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February 2001
Top marks for Sports Science
The Centre for Sports and Exercise Science
in the Department of Biological Sciences has achieved an excellent result in a recent
assessment by subject specialist reviewers appointed by the Quality Assurance Agency for
Higher Education (QAA). The Sports Science provision at Essex was awarded the maximum
score of 4 in all 6 aspects of assessment by the panel of reviewers, making it one of the
highest ranked centres in the country. This is the third department at Essex to be awarded
the maximum score of 24 by QAA assessors. The other departments are Electronic Systems
Engineering and Philosophy.
The Centre was commended in all areas of
assessment. These were: Curriculum Design, Content and Organisation; Teaching, Learning
and Assessment; Student Progression and Achievement; Student Support and Guidance;
Learning Resources and Quality Management and Enhancement. In particular the review team
praised the structure, content and teaching of the Sports Science degree schemes at all
levels, commenting on how the schemes were enhanced by the research strengths of the staff
and the learning resources available to the students. They highlighted how the schemes
taught, equipped students with the knowledge and expertise necessary to embark either on a
related career, as many students have done, or further study.
The schemes were praised for their flexibility
and their ‘academic coherence’ which allows students a greater degree of choice.
The calibre of the students was highly regarded
as the reviewers noted the quality of work produced by final year undergraduate students
and the research work stemming from the MSc Sports and Exercise Science scheme which had
been commended at international conferences.
See below for a report by Dr
Martin Sellens, Director of the Centre for Sports and Exercise Science, about the QAA
assessment.
Applications up again
Applications for undergraduate degree programmes
at the University of Essex have increased dramatically for the third year in succession.
Recent figures released by UCAS, the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service, show
that applications to the University have risen by 11.4%, compared to a national fall in
applications for degree programmes of 0.2%.
The growing popularity of the University is
spread across a wide range of disciplines with significant growth in Drama, Electronics
Engineering, English Literature, History and European Studies. The recent merger between
Essex and East 15 Acting School in Loughton has also increased applicants for the BA
Acting Degree.
Mike Nicholson, Head of Undergraduate Admissions,
expressed his delight at the increase, ‘The last three years have seen a 40% increase
in applicants, due mainly to the enthusiasm and commitment shown by staff across the
University. Innovative degree schemes, combined with recent outstanding teaching quality
assessments in areas such as Philosophy, Biological Sciences and Psychology, have raised
the profile of the University dramatically.’
October 2001 will see the start of a number of
exciting new degree programmes. A collaboration with the University of Paris X will allow
students to gain both an English and French Law Degree after four years of study; degree
programmes of this type are only available at Kings College, London and Cambridge. New
degrees are also proposed in Human Rights, E-Commerce, Computer Games and Internet
Technology.
Top Marks for Sports Science
Dr Martin Sellens, Director of the Centre for Sports and Exercise Science, gives
his unique account of the stresses and strains of the QAA assessment
‘It seems scarcely credible that just six
years ago there was no Sports Science at Essex. Alan Rustage, the former Director of
Sport, and I welcomed the first ten or so students to the MSc Sports Science (Fitness and
Health) in October 1995. Joint honours schemes were introduced in 1997 and the first
single honours students registered in 1999. Our first cohort of 9 students graduated last
June and we admitted over 60 first years in October 2000. The pace of change has been
manageable but a little breathless, and we would have preferred a year or so for things to
properly bed down before being exposed to the scrutiny of the QAA. But time, tide and the
QAA wait for no man, and so it came to pass that Sports Science was visited.
The Centre for Sports and Exercise Science
operates within the Department of Biological Sciences. The Department had scored 23/24 in
the Biomolecular and Organismal Sciences QAA in February 2000 and found to be excellent,
but had been unlucky to drop one point on an arcane quality management issue. Dave Heath,
the Quality Officer for Biological Sciences, had masterminded the Department’s
submission and, in preparation for the assessment of Sports Science, plugged the
procedural gaps that had led to the lost point. If we followed Biology’s systems and
provided convincing evidence that we were doing so, logic suggested that we should do
equally well. The logic, however, was predicated on the supposition that QAA operate
within a framework that ensures consistency between the assessment of different
departments. The reality was that the issues pursued by the Sports Science QAA panel bore
little relationship to those that were the focus of last year’s Biology assessment.
Professor Chris Cooper took the lead role of
Sports Science Quality Officer, reconstructed the appropriately abbreviated SAD
(Self-Assessment Document) and was untiring in his assembly of evidence to support its
claims. Chris Watson, the Department’s Executive Officer was equally dedicated and
the two made a formidable and dynamic duo that worked on the task from September until the
Sunday before ‘QAA day’. By lunchtime on Monday 29th January when the team
arrived, the base room where the evidence was displayed was replete with enough boxes of
documentation to keep a government enquiry team busy for a decade. Nicola Jackson from the
Quality Assurance Office was the Institutional Facilitator and her contribution as
go-between and interpreter of nuance was to prove invaluable during the visit.
Some of what I have already said is probably
meaningless to those who have never had the pleasure of a QAA visit. There is a language,
procedure and culture to QAA that is impenetrable to those not familiar with educational
semantics. I won’t, therefore, dwell on the details of the meetings and teaching
observations that occupied the following three days. I might, however, suggest that you
refer to the Guardian Educational Supplement of January 31st for an interesting view of
the value and cost of these exercises. Suffice it to say that the procedure, whatever its
value, produces an almost terminal level of stress in those being scrutinised and those
doing the scrutiny. There were some ‘robust exchanges’ during the ‘aspect
meetings’ (don’t ask) and some frenzied burning of midnight oil to provide
evidence that the panel required to inform their deliberations. The climax of the week was
a hastily convened last gasp meeting to answer the concern that our ‘assessment
strategy did not enable the students to demonstrate to us that they had met the learning
objectives stated in the Self Assessment Document’. We left the meeting convinced
that the panel had not been persuaded by our arguments and resigned to a disappointing
score. When the final feedback meeting was eventually convened, over an hour late, it was
a subdued but defiant delegation of Sports Scientists, Biologists and University
representatives, headed by the Vice Chancellor, that braced itself for the result of the
panel’s deliberations. The Chairman’s announcement of a score of 24 out of 24
was met by a collective intake of breath and a palpable relief that, whatever we thought
about the bizarre process we had been subjected to, the outcome was one we could embrace.
And so our teaching has been assessed ‘excellent’. In truth it was the
documentation and ‘process’ that scored full marks, and the Biological Sciences
and Sports Science team, with tight leadership from the Head of Department, Professor Neil
Baker, take credit for a job well done. But without the excellent teaching of my Sports
Science colleagues, Dr Jerry Shearman, Dr Murray Griffin, Val Bothams, Professor Tom Hall,
Lucy Darbishire, Tom Cudmore, Professor Mike Wilson, Professor Chris Cooper and Dr Gareth
Jones, the technical support of Glenn Doel and the office and moral support of Noreen
Harburt, all the process and documentation would have counted for nothing. I pay tribute
to their hard work and dedication. It’s nice to be part of a winning team!’
The next department to be assessed is the
Department of Government in March.
Capital Building Developments
As part of the University’s continuing
development strategy radical new construction work is planned to enhance and expand upon
the existing facilities and cater for increased student numbers.
In this edition of Wyvern, Andrew
Nightingale, Director of Estate Management, explains more about Building 2001.
Building 2001
Design work on the University’s new academic
building, Building 2001, has now reached the detail stage. The project was granted Town
& Country Planning permission on January 25th and the project architects, the Stanley
Bragg Partnership, are now completing the design ready to go out to tender on March 9th.
Tenders are to be returned on 6th April and work on site will begin on 11th June,
immediately after examinations finish. The new building is an extension to the north end
of the Physics Building between the Hexagon and the Library.
The building design which has been worked up
under the close scrutiny of the Building Sub Committee has received significant input from
the two departments which will be the main occupants of the building: History and
Accounting, Finance and Management. Accounting, Finance and Management will occupy the
podia entrance level and the floors immediately above and below while History will be on
the top two floors of the building. The new building will actually be one storey higher
than the existing building that it adjoins. On the very lowest level of the building there
will be three new teaching rooms, each for 30 people.
The Accommodation Group have started to consider
the future use of the space that Accounting, Finance and Management and History will
vacate in early Summer 2002. Most of the space will be used to accommodate expansion in
other departments to help to ease the present accommodation crisis. It is also intended
that some more teaching rooms will be created to address some of the demand that has
arisen out of the growth of the University particularly for more seminar rooms to be
available at the most popular teaching times.
Honorary Graduate nominations for 2001
The University will be honouring the following
distinguished figures at Degree Congregation ceremonies in April and July:
Theodoros Angelopoulos, the Greek
filmmaker, has been described as being one of the most important filmmakers working today.
During his career he has won most of the major international film awards including
the much coveted Palme d’Or in 1998 at the Cannes Film Festival for the feature film Mia
eoniotita ke mia mera. , the Greek
filmmaker, has been described as being one of the most important filmmakers working today.
During his career he has won most of the major international film awards including
the much coveted Palme d’Or in 1998 at the Cannes Film Festival for the feature film Mia
eoniotita ke mia mera.
Sir Peter Bonfield CBE, Sir Peter Bonfield CBE, Chief Executive of
British Telecommunications, is to be honoured for his contribution to technology
and the electronics industry. Sir Peter is the Vice President of the British Quality
Foundation and is a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering, the Institute of
Electrical Engineers and the British Computer Society. In 1995 he was awarded the
Mountbatten Medal from the National Electronics Council in the UK for his work in the
electronics field
Trevor Brooking CBETrevor Brooking CBE, the former England
football international, FA Cup winner and chairman of Sport England will be honoured for
his contribution to sport. Many today will recognise Mr Brooking for his work as a
football broadcaster on both radio and television. Prior to this he was a
professional footballer playing for the club West Ham for almost 20 years. During a
distinguished career Mr Brooking scored more than 100 goals and played more than 640
matches, including 47 international caps.
Gail Rebuck, Gail Rebuck, once described in The
Observer as being the 91st most powerful person in the country, is currently Chairman and
Chief Executive of the Random House Group, a position she has held since 1991. Random
House is Britains biggest selling book publisher, publishing more works by top authors
than any other. Ms Rebuck is also a member of the Creative Industries Taskforce and IPPR.
Patricia Hodgson CBE has had a long and
prestigious career in broadcasting and is today Chief Executive of the Independent
Television Commission. Her career began at the BBC in the 1970s as a television and radio
producer. She was a member of the founding team at The Open University which
pioneered distance learning techniques. She also led the BBC team which planned the launch
of the BBC’s digital and online services between 1997 and 2000 and in 1995 was
awarded a CBE for her services to broadcasting. In September 2000 she left the BBC to join
the ITC as Chief Executive. has had a long and
prestigious career in broadcasting and is today Chief Executive of the Independent
Television Commission. Her career began at the BBC in the 1970s as a television and radio
producer. She was a member of the founding team at The Open University which
pioneered distance learning techniques. She also led the BBC team which planned the launch
of the BBC’s digital and online services between 1997 and 2000 and in 1995 was
awarded a CBE for her services to broadcasting. In September 2000 she left the BBC to join
the ITC as Chief Executive.
Professor David Lockwood first joined the
Department of Sociology at the University in 1968 and was Pro-Vice-Chancellor between 1989
and 1992. Educated at the London School of Economics and once a Fellow of St John’s
College, Cambridge, Professor Lockwood has been one of the most internationally
influential sociologists of the past 50 years. first joined the
Department of Sociology at the University in 1968 and was Pro-Vice-Chancellor between 1989
and 1992. Educated at the London School of Economics and once a Fellow of St John’s
College, Cambridge, Professor Lockwood has been one of the most internationally
influential sociologists of the past 50 years.
Professor
David Lockwood receiving his CBE with his wife, Professor Leonore Davidoff
Mike Leigh is one of Britain’s most
renowned directors. His career began on the stage with productions such as The
Box Play and Bleak Moments. The latter was transferred onto the screen as
Leigh’s 1972 directorial debut feature film. His first real success came in 1989 with
High Hopes which was the recipient of the Venice Film Festival’s FIPRESCI
Prize. In 1991 he directed the blithely funny Life is Sweet and in 1993 his film Naked
won him the Best Director prize at the Cannes Film Festival. In 1996 his success
continued with the film Secrets and Lies which won the Palme d’Or at
Cannes and a BAFTA for Best Film. is one of Britain’s most
renowned directors. His career began on the stage with productions such as The
Box Play and Bleak Moments. The latter was transferred onto the screen as
Leigh’s 1972 directorial debut feature film. His first real success came in 1989 with
High Hopes which was the recipient of the Venice Film Festival’s FIPRESCI
Prize. In 1991 he directed the blithely funny Life is Sweet and in 1993 his film Naked
won him the Best Director prize at the Cannes Film Festival. In 1996 his success
continued with the film Secrets and Lies which won the Palme d’Or at
Cannes and a BAFTA for Best Film.
Lord Slynn of Hadley, Baron of Eggington
in Bedfordshire, was educated at Goldsmith’s College, University of London (BA), and
Trinity College, Cambridge (MA, LLB). He was later called to the Bar as a member of
Gray’s Inn in 1956. During the 1980s he began a international academic career and
visited universities in Australia, India, and the USA. Lord Slynn is currently visitor of
the University. Baron of Eggington
in Bedfordshire, was educated at Goldsmith’s College, University of London (BA), and
Trinity College, Cambridge (MA, LLB). He was later called to the Bar as a member of
Gray’s Inn in 1956. During the 1980s he began a international academic career and
visited universities in Australia, India, and the USA. Lord Slynn is currently visitor of
the University.
Dr Andrei Vladimir Gnezdilov is joint
founder of the first Russian hospice. Since its development over ten years ago, Dr
Gnezdilov has devoted a considerable amount of time and energy into developing the hospice
movement in Russia and keep the hospice functioning. Dr Gnezdilov has worked with the
terminally ill since the early 1970’s, particularly on the development of art therapy
to alienate stress. He is founder of the KamTeMuk Psychotherapy Theatre where music and
bell therapy, psychodrama and shadow theatre are used to relieve stress experiences by the
terminally ill. is joint
founder of the first Russian hospice. Since its development over ten years ago, Dr
Gnezdilov has devoted a considerable amount of time and energy into developing the hospice
movement in Russia and keep the hospice functioning. Dr Gnezdilov has worked with the
terminally ill since the early 1970’s, particularly on the development of art therapy
to alienate stress. He is founder of the KamTeMuk Psychotherapy Theatre where music and
bell therapy, psychodrama and shadow theatre are used to relieve stress experiences by the
terminally ill.
Mr Cyril Ndebele, Speaker of the
Parliament of Zimbabwe, played an important role in promoting democracy within the
unpredictable and often violent political environment of his homeland. He will be honoured
for his commitment to democratisation and the rule of the law and also for his personal
and moral courage which has helped lead Zimbabwe through a time of crisis.
Speaker of the
Parliament of Zimbabwe, played an important role in promoting democracy within the
unpredictable and often violent political environment of his homeland. He will be honoured
for his commitment to democratisation and the rule of the law and also for his personal
and moral courage which has helped lead Zimbabwe through a time of crisis.
Essex Professor awarded Leverhulme Prize
 Professor
Marcus Chambers of the Department of Economics (pictured right) was recently awarded the
prestigious Philip Leverhulme Prize for his work in econometrics. The award aims to
recognise and facilitate the work of outstanding young research scholars of proven
achievement, who have made and are capable of continuing to make original and significant
contributions to knowledge. Nominees for the prize must hold a position in a UK
institution of higher education and be under the age of 36. Employing institutions can
nominate their staff and this year there were 170 candidates, out of which 35 were
successful. Professor Chambers will be awarded £50,000 over two years and intends to use
the bulk of it for replacement teaching so that he can devote more time to his research.
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