On Thursday 14th June, we were delighted to announce the winners of the Excellence Awards 2018 at a celebration at Coventry Cathedral. Congratulations to all concerned, the shortlisted entries and the winners.
Category: Research-Inspired Teaching
Shortlist:
- Involvement of undergraduate students to lead and mentor Nuffield summer research projects, School of Life Sciences, HLS
- Growing our Research Culture for Learning, School of Marketing & Management, FBL
- Educating Iron into Gold, School of Life Sciences, HLS
Judges’ comments: Students in the first year of post 16 STEM courses undertake a 4-6 week research project in the summer vacation, sponsored by the Nuffield Research Placement Scheme. They are coordinated and managed on a day to day basis by our undergraduate students who work alongside them. The judges were impressed by the impact the scheme has on the undergraduate students in developing confidence, problem solving skills, leadership and communication abilities and how this nurtured a long lasting passion for research in many of the students.
Research Inspired Teaching
Awarded to Involvement of undergraduate students to lead and mentor Nuffield summer research projects
School of Life Sciences, HLS
Judges’ comments: Launched within the last year, this team is already having a positive impact on participants in its programmes. Also, importantly, it is starting to influence how courses are delivered across the Coventry Group. Numbers engaging with courses are encouraging and the international reach impressive. Coventry University Online is, by necessity, innovative and is sector leading in developing digital learning resources.
Digital Fluency and Innovation
Awarded to Coventry University Online, CUOL
Category: Supporting Global Learning
Shortlist:
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Innovation and Creativity for Life (IC4Life) – Celebrating five years of student focussed inter-professional, inter-faculty, and global learning, School of Nursing, Midwifery and Health, HLS and School of Mechanical, Aerospace and Automotive Engineering in EEC
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Immersive Telepresence in Theatre, School of Media and Performing Arts, FAH / Theatre and Professional Practice
Judges' comments: This project is based on an exciting and increasingly maturing collaboration between CU and international partners, with colleagues at Coventry and Tampere clearly viewed as the leading experts. It has grown considerably over the past couple of years, increasing in scale and ambition, and has clearly potential for real impact. The films shared highlight the energy and excitement experienced, with students reflective accounts captured. An excellent project that continues to develop. The initiative offers opportunities that a few years ago could only have been dreamed of.
Supporting Global Learning
Awarded to Immersive Telepresence in Theatre
School of Nursing, Midwifery and Health, HLS , and School of Mechanical, Aerospace and Automotive Engineering, EEC
Category: Creativity and Enterprise
Shortlist:
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Roads Academy, CU Services Ltd and School of Marketing & Management, FBL
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Interactive Coventry, EEC and IP Commercialisation
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Hope For The Community CIC: Social Enterprise spin-out as catalyst to achieving Research Excellence with Impact and delivering Social Value and Community Engagement, Centre for Advances in Behavioural Sciences, HLS / CU Social Enterprise CIC / Intellectual Property Unit, Enterprise & Innovation Group
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The Sparrowhawk Electric Vehicle Project, EEC
Judges’ comments: This is the only joint award of the evening and the judges felt that both the winning teams had demonstrated impact and innovation.
Hope For The Community
CIC is the first and currently only staff social enterprise spin-out company arising from a unique collaboration across the CU Group including academics, professional services and community volunteers. As well as contributing to the Research Excellence Framework, this showcases how expertise in research and teaching can demonstrate community reach, impact and social value.
Roads Academy
It’s fantastic to see an initiative that was entered in the awards last year coming back with even greater impact. This is a really good example of a collaborative project playing to the strengths of the University.
Creativity and Enterprise
Awarded to:
Hope For The Community CIC: Social Enterprise spin-out as catalyst to achieving Research Excellence with Impact and delivering Social Value and Community Engagement
&
Roads Academy
Social Enterprise spin-out as catalyst to achieving Research Excellence with Impact and delivering Social Value and Community Engagement, Centre for Advances in Behavioural Sciences, HLS / CU Social Enterprise CIC / Intellectual Property Unit, Enterprise & Innovation Group
&
CU Services Ltd and School of Marketing & Management, FBL
Judges’ comments: This course team exemplifies the University’s vision for collaborations, co-creating and co-delivering with Indian multinational corporation KPIT Technologies. Utilising expertise from across the Faculty and the wider University, the course team has combined online provision with face-to-face teaching to deliver an excellent programme. There was clear evidence of partnership as a way of working for this diverse course team and their embedded use of technology to support a truly global way of working. The panel was particularly impressed by the course team’s approach to course design and to the model of delivery which is worthy of emulation across the institution.
Outstanding Course Team
Awarded to KPIT Higher Education Initiative
EEC and KPIT Technologies
Category: Student Employability Initiative
Shortlist:
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Accreditation of Doctoral Training in the Centre for Sport, Exercise and Life Sciences by the Royal Society of Biology, Centre for Sport, Exercise and Life Sciences (CSELS) and the Doctoral College & Centre for Research Capability and Development
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Exposure: Photography Festival (Level 2 Photography), School of Media & Performing Arts, FAH
Judges’ comments: This was a challenging award to judge due to the high quality of submissions that were received. The winning team put themselves securely in the frame for the award with an entry that combined an innovative synergy of learning and professional practice to catalyse and harness student creativity, potential, and enthusiasm with a clear and impactful focus through the lens of student employability.
Student Employability Initiative
Awarded to Exposure: Photography Festival
School of Media & Performing Arts, FAH
Judges’ comments: The impact of this project is immense. The students act as advocates for people in the community who need specialist legal help. Further the students act in pro bonofor Tribunal cases for their clients. This is unique across law schools in the UK.
The evidence given by those who won compensation after those Tribunals speak volumes for how much this project has changed their lives in a positive way. At the same time, this is hugely rewarding for students and enhances their employability beyond compare.
Community Engagement Initiative
Awarded to Partnerships in Clinical Legal Education’. Delivering access to justice!!!
Coventry Law School, FBL and Central England Law Centre
Category: Outstanding Professional Services Team - Student Experience
Shortlist:
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EEC Futures - ‘Life Beyond Your Masters’, EEC Futures
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LibGuides: a new layer of library support tailored to students and Maximising library resources through direct user involvement, Coventry University Library
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Enhancing the student experience with digital literacies for employability : Embedding learning technologists into the teaching team, Learning Enhancement Unit, FBL
Judges’ comments: This is an excellent example of an innovative project that brings together the 2 disciplines to solve real world problems through research. The project is exemplary in it being the first time in academia that law and dance were brought together to consider the intersections between legal and artistic challenges as they relate to disabled dance. Originally funded by the AHRC, the project team have secured further funding for the project to extend the impact of the project on dancers with disabilities and venue programmers.
Outstanding Professional Services Team - Student Experience
Awarded to LibGuides: a new layer of library support tailored to students and Maximising library resources through direct user involvement
Coventry University Library
Judges’ comments: Coventry University London have delivered a truly imaginative, innovative and impactful transformation to their student environment. Through a powerful combination of the physical environment, the local community and a socially inclusive agenda they have positively driven the student experience to generate a truly engaged learning community.
Outstanding Professional Services Team - University Environment
Awarded to Transforming the student environment
Coventry University London, CUSU and FutureLets
Judges’ comments: This award goes to a team, not only cross disciplinary but which also includes external partners. Their work supports our students to be who they are, able to celebrate their diversity in an environment of inclusion. Furthermore it has attracted external funding and recognition and is being adopted by other universities striving to have a campus where there is no hiding place for hate crime or harassment.
The Vice-Chancellors Award for Excellence in Equality, Diversity & Inclusion
University Challenge – Safeguarding Students
Judges’ comments: This award recognises the outstanding contribution that this team has made to the success of the University Group. The Team has revolutionised the way we collate, display and interpret data and provides an exemplary service to stakeholders across the CU Group. The judges were impressed that those nominating the team all emphasised the ‘can do’ attitude of the team and their willingness to go ‘the extra mile’ that makes them so exceptional. The development of data reporting and visualisation of data, always developed in close collaboration with stakeholders has transformed the use of data at all levels of the University Group.
Outstanding Contribution to the University Group
Awarded to The Strategic Planning and Analytics Office
Judges’ comments: The judges felt this was a very compelling nomination recognising the very wide range of impacts that the team have made. Since 2015 CUSE, as an independent social enterprise, has grown to 13 members of staff and engaged with more than 14,000 communities and organisations in Coventry, nationally and internationally leading to 119 staff and graduate start-ups including 35 social enterprises. From engaging with parents of children with autism and the Positive Youth Foundation to making connections with the unemployed, the work and impact of CUSE truly embodies the university vision of ‘Creating Better Futures’.
Creating Better Futures
Awarded to CU Social Enterprise CIC (CUSE)