Warwick Network: Breakout Sessions - PM
101: Introducing the Warwick Institute of Advanced Study - Alison Bell
The Warwick Institute of Advanced Study was established in April 2007 to promote collaborative research projects of international calibre and profile across the full range of University Departments, Schools and Research Centres.
This session will start with the concept of ‘Institutes of Advanced Study’, with a brief exploration of other IASs around the world. It will then focus on Warwick IAS’s goals and how they fit with the University’s strategy.
The current IAS programme will be explained with details of the 3 funding awards (Incubation Awards, Integration (Bedding-in) Awards and Impact Awards) and 2 fellowships (short-term Visiting Fellowships and the projected Residential Research Collaborations), including examples of awards already made.
Participants will be encouraged to share ideas on:
-How can Warwick IAS be distinctive?
-What does Warwick need and how can Warwick IAS help?
-Which areas of interdisciplinary research could be encouraged?
102: Recruiting Postgraduate research students - Nicola Owen and Professor Lee Bridges
Warwick has a comparatively low population of postgraduate research students compared with other Russell Group and ‘world-class’ universities. Postgraduate students can enrich the research environment and in some disciplines are fundamental to the operation of research projects.
This session will explore some of the issues around the recruitment, support, funding and management structures for postgraduate students which will need to be addressed to achieve the goal of increasing Warwick’s PGR population by over 1000 students by 2014.
103: Accreditation and the University of Life - Professor Michael Whitby and Sean Russell
(now running as a joint session)
Accreditation - Warwick's distinctive model of teaching and learning has served well many generations of learners. It is based on, amongst others, a particular synthesis of research-led teaching with employability-related personal development. This workshop will consider the challenge of examining and developing this model and will focus on rewarding socially responsible activity by accreditation of the Warwick Volunteers programme.
The University of Life: developing key skills in our graduates - The development of student skills is very high on everyone’s agenda. Under this heading are employability and study skills. The perceived ‘customer’ culture has given this discussion an extra edge in recent years. This session will explore how we can deliver the best experience for students in helping them achieve their potential and to prepare them for life after Warwick. Your views and opinions will form the core of the session.
104: Introducing The Warwick Commission - Ian Rowley
Warwick has an excellent record in research and knowledge dissemination and The Warwick Commission will draw on this experience to create a high profile programme to help raise the University’s profile in the national and international media, establish its credentials in key research areas and build relationships with government, policy makers, think tanks and the business community.
The first Warwick Commission, being led by Professor Richard Higgott, is exploring the future of the multilateral trading system and the World Trade Organisation after the Doha Development Round. It is being chaired by the Honorable Pierre Pettigrew, former Minister for both International Trade and Foreign Affairs in the Canadian government. This first Commission has already held a meeting with trade specialists in Toronto; it will take evidence from business representatives in Delhi this July; and will report back to the WTO itself in Geneva at the end of the year.
The Vice-Chancellor recently announced a “Junior Commission” involving the representatives of the worldwide gifted and talented community and a second full Warwick Commission will be announced at the beginning of 2008.
105: New Ideas From Concept to Launch (The International Gateway for Gifted Youth) - Ken Sloan
Through the new strategy, everyone has been encouraged to come up with ideas for new ventures and fresh thinking and many of us across the University have been keen to do so. However, selecting the right set of ideas, testing them, securing buy-in, securing resources, and making the ideas real can present real intellectual and psychological challenges. This session will discuss these factors against a recent case example, the International Gateway for Gifted Youth, describe what has been done well, what could have been done better, and outline positive and negative lessons for the future.
106: Introducing Warwick Context - Tom Abbott
This session has been cancelled.
This session will introduce a new News and Events service – Warwick Context - which will bring together a range of exciting online and offline communications activities to provide a comprehensive view of research and expertise at the University of Warwick.
The session will review the project to date and invite ideas for future development from attendees.
107: Top 50 by 50 - Dr Giles Carden and Edward Harcourt
The new University strategy aspires for Warwick to become "a universally acknowledged world centre of higher education by 2015, firmly in the top 50 of world universities". Through analysis of existing international rankings of universities this session will examine what it will take for for Warwick to become a top 50 university by its 50th anniversary.
108: Establishing Global Partnerships - Dr David Law
This session will outline the place of international partnerships in the achievement of Warwick’s strategic goals. In particular it will focus on what the University can achieve through the newly developed project to establish an “international quarter” on our campus. Participants will be able to give advice and guidance on possible target institutions and organisations that are likely to see mutual advantage in a partnership of this kind. We will share our thinking on how to develop negotiations and achieve a successful conclusion. Emphasis will be given to the importance of interaction between academic colleagues.
109: Future Plans for WISER - Professor Phil Mawby and Professor Phil Eames
This session has been cancelled.
WISER was set up during the last academic year. The aim of the institute is to promote interdisciplinary activity across the university, bringing together a wide range of diverse activities. This will enable the University to have a presence in the vital area of energy research, and for it to become a recognised centre of excellence both in the UK and internationally. In addition the institute will have a strong focus on ensuring new technologies are commercialised to benefit the local economy.
The session will focus on the current position of WISER and look at how it develops from here.
110: Living and Breathing Environmental Sustainability at Warwick - Nick Hillard
Environmental issues are attracting an ever-increased profile across the university, the sector, media, government and public. Find out in this session how the university is responding to this challenge, but more importantly, come prepared to contribute towards future improvements in effecting behavioural change, reducing energy use, assisting in green procurement, sustainable transport, waste and recycling, biodiversity etc.
Through the spreading of existing and potential good practice, you will help to establish a series of University-specific best practice measures to contribute towards “living and breathing environmental sustainability at Warwick”.
111: Departmental Management- how can we best support the information needs of our Heads of Department and Administrators? - Leonie Aspinall, Sharon Neal, Mark Wright
How well do we support the management information needs of Heads of Department and their Administrators? What support do we offer new Heads of Department and Administrators in grasping the management milestones in the academic year?
The Warwick Futures consultation exercise showed that we could do more and better to support Heads of Department and Administrators, both in academic and non academic departments.
In this session we will explore some of the initiatives that have been developed over the past few years and are currently in development (e.g. Department Management Handbook, tailored support for new Heads of Department). Participants will also be offered the chance to consider what they might do in their own departments to support or provide management information and to suggest ways of developing new support mechanisms/making support more effective.
112: First Impressions: Student Induction - Catherine Thomson
What is student induction? When should induction start – and end? How do we identify new students’ needs? What should an induction programme cover? By what methods should induction be delivered? Do we need an induction week? Whose responsibility is it anyway?
This session will address these questions and explore how current good practice may be shared and developed across the University’s academic and administrative communities. The session will be underpinned by the notion that effective student induction is everybody’s business.
114: Your place or mine – developing well-rounded staff - Emma Ward
There are many diverse roles at the university, and each one is an integral part of making the institution work as a whole. But do we really know what our colleagues across the university do every day? By developing a job shadowing programme, members of staff can broaden their understanding of the university and experience other areas of the institution. By appreciating the expertise and challenges of our colleagues, we can gain a deeper appreciation for the contribution of every department to the university’s success and give a new perspective to our own role…
115: Bikers Convention – Map the requirements for cyclists on campus - David Wilson
This session will explore the opportunity to increase participation in cycling both around the University campus and discuss ideas for improving facilities for cycling to work users. Cycling is the ultimate green form of transport. Increasingly when new development takes place car parking on site is becoming restricted. How can we encourage more cycle use? Apart from the environmental benefits, cycling is possibly one of the healthiest ways of travelling. Safety is a real concern – what can we all do to reduce health and safety risks for bike users?
116: Art, the campus and the university community - Sarah Shalgosky
Warwick is unique among British universities in its open display of its collection of contemporary art. This session will give participants the opportunity to develop ideas and themes for a new phase of commissioned artworks and will give them insight into the commissioning process.
117: Making and nurturing partnerships: The CAPITAL Centre: teaching Shakespeare (and more) through collaboration between a university and arts organizations - Dr Susan Brock
Making and maintaining partnerships will be important in implementing the University’s Strategy. Come and find out what the CAPITAL Centre is doing with small and large arts organisations to create vibrant and productive partnerships, and think about what your department or centre could do.
118: Team Development Days for Undergraduate Students - Tim Bugg
This session has been cancelled.
The Department of Chemistry has since 2001 organised team development activities for undergraduate students in Years 1 & 2, which we find beneficial to students’ learning and orientation into groups. The session will illustrate the kind of exercises that we use (with an opportunity to try one), and we shall discuss the possible benefits of these activities for enhancing student learning.
119: Beyond the Thesis: What Warwick Can Offer the Postgraduate Researcher - Professor Jackie Labbe, Esther Meininger, International Office and Rachel Hardy, CSDE
This session has been cancelled.
This session will discuss how we can identify the needs of PGRs outside the supervisory relationship. We will discuss PGR training, career paths, and expectations, using as a template the long-running Arts Faculty PG Training Seminars as well as the seminars offered by the Graduate School. Is ‘training’ a necessary supplement in today’s academic market? How involved should supervisors be? Should departments be more pro-active in encouraging their PGR students to attend the sessions that are available? How can such seminars be used to integrate the PGR into life at Warwick? How does teaching factor?
The University welcomes a number of overseas PGR students every year, many of whom arrive with very different needs and expectations. How far can we, as a host institution meet those expectations? What are the key issues that affect how easily new PGRs integrate into the academic community or into life in the UK generally? Find out how the International Office offers induction and ongoing support to all international students, and what further support students say they need. The session will also look at the key domiciles our PGRs come from, and consider how factors such as the increased likelihood of students bringing families, their location off campus (compared to the majority of the overseas population), and their arrival outside the traditional autumn induction period influence the quality of their experience at Warwick.
120: Knowing me, knowing you - Sue Bennett
This session has been cancelled.
The University employs a lot of people in a bewildering variety of jobs, and it is difficult to get to know people from outside your own work area. Sue set up Warwick Acappella who sing together every Tuesday lunchtime. Come and find out how she set up the group, and consider what you could do to create an interest group.
121: Communicating research outside the academy - Dr Cathia Jenainati
This session will take the form of a round-table discussion. The facilitator hopes to:
-initiate discussion on the challenges posed by the current drive to communicate specialised research to a non-specialised audience
-raise questions about the opportunities which the university offers for communicating our research to the general public
-ponder the extent to which communication to non-specialised audiences might facilitate / hinder the progress of research
Participants will be invited to consider the extent to which their specialised work can be translated to the general public and will be encouraged to self-reflect on their ability to communicate their ideas to a variety of audiences
122: Supporting international students and staff - Michaela Borg, Gerard Sharpling, Laura Goodall, Rachel Hardy
The University of Warwick is an international institution, which brings together students and staff from a wide variety of countries and linguistic backgrounds. This contributes to the vibrancy of the learning opportunities found here, but it can result in difficulties and misunderstandings within the University community. This session will provide opportunities for discussion and the exchange of ideas with people at Warwick who are at the front line in working with international members of our community. We will look at existing ways to support international students and staff, ways to reduce misunderstandings and consider ways to improve support within the University.
123: Stressbusters- what’s on offer at Warwick? Try Acappella singing for beginners - Bruce Knight (Voice Coach)
Most of us want to find a better balance between work and home. Many of us would like the opportunity to relax and try something new or creative, during the working day or outside it. If you’ve always wondered if you can sing and make music, but have never had the chance to try out your talent, then this could be a great place to start.
Everyone can sing- some of us are simply have more practice or are more confident than others. It doesn’t matter whether or not you can read music, or have had formal singing tuition, or even whether you have sung in a group before. Find your voice and do something relaxing and creative, by learning to sing acappella with voice coach, Bruce Knight.
Bruce has lots of experience in teaching beginner singers to make music. In one hour, you’ll discover how to relax your voice, how to listen to and learn harmony parts and how to put a whole piece of music together with other singers to create an amazing sound.
124: Risk Management - Isn't It Just Good Management? - Yvonne Salter Wright
Good risk management allows an organisation to:
-have increased confidence in achieving its desired outcomes
-effectively constrain threats to acceptable levels, and
-take informed decisions about exploiting opportunities
In this session you will find out more about risk management as a concept and how the University works within a risk management framework.
You will also have the opportunity to talk to colleagues about their approach to risk management in their departments and identify ways of embedding this thinking in your own work area.
125:Development of Self-Standing Modules - Julian Moss
(New session - added 20/08)Warwick's distinctive model of teaching and learning has served well many generations of learners. It is based on, amongst others, a readiness to reflect critically on curriculum content and modes of delivery. This workshop will consider the challenge of examining and developing this model and will focus on enriching the learning experience of all students using digital media to develop additional self-standing modules on a wide range of themes and subjects.
126: Masterplanning the Campus - Joe Wrigley and Chris Churchman
New session - added 21/08/08Joe Wrigley of MJP (McCormack Jamieson Pritchard – Warwick’s masterplan consultants) and Chris Churchman (Warwick’s Landscape Architect) will outline how professional design teams approach masterplanning and some of the major issues addressed at Warwick. Given a free hand, how would you organise the campus? E.g. incorporating the HRI land, centralising campus around the ring road, relocating departments, making campus architecture more distinctive.