KEELE HONOURS RETIRING CHANCELLOR

A special celebratory dinner, hosted by the Vice-Chancellor, Professor Nick Foskett, was held in Keele Hall this week to mark the retirement of the Chancellor, Professor Sir David Weatherall.

It was announced at the dinner that the School of Medicine building will be named The David Weatherall Building, in honour of Sir David.

The Vice-Chancellor thanked Sir David for all the support he has given to the University and especially his support for the Faculty of Health.

The Vice-Chancellor said he was astounded and delighted that Sir David had been so generous with his time towards the University, given his international profile and agenda, and stated that he had been a real ambassador for Keele wherever his work had taken him during the last 10 years.

Sir David, accompanied by his wife, Stella, was joined at the dinner by members of council, staff, guests and friends of the University, who have worked closely with Sir David during his time as Chancellor.

In a typically, witty and entertaining response, Sir David confessed to having previously sneaked out of the Clockhouse at dawn to smoke his trade mark pipe and that during those early morning strolls he could only wonder at the beauty of the gardens and grounds.

He said he had enjoyed his time as Chancellor and that the most rewarding part was meeting new graduates as they completed their studies and left the University to pursue their chosen careers. Sir David promised to remain in touch with Keele and wished all the staff and students best wishes for the future and the challenges that lie ahead.

He was presented with a David Gentleman print of Keele Hall, a commemorative and classic piece of Wedgwood and a picture of the newly named David Weatherall Building.

MRC FUNDING FOR STUDY INTO OLDER PEOPLE LIVING WITH HIV

A new study, entitled 'Experiencing and Managing HIV in Later Life', led by Dr. Dana Rosenfeld, School of Sociology and Criminology / Centre for Social Gerontology/ Research Institute for Social Sciences, will explore the lives of older people living with HIV in the UK.

Estimates are that by 2015, half of the people living with HIV in the West will be aged 50+. This rapidly ageing population is much more diverse than was the population of earlier years, with an increasingly high proportion of Black African and heterosexual persons.

This population is further divided into those living with HIV for many years and those infected and/or diagnosed in later life. However, little is known about these persons' quality of life, mental health and social support needs and how their different histories and circumstances shape how they experience and manage HIV in later life.

Approved for funding of £211,316 over two years by the Medical Research Council's Lifelong Health and Wellbeing Cross-Council Programme and the Economic and Social Research Council, a team representing social science, medicine, psychology, epidemiology, and the HIV community will explore connections between these older persons' personal, social and medical histories and their social support, mental health, and quality of life.

The team will interview stakeholders (including clinicians, policy makers and HIV activists), then interview 90 people aged 50+ living with HIV and gather mental health survey data from a further 140. These will be recruited through HIV clinics at Chelsea and Westminster Hospital and Homerton University Hospital in London. Findings will inform suggested interventions designed to improve the social support, mental health, and quality of life of older people living with HIV.

STUDENTS BATTLE THE ODDS FOR TELETHON TRIUMPH

Twenty-eight Keele student callers spent three hard weeks contacting more than 1,000 Keele Alumni across the UK and North America to record another Telethon triumph.

Despite the downturn in the economy and in a climate of general tightening of belts, the calling team, with Buffalo Fundraising Consultants, worked  late into the evenings to secure £97,000 of donations and legacy pledges from Keele Alumni.

Robin Cross, Fundraising Officer for the Keele Key Fund, said: "This was a fantastic achievement given the circumstances, with the calling team having to overcome challenges not met in previous telethon campaigns."

John Easom, Alumni Officer, was equally pleased with the success of the campaign, especially in North America, and said that the autumn campaign demonstrated the commitment and affinity of our North American Alumni.

SENATE - 30 NOVEMBER

Senate held its second meeting of the academic year.  It received and approved the University Learning and Teaching Strategic Map, which was accompanied by the first draft of the Learning and Teaching Operational Plan. 

The Map identifies the following six key themes: Keele Distinctive Curriculum; Assessment and Feedback; Research-informed Education and Enquiry; Employability and Graduate Destinations; Technology and the Learning Environment; Quality Standards and Innovation in Learning and Teaching and Educational Practice. 

In addition, the two major cross-cutting themes are enhancing the overall student experience through the highest quality experience of learning and teaching; and enhancing the quality of our provision in support of academic standards.

Senate received and discussed a paper on Keele's strategy for the Research Excellence Framework (REF).   It also approved the Code of Practice for the selection of staff for REF 2014, whose primary purpose is to ensure a fair and transparent process for selection of staff.

There was a discussion of the Annual Report from the Research Committee.  Senate commended the significant increase in research students whilst noting concerns that overall grant applications and income were below average in certain areas.

Senate received an initial report on undergraduate applications for 2012/2013 entry, which were favourable but it was noted that work must continue to maximise conversions and that the Spring Visit Days present an excellent opportunity to showcase Keele.

Academic awards, reports from Senate's Sub-Committees and a Quality Assurance Agency mid-cycle Institutional Audit follow-up report were also received.

The papers for the meeting are available for campus users online here.

SOFT FRUIT DAY SPEAKER

Dr William Kirk (ISTM) was an invited speaker at a Soft Fruit Day organised by the East Malling Research Association and the Horticultural Development Company at East Malling in Kent.

The soft fruit sector encompasses strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, blueberries, blackcurrants, rhubarb and other similar species.

The event was attended by about a hundred growers, representatives from agrochemical and agronomy companies and technical directors from marketing groups.

An aim of the day was to report exciting new developments in the industry, particularly new approaches to pest management that reduce pesticide residues. Dr Kirk spoke about the results of Keele research on the use of semiochemicals to help control thrips on strawberry crops.

He is a named inventor on a Keele University patent for the use of pheromones to control thrips and a licensed commercial product resulting from the patent is available to growers.

KEELE RESEARCH FEATURED BY BRITISH PSYCHOLOGICAL SOCIETY

Keele research on football heading has been featured by the British Psychological Society on the home page of its website (http://www.bps.org.uk/news/heading-football-and-brain-damage-there-really-problem).

In recent years there have been claims that repeatedly heading a football can cause cumulative damage to the brain that eventually manifests in neuropsychological and other impairments.

Dr Andrew Rutherford, School of Psychology, who has been researching the possible damage caused by heading for several years and has published a number of articles on this subject, said: "There have long been suggestions that heading the ball in football could have detrimental effects on the brain.

"The old-fashioned footballs that became heavier as they absorbed water certainly made this an issue of concern. However, the quality of many of the initial studies claiming to have identified 'neuropsychological decrements' related to football heading is poor."

KEELE KEY FUND AWARDS

The Keele Key Fund Disbursement Committee has reviewed 12 applications for funding from a wide variety of applicants.

Almost £25,000 was distributed towards the following projects: Keele Capoeira Society workshops; VE@Keele  Student Volunteer Programme; Cricket and Fencing sports projects; Keele Concerts Society workshops; The Ray Pahl Honorary Studentship; Keele Heritage; Keele Community Concerts and the Kimbilio Sustainability Centre Project (Congo).

Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Provost, Rama Thirunamachandran, said: "It is very satisfying for the committee to have such a number of different and interesting projects and we only regret that we cannot support all of them. We look forward to making the next round of awards at the April meeting."

NEWS WORKSHOP

Trainee teachers at Keele took part in a workshop designed to help them understand how 'news' is gathered and reported. The one-day workshop to become a journalist was designed to show them how to run the BBC News School Report.

This innovative cross curricula project organised and run by the BBC is open to schools and pupils aged between 11 and 16.

With the interest and excitement generated by the London Olympics, we are looking to develop the next generation of teachers ability to work with external organisations in collaborative projects.

Liz Holden, who led the day's training to support the project, was impressed by the knowledge, understanding and commitment of the trainee teachers to the project's aims. More details can be found here.

KEELE BASIC BITES JOINS FORCES WITH STUDENT LIFE AND LEARNING

The Keele Basic Bites team (Russell Crawford and Andrew Morris) have joined forces with Verity Aiken, a Student Learning Developer from the Student Life and Learning Team in Student Support and Development Services, to create the first of a novel series of Motivational Basic Bites aimed at helping new university students with generic study skills.

This dynamic collaboration has started with release of the first bite entitled "Note Taking – Scaffolding or Scribbling" viewed here. Feedback and suggestions are welcome. To discuss Keele Basic Bites contact Russell Crawford at r.crawford@hfac. keele. ac.uk.

STUDENTS WORKING ON GRAVEYARD MYSTERY

Four forensic science undergraduates are helping with a 40 year graveyard mystery as part of their final year research project.

Ben Jones, Emilie Bush, Chiara Lherpiniere and Fraser Simpson (pictured
onsite) of the School of Physical and Geographical Sciences (supervised by Dr Jamie Pringle) have just returned
from a forensic geophysics survey of a North London graveyard to locate
unmarked graves as headstones were removed in the 1960s.

As well as a
real-world research project, the present vicar will now know where burials are and the work will also be published.

FORTHCOMING EVENTS

American financial expert, Mark Hill, Managing Director of Pacific Wealth Management, will deliver Keele Management School's Distinguished Lecture on Friday, 9 December at 4.30pm.

The lecture, "Wealth Management in an Era Of Ongoing Financial Crises" will be in Chancellor's Building, room CBA0.06.

Tuesday, 13 December - THREE COUNTIES OPEN ART EXHIBITION .... final day of exhibition.

Wednesday, 14 December, 16:00 – 17:00: UNIVERSITY CHAPEL CAROL SERVICE: Celebrate Christmas with carols and readings. There will be performances from choirs, groups and St.John's Keele Primary School.

The service will be followed by wine and mince pies and there will be a collection for Barnardos.

FROM THE ARCHIVES

Forty-four years ago -

Sir Isaiah Berlin, Chichele Professor of Social and Political Theory, and President of Wolfson College, Oxford, was the guest speaker at the Keele Union.

In his talk, entitled "Social criticism, Russian legacy", Sir Isaiah discussed the contribution of Russian social critics and writers to Western thought. 1 December 1967.