoare the Moby Dick Big

Read, which celebrated the 160th

anniversary of Herman Melville’s

great novel in a unique and exciting

way. An extraordinary array of

people were invited to read aloud

the entire book, a chapter each,

to be recorded and streamed

online. Contributors include not

only celebrities like Tilda Swinton,

Andrew Motion Laurie Anderson,

Simon Callow, Stephen Fry and

Patti Smith, but also the general

public.

Wardrobe studyA design lecturer, Dr Jo Turney

made an exhibition of herself and

her clothes – quite literally.

In Dr Jo Turney: A Wardrobe Study,

at the Sion Hill Gallery in

November, she put on display

hundreds of her own garments –

in fact the entire contents of her

wardrobe. She also encouraged

visitors to the exhibition to try on

some of her clothes in a changing

room and make comments about

them. Meanwhile Dr Turney

dressed herself in clothing

borrowed from friends and

colleagues in Bath School of Art

and Design for the occasion.

This unique interactive event,

which took place over five days,

could also be seen via a live

webcam feed from the gallery to

the School’s website. Visitors to

the exhibition and online viewers

were also invited to give their

opinion about the Turney dress

sense. Dr Turney said the five-day

event was not intended as an art

installation but as a cultural study

of a contemporary wardrobe.

Illuminate Bath festival More than 20,000 people saw the

Illuminate Bath festival projections

and events happening around Bath

City Centre in November 2010.

Over 20 different events took place

over two weeks (1 – 13 November),

showcasing creative work by over

100 students, graduates and staff

from the University. A further 100

volunteers and participants were

also involved behind the scenes.

Shoppers in SouthGate Place were

treated to some very special

performances by musicians,

poets and clowns on the last night

of the festival.

Illuminate Bath is organised by

Bath Spa University and Relays, a

London 2012 legacy project based

in universities across the south-

west of England that aims to

inspire young people to volunteer,

try new sports and be creative.

The festival team is now looking

to build on this year’s success with

the second Illuminate Bath festival

planned for early 2012.

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Live.Action.

Leading artists exhibit atSion Hill Bath School of Art and Design’s

new Sion Hill Gallery is

establishing itself as a venue for

exhibitions by leading artists. In

October 2010 several of the most

innovative and prominent figures in

contemporary art took part in an

international exhibition there and

at Corsham Court. The Provenance

exhibition showcased work by 14

artists, including Gavin Turk and

Mat Collishaw. They are both

original members of the group

known as Young British Artists

which dominated the art scene in

Britain during the 1990s.

Established artists from Britain

and continental Europe created

installations alongside those of

emerging artists, including highly

talented graduates from Bath

School of Art and Design.

The dual site exhibition was

curated by one of the participating

artists, Angela Cockayne, who also

lectures in Sculpture at the

University. The theme of her

exhibition, which explored the

history and ethics of collecting

natural specimens, was inspired by

a re-discovered natural history

collection originally used for Bath

Academy of Art drawing classes at

Corsham Court in the 1950s.

Provenance was launched with a

one-day symposium at Sion Hill,

sponsored by the Henry Moore

Foundation. It discussed some of

the controversial issues raised by

Provenance, such as taxidermy and

the use of animal parts in works of

art. Speakers included artists

Gavin Turk, Tessa Farmer, Mariele

Neudecker and Jochem Hendricks,

award winning writer Philip Hoare

and leading curator James

Putnam.

House of Fairy TalesThe Sion Hill Gallery followed up

its Provenance exhibition with an

equally impressive display of work

by leading international artists.

These included Sir Peter Blake,

Cornelia Parker, Paula Rego, Kiki

Smith, Gavin Turk and Rachel

Whiteread. They were among 23

artists who each produced a print

inspired by fairy tales, resulting in

a fascinating collection of images

that went on show at Sion Hill in

December 2010. The new works

had been commissioned by an arts

education project, the House of

Fairy Tales.

Bath Spa Live This year’s Bath Spa Live

programme of nearly 60

performing arts and music

events has earned praise from

an ever growing public audience.

One of this year’s highlights was

a site specific dance project

created in the new Southgate

Underground car park. Dance

students spent a week working

with Kristin McGuire of Cirque

du Soleil and Jessica Cohen of

Earthfall to develop a dynamic

30 minute piece, which was

performed accompanied by

live music.

Two of the largest scale events

presented this year were the Music

Department’s double-bill opera

performance of Puccini’s Suor

Angelica and Gianni Schicchi and

a performance of Fiddler on the

Roof, which combined the talents

of both Music and Drama students.

Both these events presented a

tremendous challenge for

performers and production teams

alike and gave students a fantastic

opportunity to showcase their

abilities to sell-out audiences.

The University’s new Burdall’s Yard

venue opened its doors to the

public for the first time on the

opening night of Bath International

Music Festival. Over 250 people –

including the then Mayor of Bath,

Cllr Shaun McGall – enjoyed live

music and film in a beautiful

candle-lit setting. Burdall’s also

hosted the first Creative Music

Technology Degree Show which

featured audio, multimedia,

interactivity and live performance

pieces.

Bath Spa University Choir

received glowing accolades for

their performance with Bath

Philharmonia Orchestra at Wells

Cathedral. Students from both

the BA Music and MMus

programmes performed Brahms’

German Requiem alongside

the soloists Gavin Carr and

Gweneth-Ann Jeffers.

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Open Learning WeekBath Spa opened its doors to the

public for a week, inviting people

to get a taste of university by

sitting in on student lectures.

The University’s first ever Open

Learning Week, in February,

involved a whole series of lectures

on subjects ranging from History

to Drama, and Philosophy to Food.

A total of over 30 lectures were

available, all scheduled

undergraduate classes.

Among many who took up took

up the offer was the then Mayor

of Bath, Councillor Shaun McGall,

who is a former student at Bath

Spa. Cllr McGall studied Geography

back when it was called Bath

College of High Education. For his

return visit he chose a two-hour

lecture given by Dr John Robb,

subject leader for Geography, who

used to teach him on the course

until his graduation in 1993.

Places for the public at each

lecture were limited, bookable on

a ‘first come, first served’ basis

via the University website. Open

Learning Week aimed to provide

a snapshot of life in a modern

university for people from the Bath

area with no recent experience of

higher education.

Suffragettes in Bath Staff from the University teamed

up with Bath and North East

Somerset Council and the photo

archive Bath in Time for a week-

long series of events marking the

joint centenary of International

Women’s Day and the planting of a

local arboretum by suffragettes.

The week’s events in March, all

free and open to the public,

centred on symbolic tree plantings

to commemorate the original

arboretum. This was created in the

grounds of Eagle House at

Batheaston between 1909 and

1912, when more than 60 female

campaigners for women's voting

rights were guests of the

Blathwayt family. The arboretum

has since been destroyed.

Symbolic new trees were planted

at ceremonies in Bath’s Alice Park

and Royal Victoria Park on

International Women’s Day itself,

8 March, and at Newton Park.

During the week lectures on

suffragette activity in Edwardian

Bath and nationally were delivered

by Dr Cynthia Hammond from

Concordia University, Montréal,

Dr Katherine Bradley of the Open

University and Professor June

Hannam from the University of the

West of England. Throughout the

week Bath Central Library

exhibited historic archive

photographs, supplied by Bath

in Time, of the suffragettes and

planting of the original arboretum.C

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ublic. elations.

Oral history projectexpandedAn oral history project by the

University, recording the memories

of older residents in Keynsham,

is being expanded throughout Bath

and North East Somerset. The

scheme, involving History students

from the Humanities Department

led by senior lecturer Dr Roberta

Anderson, began three years ago.

They have been gathering the

reminiscences of people who

moved to Keynsham from Bristol

after the Second World War. Now

the students are joining forces

with Bath and North East

Somerset Council, the Holburne

Museum, Age Concern, the Bath

Preservation Trust and the

Museum of Bath at Work to do

similar work in communities

across the B&NES area. The

whole project now forms part of

the History degree programme at

Bath Spa University. The students’

oral history research has been

assimilated into their studies as

a new module, History at Work.

Olympic GamesBath Spa students have developed

a free resource to help primary

schools teach young children about

the Olympic and Paralympic Games

- with a unique focus on Bath and

the South West of England. Five

History undergraduate students

have prepared ten practical

activities designed to be fun,

creative and educational. The

activities provide opportunities for

pupils to learn about the Olympic

values, Greek mythology, cultural

differences between countries

competing and local athletes.

The students visited Longwell

Green Primary School in Bristol

to pilot a selection of the activities

and have sought advice from

education professionals. The next

phase of the project will involve the

students working with a designer

to bring their ideas to life. The

resource will then be piloted

further in local schools, before it

is made available free of charge

to primary schools across the

region in 2012.

The project is supported by

RELAYS and Team West of

England, but has been fully led

by the students themselves.

RELAYS is a London 2012 legacy

project based in universities across

the South West that aims to inspire

young people to volunteer, try

new sports and be creative.

Heritage Open WeekThe University teamed up with

Bath and North East Somerset

Council for the annual Heritage

Open Week in October. Our

students helped out as volunteers

at a number of Bath museums,

while BSU’s Centre for History

and Culture co-hosted with B&NES

Heritage Services a series of

public lectures on local history

and heritage, Bath: Past, Present

and Future.

The talks, by experts from

Bath Spa and several museums

including the Holburne, the Roman

Baths, the American Museum and

No.1 Royal Crescent, looked at the

competing demands on heritage

organisations in the city and the

challenges they face.

The development of Heritage

courses in the University’s History

study programme has been a key

initiative at Bath Spa over the past

year, in close collaboration with

the museums.

Student volunteersStudent volunteers played an

important part in a big win for Bath

Rugby off the field. The Bath Spa

students have been involved in the

rugby club’s ‘Playing for Success’

programme, which won the not-

for-profit category of the Bath

and North East Somerset Council

Chairman’s Business Awards.

The volunteers acted as teaching

assistants and mentors to local

secondary school pupils who

attend after-school classes in

English, Maths and IT Skills at

Bath Rugby. They provided

one-to-one support for children

struggling in these key subjects

and ran practical learning activities

with a rugby theme.

The University’s Volunteering

department, Just V, nominated

Bath Rugby for the B&NES awards,

which recognise businesses

making a positive contribution

to their local community.

PRIMARY SCHOOL RESOURCES

COMMUNITY LINKS22:Holburne bookshomeward boundUnder the watchful eye of

librarians from Bath Spa a small

army of volunteers helped return

a valuable collection of around

3,000 books to the city’s newly

re-opened Holburne Museum.

Although better known for its fine

and decorative art, the Holburne

Museum also possesses book

collections that provide a valuable

resource for university researchers

and other enthusiasts.

However the collections have been

difficult to access as none were

catalogued. Now, following a

year’s painstaking work by the

volunteers, the books have been

catalogued on the University

Libraries online catalogue, making

them easily accessible to a wide

audience, before being returned

to the Holburne.

The cataloguing took place at

Corsham Court with the help of a

team of volunteers from the local

community. A celebratory lunch for

the volunteers took place in June

at Corsham Court.

Support for primaryscience and technologyteachingStaff in Education and Geography

secured funding from AstraZeneca

Science Teaching Trust to work

with several local primary

school communities to develop

innovative, locally-orientated

and environmentally conscious

aspects to the curriculum through

the use of science and technology.

Students help createnature trail for schoolPupils from Moorland Infants

and Junior Schools in Bath are

benefiting from an exciting new

nature trail – thanks to the help of

student volunteers from Bath Spa.

The project is the brainchild of

Environmental Science student

Neale Warr, who saw the potential

value the school’s huge natural

space could offer the children,

and decided he wanted to help.

He applied for funding to the

University’s Tony Dewberry

Memorial Fund, which was set up

to help environmental projects in

memory of Bath Spa’s former

Deputy Vice-Chancellor who died

in January 2010.

The Memorial Fund is used for

student projects that have a lasting

impact on the environment – either

in the local community or at the

University, and reflects Tony

Dewberry’s keen interest in

environmental matters.

Neale’s project involved developing

the school grounds into a nature

trail that would be used for

educational purposes, teaching

different aspects of ecology,

biology and environmental

management in different seasons.

A new kind of Rotary ClubFollowing a successful initial

breakfast meeting at Bath Spa

University in March 2011 and its

official launch in July 2011, an

active group of local business

professionals (including a number

of university staff) has been

working to develop a fresh,

modern and relevant forum in

which to network, build personal

and professional links and make

a positive impact on the local

community. The Rotary Club of

Bath Spa – the fourth club in the

Bath area – has been designed to

be fun, inclusive and interactive

and appeal to wide range of people

with busy lives who still want to

make a difference in the

community. The University not only

hosts meetings and shares its

name with the Club, but is also

developing a number of placement,

mentoring and other student

opportunities through its support

and involvement, particularly with

its inaugural president as Susan

Hammond, Student Development

Co-ordinator of the University’s

Students’ Union. The Club meets

every other Thursday at 7.30am in

Main House, Newton Park.

Student safetyFollowing the tragic death by

drowning of one of its students,

James Bubear, the University has

been working in partnership with

a number of agencies to help keep

students safe in Bath. A campaign

branded ‘Don’t make it a night to

regret’ has been launched

supported by B&NES Council,

Bath Spa University and the

University of Bath, both

University Students’ Unions,

police, fire service and ‘nightwatch’

(a group of around 50 city centre

businesses, including bars

and clubs).

GOING FOR GREEN :23

Eco. Friendly.

Green LeagueBath Spa University has again

been awarded ‘first class honours’

for its environmental performance

in a national league table. It

made the top ten out of 142 UK

universities in the People & Planet

Green League 2011. Bath Spa

was ranked seventh overall –

four places higher than last year

– for its environmental policy and

performance in areas such as

carbon emissions, waste recycling,

energy efficiency and water

consumption.

The University has an ambitious

Carbon Reduction Management

Plan in operation, detailing

projects that will reduce its

carbon emissions by 50% by 2020.

In the past five years its carbon

emissions have fallen by 21%,

whereas across universities

nationwide they rose by an average

of 7.4% over the same period.

Bath Spa’s performances on water

use, carbon reduction and

reduction of waste to landfill have

improved considerably over the

past four years. Its recycling rate

is currently 65% - up from 60% in

2010. Last year the University

acquired the Rocket food waste

composter, which has helped

divert food waste from landfill to

be turned into compost and used

on the Newton Park grounds.

Bath Spa has also launched its

new environment brand called

‘Green Focus’. This is helping to

raise awareness of the University’s

environmental activities and

initiatives.

Success in the Green League

follows Bath Spa’s achievement

of the EcoCampus Platinum award

in 2010 – the highest accolade

under the EcoCampus scheme.

At the same time Bath Spa became

the first UK university to gain the

International Standard for

Environmental Management (ISO

14001) accreditation through the

EcoCampus award scheme.

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INFLUENCE IN THE REGION AND BEYOND24:

GloCon

Network for languagesBath Spa has expanded its support

for modern languages teaching in

the region. In 2009 the University

was selected as the South West

Regional Centre for Links into

Languages, a government

sponsored project to provide

modern languages training for

teachers in all primary and

secondary schools. Earlier this

year funding for all the centres

was withdrawn because of

government cuts. However the

South West Centre, led by its

Director, Philip Campagna and

its Manager, Denise Martine,

has been able to continue as a

self-funding business located at

the University’s Culverhay Annex,

providing an invaluable resource

for teachers.

Minister at childprotection conference The Minister for Children and

Families, Tim Loughton, addressed

a major conference on child

protection held by the University.

The conference, in June 2011,

was the third on safeguarding

children to be hosted by Bath Spa

at its Newton Park campus. As a

keynote speaker at the event Mr

Loughton outlined the Coalition

Government’s perspective on the

protection of children from abuse.

Speakers also included Tessa

Munt, the Liberal Democrat MP

for Wells. She is a member of

the Education Select Committee,

with a particular interest in

safeguarding children. The

conference brought together

politicians, employers in the

children’s workforce sector, child

protection agencies, the police and

academics to explore current and

future policies on this key issue at

national and regional level.

Bath Spa offers the wider

children’s workforce a new

child protection qualification,

in partnership with David Niven

Associates. The training

programme of six modules

allows non-graduate staff to

build towards a degree while still

working full-time. The minister

praised the work of the University

in raising the quality of training in

this important area of work.

Training for parentvolunteersThe children and family services

charity First Steps (Bath), in

partnership with Bath Spa

University, launched a new

training course for parent

volunteers. It was a pilot project

to support the groups run by

First Steps for families with

young children in the Bath

communities of Twerton,

Southdown and Moorfields.

‘Stay & Play’ groups are a safe

and fun environment giving parents

the chance to spend time with

their young children up to the age

of five and meet other local

families. The sessions are

supervised by experienced family

support workers, but are so

popular they can sometimes

become very large and crowded,

which lessens their effectiveness.

Local parents expressed interest in

becoming volunteers to run groups

in partnership with staff, so that

more groups could be offered.

The seven weekly sessions were

led by staff from First Steps Family

Services and from the University’s

School of Education. The training

for parents included ideas on how

to run groups and the importance

of play, health and safety. Parents

who so wished could submit work

for accreditation with Bath Spa and

all received a certificate of

participation from the University.

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bal. nnections.

Recognising achievementHonorary awards were presented

by the University to two worthy

recipients with links to the

region: Joanna MacGregor and

Tom McCaw.

Joanna MacGregor, one of the

most versatile and innovative

musicians of her generation,

has been Artistic Director of Bath

International Music Festival since

2006. Joanna has performed in

over 60 countries, often appearing

as a soloist with many of the

world’s leading orchestras. Known

for her wide-ranging interests

in jazz, world and contemporary

music, she created her own record

label SoundCircus in 1998. Joanna

made her debut as a conductor in

2002 and regularly directs her own

orchestral projects. The University

has awarded her an honorary

DLitt (Doctor of Letters) degree.

Tom McCaw was formerly Land

Steward of the Duchy of Cornwall,

which owns Bath Spa’s Newton

Park campus. He served in that

role from 1988 to 2008, with

responsibility for the Duchy’s

rural properties in the Bath area,

Wiltshire, Dorset, Somerset,

Gloucestershire and Oxfordshire.

He is a trustee of Wiltshire Wildlife

Trust and of Community First

(Wiltshire’s Rural Development

Council).

Mr McCaw has been made an

Honorary Fellow of the University,

in recognition of the consistent and

substantial support he has given

to the development of Bath Spa

University during the years 1988

to 2008.

Links with ChinaBusiness and Management has

formed partnerships with two

colleges in China; Shanghai

Electronic and Information

Vocational College and Shanghai

Sipo Polytechnic. Students who

pass exams equivalent to the

HND in Business and Management

in Shanghai are able to attend

the summer Business English

Pre-University course which leads

to the final year of the BA Hons

Business and Management

undergraduate programme

at Bath Spa University. Our

International students now have

the opportunity to progress to the

recently launched MA in Business

and Management.

A further 14 students recently

arrived from Shanghai and

commenced the programme

in June 2011.

International partnershipsBath Spa University continues

to expand its cornerstone

partnerships with leading

international universities which

allow us to share expertise and

develop collaborative projects.

In 2010 - 11 the University signed

cooperation agreements that will

lead to the development of shared

research, pedagogy projects, and

staff and student exchanges with

Multimedia University in Malaysia

(MMU) and Queensland University

of Technology (QUT) in Australia.

MMU is working with the School

of Humanities and Cultural

Industries to facilitate the overseas

residency of the School's new

MA in Travel and Nature Writing

and is also in discussion with the

School of Education regarding a

development programme for

school teachers. QUT is

developing plans for a joint PhD

in transmedia writing with

the School of Humanities and

Cultural Industries and is

discussing student-led

collaborative projects with the

Commercial Music programme

in the School of Music and

Performing Arts.

During 2010 – 11 the University

continued to work on projects with

its US partner Columbia College

Chicago. Professor Gerard

Woodward spent part of the year

on a teaching exchange delivering

workshops at Columbia College.

In February 2011 creative writing

students from Bath Spa and

Columbia College ran a writing

surgery for the public as part of

the Bath Literature Festival whilst

novelist Dr Andrew Miller from

Bath Spa's Research Centre for

Contemporary Writing chaired a

panel of writers from Columbia

College Chicago as part of the

festival for a discussion about the

differences between British and

American writing. Columbia

College's TV Department agreed

pedagogy projects with the

Department of Film and Media

at Bath Spa and the College’s

Department of Art & Design is

planning projects with the Bath

School of Art and Design.

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INFLUENCE IN THE REGION AND BEYOND26:

KnowBase.

Offering internationalexpertiseProfessor Rob Mears was invited

as an international expert to assist

the Australian Sociological

Association in developing Learning

Outcomes for degree programmes

as part of the work of the newly

established Australian Tertiary

Education Quality and Standards

Agency (TEQSA).

Professor Dan Davies has been

invited to collaborate with Umea

University and The Swedish

National Agency for Education on

assessment of scientific enquiry,

arising from the E-scape project.

E-scape worked with teachers

from eight primary schools to

develop assessment tasks based

on the e-scape dynamic e-portfolio

system, as an alternative to the

discontinued Key Stage 2 Science

SATs in England.

International researchconferencesDr Heather Winlow (Geography)

was invited to present a paper

about her work in race, ethnicity

and cartography at the 24th

Internatonal Conference on the

History of Cartography in Moscow.

Professor Tim Middletonpresented a paper at an

international conference in Nantes.

He spoke at the Bienalle of the

European League of Institutes of

the Arts in October 2010. His

paper 'Beyond the lecture hall -

new approaches to employability

in creative subjects' showcased

the work of the BA Creative Media

Practice and highlighted the

pedagogic thinking behind the

new media facilities planned as

part of the Newton Park campus

redevelopment.

Professor Robert Mears presented

a paper at the international

conference‘ Work, Employment

and Society’ at the University of

Brighton in September 2010.

The paper will be published in 2011

in a book entitled Working Lives

in further and higher education

in the 21st century.

June Bianchi from the School

of Education presented a paper

on ‘multimedia technology for

social participation: developing

digital arts strategies with

diverse learners through

teacher education', at the World

Conference on Educational

Technology Researches, Near East

University, Cyprus in June 2011.

Darren Garside, Senior Lecturer

in Education Studies, presented

a paper on Productivity, Phronesis

and P4C at the International

Council for Philosophical Enquiry

with Children (ICPIC 2011) in

Jinju, South Korea.

Jim Crawley, Programme Leader

for Lifelong Learning, presented

a paper on ‘Changing times,

changing voices: the discrepancy

between the 'official version' of

teacher education and the lived

experience of teacher educators’

at 2011 International Council

on Education for Teaching (ICET)

World Assembly, University

of Glasgow.

UPDATE ON HUMAN RESOURCES :27

wledge.

Staff facts and figuresThe University is a significant local

employer with approximately 800

staff including both teaching and

non-teaching staff. We received

approximately 1500 applications

in 2010 for around 55 vacancies.

Equality and diversityThe third annual joint Equality

Forum between the University and

the University of Bath was hosted

at the University of Bath’s campus

in April 2011. The theme was the

Inclusive University, and included

a lively panel discussion on various

aspects of equality, and afternoon

workshops. The University uses

the Forum as an opportunity to

engage with students, staff and

members of the wider community,

and the next event will be hosted

at Bath Spa in 2012. In addition to

the Forum, the University also

participates in the Stonewall

Workplace Equality Index, which

is Britain’s leading tool for

employers to measure their efforts

to tackle discrimination and create

inclusive workplaces for lesbian,

gay and bisexual employees. While

not being in the top 100, we

continue to improve our score year

on year and use the feedback to

improve all of our equality work.

WellbeingAs part of the University’s

Wellbeing Strategy, staff have

benefited from courses on

managing stress and wellbeing

events that include campaigns to

support Men’s Health and Back

Care week, flu vaccinations and

general health assessments. Joint

working with students on events

that promote wellbeing for all has

begun. An Employee Assistance

Programme, Lifeworks, has been

in place for several years, and is

used to offer additional support

to employees and their

immediate family.

Leadership for the futureIn July 2011, Bath Spa launched

its leadership programme for

University managers. The

programme is being delivered by

management development provider

t-three, who were selected from

a strong field which included over

70 initial expressions of interest.

The aim of the programme is to

help managers meet the many

challenges BSU will face over the

next few years, supporting and

developing them to make sense

of how they and others may need

to work differently in response

to these challenges.

t-three worked closely with the

programme working group, as well

as running scoping and launch

sessions, to engage staff and

inform the content and delivery

methods. BSU managers will

each benefit from four days of

workshops, gaining knowledge

and skills in coaching, managing

change, communication,

commercial awareness and

managing performance that are

highly practical and can be applied

back in the workplace. Initial

feedback to the first sessions

has been very positive, and the

programme will get back

underway after the summer break.

FACTS AND FIGURES28:TURNOVER (YEAR ENDING JULY 2010) - £50,558,000

UNDERGRADUATE APPLICATIONS TO BATH SPA UNIVERSITY (TO JULY 2011) – 14,888 (14% INCREASE ON PREVIOUS YEAR)

UNDERGRADUATE APPLICATIONS : PLACES RATIO (2010) – 7.0 : 1

TOTAL STUDENT NUMBER 8742

MODE OF ATTENDANCE FULL-TIME 6068 69.40%

PART-TIME 2674 30.60%

LEVEL OF STUDY UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS 5621 64.30%

POSTGRADUATE STUDENTS 3121 35.70%

AGE ON ENTRY UNDER 25 YEARS 5260 60.10%

25 YEARS OR ABOVE 3482 39.90%

GENDER FEMALE 6251 71.50%

MALE 2491 28.50%

SCHOOL BREAKDOWN BATH SCHOOL OF ART & DESIGN 1103 12.62%

EDUCATION 3618 41.39%

HUMANITIES & CULTURAL INDUSTRIES 1555.5 17.79%

MUSIC & PERFORMING ARTS 1263 14.45%

SCIENCE, SOCIETY & MANAGEMENT 1202.5 13.75%

LOCATION OF STUDY NEWTON PARK/CORSHAM COURT 6951 79.51%

SION HILL/CIRCUS 861 9.85%

PARTNER INSTITUTIONS 930 10.64%

What do Bath Spa graduates do?• 90% of Bath Spa graduates were in work or further study, six months

after graduation, according to latest figures.

• Of those in full-time employment, over two-thirds (69.3%) were working

in graduate-level jobs.

• Despite the continuing pressures in the jobs market, 6.1% of Bath Spa graduates

were seeking work at the time of the survey, compared to 7.6% nationally.

(Source HESA: Destinations of Leavers from Higher Education survey 2009/10)

:29GOVERNORS AND SENIOR STAFF

Team. Spirit.

SENIOR STAFF

Vice-ChancellorProfessor Frank Morgan

BA MSc CPFA

Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Clerkto the Board of GovernorsAlun Thomas BSc PhD

Deputy Vice-ChancellorsJon Brady BSc

Professor Neil Sammells BA PhD

Head of Bath School of Art and DesignPradeep Sharma

BA (Cantab) MA (Cantab) MA

Dean of School of EducationProfessor Stephen Ward

BEd MEd PhD

Head of School of Humanities and Cultural Industries and Dean of International RelationsProfessor Tim Middleton

BA MA PGCE PhD

Head of School of Music andPerforming ArtsJoe Bennett BA NTF FHEA

Head of School of Science, Society and ManagementProfessor Robert Mears

BSc MSc PhD PGCE

Head of Graduate SchoolProfessor Paul Davies BSc PhD

Director of Student Services and RegistrarChristopher Ellicott BA MA

BOARD OF GOVERNORS

Stella Pirie OBE (Chair)

Professor Frank Morgan

(Vice-Chancellor)

Inderjit Ahluwalia

Professor Judith Brown

Andrew Harris

Lynn Ludwell

Mike Roy

Richard Bidgood

Professor Tim Middleton

Ian Phillips

Julian Amey

Professor Paul Luna

Revd Prebendary Edward Mason

Philip Parker

Mary Toman

Dr Alun Thomas

(Deputy Vice-Chancellor and

Clerk to the Board)

Director of Estates and ServicesCarolyn Puddicombe BSc FRICS

Director of Library ServicesAlison Baud MA DipLib MCLIP

Director of Human ResourcesArlene Stone FCIPD

Director of Computing ServicesDave Hassall BSc

Head of Marketing andCommunicationsTessa Griffiths BA DipM

Head of EmployabilityAdam Powell BSc PG Dip

Head of Corsham Court CentreProfessor Ron George

MA RCA DipAD

Head of Quality ManagementKatie Akerman

BA MA PG Cert DipQ

Head of FinanceKevin Wright FCA

Head of Information ServicesJonathan Sebright BA

Newton Park Campus

Newton St Loe Bath BA2 9BN

Telephone 01225 875 875

Sion Hill Campus

Landsdown Bath BA1 5SF

Telephone 01225 875 875

enquiries@bathspa.ac.uk

www.bathspa.ac.uk