Month: March 2012

Newsletters from Imperial Consultants

Imperial Consultants has recently launched a termly newsletter aimed at staff working or interested in consultancy activities at the College. The Imperial Consultants team provides a professional support service for Imperial’s academic and research staff who act as consultants on behalf of the College. Consultancy activities include the provision of technical advice, expert witnesses and testing, measurement and analysis for industry, commerce and governments worldwide.

The newsletter contains news, events and details of consultancy opportunities, and is only available to Imperial staff. To register to receive the newsletter, please enter your Imperial login details at: http://www.imperial-consultants.co.uk/newsletter

Read the first issue of the newsletter (Imperial login required)

Postgraduate Graduation Ceremonies – Wednesday 9 May

Over 2,500 graduands and their 5,300 guests are expected at the 2012 Postgraduate Graduation Ceremonies, which will take place in the Royal Albert Hall on Wednesday 9 May.

In the morning ceremony, commencing at 11.15, graduands from the Faculties of Natural Sciences and Medicine and the Department of Humanities will be presented. Dr Martin Knight will receive a Fellowship of Imperial College in recognition of the outstanding contribution he made to the life and work of the College during his long association with Imperial, firstly as a member of the Council and subsequently as Chief Operating Officer.

In the afternoon ceremony, commencing at 15.30, graduands of the Faculty of Engineering and the Imperial College Business School will be presented. Professor David Lloyd Smith will receive a Fellowship of Imperial College in recognition of the outstanding contribution he has made to developing the student experience at Imperial. Ray O’Rourke will be awarded an honorary degree of Doctor of Science (Engineering) DSc (Eng) in recognition of his outstanding contribution to engineering and to the UK construction industry.

Academic staff are asked to register to attend by 23 April, completing the form at: http://www3.imperial.ac.uk/graduation/staff/robing.

Receptions will be held at venues across the South Kensington Campus following the ceremonies.

Survey on staff and student commuting

Staff and students are invited to complete a short survey to offer information about their daily travel to and from Imperial. The data gathered will inform how more sustainable options for travel might be achieved at the College and will assist with preparations to report on green house gas emissions associated with staff and student commuting, which is expected to be a requirement by the Higher Education Funding Council for England in the future.

The survey should take 5-10 minutes to complete and participants will be entered into a draw to win a £50 Amazon voucher. To complete the survey, visit: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/ImperialTravelSurvey

The results of the survey will be published on the Sustainability website.

Staff open meetings – roles of President & Rector and Provost

Representatives from Perrett Laver, the recruitment consultants appointed to assist with the search for the President & Rector and Provost, will be holding meetings to seek input to the process at the end of April. Staff attending will hear about the recruitment process and will have the opportunity to guide the consultants on the attributes and experience required in the College’s most senior leadership positions.

Staff are invited to attend the meetings on Wednesday 25 April:

11.00-12 noon – Hammersmith Campus – Lecture Theatre 1, Wolfson Centre

14.00-15.00 – South Kensington Campus – Pippard Lecture Theatre, Level 5 Sherfield Building

Details of the move to the President & Rector and Provost model were included in Staff Briefing #69

College Teaching Day

The Management Board has approved the following changes to the College Teaching Day which will be implemented from 2012-13:

  1. For undergraduate courses:
    1. Teaching hours will remain from 09.00 to 18.00 on weekdays. Wednesday afternoons will remain free from teaching and education activities from 13.00 onwards.
    2. The 12.00 to 14.00 lunchtime slots on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursday and Fridays will be phased out, beginning with first year students in 2012-13, and extending to second year students in 2013-14 and to third year (and above) students in 2014-15.
    3. From 2012-13, the timetables of all first year students will include a 2 hour slot for co-curricular activities from 16.00 to 18.00 on Monday afternoons. All Departments must keep this time free for co-curricular teaching, which will be organised by the new Undergraduate Co-Curricular Committee, reporting to the Strategic Education Committee.
    4. From 2013-14, the timetables of second year students will include a 2 hour slot for co-curricular activities and, from 2014-15, third year students too. The exact times are to be agreed by Faculties, but must be kept free for co-curricular teaching.
    5. All Departments must ensure that the teaching day incorporates a lunch break of a minimum of 1 hour’s duration.
  1. For postgraduate courses:
    1. Departments have discretion to run courses at times appropriate to the needs of students, which may in some cases be in the evenings (e.g. Business School executive education courses), but not normally after 20.00.
    2. Wednesday afternoons will remain free from teaching and education activities from 13.00 onwards.
    3. Departments must ensure that the teaching day incorporates a lunch break of a minimum of 1 hour’s duration.
  1. In exceptional circumstances (e.g. major travel disruption), undergraduate and postgraduate teaching and examination activities may take place at the following times:
    1. Between the hours of 08.00 to 19.00.
    2. On weekends and Bank Holidays subject, where necessary, to staff contractual arrangements.
  1. In setting exam timetables, the following principles should apply:
    1. Students will not normally be expected to take more than one examination in any one day; exceptionally they make take two. Under no circumstances should a student be expected to take three examinations in one day.
    2. If a student is to be required to sit two examinations in one day, approval must be received from the appropriate Studies or Postgraduate Quality Committee. A minimum gap of 30 minutes between examinations must be provided for all students, including those granted extra time for health or disability reasons.
    3. Students should not normally be expected to sit an early morning examination after having taken a late afternoon examination the previous day.
  1. The opening hours of the Early Years Education Centre (EYEC) will remain unchanged.

Co-curricular education: implementation plan

The Management Board approved plans to implement the provision of co-curricular (‘beyond the curriculum’) education within the new framework for the College Teaching Day, both announced in Staff Briefing 69.

Key points agreed were:

  • The roll out of the new programme will be phased. The programme will be offered to first year undergraduates only in 2012-13, extending to second year undergraduates in 2013-14, then to third year undergraduates in 2014-15 and so forth.
  • The timetables of first year undergraduates will include an allocated slot for co-curricular activities from 16.00 – 18.00 on Monday evenings. Any departmental-specific co-curricular activities will be scheduled at other times throughout the week.
  • An Undergraduate Co-Curriculum Committee to include representatives of all Faculties and ICU will be established as a sub-committee of the Strategic Education Committee. The Committee will be responsible for consulting with departments to determine what co-curricular programmes are required, and overseeing the commissioning, approval and quality assurance of courses.

Student business cards

The Management Board approved a proposal that departments may provide Imperial College London business cards to students.

Students who have asked for business cards say that they would like to give them out when networking with prospective employers or staff and students from other institutions, and would gladly pay for them. Departments may wish to provide all students with business cards or only do so on request, and can decide whether to cover the cost or seek reimbursement from students.

Student business cards must follow a standard format and be produced using the College’s bespoke stationery purchase system, Office Depot’s Printegrity. Departments will receive further guidance in the near future.

Survey on proposed staff accommodation

As part of proposed plans for the new Imperial campus on Wood Lane, the College is exploring opportunities to offer private residential accommodation, which may include apartments for staff. A survey has been launched to seek input to the proposals from staff, specifically their accommodation requirements and what pricing would be attractive. The survey is anonymous and results will be collated by an independent market research company.

To complete the survey, visit: https://www.ox-p.com/imperial

Resources for new leaders and managers

Online resources have been developed by HR which aim to support staff new to leadership and/or management positions and to help them understand and fulfil their responsibilities. The resources include an outline of the induction staff can expect when taking on a new leadership/management role, details of key HR processes and relevant development opportunities, and a set of the most common questions put to the HR teams by new managers.

Access the resources on the HR website.