annual review 2012/13

ContentsForeword from the Vice-Chancellor 01

A year of progress 02

Highlights 04

Creativity 06

Culture 14

Enterprise 22

Internationalisation 28

Development and Alumni Relations 30

Academic highlights 34

Research expertise 40

Working with business 50

Community 52

HR update 58

Facts and Figures 60

Governors and senior staff 61

Cover image: ‘Capriccio Beakers’ by Elke Sada ( BA Hons Ceramics, 2003)

01

Welcome to the Annual Review of theUniversity for 2012/13.We are proud tocelebrate the achievements of our staff andstudents, reflecting the core themes of ourvision – creativity, culture, enterprise andeducation.

Higher education policy continued to presentuniversities with challenges during the last 12months. Here at Bath Spa University we havedeveloped our vision and strategy to build onour strengths and maximise our opportunities.We celebrated new international partnerships,bringing new students as well as globalopportunities for local students. Our aimis to help our students develop and becomesocially engaged global citizens at Bath Spa.

Bath Spa University has taught in Bathand the surrounding area for over 160 yearsand we prides ourselves on the quality of ourprovision. It is pleasing to report another yearof gains in the National Student Surveywith students expressing their continuedsatisfaction with the experience we provide.The University offers a distinctive studentexperience, fostering vibrant and creativestudent communities.With our new academicbuilding at Newton Park we look to thefuture, providing world-class student learningopportunities.

Our research community continues to growacross traditional areas as well as exploringwhat it means to undertake practice-basedresearch. Researchers are reaching out acrossthe globe, from NewYork to the peaks ofMount Athos. In a year where preparation forthe Research Excellence Framework has beenintense, we have seen progress in supportingour academic community. The launch of ourrepository, Research SPAce, has proven a greatsuccess and the new academic year will seemany new PhD students including our newinterdisciplinary cohort.

I thoroughly enjoyed our summer graduationceremonies, held for the first time in BathAbbey. Our presence in the city did not gounnoticed, with our students standing proudin their caps and gowns, admired by the manyvisitors to Bath. It was my honour to presentthis year's honorary graduates with theirawards in recognition of outstandingachievement in their respective fields.

I hope that you enjoy this review of theexceptional achievements and highlights ofthe last year which make Bath Spa Universitysuch an inspirational place to work and study.

Professor Christina SladeVice-Chancellor

Foreword fromthe Vice-Chancellor

02

Vision and Strategy for 2015

Since her arrival at the University in 2012, theVice-Chancellor Professor Christina Slade hasworked with colleagues to develop a vision forthe future. That vision is for Bath Spa to be aleading educational institution in creativity,culture and enterprise. Through innovativeteaching and research, the University willprovide a high quality student experience.Based in a world heritage city and connectedto a network of international partners, BathSpa University will ensure that its graduatesare socially engaged global citizens.

This year, the realisation of that vision hasstarted through the implementation of a clearstrategy for the University up until 2015.

In 2015 Bath Spa University will celebrate over160 years as an educational institution andten years as a university. The Vision andStrategy for 2015 show how the Universitywill expand its educational offerings and

develop research in areas of key strength;notably creativity, culture and enterprise.Building on its distinctive reputation, theUniversity will internationalise its operations,introducing global perspectives to thecurriculum and opening programmes toan increasingly international student body.

The Vision for 2015 is underpinned byprinciples derived from the University’s longhistory and proven strengths. It is inspired bythe University’s idyllic location in the worldheritage city of Bath in which work and play,science and fiction, technologicaldevelopment and environmental awarenessconverge to stimulate creativity andinnovation. The supporting strategy setsout clear goals for the student experience,research and internationalisation.

A distinctive student experience

The University’s location in the world heritagecity of Bath provides the backdrop for deliveryof outstanding academic programmes increativity, culture, enterprise and education.A practitioner-focussed approach to teachingfeatures studio and small group teaching,supported by the latest developments ine-learning. The University works in partnershipwith the cultural and creative industries aswell as regional, national and internationaleducation partners to produce employment-ready graduates who are socially engagedglobal citizens. Specifically the University will:

� foster vibrant and creative studentcommunities,

� deliver world-class student learningopportunities,

� learn from its students.

A year of progress

03

Engaged research with impact

Research is focused on creativity, culture andenterprise with established strengths in Artand Design, Music and Performing Arts,Humanities and CreativeWriting andEducation. These priority areas will bedeveloped and the University’s reputationenhanced by increasing external funding,growing postgraduate research and teachingactivity, enhancing international partnershipsand maximising impact and engagement.Specifically the University will:

� deliver excellence in research,

� provide a vibrant postgraduate community,

� engage the public in its research andinnovation.

A world university

The strategy for internationalisation willtransform the University’s internationalprofile, embed global perspectives into thecurriculum and grow international studentrecruitment. Specifically the University will:

� establish the profile of Bath Spa as a worlduniversity,

� develop graduates who are socially engagedglobal citizens,

� increase overseas student numbers.

Newton Park campusdevelopment

A large scale development project at theUniversity’s Newton Park campus began inthe summer of 2012. An outstanding newacademic building and student residentialaccommodation are being constructed andwill transform the student experience.

This is the largest development to ever takeplace at Bath Spa. It will significantly changethe Newton Park campus and provideexceptional new facilities for all current andfuture students. As the University grows it isessential that it offers an outstandingexperience and attracts students from aroundthe world. The development of the NewtonPark campus is a key element in helping theUniversity realise its Vision for 2015.

Work on the new academic building began inJune 2012. It is situated in the middle of thecampus next to the Michael Tippett Centre. Itwill provide state-of-the-art teaching facilitiesfor students across all subjects, as well as acafé, learning commons, bookable rooms forgroup working and an outdoor amphitheatrefor performances. It will also house afantastic new digital studio and editing suitesfor all digital media-related courses. It willfeature the best technology and equipment,equal to anything used by commercialcompanies and will be the most outstandingfacility of its kind in the SouthWest.Work onthe new academic building is scheduled to becompleted by April 2014.

In June of this year construction of newstudent residential accommodation at the topof the campus near to the Students’ Unionbegan. The new student residentialaccommodation will consist of 55 individual‘houses’ for up to ten students, six fullyaccessible rooms and a small number ofstudios, providing a total of 561 bedrooms.Each house will have a shared kitchen/livingspace and en-suite bedrooms fitted to a highstandard. The building work is scheduled to becompleted by September 2014, in time forthe start of the new academic year.

Hartham Park developments

A significant addition to the University’sinfrastructure was developed in 2013 througha partnership with Hartham Park in Corsham.

The University’s PGCE provision in the Schoolof Education will be re-located to HarthamPark in 2014 to form a new and high-profileBath Spa Institute for Education. The movehas been subject to a comprehensive publicconsultation, and will involve transformingpart of the Hartham Park estate into a superbpurpose-built teaching facility.

This exciting development will complementthe University’s postgraduate provision basedat Corsham Court, and consolidate the strongpartnership between the University,WiltshireCouncil and local schools. As a leadingeducation provider with Ofsted ‘outstanding’status, the University is ideally placed to leadthe way in educational policy and practicedevelopment, and to help shape the nationalagenda on teacher education.

SEPTEMBER 012

04

Highlights

Moby Dick Big Read is launched atthe Plymouth International BookFestival and soon attracts 1 millionreaders.

OCTOBER 012

A new resource for schools In Care,In School is launched at the Houseof Lords hosted by BaronessWalmsley.

NOVEMBER 012

Film director Ken Loach is awardedan honorary doctorate at a specialceremony.

MARCH 013 APRIL 013

Graduate EvieWyld and Professor ofCreativeWriting Naomi Aldermanare named in the Granta list of thetop 20 British writers.

MAY 013

The University signs the Manifestofor Public Engagement at theinvitation of the NationalCoordinating Centre for PublicEngagement (NCCPE).

Joelle Adams, Deputy DirectorLibrary Services (LearningDevelopment), is awarded anInternational Scholarship by theHigher Education Academy (HEA).

05

DECEMBER 012

Cook, TV presenter and Bath Spaalumna Mary Berry is announced asPresident of the Bath Spa AlumniAssociation.

JANUARY 013

Bath Spa and the Holburne Museumformalise their long-standingpartnership.

FEBRUARY 013

Stephanie Kitchen wins the FashionAwareness Direct (FAD) nationaldesign competition.

JUNE 013 JULY 013

Graduation ceremonies take place atBath Abbey with honorary degreesawarded Peter Randall-Page, AnneBull OBE, Professor Sir HarrisonBirtwistle and Hilary Mantel CBE.

AUGUST 013

Painting Lecturer Andrea Medjesi-Jones is awarded an AbbeyFellowship in Painting at the BritishSchool at Rome.

New joint venture with ShorelightEducation announced to bring moreinternational students to Bath Spa.

06

danceroom Spectroscopy

Professor Joseph Hyde, CreativeMusic Technology, continued his workon Dr David Glowacki’s (Centre forComputational Chemistry, Universityof Bristol) ‘danceroom Spectroscopy’project which had its London premierein November. After successful outings atthe Arnolfini in Bristol and theWeymouthOlympics last summer, the project ranover the weekend of 3 and 4 Novemberat the Barbican in London as thecentrepiece of their ‘Weekender’ festival.

danceroom Spectroscopy is partinteractive art installation, partimmersive science experience,part large-scale video game, partdance performance, and part musicalinstrument. Spawned from Glowacki’sresearch, the project has become a large-scale collaboration including ProfessorHyde (sound/music), technologistDr Tom Mitchell (University of theWest of England), software artist PhillTew (Pervasive Media Studio,Watershed,Bristol) and choreographer LauraKriefman (Guerilla Dance Company).

Together with five professional dancers,they have also developed ‘Hidden Fields’,the world’s first ever dance performancethat attempts to “choreograph” atomicdynamics using the danceroomSpectroscopy system. It is a high-impactand accessible show constructed usingthe danceroom spectroscopy technology.It was developed through a series ofworkshops with professional dancers inpartnership with the Arnolfini in Bristol.

Three 30-minute performances of‘Hidden Fields’ were held on each day oftheWeekender Festival at the Barbican.

07

Creativity

Fashion Awareness Direct (FAD)prize 2013

In February Stephanie Kitchen won thenational design competition FashionAwareness Direct (FAD). Fifteen finalistswere selected from over 100 entriessubmitted to design optimistic solutionsfor the next decade.

The catwalk final took place during LondonFashionWeek as part of the Vauxhall FashionScout showcase where aspiring youngdesigners compete for vital funding andtop industry placements.

Stephanie’s work was judged alongside thatof other contestants by a top industry panelincluding iconic fashion journalist and talentspotter Hilary Alexander. Stephanie’s workwas also personally selected by HilaryAlexander to be showcased on the catwalkat the London FashionWeekend.

Commenting on the high standard of designs,Hilary Alexander said: “Overall, the standardof this year's FAD entries was extremely high.The three winners stood out immediately andthe decision of the judging panel wasunanimous.

With reference to Stephanie, she added: “Thewinning entry was outstanding, in concept,inspiration, execution and creativity - withan extremely high degree of sustainability,wearability and commercial appeal, as well.

“It was eye-catching, functional, futuristic,fun and accompanied with fabulousaccessories which looked to the futurein an original eco-manner.”

Commenting on winning the final,Stephanie said: “It was so amazing to havethe opportunity to see my designs on thecatwalk and I was so flattered and shockedto have been announced the winner of theFAD competition.”

Louise Pickles, Course Leader and Coordinatorof Fashion at Bath Spa, added: “It is fantasticthat Stephanie has won this prestigiousnational design competition. The level ofthought and attention to detail that wentinto the development of this mini collectionwas astounding.

“This is the fourth year that we have hadfinalists in the FAD competition, and we arethrilled for Stephanie and the tremendousopportunities that this will open up for her.”

This is the twelfth year that creative charityFAD has run the competition with the aim ofchallenging fashion students to think outsidethe commercial box, encouraging them tolook to art, culture and wider social trendsin their research and design work.

Gold award atRHS Chelsea Flower Show

A water sculpture designed by MA Fine Artstudent Fiona Haines was part of a gardenthat won Gold at the most famoushorticultural show in the world, the RHSChelsea Flower Show.

Fiona’s orange water sculpture feature, ‘Flow’was part of the BrandAlley garden which wonGold in the ‘Fresh Garden’ category. Fiona wascommissioned to produce the work for thegarden which was designed by Paul Hervey-Brookes.

Commenting on the Gold award, Fiona said:“I am thrilled to have won gold at ChelseaFlower Show in its centenary year! It has beena wonderful experience working with thegarden designer Paul Hervey-Brookes for theBrandAlley garden.”

Fiona works in Bath and prior to starting herMA graduated from Bath Spa with a FirstClass BA Honours degree. Her work is basedon a love of architecture, landscape andcolour. This, fused with her nursing careerprovides a catalyst for her artwork andchoice of materials.

08

Wonderful year of success forCreativeWriting:

The CreativeWriting course at Bath Spa hasbeen running for over 20 years. During thattime it has become one of the mostsuccessful and popular in the UK. Coursetutors are themselves respected writers andtheir links with the publishing industry areinvaluable to graduates. Some successhighlights from the last year are as follows:

Sean Borodale

PhD student Sean Borodale was shortlistedfor the T.S.Eliot Prize, one of the mostimportant poetry prizes in the UK. Sean wasselected for his collection of poems BeeJournal which tells the life of a bee hive. Hewas shortlisted alongside major namesincluding Simon Armitage, Sharon Olds andKathlen Jamie. This was a remarkableachievement for a newly published poet. TheT.S.Eliot Prize for poetry was established in1993 by the Poetry Book Society to honourits founder. It is regarded as the mostprestigious and valuable prize in the UK forpoetry. Previous winners include SeamusHeaney, DerekWalcott and Ted Hughes.

Beatrice Hitchman

Graduate Beatrice Hitchman was long-listedfor the Desmond Elliott Prize. The prizehonours the best in debut fiction and Beatricewas long-listed for her novel Petite Mort. Theaward is named after acclaimed publisher andliterary agent Desmond Elliott, who died in2003. Beatrice, who completed her MA inCreativeWriting in 2009, has already receivedrecognition for Petite Mort which won theGreene & Heaton Prize.

Anna Freeman

CreativeWriting lecturer and performancepoet Anna Freeman won the Tibor JonesPageturner Prize. The biennial Tibor JonesPageturner Prize aims to unearth exciting andoriginal fiction from debut un-representednovelists. Anna received recognition for hernovel The Fair Fight, a thrilling historical novelset around the lives of bare-knuckle prize-fighters and their patrons, in Bristol in the1800s. The inaugural Pageturner Prize waslaunched in 2011 and received anextraordinary response with over 400manuscripts submitted.

Nathan Filer

CreativeWriting graduate Nathan Filer’s debutnovel The Shock of the Fall was published inMay. It is an extraordinary portrait of oneman’s descent into mental illness. It is a braveand ground-breaking novel from one of themost exciting new voices in fiction. Nathan isa writer and registered mental health nurse.He has worked as a researcher in the academicunit of psychiatry at the University of Bristol,and on in-patient psychiatric wards. Hisstand-up poetry has been a regular fixtureat festivals and spoken-word events acrossthe UK, and has been broadcast on BBC 3television and Radio 4, 7 and 5 Live. He isalso a BBC Best New Filmmaker.

Creativity

09

Recognition for textile design

Penny Seume studied MA Design: Fashionand Textiles and her work was shown at theprestigious Society of Designer Craftsmenannual exhibition at the Mall Galleries,London. She was invited to exhibit followingher award of a highly commendedrecommendation at the New Design Britainawards at Interiors UK in January 2012.

For the exhibition, Penny designed printedvelvet fabric based on the NewYork skylineand worked with upholsterer, Ann Dyke andinterior designer for Dulux, Chris Read, toproduce a spectacular sofa. Capturing theatmosphere of NewYork glittering in thewinter sunlight the sofa, entitled VagabondShoes (in homage to Frank Sinatra singingNewYork, NewYork - the very hub of thisdesign) is a true collaboration of all their skills.

The whole body of work has been givena Distinction award by the Society and inaddition to the sofa, Penny showed cushionsand linen lampshades based on her paintingsand collages of the city.

Following the exhibition, the sofa featuredalongside the Dulux colour of the year, a deepmidnight blue in contrast to the golden sofa.

Penny now works full time from her studioin Bristol, designing and creating beautifulprinted fabrics, wallpaper and interiorproducts. Her products reference the originallocation in a subtle way and capture some ofthe inherent mood and magic.

Her collections have been variously inspiredby the Bath skyline, NewYork and London.The latter captured twinkling lights,barges and architecture by the ThamesEmbankment and was designed for the‘London: A Celebration’ show at the OxoTower Gallery in May 2012.

10

Ceramics residency at theV&A

Keith Harrison, Course Leader in MA Design:Ceramics was invited by the V&A Museum tobe Ceramics Resident from November 2012to March 2013.

CreativityTheV&A Museum Residency Programmeprovides designers, artists, writers, makers,and musicians with a studio in either theSackler Centre for Arts Education or theCeramics Galleries, normally for six months.Artists in Residence contribute workshops,lectures and gallery talks to the Museum’sLearning Programme and also hold sessionswhere Museum visitors can meet them intheir studios and view and discuss their work.

During his residency Keith’s aim was to:“pursue new ways to explore thetransformative potential of clay and electricityin both a material and social sense and foreseethe period as an opportunity to develop newapproaches to my practice in a new andstimulating environment.”

During the residency Keith created the‘Disruption Series’ through installation andperformance which existed temporarily acrossthe Museum. The V&A described the work as:“Disruptions are intended as a riposte to thelunchtime recital, a succession of short,experimental shocks within the structure ofthe institution.”

Keith's work is far from that of a conventionalpotter. Since 2002 he has been shocking theworld of ceramics with a series of live publicexperiments, exploring the process oftransformation, converting clay from its rawstate using industrial and domestic heatingelements. In more recent work Keith has usedsound to transform the clay and his largestexperiment was impressively seen and heardin 2011 at the Jerwood Makers Open in theform of ‘Float’ a huge structure made up of26 handmade speakers.

11

Hospitality exhibition at Bath Abbey

Bath Abbey hosted a successful exhibitionfeaturing new artworks by 11 Bath SpaUniversity artists, including professional artistalumni, current students and staff from theBath School of Art and Design.

The artists were asked by curator and Bath SpaMA Ceramics graduate, Claire Todd, to createartworks that critically engage with the themeof ‘Hospitality’ and are inspired by, and indialogue with, the contemporary life ofBath Abbey.

Commenting on the theme, Claire Todd said:“The works are embedded in the fabric of theAbbey, in familiar and less visible ledges andcorners.Worshippers and visitors may seekout certain works and encounter others bychance. In this way we aim to heightenawareness of the single joy of hospitality andspace for reflection and to magnify the warmnature of the Abbey as a place of encounterand exchange."

The artworks were staged amongst the dailyactivities of worship and welcoming visitors tothe Abbey. Anyone coming into the building,whatever their purpose, was able to discoverand engage with the artworks as they walkedaround.

Alan Garrow, Bath Abbey’s Vicar Theologian,added: “Hospitality is important to us as achurch; it is a key part of the Christianmessage. Having these artworks inunexpected places around the Abbey offersfresh, creative, and sometimes humorous,ways of emphasising a message alreadyspoken by the building itself: there is a spacefor everyone here. Space is such a preciousthing in our lives and in our city. It gives us achance to breathe, to be ourselves, toencounter God and one another.

"We are grateful to Claire Todd, Bath Schoolof Art and Design at Bath Spa University,and all the artists involved in this project forhelping the Abbey to speak this essentialChristian message of welcome with suchvitality and joy.”

The ‘Hospitality’ exhibition was part of alarger project looking at how visual art in asacred space can critically raise awareness ofspace of refuge, space for devotion, commonground and understanding. There was alsoan accompanying education programme.

The participating artists were: Dan Allen,Kateland Clark, David Cushway, Marc Le Galle,Carole Pearson, Sarah Purvey, Lyn Snow,Andrew Temple-Smith, Jo Taylor, Claire Todd,Jane Turner, KateWilson and RichardWinfield.

12

Granta’s list of top20 British writers

Professor Naomi Alderman and graduateEvieWyld were joined on the once-a-decadelist by other novelists including Zadie Smith,Adam Thirlwell and Sarah Hall, for theannouncement at the British Council inLondon on 15 April.

Granta first published a list of the top 20writers aged under 40 in 1983. That listincluded illustrious writers such as MartinAmis,William Boyd, Ian McEwan and SalmanRushdie. It is published once a decade andfocuses on existing and emerging talents.

EvieWyld graduated from Bath Spa in 2002having studied creative writing as part of a BACreative Arts Course. Her debut novel Afterthe Fire, a Still Small Voice won the 2009 JohnLlewellyn Rhys literary prize. As well as writingnovels, Evie also runs an independentbookshop in London.

Professor Naomi Alderman joined Bath Spain September 2012. Her debut novelDisobedience, was published in ten languagesand like her second novel, The Lessons, it wasread on BBC radio's Book at Bedtime. In 2006she won the Orange Award for NewWritersand in 2007, she was named Sunday TimesYoungWriter of the Year.

She also co-created Zombies, Run! - a fitnessgame and audio app for smartphones and wasthe lead writer on Bafta-shortlisted alternatereality game Perplex City.

Book Illustration competition

Finn Dean was named winner of The BookIllustration Competition for his work basedon Aldous Huxley’s novel Brave NewWorld.

As a partnership between The FolioSociety and The House of Illustration, theinternational competition invited contestantsover 18, ranging from amateur to professionalstandard, to submit three illustrations and abinding design for the 1932 novel.

Finn beat over 500 rivals and received £4,500for his efforts. His winning submissions,including the cover, featured in the newFolio Society illustrated hardback edition ofHuxley’s renowned work, published inSeptember 2013.

Creativity

Finn graduated from the Bath School of Artand Design in 2004 with a degree in GraphicDesign. He was the Runner Up in theObserver/Jonathan Cape short graphic storycompetition in 2007, has had his award-winning illustrations - which focus oncityscapes and landscapes - recently featuredin director Danny Boyle's film Trance, and iscurrently working for Penguin on a series ofbook covers.

Commenting on the competition he said:“Taking part in the competition has beena great opportunity to work on a piece ofliterature that was a great source ofinspiration whilst at University, and recentyears have shown just how visionary Huxley'sbook was.”

The announcement was made by JohnSutherland, Professor Emeritus at UCL andauthor at the Collyer Bristow Gallery in July.It made Finn the third winner of thiscompetition which in previous years haschallenged entrants to illustrate Camus’existentialist The Outsider and Angela Carter’sThe Bloody Chamber collection.

13

Cock-A-Hoop Symposium

In April, 50 academics, students and artistsgathered at Bath Spa University for the first‘Cock-A-Hoop’ Symposium. Organised byDr Terri Power and PatWelsh from the Schoolof Music and Performing Arts, in collaborationwith the Bristol Shakespeare Festival, theevent was an interdisciplinary platform forsharing ideas and practices for makingShakespeare more accessible to audiences.

The first panel of the day gave papers oncontemporary Shakespeare in performancewhich was followed by an interpretive dancepiece from a postgraduate choreographerJi-Eun Lee. The second panel broke off intothree workshops on the following topics:original pronunciation, a screening of aMacbeth project with prisoners in Ireland, anda cut-up Macbeth drumming workshop withDrum Major Russell MacEwan. The third panelincluded PatWelsh and Bath Spa studentssharing and discussing extracts of the Cock-A-Hoop performance work that premiered thenight before at Burdall's Yard as part of theBath Comedy Festival and the final discussionpanel included several Shakespearepractitioners, directors and programmers.

Second year Acting students in the Cock-A-Hoop performance project worked asattendants during the symposium, leading thedelegates around and answering questionswhile dressed in Elizabethan costumes.

The symposium was a huge successand several of the delegates have beenprogrammed into the Bristol ShakespeareFestival in July. There are also plans to hold atwo-day international conference in 2014 onthe same theme.

Commenting on the event, Sarah Swords King,Director of Swords & King said: “Your studentsdo you proud - all of them were excellent,obviously all extremely talented.”

14

Culture Helping digitise the city

Bath Spa staff and students played a pivotalrole in the 2013 Bath Digital Festival, teamingup with the Festival organisers to provide tendays of exciting events at venues across thecity during March.

Bath has a fast-growing digital sector and theFestival was developed to allow members ofthe public to explore the city’s thriving digitalscene and to get involved in a variety ofinteresting projects. The mixture of eventsoffered something for everyone in thecommunity.

Innovative research is constantly being carriedout at Bath Spa and cutting-edge digitalenterprises are choosing the city as theirhome, so Bath has a lot to celebrate and isfast being recognised as a leading digital hub.

15

Social Media Experiment

Another project during the Festival saw staffand students team up to look after theFestival’s entire social media presence.

Katharine Reeve, Acting Head of Departmentin CreativeWriting and Publishing ran a socialmedia workshop with senior lecturer MikeJohnston. The event sold out quickly to a widerange of local businesses, culturalorganisations and freelancers, and showcasedthe recent work they have been doing aroundcreative and responsive mobile video content.

Before, during and after the Festival, Katharineand Mike, with the help of Digital Publishingstudents managed the Social MediaExperiment to promote the festival digitallythrough the use of Twitter, Facebook,blogs/articles, filming, interviews and YouTube.

Publishing staff and students also joined forcesto launch a new Digital School Magazineproject. They held a workshop for four localschools in the University’s Publishing Labwhere they provided advice and expertise toschool teachers and magazine producers.

Katharine Reeve said: “We've had a busy yearproviding creative digital content for manyfestivals and conferences. The students havedeveloped not only their digital creativity butalso invaluable experience of working withindustry directly, and collaboration and team-building.

“The Digital Publishing students who workedon the Social Media Experiment were givensome wonderful opportunities to create digitalcontent across media and platforms for thisimportant digital festival, which celebrates thecity of Bath’s expertise in this area.”

Anthony Head’s Digitrope

Anthony Head, Senior lecturer in DigitalTechnologies created a brand new artworkfor the Festival. The Digitrope, which is aninteractive, participatory linear zoetrope (adevice that produces the illusion of motionfrom a rapid succession of static pictures)was projected onto the Roman Baths in StallStreet on Friday 15 and Saturday 16 March.

Members of the public were invited to comealong and be teleported into the Digitrope,by standing in front of the camera andperforming for a few seconds. They thenwatched a 20 metre wide projection,showing their time-delayed image alongthe Digitrope's nine two-metre high windows.Just like watching a 19th century zoetrope,but with a 21st century digital twist!

Anthony said: “It was great to have theopportunity to create a new projected workfor Bath Digital Festival. Following mypersonal passion for digital interactivity, thisparticipatory artwork brought many smiles topeople as they experienced it for themselves.The act of seeing yourself, patterned by therhythm of time-delayed moving image isuncanny and engaging.”

16

‘Creating Voices’ project

The ‘Creating Voices’ project has beendesigned to capture the stories of the manyindividuals who were involved in caring forBath Abbey’s fabric or who worked onrestoring the present Abbey building. Theproject received £22,200 funding from theHeritage Lottery Fund (HLF), and a further£7,000 was provided by the Friends of BathAbbey bringing the project total to £29,200.

Culture

Bath Spa was selected as one of only sixUK universities to take part in the annualBBC Radio 4 quiz show ‘The 3rd Degree’.The production company recorded theshow in the University Theatre in Januaryand the programme aired in March.

The quiz involved a team of studentsgoing head-to-head with a team of staffanswering questions on generalknowledge and their degree subject. Thestaff team included Celia Brayfield, Senior

Lecturer in CreativeWriting; MarkMcGuinness, Head of Department: SocialSciences and Martin Dupras, SeniorLecturer in Creative Music Technologywho were up against the student team of:Daniel Tapper, Creative Music Technology;Peter Bridge, Geography and Thilde Holdt,CreativeWriting.

It was a close contest, but in the end thestaff were victorious, winning by 23 pointsto 21.

Staff versus students on BBC Radio 4 quiz show

Heritage and History students from theUniversity will help the Abbey collect andpresent people’s stories from over a 60-yearperiod of the Abbey’s rich and inspiringhistory, from the 1942 Bath Blitz, whichprovided the impetus for the 13 year post-warrestoration of the Abbey, up to the end of theAbbey 2000 restoration.

The formation of the Friends of Bath Abbeyin 1948 was crucial to the preservation andenhancement of the Abbey during this periodas the Friends provided the driving force andmuch of the funding for both theseprogrammes.

Dr Kristin Doern, Heritage Subject Leader, said:“This is an exciting time for the Abbey, and anideal opportunity to look back and record theexperiences of those who have worked on theAbbey in the past. A particular strength of theproject is the collaboration between Abbeyvolunteers and our students, broadening therange of people our students work with, andhelping the Abbey capacity build in terms ofthe skills of its core volunteers.

“Because the project runs over two years,it also gives us the chance to be involved insomething on a longer term basis which hasopened up new possibilities for how we canbe involved, and increases the number ofstudents who will benefit from working withthe Abbey team.We are delighted to beinvolved in a project that further developswhat is already a key partnership for theUniversity, and welcome the opportunitiesit will bring for our students.”

17

Play nominated for five awards

‘Vanessa andVirginia’, a play by Dr ElizabethWright, Senior Lecturer in English Literature,has been nominated for five OffWest EndAwards (Offies). The nominations are in thecategories of:

� Best female performance – Alice Frankham

� Best new play – ElizabethWright

� Most promising playwright – ElizabethWright

� Best sound – Jeremy Thurlow

� Best set – Kate Unwin

‘Vanessa andVirginia’ is about the lives ofVirginiaWoolf and her lesser-known sister,the artist Vanessa Bell. It is based on the2008 novel by Susan Sellers. The play wasperformed at Riverside Studios in Londonfrom 25 March until 14 April.

The Offies recognise and celebrate theexcellence, innovation and ingenuity ofindependent theatres across London.Nominees will be shortlisted in January 2014and the winners announced in the spring.

One million listeners for Moby DickBig Read

The Moby Dick Big Read involved celebrities,scientists and members of the public readinga chapter from Herman Melville’s famous1851 novel. Readers included Prime MinisterDavid Cameron, Stephen Fry, naturist SirDavid Attenborough, actors Simon Callow andTilda Swinton, and Pet Shop Boys lead singerNeil Tennant.

Since the project was launched at thePlymouth International Book Festival inSeptember 2013, those readings have beenlistened to one million times on theSoundCloud website.

The Moby-Dick Big Read was developed overtwo years and ran run for more than threemonths from its launch at the PlymouthInternational Book Festival. The project wasco-curated by Dr Philip Hoare, artist inresidence at Plymouth University’s MarineInstitute, and Angela Cockayne, Reader inInterdisciplinary Arts Practice at Bath Spa.

Bath Spa staff and students made wonderfulcontributions with chapter readings, andartwork, some made especially for the project.The Guardian hosted a live event at King'sPlace in London with a lively and stimulatingevening of readings, film clips and discussionwith guests including Richard Sabin of theNatural History Museum, Zeb Soanes, thevoice of Radio Four, Kerry Shale. The eveningwas spent discussing myth, gender and realityof Herman Melville’s book of 1851, and why itmeans even more than ever today.

Chapters were released daily atwww.mobydickbigread.com and the projectran well into 2013.

Annual Farmington Seminars onReligious Education

On Thursday 1 November the Universityhosted the annual Farmington Seminars onReligious Education.Will Farrell, Head ofReligious Studies at Nailsea School presentedhis work on using children’s literature inreligious education: ‘Of Lions,Wardrobes andTurkish Delight: using the Chronicles of Narniato explore central Christian concepts at KS3’.AlexWilkinson, headteacher at ChristchurchJunior School, presented his work ondeveloping RE for year six pupils that usesmusic, art, story and philosophy as promptsto personal reflection and to raise importantquestions: ‘Mirrors,Windows and Doors:learning from religious education’.

The Farmington Institute is a charity basedin Harris Manchester College, Oxford, whichprovides funding for teachers to engage inresearch connected with religious education.The Fellowships can be based in school oruniversity or both. Professor of Religion andEducation Denise Cush has supervisedseventeen ‘Farmington Fellows’ over the yearssince 1998 and considers the Fellowships awonderful opportunity for teachers to findspace for developing innovative ideas.

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Suzanne Harris, Events andVenues Managerfor Bath Spa Live, was also awarded Bath SpaUniversity's ‘On Campus Employer of the Year’prize.

The University’s Burdall’s Yard venue has beengreatly developed by the Bath Spa Live teamthis year. The sound and lighting equipmenthas been upgraded, new furniture has beeninstalled and the bar area now has fixtures toenable us to exhibit art by students from theSchool of Art and Design. A new floor was alsofitted to greatly expand the venue’s ability tohost acting and dance rehearsals. Burdall’sYard programme now features regularcomedy, jazz, storytelling and poetry events.

Bath Spa Live artistic highlights of2012/13

Gwilym Simcock and John Treleaven

In January, these two prestigious musiciansvisited the Michael Tippett Centre to runworkshops with Music students and to givepublic performances. Described as a “creativegenius” by Chick Corea, Gwilym Simcock wasthe first jazz musician on the BBC’s NewGeneration Artists scheme and was also votedone of the ‘1,000 most influential people inLondon’ by the Evening Standard. JohnTreleaven is one of the world’s most sought-after ‘Heldentenors’, who specialises inperforming heroicWagnerian roles. Bothartists were described as “inspirational”by Bath Spa students.

Jean Abreu Dance - BLOOD

In November, Bath Spa Live presented thepreviews of Jean Abreu’s new work BLOOD,at the University Theatre. BLOOD wascommissioned by the Royal Opera House withsupport from the PRS for Music Foundationand the National Lottery. The work was theproduct of an intensive research, developmentand production project run with Bath SpaUniversity’s Dance students and continuesto tour the UK in 2013/14.

Bath Spa Live

2012/13 has been the busiest year to datefor the Bath Spa Live production office. 101events have been presented at the MichaelTippett Centre, University Theatre andBurdall’s Yard, as well as at other local venuesincluding the Assembly Rooms, Museum ofBath atWork, the Rondo Theatre, the egg andSt Swithin’s Church.

53 of these events showcased the work ofthe staff, students and artistic partners of theSchool of Music and Performing Arts. Bath SpaLive also supported a further 48 events fromother Schools across the University and localarts organisations whose work links to theUniversity’s academic programmes.

To support the ever growing season of events,12 students are now employed in Bath SpaLive’s front of house team, to assist withevent management and to share responsibilityfor the well-being and safety of the audience.

Culture

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Aphra Behn - The Rover

Final year Performing Arts students presentedtheir swashbuckling production of The Rover tofour sell-out houses at the University Theatre in

November and December. Featuring farce,intrigue, romance and sword fights, this showhad the added entertainment of female and

male students swapping roles, with menplaying women and vice versa.

Performing Arts Thesis Shows

For the first time this year, Bath SpaUniversity’s final year Performing Arts showswere produced as part of the Bath Spa Liveprogramme. Over three weeks in May, BoeingBoeing was presented at the UniversityTheatre, Swallows &Amazons at the egg andWhale Music at The Rondo Theatre. Half of theperformances sold out and all were met withenthusiastic reviews.We look forward tobuilding on this project in 2013/14.

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Culture

Kilda Meadows

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Bath Spa Porthleven Prize

In January the University and the TrevorOsborne Charitable Trust launched the BathSpa Porthleven Prize. This is an exciting newopportunity exclusively for Bath Spa studentsto win one of five fully funded art residenciesin Porthleven, Cornwall.

The prize is funded by the Trevor OsborneCharitable Trust in association with Bath SpaUniversity. It is an excellent opportunity forstudents to gain professional artisticexperience and promote their own work andpractice to commercial galleries, prospectivecustomers and clients.

The five students selected by a panel ofjudges were:

� Joseph Turnbull, second year BA Fine Art,

� Jane Hall, second year BA Fine Art,

� Kilda Meadows, third year BA Creative Arts,

� Sara Mark, MA Fine Art,

� Vasilieos Chatzimakris, PhD, Music andPerforming Arts.

The prize winners took part in a ten-dayresidency in May, based at the PorthlevenLifeboat Art Studio.Whilst there, they workedtogether to produce a body of collaborativeartwork. An exhibition of their work entitled‘The Nearness of Gold’ was shown at the O3Gallery in Oxford in September and thentravelled to the Guildhall Building in Bristolduring October and concluded at the BathSchool of Art and Design in November.

The artwork in the exhibition communicatesthe essence of Cornish maritime existence,both in modern terms and historically. Takinginspiration from local Cornish folklore tales tothe stories of current inhabitants of theharbour village, as well as referencing thephysical materials of the site, the participatingstudents have skilfully woven together allaspects of their Porthleven experience toproduce a contemporary and creative visionof this special location.

Commenting on her residency experience,BA Creative Arts student Kilda Meadows said:“The Porthleven Prize was a great opportunityto work collaboratively and create work thatresponded to Porthleven in a contemporarycontext, and to explore new materials inspiredby the rich natural resources of Porthleven.

“I was inspired by the legends and stories oflocal people and wanted to interpret themthrough fresh eyes and create new works thatpresent a different perspective on old stories.”

Helen Statham, Director of the O3 Gallery,added: “The O3 Gallery is delighted to beworking with students from Bath SpaUniversity in this residency and exhibition.Collaborative practice is so important tocontemporary artists working today and weare thrilled to be bringing together fivestudents with such diverse working processesand media.”

Exploring monastic relationshipsin the eighteenth century

Professor of British History Elaine Chalusfeatured in a three-part historical programmedocumenting the relationships, deaths andillnesses of British monarchs in the eighteenthcentury.

Professor Chalus travelled to Hampton CourtPalace to film the second programme of thethree-part series. Entitled 'Fit to Rule' andhosted by historical writer and curator DrLucyWorsley, the series first aired on Friday26 April on BBC2.

As part of the filming, Elaine specifically spokeabout the events that came to poison therelationship between King George II andQueen Caroline with their son Frederick,Prince ofWales, in the 1730s.

Commenting on the filming, Elaine said:“The family relations between the Hanoverianmonarchs and their sons were always difficult,but this relationship was played out in thefull glare of the press.Viewers may well besurprised to see just how public this row was.”

Jane Hall

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Enterprise

Impressive graduate employability

New data from the Higher Education StatisticsAgency (HESA) show that 93.2 per cent ofBath Spa graduates are in work or furtherstudy within six months of graduation. This ishigher than the national average of 90.8 percent and also higher than a number of RussellGroup universities including the universities ofManchester (91.0), Durham (91.6), Oxford(92.0),Warwick (92.3) and Birmingham (92.8).

The data also show that more Bath Spagraduates than ever before have gone intowork or further study. In comparison to otheruniversities offering a similar experience toBath Spa, the University is the secondhighest ranked.

In the last year alone, Bath Spa graduates havegone to work for various global businessesincluding Dyson, Danone, AgustaWestland,Disney, Jones Lang Lasalle and McGraw-Hill aswell as leading creative and cultural industryorganisations including Atlantic Records,English Heritage, Future Publishing, NationalTrust, Sony Entertainment and UniversalMusic.

Adam Powell, Head of Enterprise and LocalPartnerships said: “It's great news that BathSpa University graduates are continuing to dowell after leaving university. It's clear that ourfocus on creativity, culture and enterprise isequipping our students with the necessarygraduate skills to succeed in the work place.”

The statistics are based on the Destinationof Leavers from Higher Education (DLHE)survey which is carried out by HESA on anannual basis.

Top class Business and Management courses

Business and Management at Bath Spa is ranked as number 1 in the UKfor student satisfaction and joint number 1 for teaching by the GuardianUniversity Guide 2014.

This demonstrates how our supportive academic staff and close knitstudent community creates an exceptional learning environment forstudents studying at Bath Spa.

Students also have fantastic opportunities to work closely with businessand industry through placements, projects and internships. This, coupledwith the excellent course structure and teaching methods, ensuresgraduates have high employability prospects.

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Work placements at theEnvironment Agency

Integral to our BSc Geography experience isthe application of real-world knowledge andskills to meet societal needs, such assustainable river catchment management.Two Geography students, Alice Johns and TimJohns, worked at the Environment Agency atBridgwater during the summer of 2012.

Tim graduated from Bath Spa with aGeography degree in 2012, en-route to ahigher degree course. Supervised by DrRichard Johnson, Tim successfully undertooka final year dissertation in partnership withthe Environment Agency, exploring acatchment management issue on the RiverAvon inWiltshire. The Environment Agencyexpressed how pleased they were with thequality of the product, the professional workethic adopted, and real-world applicationdelivered by Tim’s work. Since then Tim hasundertaken a paid summer placement withthe Environment Bristol Area AssetManagement Team and speaking about thework he said: “These experiences have givenme more drive and determination to achievea career in the environmental sector.Workingwith the Environment Agency…I have learntso much during the period…Withouthesitation, I would thoroughly recommendthe experience to anybody.”

has been an excellent decision and I havebeen overwhelmed by their enthusiasm andprofessionalism. They are an asset to thecompany and are already proving popular,with many clients making repeat bookings.”

Professor Christina Slade,Vice-Chancellor ofBath Spa University said: “Here at Bath Spawe seek to create a culture of creativity andenterprise and foster skills in our students thatwill help them in their careers outside highereducation. The annual Business & EnterpriseCompetition is an excellent way for studentsto develop their entrepreneurial skills and turntheir creative ideas into business realities. Theexperience of Rosanna is testament to thevalue of the scheme and I am delighted thather business is growing thanks to the work ofBath Spa graduates.”

Alice graduated this summer and secured arole in the Environment Agency sampling andcollection department to help in their on-going monitoring of waterbodies and fisheries.Alice said about her experience: “This joballows you to broaden your skill set…todevelop new areas of knowledge…It has beenan invaluable experience towards my careerdevelopment.”

Graduate employing graduates

In May 2010 Rosanna Campbell (now Mead)won the Bath Spa University Business &Enterprise Competition and was awarded£1,000 prize money which allowed her to setup her business Musica. The company providesinteractive music workshops to benefit thehealth and well-being of older adults andparticularly those with dementia. Followingthe initial success of the business in Dorset,care homes across the SouthWest haveexpressed interest and Musica has thereforeemployed a team of representatives to runworkshops in other parts of the country.

A team of five people are now leading Musicasessions, and four of these are recent musicgraduates from Bath Spa University. FrankieWhittingham who graduated this summer,has taken on the first Musica license – MusicaWiltshire – and through this Frankie will berunning her own Musica business providingworkshops for older adults in care homes andhospitals across the county.

Rosanna says: “The support I have receivedfrom Bath Spa University since winning theCompetition back in 2010 has been fantastic.I can honestly say that if it hadn’t been forthe support and encouragement from BathSpa I don’t think that my business would haveexpanded at the rate that it has. Taking onBath Spa graduates to run Musica workshops

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Graduate placements atParragon Books

The University has seen a substantial increasein the number of placement schemesincluding the continuation of a highlysuccessful one with Parragon Books.

Over two thirds of undergraduate awardsat Bath Spa give students the option of aplacement or work-based learning module.There has been around a 300 per centincrease in the number of students opting totake the University’s work placement modulesince the 2011/12 academic year. One of themost successful programmes has been theParragon Graduate scheme. This three monthinternship for graduating publishing students,at Parragon Books in Bath, provides a fantasticopportunity for them to experience a realworking environment.

Head of HR at Parragon Books, ClaireWilliams, explained: “The scheme is designedto prepare graduates for the world of workand to build up local relationships within thecommunity. It aims to integrate students intothe workplace, encouraging the appropriateattitudes, responsibilities and commitmentswhich are all vital in the work place.

“We try to make the whole experience forgraduates as professional as possible wherethey will go through the whole recruitmentprocess including professional interviews andfeedback as well as the full induction processwhen they join the business.

“So far the placement scheme has beena great success.We have had some reallyfantastic graduates join the business, someof whom have gone on to secure permanentroles and for others, it has provided a greatstepping stone into the industry they wantto work in.”

Acting Head of Department in CreativeWriting and Publishing, Katharine Reeve,said: “Parragon has been amazing throughthis whole process and they have really driventhis.We are incredibly grateful and delightedto be working with them.”

The importance of students gaining highquality work experience is continually beinghighlighted and reflected in employer andstudent surveys. Results from the most recentHigh Fliers research warned that graduateswithout work experience will struggle to getjobs no matter how good their grades.

The University last year established adedicated placements team which, inpartnership with its employer liaison team, issupporting more students and local businessthan ever before in seeking and developingnew placement opportunities.With over1,500 Bath Spa students on placement ina range of businesses, schools and othersettings, Head of Enterprise and LocalPartnerships, Adam Powell, commented:“Placements and industry-led projects arean essential part of degree programmes todaynot only for the skills, knowledge andnetworks developed, but to gain anunderstanding of how formal and informalrecruitment works.”

Enterprise

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Student Employee of the Year

Second year Drama Studies student KatyStokes has been named as Student Employeeof the Year. Katy works part time atBaskervilles Gymnastics and Fitness Centrein Bath. Baskervilles, a family run businesswhich started over 30 years ago, specialisesin offering competitive and non-competitivegymnastics training as well as fun-filled pre-school classes and soft play sessions/partiesfor young children.

For the past year, Katy has been a children’sparty leader and a recreational levelgymnastics coach. Director of Baskervilles,Paul Baskerville nominated Katy because“the children instantly like her due to herpersonality and great attitude to work.”

Paul added: “Katy’s commitment to her jobis second to none and she leaves parents andchildren with a smile every time they comeinto contact with her.”

The competition, organised by the NationalAssociation of Student Employment Services,recognises the contribution and achievementsof students who combine a part-time job withtheir studies.

On Campus Student Employee of the Year

Third year Fine Art student Megan Howardhas won the On Campus Student Employeeof the Year award.

For the last two years, Megan has worked parttime in the Art Shop based at Sion Hill in theBath School of Art and Design. David Tinkham,Technical Facilities Manager, nominatedMegan for her “unfailingly cheerful, positiveand approachable manner...always ready tohelp out and advise on art products andtechniques.”

Student Employer of the Year

Bath Spa’s Employer of the Year is UrsulaForbush, Manager for Action on Hearing Loss.

Ursula was nominated by two students whowork as Relief SupportWorkers at the homeshe manages in Newbridge, Bath. She wasnominated by Catherine Swift and StuartNelson who described her as “extremelyaccommodating to busy students.”

They added: “Everyone is treated equallyand the atmosphere in the house is alwaysso welcoming. The job has given usindependence and great experience at helpingother people organise their own lives, as wellas the opportunity to take a course in BritishSign Language.”

Employer of the Year – Highly Commended

Suzanne Harris, Bath Spa’s Events andVenuesManager for Bath Spa Live has been awarded‘Highly Commended’ in the Employer of theYear category.

Suzanne was nominated by Clare Ramsayfrom Student Events who said: “She is alwaysa pleasure to work for, is understanding andrealistic about each of her employee’scommitments including study and lifeoutside university.

“Due to her management skills the team isconfident, happy, and makes an effort to helpeach other and everyone else.”

Juliet Mather, Job Shop Coordinator at BathSpa, runs the Job Shop service which helpsstudents find local and ideally degree-relatedpart-time work to fit around their studies. Shecontacted local employers who have used theservice this year for nominations as well asBath Spa students to seek their nominationsfor student-friendly employers.

Commenting on this year’s awards, Juliet said:“These awards recognise the importance ofpart-time work experience for the futureemployability of students, as well as thevaluable contribution students can make tokey local employers.”

Student Employee and Employer of the Year awards

In June the University announced the winners of a number of awards for Student Employee and Employer of Year.

Katy

Stokes

Megan

How

ard

UrsulaForbush

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Jamie Cooke wins Gold in Budapest

In May Business and Geography studentJamie Cooke won the first Modern PentathlonWorld Cup medal of his career taking gold inBudapest.

Jamie, who won theWorld JuniorChampionships in Argentina in 2011, had toproduce a gritty and spirited performance tobattle back from 24th place after the fencingevent.

The Olympic sport of Modern Pentathloncomprises the contemporary sports of pistolshooting, fencing, swimming, horse riding andrunning.

Ranked 40th in the world, Jamie was thefastest in the swimming pool, went clear inthe horse riding and then produced a terrificrun and shoot to take gold.

Commenting on his achievement, Jamie said:“This was my firstWorld Cup medal, so I’m sohappy. I never thought I would do this afterthe fencing this morning, but I had a goodswim, a good ride and a good combined.My shooting was definitely the key today.”

Fashion students win prestigiousinternship in USA

Two fashion students travelled to America tospend a three month internship with GAP-owned clothing and accessories companyOld Navy.

Lauren Mather and Philippa Robinson wereselected as two of only 12 students fromthe UK who spent 12 weeks with the SanFrancisco-based company during the summerof 2013.

Louise Pickles, Course Leader and Coordinatorof Fashion, and her team have beendeveloping a relationship with Old Navy andthis year Bath Spa was invited to take part intheir annual design project along with otherhigh profile fashion courses from universitiesacross the UK.

The brief theme for the project was 'We areFamily!' and the students were asked to focuson a Spring 2014 collection. Building on theheritage of the Old Navy brand, they weretasked to design a collection inspired bydenim, tee-shirts and sweatshirts that fit intothe DNA of the Old Navy brand. Studentscould choose to design for men, women, girls,or boys wear.

Design and human resources directors fromOld Navy visited the University’s fashionstudio and viewed the work where theyselected seven students to interview withtheir full portfolio.

Of the seven selected students, three ofour students were shortlisted to competefor the 12 available places with Lauren andPhilippa making it into the final 12. Not onlywas this a highly prestigious opportunity andexperience, full expenses were funded by OldNavy and the students were paid an hourlyintern rate.

Commenting on Lauren and Philippa’ssuccess, Louise said: “It is a real testamentto the success of the course to be invited tocollaborate with such a successful high profileoverseas brand, and for our students tocompete against students from some of thestrongest UK fashion design courses. I amthrilled that Lauren and Philippa have beengiven this amazing opportunity.”

Enterprise Alongside his studies at Bath Spa, Jamie trainsat the Pentathlon GB high performance centreat the University of Bath.

‘Kill it Kid’ track used in globaladvertising campaign

Kill it Kid, which includes Commercial Musicgraduate, Chris Turpin, and Music graduate,StephanieWard, had a track called Run fromtheir album Feet Fall Heavy, used in the latestSamsung Smart TV campaign.

The advertisement called Charge features aspectacular beach stampede of TV and filminspired content - Roman Centurions, policecars and helicopters, Maori warriors andAmerican footballers, a whip wielding albinominotaur, a dinosaur, wolves and cheerleaders.

This is the first big synchronisation for theBath-based band who has recently beentouring the USA. During the tour Chris fromthe band met and jammed with famous GunsN’ Roses guitarist Slash.

The BA Commercial Music course at Bath Spahas produced a number of successfulmusicians over the years. To build on thissuccess, the University has recently launcheda new Integrated Masters in CommercialMusic. Students on this course study for fouryears instead of three and graduate with aMaster’s degree.

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Fine Art graduates win atFree Range 2013

Three Fine Art graduates celebrated success atthe annual Free Range exhibition which tookplace in June. Charlotte Cousins, Esme Erosand Nathan Little were selected by a panel ofindustry experts to receive three out of apossible five Emerging Art awards.

Free Range is the UK’s largest graduate art,design and fashion show, providing newcreative graduates with the opportunity toshowcase their work on an international level.It attracts visitor numbers of over 100,000and showcases the work of thousands of artand design students.

Their prize includes:

� A £100 bursary from Cass Art,

� Automatic entry into the Signature Art Prize,

� On-going editorial coverage and supportfrom FAD,

� Representation and mentoring fromDegreeArt, who specialise in identifying andmentoring talented graduates,

� The opportunity to exhibit their work at aDegreeArt show in 2014.

The award was set up by FAD, a creativecharity supporting young people to bridgethe gap between education and the fashionindustry; Degree Art, one of the UK’s firstonline art gallery, and Cass Art, London’sleading independent art retailer offering theworld’s finest art materials, to support tenyoung artists in the year following theirgraduation.

Free Range - Nathan Little

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A key element of the University’s strategyfor 2015 is the development of internationalpartnerships and the expansion of theinternational student body. JeremyWhite wasappointed Director of International Relationsin September 2012 and has recruited anexperienced team to implement theinternationalisation strategy.

As well as recruiting international studentsto Bath Spa programmes, the InternationalRelations Office has been developinginternational links and partnerships,formulating transnational educationopportunities (TNE) and developing modelsof student mobility including summer schoolsand a study abroad programme. Over the lastyear, the team has conducted 52 visits in 26different countries worldwide.

Internationalisation

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The International Relations Office isdeveloping a number of global partnershiplinks and so far the University has 28 partnersin nine countries including Australia, China,Columbia, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Mexico,Singapore, Indonesia and the United States.These partnerships cover a range of activitiesincluding staff and student exchange, researchactivities, recruitment, transnationalopportunities and study abroad. TheUniversity is also an established ERASMUSpartner with a further 39 university partnersacross the European Union.

BSU Offices have been established inShanghai, China and Delhi, India and anetwork of 51 agents in 41 countries areworking on behalf of the University. The Vice-Chancellor visited Hong Kong and China inMay along with JeremyWhite, Jiemin Tomitaand DerekWang of the China Office to meetnew and potential partner institutions. Thetrip included visits to Shanghai University,Shanghai Finance University, ShanghaiInstitute of Technology, Shanghai Universityof Finance and Economics and Hong KongPolytechnic University. These institutions wereimpressed by Bath Spa’s vision for creativity,culture and enterprise and offer excitingpartnership opportunities.

JeremyWhite said: “The growth in studentmobility, new technologies and enhancedcommunication systems continues to bephenomenal and has made the world a muchsmaller place. Students are now looking foropportunities to broaden their horizons,differentiate themselves and seekemployment options through overseas study.

“It is important that at Bath Spa, weare able to ensure our students gain aninternationalised student experience whichprovides them with the skills and knowledgeto actively engage in global developments associally engaged globalized citizens.”

Shorelight Education partnership

In August the University launched aninnovative joint venture which will enable anincreased number of international students tostudy at Bath Spa. The partnership with U.S-based education provider Shorelight Educationwill involve the development of a ‘PathwayCollege’ for international students, as well as aGlobal Business Leadership College that willoffer a portfolio of business and managementrelated degree programmes.

The first intake year will be 2014 andit is estimated that an additional 300international students will enrol. The aimis to then increase the number of studentsto 2,000 over the following four years.

“The UK has a great reputation forproviding world-class higher education, andthis partnership will enable more studentsfrom around the world to achieve a UKdegree, as well as helping the University togrow, and invest in the future,” said JeremyWhite, Director of International Relations.“Additionally, we anticipate it will providean economic boost for the local communityhere in Bath, from job creation to additionalspending in the city centre.”

Students coming to the University via thePathway College will study an intensive firstyear that includes language tuition, academic

instruction and UK history and culture, and(subject to passing the first year) will joinestablished degree courses in their secondyear.

The incoming students will initially study atthe University’s Newton Park campus, andwill live in some of the new residentialaccommodation currently being built there.The first pathway programme on offer inSeptember 2014 will be in Business andManagement and students will progress ontothe University’s BA (Hons) Business andManagement course in their second year.

Tom Dretler, CEO & Co-Founder of ShorelightEducation, said: “As an American educationcompany primarily focused on partneringwith world-class US universities, we werecompelled to enter into this UK partnershipbecause of the unique attributes of Bath SpaUniversity, its innovative leadership team, andthe attractiveness of the beautiful and historiccity of Bath.We look forward to creatinga truly special student experience and topreparing an outstanding community ofglobal citizens for positions of leadershipand responsibility throughout the world.”

This partnership is a core component of theUniversity’s strategy for internationalisationand a step-change in how Bath Spa Universityoperates in the growing internationaleducation market.

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A new Development and AlumniRelations team joined the Universitythis academic year. The team will supportthe development of the University byengaging and growing the alumnicommunity and fundraising for capitalprojects, student bursaries and otherprojects that will help achieve the Visionfor 2015.

MarnieWhiting is Head of Developmentand Campaigns. She previously workedfor The Holburne Museum as Head ofDevelopment and is also an alumna ofBath Spa having studied CreativeWritingand Art, graduating in 1999.

Ruth Russell is Alumni RelationsManager. Ruth leads on all alumniactivities including reunions andproducing the new alumni magazineSPARTAN. Ruth previously led alumnigiving at The University of Queensland,Australia, providing Annual Givingleadership across the University'sfaculties, institutes, schools and centres.

Naomi Box is Development Officer:Trusts and Foundations and isresponsible for fundraising from trustsand foundations. Naomi previouslyworked in the development office at BathUniversity and Sidcot School raisingfunds to support the student experience.

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Speaking about the Association and herappointment as President she said: “I wasvery pleased to accept Bath Spa University’sinvitation to be President of the AlumniAssociation. My time at Bath College ofDomestic Science was wonderful and gave mea good start to my career. It is inspiring tohear about the achievements of other alumniand I look forward to welcoming many moreof them to the Association.”

A new magazine for alumni, SPARTAN, waslaunched in April and will be issued twice ayear. The first issue featured a welcome fromMary Berry, stories about graduate careersand the history of Somerset Place, as well asinterviews with artists Sir Howard Hodgkinand Gavin Turk.

New President of AlumniAssociation

In December, cook and TV presenter MaryBerry CBE was named as the first Presidentof new Alumni Association. The aim of theAssociation is to provide support to formerstudents and staff and help ensure thefriendships and contacts created while atthe University continue to develop longafter graduation.

As a former student herself, Mary is wellplaced to encourage other alumni tobecome an active part of the Association.At the age of 18 she trained at Bath Collegeof Domestic Science, followed by a ParisCordon Bleu course. She has written morethan 70 cookery books, since her first waspublished in 1970, and has sold more thanfive million. She has hosted several televisionseries for the BBC and been a judge on TheGreat British Bake Off since 2010.

Development and Alumni Relations

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Attendees have given us overwhelminglypositive feedback and in some cases havemade a personal donation to support thestudents of today.

Autumn 2013 saw the return of two moregroups of Newton Park College alumni; theClasses of 1966 and 1976/7.With alumniengagement increasing, we are alreadyorganising 40th, 50th and 60th anniversaryreunions for 2014 and 2015, welcoming manymore alumni from Newton Park College andBath College of Higher Education.

We will continue to expand our alumninetwork in 2013/14, increasing both thenumber of reunions and the number ofalumni attending these special events.

Fundraising

The team launched a number of fundraisinginitiatives this year including one for a newamphitheatre which will be situated outsidethe new academic building overlooking thelake at Newton Park.

The amphitheatre will provide 150 seats fora variety of performances, including outdoortheatre, acoustic gigs, orchestral concerts andopera. It will make a huge contribution to thecreative and cultural development of studentsand of the city. The first fundraising campaignfor the amphitheatre, ‘Play your part, name aseat’, was launched in May. People whopurchase a seat will have their donationrecognised with a seat plaque. All of thedonations will go towards student bursariesand supporting the student experience.

Alumni Graduation to Reunions

In July the University conferred degreesto another class of graduates. This yeargraduation was held in Bath Abbey. This wasa first for Bath Spa and, in spite of the veryhot weather, two very successful days ofcelebration were had.

The team offered an alternative to thetraditional graduation photograph bysnapping new graduates with an oversizedscroll. The photos were then posted to theAlumni Association’s Facebook page andgraduates were encouraged to post theirs too.This engagement with graduates from theoutset will encourage them to become activemembers of the alumni community.

We welcomed alumni to three summerreunions; the Newton Park College Classes of1956 and 1963, and members of the BathCollege of Higher Education Class of 1986/7.

Development and Alumni Relations

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Thank you

The University would like to thank JenniferSkellet whose generous donation has led tothe establishment of two awards for alumniof the Department of Music:

The Jennifer Skellett Postgraduate Bursary

This bursary will be awarded annually to anoutstanding student from the department tosupport them in undertaking a postgraduatedegree at Bath Spa. The recipient will beawarded between £500 and £1,000.Applications are welcomed from alumniup to three years after their graduation.

The Jennifer Skellett Junior Fellowship

The fellowship will be awarded to alumni ayear after they have graduated. The award isaimed at supporting graduates who wish tocontinue their professional developmentthrough short courses or summer schools.We also support applications for fundingtowards set-up costs for freelance musicrelated business start-ups. The recipientwill be awarded between £500 and £1,000to cover the cost of fees and travel.

The University would also like to thankThe Leche Trust for its donation towardsthe ‘Georgian Pleasures’ concert that washeld at the Holburne Museum in September.The concert was a re-enactment of a typicalGeorgian Gala and was performed in theMuseum gardens, the first to take place inthis location since the 1900s. The Leche Trustis a charity set up in 1963 to assist academicorganisations concerned with music, drama,dance and the arts. The funding was usedto ensure the historical accuracy ofthe performance.

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Honorary degrees

The University has within its power theauthority to award honorary degrees tonotable persons deemed to have achievedoutstanding success in their respective fields.In the last year, the following were formallywelcomed into the Bath Spa community.

Illustrious artist Howard Hodgkin wasawarded an Honorary Doctorate for hisoutstanding contribution to British painting.The Vice-Chancellor presented the award ata special ceremony at Corsham Court on 27September. Howard was first a pupil and thenlater a tutor at the Bath Academy of Art.While a pupil he was taught by Clifford andRosemary Ellis who ran the Academy, as wellasWilliam Scott and Peter Lanyon. As a tutorhe worked alongside fellow painters MichaelCraig-Martin, Robyn Denny, John Ernest andAdrian Heath between 1950 and 1954.

Film director Ken Loach was awarded anHonorary Doctorate on Thursday 22November in recognition of his outstandingcontribution to the film industry. ProfessorSlade presented the award at an eventcelebrating Loach’s career alongside guestsfrom the film industry and University staffand students at the University Theatre.

Academic highlights

Howard Hodgkin

Ken Loach

Sir Harrison Birtwistle

Dr Peter Randall-Page

Hilary Mantel CBE

Anne Bull

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Loach has won multiple awards for his workincluding the Palme D’Or in 2006 for his film‘TheWind That Shakes The Barley’. He is alsowell-known for his films ‘Kes’ and ‘Looking forEric’. His film ‘The Angels’ Share’, which wonthe Jury Prize at the 2012 Cannes FilmFestival, was screened at Bath Spa Universityto raise funds for Community Arts Therapies.

Speaking about his award, Ken Loach said:“This is very generous of the University. I’mlooking forward to meeting the staff and,particularly, the students. In response, I hopeI can make a small contribution to theUniversity’s work.”

Composer Professor Sir Harrison Birtwistlewas awarded an Honorary Doctorate ofLetters at the University graduationceremonies on Friday 19 July. His music hasbeen regularly commissioned and performedby major orchestras and opera housesworldwide. His works recently featured atthe Salzburg Festival where his opera Gawainreceived a new production under IngoMetzmacher.

Headteacher ofWeston All Saints Church ofEngland Primary School Anne Bull OBE wasawarded an Honorary Doctorate of Letters atthe University graduation ceremonies onSaturday 20 July. She has been headteacher atWeston All Saints for over 25 years and herlink with Bath Spa University spans over 30years. She has fulfilled a number of roles atthe University, including teacher tutor, andpart-time lecturer in Creative Arts and Dance.

Author Hilary Mantel CBE won the BookerPrize twice for her novelsWolf Hall and BringUp The Bodies. She was due to receive anHonorary Doctorate of Letters at theUniversity graduation ceremonies on Saturday20 July, but was sadly unable to attend due toillness. A ceremony to present her award willbe held at a later date.

At the end of their first year’s training, thetrainees will gain their PGCE qualification.Following a summer project to furtherdevelop their leadership skills and experience,they will begin their second year as aNewly Qualified Teacher (NQT) whilstsimultaneously studying towards a Mastersqualification. This is specifically designed todevelop their ability to be an effective leaderin school and demonstrate their skills andknowledge as outstanding teachers.

Teach First is a charity that works to ensurethat all children, regardless of their familyincome, receive a first class education. Thecharity partners with some of the country’sleading universities to train inspirationalprimary and secondary school teachers,including Bath Spa University and theUniversity of Bristol. They recruit, train andsupport graduates as teachers to work inschools in low income communities.

Professor Robert Barratt, Director of Educationin the School of Education, commented: “BathSpa University is delighted to be workingwith Teach First and the University of BristolGraduate School on this prestigious routeinto teaching.

“We offer one of the most sought afterteacher training courses in the country andare looking forward to helping train these newparticipants to become outstanding teachersof the future, who will be doing suchimportant work in areas of povertyand poor achievement.”

Artist Dr Peter Randall-Page was awardedan Honorary Doctorate of Letters at theUniversity graduation ceremonies on Friday19 July. His work has been exhibited aroundthe world and he studied sculpture at BathAcademy of Art, now part of Bath SpaUniversity, from 1973 to 1977.

Teach First collaboration withthe University of Bristol

The University’s School of Education hasteamed up with the University of Bristol andeducational charity Teach First to train 40 newtrainee teachers in the SouthWest to becomeoutstanding teachers of the future.

The new recruits will teach in low-incomeareas in Bristol, Gloucester and Swindon,helping to break the link between povertyand low academic attainment. Bath Spa willlead on educating primary teachers and theUniversity of Bristol will lead on educatingsecondary teachers.

The prospective teachers have begun theirtwo-year journey to becoming outstandingteachers and attended the Regional SummerInstitute, an intensive six-week residentialwhere they worked and lived with their fellowTeach First participants. They developed theirknowledge gained in their degree so that theycan transfer this into teaching, and learn howto prepare and implement lesson plans intheir chosen subject. In September, therecruits were placed in schools across theSouthWest region where they began theiremployment-based training.

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QAA for Higher Education Award

A Group coordinated by Bath Spa won aQAA for Higher Education National Award.TheWestern Access Progression AgreementSteering Group (WAPA) is a group of wideningparticipation practitioners from universities inthe SouthWest.WAPA members worktogether to support mature students onAccess to Higher Education Diplomaprogrammes, along with their tutors, andbring greater clarity, coherence and certaintyto progression opportunities for Access toHigher Education learners in the region.

Members of the group support AccessLearners in a number of ways including theprovision of information, outreach visits toAccess Diploma Courses, a joint annual Accessto Higher Education Learners’ Conference andpre-entry support activities.

The group was formed in 2006 as a result ofHEFCE’s Access Pathways Research Project.Since 2011 Dr Sally Griffin,WideningParticipation and Access Manager at Bath Spa,who is the remaining member of the originalproject, has received funding from theWestern Vocational Progression Consortiumto coordinate the continuation of this group.

On June 27, the work of the group wasrecognised as a national model of goodpractice by the QAA for Higher Education,when it was awarded a certificate ofcommendation in the QAA inaugural AccessDiploma Awards.

The citation read: “This entry was made byfour universities working together in theSouthWest region. The panel were particularlyimpressed by the close partnership working ofthe four universities and apt awards*, whichenabled them to support a joint regionalstrategy for providing information about theprogramme of opportunities, events andactivities on offer to Access to HE studentsmaking decisions about which courses to

apply for and preparing for higher educationstudies. They also wished to commend theattention given to the formulation andpublication of entry requirements for Accessto HE students in terms specific to the Accessto HE Diploma.”

*Apt awards, formerly OCNSWR, is theregional licensed Access Validating Agency forAccess to Higher Education Diploma Courses

Academic highlights

Shap Prize

Dr Catherine Robinson and Professor DeniseCush from the School of Humanities andCultural Industries, were presented with anannual award by the ShapWorking Party forWorld Religions in Education.

The award recognises a person or organisationthat has made an outstanding contribution toeducation in religions, including resources forlearning in the study of religions at universitylevel and religious education in schools.

Dr Robinson and Professor Cush wereawarded this year’s prize for their project andwebsite Living Religion: Promoting FieldworkPlacements in Theology and Religious Studieswhich has been judged as making aprofoundly significant contribution to thefield of the study of/education in religions.

Commenting on receiving the award, DrRobinson said: “This came as a great surprise,but the award acknowledges the value of

fieldwork placements which have been part ofthe programme here for over 35 years and forwhich we must thank the many colleaguesand communities who have been involvedover that time.”

Professor Cush added: “We were delighted tohear that our project had received this awardfrom Shap, as the ShapWorking Party sharesour vision of the importance of learning aboutthe diverse range of religions and beliefs thathave such an influence on individuals andsocieties in the world today.”

The project was funded by the HigherEducation Academy and built upon the manydecades of experience at Bath Spa in workingwith religious and belief communities toprovide experiential placement learning forstudents.

Bath Spa remains unique in that it includes aseven day placement with a religious or beliefcommunity as a compulsory part of its corecurriculum in the Study of Religions course.

The ShapWorking Party forWorld Religions inEducation was founded in 1969 by a group ofuniversity lecturers in comparative religion,teacher educators and teachers. This grouppioneered the non-confessional study of adiverse range of religions and beliefs at alllevels of education, from primary schools touniversities.

Psychology blogging

Dr Pete Etchells, Lecturer in BiologicalPsychology has launched a new blog in TheGuardian along with Chris Chambers from theUniversity of Cardiff, Molly Crockett fromUniversity College London and Thalia Gjersoefrom the Open University. The blog is called‘Head Quarters’ and is publishing articles on aweekly basis.

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New ‘Troops to Teachers’consortium

The University is making a major contributionto a Government-funded project to trainmilitary personnel as teachers once theyleave the services. The ‘Troops to Teachers’programme aims to support a smoothtransition into the civilian workforce forthose Service members who are exiting theirmilitary careers who have the potential tobecome outstanding teachers.

The University is part of a consortium of sixuniversities, led by the University of Brighton.It is working with a range of outstandingprimary and secondary schools to support thedevelopment and delivery of the programme.The consortium will enable former Servicepersonnel to train to teach by accessing newlycreated initial teacher training (ITT) routes.

The ‘Troops to Teachers programme’, fundedby the Department for Education, aimsto recruit the best Service leavers intoteaching, including those with the highestqualifications, qualities and experiences, whohave the potential to become outstanding

teachers. It has been designed and developedwith a group of outstanding schools and ITTproviders in collaboration with the Ministry ofDefence and the Career Transition Partnership.

Dean of the School of Education, ChristineEden, said: “We offer one of the most soughtafter teacher training courses in the countrywith a long tradition of Initial TeacherEducation for over 60 years.

“Our expertise in career transition hasenabled us to successfully help train studentsto become teachers from a wide range ofbackgrounds, including bankers, lawyers andaccountants and we look forward to as muchsuccess with Service leavers.”

Those Service personnel who are in the twoyears before discharge or in the two yearspost discharge from the Armed Forces areeligible to apply.

Graduates interested in undertaking teachertraining can apply for a one year, SchoolDirect salaried, School Direct training,Postgraduate Certificate in Education (PGCE)or School Centred Initial Teacher Training(SCITT) programme.

The School Direct salaried route into teachingis available to high-quality graduates with atleast three years’ work experience. Traineesare employed as an unqualified teacher bythe school. Previous experience in the ArmedForces will count towards meeting the SchoolDirect eligibility criteria.

The School Direct training route into teachingis open to all high-quality graduates andfunded by tuition fees paid by the trainee,who may receive a bursary from theDepartment for Education. PGCE and SCITTprogrammes are fee-paying routes inpartnership with universities and also offerbursaries for eligible graduates.

A two-year non-graduate programme willstart in January 2014. It is innovative, has astrong school-led element and is employmentbased. It will be delivered by a range ofoutstanding primary and secondary schools.Service leavers will be able to access trainingthat draws upon and further develops theirprevious skills, experiences and expertise inthe context of teaching.

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Students’ Union Teaching Awards

This year the Students’ Union launched BathSpa’s first ever Teaching Awards. The idea wasthat this would be a fantastic way tocelebrate the amazing teaching that happenshere. They wanted to show the Universitywhat students value in teaching and helpencourage these techniques and methods tobecome more widespread.

There was an overwhelming response to theawards with over 700 nominations made. Itwas a difficult job for the team to narrowthese down to 50 and then just three! Thejudging panel was made up of the Students’Union School Reps, a number of DepartmentReps and the SU President. The awards werejudged on the quality of the nomination –those that displayed a range of innovativeteaching, good quality feedback and inspiringmethods.

Student Reps spent the last five weeksof the summer term delivering 50 mugs toshortlisted lecturers and tutors. They also helda hugely successful awards ceremony toaward the three final winners. The ceremonywas held in Main House at Newton Park withlive music, champagne and strawberries!

The SU is currently in the process of analysingall data from the nominations and writing upa report which to be taken the Learning andTeaching Committee as well as disseminatedamongst staff and students.

Academic highlights

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The final three winners were:

Best Feedback – Richard Riddell,Senior Lecturer in Education Studies

Richard was commended by students for thethorough and detailed feedback he givesduring assessments. It is this support that hasallowed students to identify areas forimprovement and continue to increase theirgrades. As well as constant quick contact,tutorials are offered willingly as well as paperfeedback in which essay marks are thoroughlyexplained and practical ways to improve aresuggested, resulting in a huge confidenceboost for students.

What made this nomination stand out wasboth the value he has for students and thereciprocal nature of feedback identified bystudents. One nomination stated: “I find itmotivating when he informs us that he learnsfrom our essays. He does not position himselfabove us and instead treats us as equals whoare learning in the same way as himself.”

Most Innovative Teacher - LisaThomas, Lecturer in Biology

A few examples of her nominations:

"Lisa always puts a brilliant amount of effortinto making subjects interesting. If a topic canbe taught outside, in the field, then with Lisait will be!"

"One time, we had waded part-way throughthe many graphs and figures and she juststopped and said 'you know what, let's go andDO this instead of just reading about it.’ So, atevery opportunity Lisa will get the class out ofthe classroom and making use of as much ofthe department's equipment as possible. Thisapproach is fantastic for the environmentaltopics in particular."

Teacher of the Year – Nicola Presley,Lecturer in Digital Publishing

Students said:

“Working above and beyond what is expectedof her, providing support, a careful editorialeye and a kind face to all the students whoknow her. She helps with job applications,gives advice even if you aren't her studentand best of all inspires confidence in thosewho come to her for help.”

“Nic works tirelessly for her students!Wellworth the increased student fees! She wentout of her way to ensure I didn't transferuniversity last year and has really helped meon deciding a career choice. She ensures allher students are happy with the course andenthusiastic with their time spent in and outof class.”

“She is a huge inspiration.”

New integrated Masters

Three new integrated Masters courseswere introduced for the 2013/14academic year in Commercial Music,Textile Design for Fashion and Interiorsand Creative Technologies andEnterprise. The integrated Masters arefour year programmes of study and arespecifically designed to prepare studentsfor employment following graduation.

The University already offersundergraduate degrees in CommercialMusic and Textile Design for Fashion andInteriors, but the degree in CreativeTechnologies and Enterprise is entirelynew. It has been developed by newDirector of Creative Computing,Professor Andrew Hugill.

Commenting on the new course hesaid: “Creative people are becomingincreasingly tech savvy, and there is aclear requirement already in businessfor creativity that works seamlessly withtechnology – these jobs are the nextstep in the direction many companiesare already heading in.

“There is no doubt that an ability toflourish in a world of fast changingtechnology will be essential for futuresuccess, both for individuals and thenation as a whole. From Sir Tim BernersLee to Martha Lane Fox, the UK has aheritage of great creative thinking intechnology, and we’ve got a lot to offerthe world in terms of creativity andentrepreneurial spirit.”

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In Care, In School launched atHouse of Lords

A new resource for schools has beendeveloped to help pupils and teachers acrossthe UK better understand and appreciate theneeds of children and young people in care.In Care, In School has been developed byBath Spa University and Bath & North EastSomerset Council working with young peoplein care and care leavers from the region. It wasofficially launched at the House of Lords on29 October, hosted by BaronessWalmsley,as part of National Care LeaversWeek.

In Care, In School includes ten films ofdifferent scenarios based on the real lifeexperiences of In Care Council members inBath and North East Somerset which show arange of different interactions between pupilsand teachers, and other staff, in and outsidethe classroom. It is accompanied by a resourcepack for use in Personal, Social, Health &Economic (PSHE) lessons to encourage classdiscussion and learning as well as a trainingguide for school staff. For older students andstaff training purposes there are also threefour-minute films of young people talkingabout their experiences of school, leavingcare, and subsequent careers.

Naina Thomas of the Bath and North EastSomerset In Care Council said: “When I wasin school I found it very difficult to make newfriends, and to fit in. This was due to being infoster care and moving schools a lot.Whenstarting a new school I always had to makethe teachers aware I was in foster care, justin case I had an appointment with my socialworker during school time. Having theseappointments during school time was thehardest, they made me different, and no oneelse had to leave the class for an hour or so.

“This pack is to help (not tell) teachers andpupils to understand, from a young person’spoint of view, what it is like being in fostercare and having an education. From this packI hope teachers can take a step back and startthinking about the young person’s needs andfeelings. I hope pupils will get a betterunderstanding of something they might notfully understand. Overall, I would like myexperiences to make a change within theschools, and to make people more awareabout people in foster care.”

Research expertise

The project was jointly funded by Bath SpaUniversity and Bath & North East SomersetCouncil with support from a number of localand national voluntary organisations. Theproject team worked with young people incare to create a number of brief everydayscenarios, based on their own experience atschool. A local film company and professionaland child actors were commissioned to bringthese scenarios to life.

Edward Timpson, Minister for Children andFamilies, said: “I want children in care to havethe best possible start in life. These films canplay a meaningful part in improving theirchances by showing their experiences in avivid way, as well as make teachers and pupilsmore aware of the challenges they face.”

The ‘In Care, In School’ materials are alreadybeing used in youth work, and with youngadults with learning disabilities. The projectteam are also working with a number offostering agencies to explore how thematerials can be used in training foster carersand other professionals, and developing aself-audit model on attachment awarenessfor schools.

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Nobel Prizewinning poets

Bath Spa sponsored the keynote event at theAssociation ofWriters andWriting Programs(AWP) conference in America in March.

The University’s ContemporaryWritingResearch Centre sponsored the event whichfeatured a conversation between Nobelprizewinning poets Seamus Heaney and DerekWalcott. The event attracted an audience ofover 4,000 at the Hynes Conference Centrein Boston.

Celebrated poet and translator SeamusHeaney is the author of more than twentyvolumes of poetry, essays, and translations,including Opened Ground; District and Circle,winner of the T.S. Eliot Prize; Human Chain;and Finders Keepers: Selected Prose 1971-2001.

Poet, playwright, and essayist DerekWalcott isthe author of eight collections of plays, a bookof essays, and fourteen poetry collections,including Omeros, Tiepolo's Hound, and mostrecently,White Egrets.

Dean of the School of Humanities andCultural Industries at Bath Spa, and playwrightand novelist, Professor Steve May introducedthe two Nobel Prize-winning poets andpresented readings of their work. A discussionfollowed which was moderated by the poetand critic RosannaWarren, author of Ghost ina Red Hat.

Professor May said: "It was a privilege andpleasure to be present at this event, wheretwo great poets, and great friends, discussedtheir work, their influences and the eventsthat shaped their work. The atmosphere waselectric, and the audience rapt. A great night.”

President of AWP, David Fenza, said: “This wasa truly historic event which would have beenimpossible without the support of Bath SpaUniversity.”

Each year, the AWP holds its AnnualConference & Bookfair in a different cityto celebrate the authors, teachers, writingprograms, literary centres, and independentpublishers of that region.

The conference typically features 550readings, lectures, panel discussions, andforums, as well as hundreds of book signings,receptions, dances, and informal gatherings.More than 10,000 writers and readersattended the 2012 conference, and 600exhibitors were represented at the bookfair.AWP’s is now the largest literary conferencein North America.

Cyber bullying PhD project

Bath Spa University is supervising an excitingPhD project which aims to identify the natureand scope of the social phenomena of cyber-bullying and its victims in the Bath and NorthEast Somerset Council area. The project aimsto identify the new police/stakeholderpartnership systems and cross-agency socialprotocols required in order to mitigate itseffect. It has already piloted a detailedquestionnaire capturing data around cyber-bullying in two local schools. Ultimately itaims to encompass 5000 pupils aged11 to 16 within B&NES schools.

Cyber-bullying is a concept that can meandifferent things to different people whichpotentially impacts on how it is measured,understood and combated throughpreventative strategies. It is linked with theevolution/expansion of IT and increased useby young people, including smart phones andeven games consoles.

Current research suggests that between 24and 45 per cent of 11 to 16 year olds suffercyber-bullying and that the potential harmresulting exceeds more traditional forms ofbullying: The victim can revisit commentsre-victimizing themselves, the attacks areoften anonymous, they are not fixed to a setlocation or time of day and they can rapidlyresult in others joining in.

The questions this project seeks to answer arewhether the current ‘official data’ on cyber-bullying matches the captured data, how andwhy any variance may have occurred, theimplications from inaccurate knowledge, andrecommendations for improvement.

This project has been made possible due tocollaboration between the Avon & SomersetConstabulary, Bath and North East SomersetCouncil, Bath Spa University and local schools.

Research expertise

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Prestigious art lecture in Munich

Professor Maria Lalic gave a lecture at theFine Arts Academy in Munich on Thursday7 February.

Professor Lalic is Principal Lecturer inFine Art at Bath Spa and an artist ofinternational repute. She was invited togive a lecture as part of the Academy’s‘Jour Fixe’ series. Jour Fixe is an annuallecture series organised by students ofthe Academy who invite selected artiststo speak on a particular topic.

Professor Lalic’s talk was held on thecentenary of the first ever lecture at theAcademy and discussed ‘The Material ofColour. The Colour of Material’ in relationto her paintings. These can be broken downinto three groups:

The ‘Colour and Metal Paintings’ in whichcertain paints are used with the metalsfrom which they derive;

The ‘History Paintings’, in which aWinsorand Newton paint chart is used as areadymade for the categorisation ofcolour by era, and;

The ‘Landscape Paintings’ which link thename of a paint and particular landscapeby paintings and places.

Speaking about her lecture Professor Lalicsaid: “It was a tremendous honour to beasked to give this lecture, and significantlyfor me, in relation to Max Doerner. Hisseminal text, ‘The Materials of the Artistand their Use in Painting', was hugelyinfluential to me as a student and remainsa valuable source of information.”

The event was open to both students andmembers of the public with a workshopfor students being held the following day.The lecture and related workshop was fullyfunded by the Akademieverein (a circle offriends and supporters of the MunichAcademy of Fine Arts) and theStudentenvertretung (Student Council).

The Academy of Fine Arts in Munich wasestablished in 1770. Notable Alumniinclude Giorgio de Chirico,VasilyKandinsky, Josef Albers and Paul Klee.

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From the London Games to Greekmonasteries

Illustration lecturer TimVyner received abursary from the Royal College of Art totravel to Greece to visit the Holy Mountainof Mount Athos and record drawings andpaintings.

He made three separate trips to Greece overthe year where he recorded in paintings anddrawings, the 20 monasteries and a selectionof Sketes to form a contemporary record ofthis unique location.

The culmination of the visits was anexhibition of Tim’s art work at the MountAthos Centre in Thessaloniki, and in London,as well as a printed portfolio book of thecollection.

As part of the award, Tim had the opportunityto live and experience a way of life unchangedfor almost 1,000 years.

Commenting on his bursary award and trips,he said: “It is a really exciting bursary to beawarded from the Royal College of Art, anda great privilege to be granted permission towork in such a remarkable place.

“Over the last decade I have become usedto drawing and reporting on major sportingevents where the pace of activities is franticand the pressure to produce work quickly inlarge crowds is high. This project really appealsas it presents an opportunity to reflect on mycurrent practice by visiting a series of 20Orthodox Monasteries several times in ayear, where the routine of life has changedvery little.

“My first visit was over the Easter break.WhenI returned I enjoyed telling the BA GraphicCommunication and Illustration students Iteach all about life in the monasteries whereI didn’t have access to most of the technologywe all take for granted in our work. I still tookwith me an iPad and used it as a sketchbookalongside traditional drawing, painting andprint-making.”

In 2012, Tim was The Times official artistcovering the London 2012 Olympic Gamesand captured the atmosphere of the Gamesfor the newspaper on a daily basis. He used aniPad for his sketches and created illustrationsin the lead up to The Games including thetorch relay as well as three daily illustrationsthroughout The Games.

Manifesto for Public Engagement

In March the University signed the Manifestofor Public Engagement. The NationalCoordinating Centre for Public Engagement(NCCPE) is inviting all UK universities to signthe Manifesto and make a commitment tosupporting staff and students in their publicengagement efforts.

There is an increasing recognition thatuniversities play an important role in the UK’sintellectual and cultural life. The Manifestoemphasises the positive ways universities canmake a different and generate value fromengaging with the public.

Bath Spa has a strong focus on creativity,culture and enterprise which results in a largenumber of publically focused activities onan annual basis including exhibitions,performances, workshops, networking andresearch events.

Professor Christina Slade said: “The ethos ofcreativity at Bath Spa University means weare engaged with various public audiences.The quality of our academic output andresearch endeavours has a direct impact onthe cultural wellbeing of our society.We arepleased to be signatories of the Manifesto forPublic Engagement and will continue to beengaged with the public in all aspects ofuniversity life.”

Research expertise

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The focus of the conference was howVirtualSchools Head Teachers can work withcolleagues in schools, foster carers and otherprofessionals, to improve the educationalattainment of children and young people incare.

Over 100Virtual Schools Head Teachersattended as well as a number of notablespeakers including:

Dr Maggie Atkinson, Children’s Commissionerfor England,

Louise Bomber, National trainer and authorof What about me? And Inside I’m Hurting,

Matthew Brazier HMI, Ofsted lead on ‘Theimpact of virtual schools on the educationof looked after children’,

Kate Cairns, National trainer and author ofLearn the Child and Attachment, Trauma andResilience,

Professor Judy Sebba, Head of Rees Centre forFostering and Education, University of Oxford.

Virtual School Head Teacher for Childrenin Care in Bath and North East Somerset,Michael Gorman, who has been closelyinvolved with planning the conference,added: “This conference is very timely withthe government announcing that the postof Head of a Virtual School will become astatutory obligation for local authorities.

“It is an excellent opportunity for currentVirtual School Head Teachers to meet, sharegood ideas and hear from leading experts onhow to raise the attainment of children incare.”

In 2012, only 14.6 per cent of children in careachieved five good GCSEs including Englishand Mathematics, compared with 58.1 percent for children who are not in care.

Children in care suffer more changes ofschool, are more likely to be out of schooland often do not receive appropriate help andsupport to enable them to catch up with theirstudies. Nationally, only six per cent of careleavers go on to university compared with37 per cent of all young people.

Paul Manners, Director of the NCCPE said:“We are really delighted that Bath SpaUniversity has decided to sign up to theEngaged University Manifesto. Bath Spa’scommitment to supporting its graduates tobecome socially engaged global citizensprovides a perfect platform for us to worktogether to push the boundaries of how amodern university can really make adifference.”

National Virtual Schools HeadTeachers conference

The University hosted the National VirtualSchools Head Teachers conference, inpartnership with Bath and North EastSomerset Council in March. A Virtual SchoolHead Teacher is responsible for ensuring theeducational progress of every child and youngperson in care within a local authority. Therole was established under the previousgovernment and is being made statutory bythe present government, with cross-partysupport, in the Children and Families Billwhich is currently before Parliament.

In a message to the conference, Children’sMinister, Edward Timpson said: “There areonly five statutory posts to cover all theresponsibilities of local government. Thiswill be the sixth, and shows how importantthe current Secretary of State and I see therole of the virtual school head is.”

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Bringing the heritagesector together

The Annual Heritage Forum was held onWednesday 6 March at the Museum of BathatWork. It was hosted by the School ofHumanities and Cultural Industries andbrought together local, regional and nationalheritage practitioners to facilitate debatewithin the sector in general. It also fosterscollaboration and partnerships between thesector and higher education.

This year’s forum was chaired by AdrianTinniswood, historian and author, trustee andmember of the Museums and EducationCommittee for the Bath Preservation Trust,Holburne Museum Trustee, member of theNational Trust Council and Bath SpaUniversity Visiting Fellow in Heritage.

He was joined by speakers Crispin Truman,Chief Executive of Churches ConservationTrust; Sam Rose,World Heritage SiteCoordinator, Jurassic CoastWorld HeritageTeam and Tina Lewis, Director of People andLegal Services at the National Trust.

Topics of discussion varied, but Crispin Trumantalked about in particular the need to “tapinto people's love of heritage, which is hugein the UK” and about the importance ofrecognising the mutual benefits of workingin partnership. This was echoed by the otherspeakers and resonated with the attendees.The overall theme of ‘Sustaining Partnerships’also reinforced the University’s commitmentto community and public engagementthrough strong partnerships at all levelsfrom local to international.

Dr Kristin Doern, Heritage Subject Leaderat Bath Spa said: “This is the sixth HeritageForum and I am again thrilled with theresponse from heritage colleagues. Inparticular we were delighted to welcome somany new attendees from the wider region.The heritage sector, like many others in the

UK, is under pressure, so it is more vital thanever that we work together to share expertiseand support. The Forum is already a significantnetworking event in the local heritage sectorcalendar.We are working to make it a majorevent regionally and nationally as well.”

“But Heritage at Bath Spa also needs toprepare students for the challenges they willface in this diverse and exciting sector, andmore broadly in the arts and culturalindustries so many of our graduates gointo. The Forum is an important part ofencouraging our students to buildrelationships with practitioners and experts.Our undergraduate Heritage students help runthe event, and our Heritage Management MAstudent attend as full participants, which is awonderful opportunity for them to makeimportant contacts within the sector.”

The event provides a unique and vitallyimportant networking opportunity forcolleagues working within the sector. This yearover 70 people attended from organisationsincluding the Holburne Museum, BathPreservation Trust, Bath and North EastSomerset Council Heritage Services, BristolMuseums, Galleries and Archives, SomersetHeritage Centre,Wiltshire and SwindonHistory Centre, AveburyWorld Heritage Site,Jurassic CoastWorld Heritage Site, Associationof Independent Museums, ChurchesConservation Trust, The National Trust, EnglishHeritage, and the Heritage Lottery Fund.

Research expertise

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ResearchSPAce

Launch of ResearchSPAce

TheVice-Chancellor officially launched theUniversity’s new research repository ResearchSPAce on 22 April.

ResearchSPAce aims to collate and showcasethe University’s research outputs and makethem openly accessible to all. There are morethan 1,000 records on ResearchSPAceproviding useful citations and links topublisher websites where available. Somerecords also contain the full text, and morematerial (including art and music material)will be added over the coming months toincrease the visibility of research.

ResearchSPAce will encourage collaborationcross the University by making it easier foracademics to access each other’s research.It is also a way of telling the world aboutthe best of our work. Once the work is freelyavailable, it will help to forge links withprospective staff, researchers, futurepostgraduate students, and internationalpartners. Research in the repository hasalready been downloaded by people inAustralia, South Africa, USA, Nepal, Greece,France and Norway.

At the launch event, the Vice-Chancellor spokeabout citation rates for research in the artsand humanities fields which, when comparedto research in science based subjects, takelonger to gain momentum. There is a strongbody of evidence to show that when researchis available openly and freely, the greater theimpact and higher citation rate it has. Shestressed the importance of ResearchSPAcein helping Bath Spa’s research become morereadily and easily available and the positiveimpact this will have in the long-term.

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International Scholarship

The Higher Education Academy (HEA)named Joelle Adams as one of the successfulrecipients of its prestigious InternationalScholarship funding award.

Joelle is the Deputy Director Library Services(Learning Development) at Bath Spa. She isone of only five recipients of the HEAInternational Scholarship, which providesopportunities for the Scholars to investigateinteresting and innovative learning andteaching in other countries to inform practicein UK higher education institutions.

She will spend three months visitinguniversities in NewYork, California andFlorida to research assessment and feedbackin creative subjects. In particular Joelle willreview how these processes affect students’learning experiences and how students andstaff perceive the dual vocations of artist andteacher. Results of the project will informoutputs including publications andconsultancy.

Commenting on receiving the Scholarship,Joelle said: “The Scholarship offers a uniqueand important opportunity to dedicate timeto international research in higher education.I’m honoured to receive this award from theHEA and to be in such esteemed companywith the past and present winners. I lookforward to visiting colleagues abroad andsharing my findings upon my return.”

Italian delight for AndreaMedjesi-Jones

Painting Lecturer Andrea Medjesi-Joneswas awarded an Abbey Fellowship inPainting at the British School at Rome.Andrea, who teaches at the Sion Hillcampus will spend three months in Rome,from January to March 2014.

Established in 1990, the Abbey Fellowshipoffers mid-career painters the opportunityto spend three months at the BritishSchool at Rome. Andrea will spend timeworking in the studios in Rome giving hera unique opportunity to get away fromthe pressures of everyday life and workwithout interruption. She will have theadded charm of living in, and becomingfamiliar, with one of the most fascinatingcities of the ancient and modern world.

Artists are encouraged to talk about theirwork and are given the opportunity to puton studio shows, to which Italian criticsand gallerists, among others, are invited.

Commenting on receiving the Fellowship,Andrea said: “I am delighted at theopportunity to have the three months inRome. It will be a challenge to work in oneof the oldest cities in the world and toexplore its tradition and history that is sofar removed from my current studioenvironment and circumstances.

“I hope this will influence my thinkingand making of the work. I also hope todiscover the contemporary Rome and tocontinue with my research into the largelyunexplored context of Italian expressionistpainting.”

Research expertise

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The awards, which mark the second year ofthe scheme, have this year been renamedthe Professor Sir Ron Cooke InternationalScholarship Awards, in recognition of hisdistinguished leadership in learning andteaching in higher education.

Joelle has been at Bath Spa since 2005 andhelped establish theWriting and LearningCentre. Since then she has worked on anumber of initiatives including the Feedbackand Assessment for Students UsingTechnology (FASTECH) and Transforming theExperience of Students Through Assessment(TESTA) projects. In the past, she also workedwith theWidening Participation team.

Her current research focuses on students’experiences of assessment and feedback,learning and teaching in the creative arts,and personal and organisational development.

Joelle also teaches on the PostgraduateCertificate in Higher and Further MusicEducation at Bristol Institute of ModernMusic. She is also currently establishing alocalWater Aid group with Emma Asprey,Senior Lecturer, Primary PGCE in the Schoolof Education.

REACT Future DocumentarySandbox

The University is one of six collaborativeteams awarded £50,000 to bring storytelling,design and technology together to inspireaudiences.

The REACT Future Documentary Sandboxis a nationwide programme to explore thetheme of Future Documentary andencourages new forms of storytellingexploring the documentary format, arts andhumanities research and digital technologies.

The successful projects will explore new waysof interacting with documentary media,taking advantage of the creative possibilities

opened up by interactive platforms andnew technologies. They will examine howparticipation and online collaboration mayinfluence editorial control and authenticity,and adapt techniques of data mining to turninformation into stories.

The projects will be developed over thecourse of three months beginning thisautumn, with regular project testing atWatershed’s Pervasive Media Studio. Theproduction phase will culminate with eachproject team developing a working prototypewhich will be presented at a public showcase.

Future Documentary is the third themeexplored by the REACT programme, which isfunded by the Arts and Humanities ResearchCouncil following sandboxes addressing Booksand Print and Heritage over the last two years.

REACT Executive Producer Clare Reddingtonsaid: “We are hugely excited about the REACTFuture Documentary Sandbox and thedifferent approaches to the theme that theprojects have taken. There is so much creativepotential for experimentation in thedocumentary format, which was reflected bythe high quality of applications we received.

“The six projects that were finally chosenshowed real insight about how digitaltechnologies and storytelling can worktogether to create something inspiring andnew as well as collaborative, accessible andinclusive.”

The selected commission which Bath Spa isinvolved with is being led by Professor ofMusic, Amanda Bayley.

Page to Stage

Amanda Bayley, Kenneth Hamilton at CardiffUniversity and producer Sheila Hayman, willdevelop an app that aims to demystify theworld of classical music. The app will enableaudiences to explore the invisible history andcontext of a live music performance by theworld-leading Orchestra of the Age ofEnlightenment. By revealing what happensduring the rehearsal process with carefullyshot documentary videos with timedmetadata tags, this app is aiming to engagemore people with classical music withoutdistracting from the beauty of theperformance itself.

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New partnership with The HolburneMuseum

Students and staff have been working incollaboration with the Holburne Museum inBath for a number of years. This has includedthe Holburne contributing to degree coursesand Bath Spa curating and sponsoringexhibitions, creating innovative performancesand concerts and students’ and graduates’artwork being exhibited. To further promoteand develop this academic and culturalcollaboration, the University and the Museumannounced a new formal partnership inJanuary.

Vice-Chancellor Professor Slade said: “BathSpa University is a creative hub of cultureand enterprise and we support our studentsin their endeavours to develop their practice.Our various project partnerships with theHolburne Museum have continued to expandover the years, so it is fitting that we nowwork more closely together to furtherdevelop our relationship.”

Partners in Creative Enterprise

Bath Spa’s long-standing relationship withCreative Bath was formalised in a partnershipto promote creative enterprise in Bath.

The University’s degree courses reflectits strong focus on creativity, culture andenterprise. Matched with Creative Bath’saims to promote the creative industries andsupport the growth of creative businesses,the result is a powerful partnership to helpthe economic development of Bath and thegrowth of the creative industries sector. It willalso give local businesses an insight and linkto the University and the resources it canoffer.

The partnership will provide creativeprofessionals in Bath with access to theUniversity’s creative talent through regularmembership events. Speed networkingevenings will generate quick introductionsand structured discussion. ‘Design Matters’breakfast sessions will be supported byspecialists from the University leadingdiscussion on subjects such as theimportance of branding.

Creative Bath members will be contributingto students’ creative showreel and socialmedia projects, as well as welcomingstudents to Design Matters and keynoteevents. The partnership will also benefit BathSpa University students through the CreativeBath Intern Scheme, which aims to retaingraduate talent in Bath, a shadowing scheme,and work experience opportunities withmembers’ companies.

Dr Alexander Sturgis, Director of the HolburneMuseum said: “Education is at the core ofwhat the Holburne is about.We are delightedand proud to be working in partnership withBath Spa University. I can’t wait to see theways in which our collaborations will developand flourish over a wide range of museumactivities and academic disciplines.”

To celebrate the announcement, theUniversity sponsored the Holburne’sexhibition: ‘Painted Pomp:Art and Fashionin the Age of Shakespeare’, which opened on26 January and ran until 6 May. The exhibitionfeatured nine exceptional full-length Jacobeanportraits byWilliam Larkin, painted around1613-18. The Vice-Chancellor addressed anaudience at the opening night of theexhibition on 25 January to welcome thenew partnership alongside Dr Sturgis.

Working with business

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Bath Festivals benefits from creative,financial and in-kind support from theUniversity. This ranges from contributions tothe development of its artistic and outreachprogrammes, use of university facilities andresources, delivery of events as well as accessto a range of staff and student expertise, forexample in supporting the Festivals’ socialmedia strategy.

The partnership was formally confirmed inJanuary this year with the University namedas Bath Festivals’ ‘Creative Partner’. Therelationship has had a positive impact onstudents, local school children, ruralcommunities, teachers, arts professionals,performers and the diverse festival audiences.

The A&B Awards celebrate the finestpartnerships between the commercialand cultural sectors. In 2013, over 100partnerships entered across the sevenaward categories.

Adam Powell, Head of Enterprise and LocalPartnerships at Bath Spa University said:“We’re delighted to be strengthening ourpartnership with Creative Bath. This two-yearinitiative will help students and graduatesgrow their professional networks andportfolios and help us celebrate local creativebusinesses that have benefitted directly fromaccessing Bath Spa University’s creativetalent.”

Greg Ingham, Chair of Creative Bath said: “It’stough out there. Tough for graduates seekingwork. Tough for businesses aiming to expand.Bath Spa University’s work in fostering linksbetween the university and local businessesis absolutely essential. Students needopportunity and knowledge of the sector.Businesses need fresh, bright new talent andso we are delighted to be forging ahead withBath Spa on this Strategic Partnership.”

Recognition of partnership withBath Festivals

Bath Spa and Bath Festivals were selected asone of the top three partnerships within theArts & Business (A&B) Long-term PartnershipAward category.We were the only universityin the UK to have been shortlisted across allthe Awards categories.

The A&B Awards in partnership with JaguarLand Rover are held annually. The Long-termPartnership Award recognises businesses andorganisations’ on-going collaboration andtheir ability to continue to set high standardsfor arts and business partnerships.

The University has been working inpartnership with Bath Festivals for manyyears, enhancing each other’s profiles andhelping to develop a thriving creative andcultural life for this vibrant city.

Attracting audiences from across the UK, BathInternational Music Festival, The IndependentBath Literature Festival, The Telegraph BathChildren’s Literature Festival and their year-round Learning and Participation programmesprovide exciting and valuable opportunitiesfor Bath Spa students, from deliveringperformances, workshops and education workto stewarding and placements within the artsadministration team.

Community

Over £3,000 raised forWaterAid

£3,400 was presented toWaterAid as a resultof a fundraising initiative at Bath Spa. £1,700was raised by the Ecumenical Chaplains’ SoupLunch and presented by final year studentCatherine Nagle. This funding was matchedby the University and a cheque was presentedby Vice-Chancellor Professor Christina Slade.

The Soup Lunch initiative has been runningsince 2001 and offers students and staff atthe University a chance to replace theirusual lunch with a quick lunch of a cup ofhomemade soup, bread and cheese. It takesplace in the Students’ Union every Thursdayduring term time and aims to remind peoplehow lucky we are to be able to drink clean,unpolluted water from a tap and think of

those people in the world who are not sofortunate. The money raised by the SoupLunch initiative over the academic year hasbeen matched by the University every yearsince 2006.

The Soup Lunch is also a good way forstudents to have contact time each weekwith Father Bill, OSM and the Anglicanchaplains Jan Knott and Tonya Nixon andthe Students’ Union.

Father Bill, OSM, Catholic Chaplain at BathSpa University said: “The effort of EcumenicalChaplaincy Soup Lunch is a good example ofthe concern of Bath Spa students and BathSpa University for those less fortunate thanourselves.We hope this term will provideanother chance to support forWaterAid andthe important work they do, bringing helpto many.”

WaterAid is an international non-governmental organisation (NGO) that aimsto transform lives by improving access to safewater, hygiene and sanitation in the world’spoorest communities.

LGBT session for teenagers

A group of young people from the ‘Groupof Gays’ (GoGs) group, facilitated byWiltshireServices for Young People, joined LauraGreen’s Education Studies course on YoungPeople, Identity and Subcultures in November.Taking the theme ‘it gets better’ they showedsome of the films they had made, and talkedopenly about homophobic bullying andlanguage, stereotyping, depression andcoming out to parents, as well as positiveimages of gay people and President Obama’sdirect support for gay teenagers.

Comments from Bath Spa students included:

“Unbelievably inspiring. To see and hear theabuse that these and other young people havegone through has shocked me to the core.”

“These youngsters are some of the bravestpeople I have met in my life.”

“I found the personal experiences veryemotional to listen to, but think that everyonecould benefit from hearing sessions like this.”

“… surprised that school is still the worstplace for discrimination/bullying.”

“I hadn’t realised the incidence of suicideand self-harm among this particular group.I totally agree with the zero tolerance policy[to homophobic bullying] advocated by thegroup. I hope to share it and apply it in myown school setting.”

“It was a reminder that being gay is just onesmall aspect of someone’s life, just as beingstraight is. The video really made this clear.”

“This video should definitely be used withinschools.”

“A great message given. Short, sweet andinspirational. Amazing!”

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YoungVolunteer of the Year

Student Sharareh Houshmandyar wasnamed ‘YoungVolunteer of the Year’ by Bath& North East Somerset Council Chairman’sCommunity & Business Awards. Sharareh hastaken what she has learned to help othersintegrate more easily into the universitycommunity whilst contributing towardsvarious charities and worthy causes. GeorgeAdams-Hynes said: “Sharareh deserves thisaward in acknowledgment of her hard workand effort.”

The Bath & North East Somerset CouncilChairman's Community & Business Awardsare given to local people who have madea big difference in their community. TheAwards were organised in partnership with,the Volunteer Centre Bath & North EastSomerset, CURO (formally Somer CommunityHousing Trust), the Student CommunityPartnership and the Quest project.

SouthWest Higher Educationconference

The Higher Education Liaison OfficersAssociation (HELOA) symposium for theSouthWest of England was held at theUniversity in April.

HELOA is the professional association ofHigher Education staff involved in givingguidance and information to prospectivestudents and their advisors. This meetinghosted around 50 teachers and advisorsfrom across the SouthWest of England.

The conference featured a number ofpresentations and sessions, including a talkfrom the Chief Executive of UCAS, MaryCurnock Cook, who said: “It’s great to seea forward looking university like Bath Spahosting this event. Those advising youngpeople about their university options needboth practical information and inspiringinsights to take back to their pupils – bothwere on offer at this HELOA event.”

A number of Higher Education Institutesthroughout the SouthWest region wereinvolved in this conference to enable thesharing of good practice amongst the region.Supportive sessions were also offeredaddressing issues relating to the HigherEducation process.

Chair of HELOA SouthWest, and Marketingand Events Officer at Bath Spa University,Missy Beal, added: “It is so important forstudents to be aware of all the universityoptions available to them when they gothrough, what can be for some, a verydifficult process.

“By supporting local teachers and advisors,this conference enabled key messages to bepassed on which can only be of benefit tothe student.”

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CommunityHelping better educate troops’children

Bath Spa announced a new partnershipproject with the Service Children SupportNetwork (SCSN) in February. The University’sWidening Participation Team joined forceswith the SCSN in an initiative which trialledan educational enrichment and supportproject for primary and secondary agedService children in schools acrossWiltshireand Somerset in 2013.

The programme geographically extended thecurrent project with the University of Oxfordin Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire.

The aims of the project were to:

inspire intellectual, global and personalcuriosity in pupils,

enrich and enhance students’ self-esteem,aspirations and hopes for the future,

introduce the language and context ofFurther and Higher Education and dispel anymisconceptions about university study andlife and,

give students a greater understanding of theirprogression through school.

These aims were achieved through deliveringinteresting, informative and relevantprogrammes to learners between the ages of10 and 18 both in schools and in universities.

Dr Sally Griffin, Bath SpaWideningParticipation and Access Manager,spearheaded Bath Spa’s involvement, workingclosely with Joy O’Neill, founder of the SCSNand Dr Mel Macer from the University’sSchool of Education.

Bath in Fashion 2013

Bath in Fashion is one of the most talkedabout fashion gatherings outside of London.This year it ran from 13 to 21 April andprovided the city with a week-long showcaseof fashion.

Louise Pickles, Head of Bath Spa’s Fashioncourse is Creative Director of the festival andhosted an event on Saturday 21 April called‘Fashion Your Future’. This free event was amust for anyone who has ever wanted to workin fashion. The panel of speakers at the eventincluded Bath Spa graduate Chloe Jones wholast year won both theWomenswear and GoldAwards at Graduate FashionWeek.

Bath Spa students were involved in manyaspects of Bath in Fashion including assistingwith the production and styling of fashionshows. One group of textiles students andgraduates held an exhibition at the 44ADgallery called ‘Coat,Wrap, Cover’ whichfeatured woven, knitted, embroidered andprinted garments and accessories.

The exhibition was managed and curated byDesiree Goodall and featured hand-knittedgarments and accessories from her A/W 2013collection. These were exhibited alongsideraincoats by Sandra Doerfel, textile handbagsby Helle Grabow, Natural Fibre scarves by SianHurst and woven stoles by FrancesWesterduin.

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Dr Griffin and Dr Macer already work togetheron the Education Policy into Practice (EPIP)group and Dr Macer’s involvement with theprogramme adds additional understandingand experience as she previously workedsupporting Service schools inWiltshire.

Service school children move around aconsiderable amount during their schoolingand can also be under a lot of strain if theirmother or father is deployed away from homeon a detachment or active service.

Dr Griffin said: “Dr Macer and I are delightedto work with Joy O’Neill on this project andto be able to support the children of servicefamilies in this way.We believe that everyonewith the potential to benefit from highereducation should have the opportunity to doso, and through this programme we hope toinspire these young people to consideruniversity as an option for their future.”

A recent Ofsted report highlighted that theimpact of mobility and deployment on thelives of children and young people fromarmed service families, is an area of concernfor a wide range of providers of services tochildren, young people and their parents.

Students take a dive for charity

Third year business and management student,Lucy Mitchell, organised a student skydivewhich raised over £3,000 for dementiaresearch charity, RICE. The Research Institutefor the Care Of Older People (RICE) is aregistered charity based in Bath.

Lucy and ten students travelled to Old SarumAirfield in Salisbury where they dived fromover 15,000 feet. Lucy also organised a charityskydive in 2012 with five students acceptingthe challenge and together raising over£1,000 for Alzheimer’s research.

The Reading-born 21 year old has beenvolunteering at RICE for the last three years,assisting with finance, fundraising andmarketing activities as well as running severalprojects and events, including sponsoredskydives. Despite having organised skydives,Lucy had never actually experienced a skydiveherself. However, thanks to the other studentsinvolved who informed skydiving providersGoSkydive of this, Lucy was given the chanceto join them and jump out of the plane.

She said: “The ten brave students whohad signed up for the challenge spoke toGoSkydive and before I knew what washappening, the company kindly offered

me a complementary jump! The studentsof course were not going to allow me to turnthis offer down, so 20 minutes later I foundmyself falling from 15,000ft!

“I’m very glad that I did it, it was fantastic!I can only describe it as a bizarre and surrealexperience and once the parachute hadopened, it felt as if I was just hovering inthe air.”

Commenting on the amount raised, Lucyadded: “I am really pleased with how theevent went and also with how much weraised. Everyone thoroughly enjoyed the day!

“The work that RICE does is amazing. Theyconduct research and clinical trials intoAlzheimer’s and other dementias, and alsoprovide support for those with the diseaseas well as their families.”

Head of fundraising at RICE, Gina Caddickadded: “Lucy has been amazing over the lastthree years helping out in so many ways,she will be sorely missed. RICE is absolutelydelighted with the money raised throughthe skydives”.

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Community

Creative Futures 2013

The Creative Futures 2013 programme ofevents ran throughout June and showcasedthe many talents of graduating students.The festival included exhibitions, films,performances, events and degree shows andended with a Graphics and PhotographyExhibition on Sunday 23 June.

The launch event took place at the HolburneMuseum and was a great success withProfessor of Art and Design, and worldrenowned artist Gavin Turk officially openingthe Festival.

A variety of events took place across Bath,including networking evenings for businessesand creative professionals and a diverse rangeof performances open to the city’s residentsand the visiting public.

Featuring the work of graduating studentsfrom right across the creative and culturalindustries, including cultural heritage, design,fashion, film, music, performing arts,photography, textiles and visual arts, CreativeFutures 2013 showcased just some of thetalent emerging from Bath Spa Universitythis year.

Professor Christina Slade,Vice-Chancellor,said: “Creative Futures 2013 is shining thespotlight on the wealth of creative talent wehave here at Bath Spa University.We areexcited to present such a diverse programmeof artistic events and very much look forwardto sharing with you the extremely highquality of work produced by our enterprisingstaff and students.”

Some highlights of Creative Futures 2013included:

Illuminate Bath – Creative Director AnthonyHead worked with Graphic Communicationand Fine Arts students to create a visuallyexciting projection on Pulteney Bridge.

Hospitality: an exhibition – Bath SpaUniversity and Bath Abbey collaborated topresent a new exhibition in Bath Abbey whichexplored the theme of ‘Hospitality’. Theexhibition featured new artworks by 11 BathSpa University artists, including professionalartist alumni, current students and staff fromthe School of Art and Design.

Bath School of Art and Design degree showSpread over ten days and two venues theDegree Show featured the exciting outputfrom graduating students in a range of Artand Design disciplines.

Graduate Fashion Show - The GraduateFashion Show was the culmination of workcompleted on the BA Fashion Design courseand showcased the final collections designed,created and made by the students.

West of England Carbon ChallengeAward

Bath Spa won an ‘Outstanding Achievement’award from Forum for the Future’sWest ofEngland Carbon Challenge. This was inrecognition of the University’s carbonreduction programme. The Carbon ChampionAwards hail from theWest of England CarbonChallenge (WECC); a network of businesses,NGOs and public sector organisations withoperations in theWest of England, all ofwhom made a voluntary commitment toreduce their carbon emissions by 10 per centin the period between 2009 and 2012.

Bath Spa was joined as winners in the‘Outstanding Achievement' category by At-Bristol, Arup, Avon Fire and Rescue Service,Buro Happold, Environment Agency, SouthGloucestershire Council , Stride Treglownand University of theWest of England.

Forum for the Future has been running theWECC since its launch in 2009, and theawards marked the end of an era as they handover the reins to Low Carbon SouthWest, whoare to be the new coordinators of the scheme.

TheWest of England Carbon Challenge isfree to join. In June 2013, there were 132organisations that had signed up to theWECC, with 75 of this submitting data for2012/2013. TheWECC is the largest voluntarycarbon reporting and reduction network in theUK, and puts theWest of England region atthe forefront of the national aim of cuttingcarbon and saving energy. This is particularlyrelevant as Bristol prepares to hold the titleof European Green Capital in 2015 and theWECC is a great way for businesses, NGOsand public sector organisations to getinvolved.

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Mind Matters exhibition

A group of 12 second year Creative Artsstudents organised and created an exhibitionof their work inWalcot Chapel in aid of Bath-based homeless charity, Julian House.

The exhibition entitled ‘Alive in the Mind’ran fromWednesday 12 to Sunday 17 Marchand raised an impressive £888.58. The workscreated were part of the students’ ProfessionalPractice module which aims to get thestudents thinking as professionally as possible,enhancing their chances of workingsuccessfully within the arts.

The students created a wide range of workincluding painting, photography, textiles,sculpture and installation. The exhibition’scentral theme explored the juxtapositionbetween Utopia and Dystopia and whetherthe ideal of Utopia could ever materialise andwork, or whether it will always just be an idea‘Alive in the Mind’.

In order to fund the cost of the exhibition,the students organised several fundraisingactivities including homemade bake sales, bagpacking at Sainsbury’s a pub quiz at The HopPole pub in Bath.

Commenting on the students’ efforts, CathyAdcock, Community Funding Coordinator forJulian House said: “Not only was the standardof artwork produced by the group amazing,but they also organised the exhibition in anincredibly professional manner. Julian Housewas delighted to be the beneficiary of sucha well thought out event.”

The students involved were Phoebe Millard,Abigail Ducharme, Mari Jones, Matt Holland,Jade Fisher, Charlotte Owen, JasmineWhiteleaf, Meggie Morgan, Ranee Twyford,Becky Doonan, Savhannah Schulz, Maggie Coll.

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The University is a significant local employer with approximately 820 staff including both academic and professional services staff. In 2012-132,800 applications were received for 136 job vacancies.

HR update

People strategy

In 2013, the Board of Governors approvedthe University’s People Strategy. Developedthrough a consultative process to support theUniversity vision and strategy for 2015, it willdrive performance through the developmentand recognition of staff.

Research support

Vitae, the organisation that championsprofessional and career development ofpostgraduate researchers and research staffin higher education, published a review ofthe HR Excellence in Research Awardimplementation activities across Europe in2013. Bath Spa University was highlighted asan institution demonstrating good practice inprinciple 1 of the Concordat, recruitment andselection. The University publishes a full suiteof grade profiles for all types of staff on thewebsite, and has also created recruitmentguidelines to help managers recruit effectivelyand promote equality of opportunitythroughout the recruitment process.

The HR Team have continued to contributeto the University’s preparation for the REFsubmission, including confidentiallyprocessing Individual Staff CircumstancesDisclosure applications in order to complywith the REF2014 Code of Practice. Twoequality impact assessments have also beencarried out to ensure the exercise does notdirectly or indirectly disadvantage people withparticular protected characteristics.

Equality and diversity

On 26 March 2013, the University of Bathwelcomed staff and students from Bath Spa,as well as local employers and communitygroups, to the annual Joint Equality Forum.This is a key event in the University calendarand encourages lively debate on a range ofequality and diversity topics. It is also animportant platform for consultation withdifferent groups and stakeholders, and informsfuture plans. This year’s theme was ‘Fit forEmployment? The University as educator andemployer’ and included a lively keynote fromEleanor Mills, Associate Editor of The SundayTimes, an interactive audience polling exerciseand group workshops on diverse equalitytopics.

During the autumn of 2012 the Universityconducted its second Equal Pay Review.There has been a reduction in the percentageof men being paid more than women acrossthe University and the overall pay gap hasdecreased from 21.23 per cent to 16.08 percent which compares favourably against theHEI ASHE benchmark data of 21.0 per cent.The reason why overall men are paid morethan women is the current gender distributionof the University which is predominately menin senior roles and more women in lowergraded roles. These issues are broader equalityissues around gender representation and theUniversity will continue to consider initiativesto increase gender representation across alllevels as published in the University EqualityObjectives.

Staff survey

In December 2012, a staff survey wasconducted in partnership with Capita. Itgenerated a 62 per cent response rate whichis much improved from the 55 per centresponse rate in 2008 and is in line with theaverage responses from other universities in2012, enabling us to benchmark with thesector. In summary, the results show thatoverall staff are positive about the University:

� 94 per cent say they are interested in theUniversity and to them it is not just a job.

� 90 per cent say the University is a goodplace to work.

� 86 per cent are proud to work for theUniversity.

In the 22 key questions on employeeengagement, nine Bath Spa scores werestatistically significantly above the sectornorm, and only one was below. Four areaswere identified for development (workloadand stress, management of change,communication and co-operation betweendifferent Schools/ Departments) anda working party, which includes staffrepresentatives, has collated Universityand department level action plans to ensureimprovements are achieved.

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Wellbeing

As part of the University’sWellbeing Strategy,staff have benefited from a number ofwellbeing events and campaigns incollaboration with Student Services and theStudents’ Union. On National StressAwareness Day, staff enjoyed Indian Headmassages from Bath Stress Angels. TheRefectory held a Healthy Living week wherestaff and students got advice on stoppingsmoking, how to look after their heart, andenjoyed healthy cooking demonstrations.Wellbeing charities were supported includingWear It Pink for breast cancer research andMovember for men’s health.

The main event of the year was a full week ofwellbeing events in May 2013. The theme was‘Let’s Get Physical’, highlighting the positiveimpact physical activity and exercise have onmental health and wellbeing. Many activitieswere available at multiple sites includingreflexology, guided walks, health MOTs, bloodand glucose cholesterol testing, Pilates andmental health awareness. In addition, staffwere invited to join the Stay Active Challengeduring which, competing in teams of five,participants were challenged to increase theiractivity levels as much as possible during an11 week activity competition.

An Employee Assistance Programme,Lifeworks, has been in place for several years,and is used to offer additional support toemployees and their immediate family.

Coaching network

In July 2013, the first cohort of internalcoaches received training from the LeadershipFoundation for Higher Education. They arecurrently preparing to offer coaching to BathSpa staff through a coordinated matching andcontracting process from academic year2013/14. The scheme is being developed as acost effective way to develop and reward staffand enable them to reach their full potential.Coaching has many benefits for both coachand coachee and will help staff work oncurrent and future goals and challenges.Internal coaching also helps break downboundaries within organisations, leading tofurther collaboration and knowledge sharing.It is intended that a further cohort will betrained in November 2013, resulting in aninternal coaching capacity of at least 40 hoursper month.

Staff enjoy many opportunities to learn anddevelop including workshops on academicdevelopment, IT skills and personal andmanagement skills, as well as support for job-related professional qualifications.

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Turnover (Year ending July 2012) : £48,686,000

Undergraduate applications toBath Spa University (to July 2013) : 12,837 (0.86% decrease)

Undergraduate applications:Places ratio (2012): 7.2 : 1

Total student number 8212

Mode of attendanceFull-time 6142 74.79%Part-time 2070 25.21%

Level of studyUndergraduate students 5537 67.43%Postgraduate students 2675 32.57%

Age on entryUnder 25 years 5456 66.44%25 years or above 2756 33.56%

GenderFemale 5754 70.07%Male 2458 29.93%

School breakdownBath School of Art and Design 1123 13.68%Education 3012 36.68%Humanities and Cultural Industries 1540 18.75%Music and Performing Arts 1230 14.98%Society, Enterprise and Environment 1307 15.92%

Location of studyNewton Park/Corsham Court 6704 81.64%Sion Hill/Circus 833 10.14%Partner Institutions 675 8.22%

Facts and Figures

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Board of Governors

Stella Pirie OBE (Chair)

Professor Christina Slade (Vice-Chancellor)

Inderjit Ahluwalia – up to November 2012

Robin Alexander – from November 2012

Julian Amey

Paul Bird

Paul Davies

Amy Dawson

Christopher Ellicott (Clerk)

Martin Francis

Teresa Fisk

Andrew Harris – up to November 2012

Jane Henderson

Professor Paul Luna

Shaun McGall

Professor Philip Martin

Revd Prebendary Edward Mason

Philip Parker

David Pester – from November 2012

Ian Phillips – up to November 2012

Michael Roy

Mary Toman

Senior staff

Vice-ChancellorProfessor Christina SladeBA PhD DipEd FRSA

Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Operations)Jon Brady BSc

Deputy Vice-Chancellor and ProvostProfessor Neil Sammells BA PhD

Director of Student Services and RegistrarChristopher Ellicott BA MA (Oxon)

Director of Human ResourcesArlene Stone FCIPD

Vice-Provost Learning and Teaching QualityProfessor Paul Davies BSc PhD

Vice-Provost Research and Graduate AffairsProfessor Tim Middleton BA MA PGCE PhD

Dean of Bath School of Art and DesignProfessor Anita Taylor BA MA

Acting Dean of School of EducationChristine Eden BA (Hons) PGCE MSc

Dean of School of Humanities and CulturalIndustriesProfessor Steve May BA PhD PGCE

Dean of School of Music and Performing ArtsJoe Bennett BA NTF FHEA

Dean of School of Society, Enterprise andEnvironmentProfessor Robert Mears BSc MSc PhD PGCE

Director of ComputingDave Hassall BSc

Director of International RelationsJeremyWhite BA MA

Director of Library ServicesAlison Baud MA DipLib MCLIP

Executive Officer to the Vice-ChancellorRob Armstrong-Haworth BA MA

Head of Development and CampaignsMarnieWhiting

Head of Enterprise and Local PartnershipsAdam Powell BSc PG Dip

Head of EstatesRichard Jordan MCIOB

Head of FinanceKevinWright FCA

Head of Learning and TeachingProfessor Paul Hyland

Head of Marketing and CommunicationsTessa Griffiths BA DipM

Head of Planning SupportJonathan Sebright BA

Head of StrategyDiana Newport-Peace BA, DEA, PhD

Governors and senior staff

Newton Park Campus, Newton St Loe, Bath BA2 9BN Telephone 01225 875 875

Sion Hill Campus, Lansdown, Bath BA1 5SF Telephone 01225 875 875

enquiries@bathspa.ac.uk www.bathspa.ac.uk