Essex Daily

Join us from 2pm to 3.30pm  in  NTC.1.04 on 9 November for a joint meeting of the Project Managers and the Continuous Improvement network.

The session is suitable for all staff, so please feel free to invite your colleagues.

Book now.

What to expect from the November session

Continuous Improvement Tools: In this session we’ll talk through how continuous improvement tools can be used to improve communication and help streamline your work. Whether you’re looking to find better ways of working with your project team or are simply looking to improve on your own process and everyday work, continuous improvement tools can help you.

Continuous Improvement Games: Continuous improvement games are a great way of changing how people approach problems. By gathering data with Mr Potato head or learning how standardisation can help improve your service with Standard Pig, our games are a great way of opening up people to the idea of change.

Skills Analysis Survey: The skills analysis is an opportunity for you to measure you project management skills and identify areas in which more training and support is needed. Some of you may have completed the skills analysis survey last year, if so you can review your results now. In this session we will review last year’s results and discuss your training needs for the upcoming year.

Networking session: This unstructured session will be held over tea and cake and is a great chance to network with your colleagues and chat about your work . This is a great opportunity to share things that have worked for you and brainstorm any issues.

The summer before University feels like it goes on forever.

As you start on your degree, getting back into the swing of essay writing and exams can be a bit daunting. At Essex, the Talent Development Centre is here to help.

No, it isn’t here to help you launch your singing career, the Talent Development Centre is here to support you during your studies.

Dilly Meyer, Manager of the Talent Development Centre, said: “When I went abroad to study, it was really hard. I couldn’t find anyone to help me. So we’ve developed a culture in the TDC to help every student achieve their potential.

“The TDC provides you with the skills support you need to achieve the best results you can obtain in your degree – undergraduate, postgraduate or research.”

With team members in Southend and Colchester, the TDC offers a wide selection of workshops including sessions on writing well, using reading lists, maths  and English. One to one advisor sessions are also available.

Dilly said: “It is never too early to work on developing your style and it could make a real difference to your degree. Remember, if you don’t ask a question, nobody can give you the answer.”

Wherever you come from to study at Essex, the advice is the same, when you get here make sure you get out and about to make new friends and enjoy new experiences.

Ernest Nyarko, the Students’ Union VP Southend explains how it felt to move to Essex from his home in Ghana.

“I had 12 offers from UK universities and I choose the Essex Business School at the University of Essex’s Southend Campus as the content of the course really interested me. After completing my degree in Ghana I wanted to go abroad to study, to experience other cultures and network with different people.

“I had never been to the UK before and I landed in Birmingham, from Dubai. My first impression was that it was pretty cold.

“The Southend Campus was also completely different. My university in Ghana was twice the size of the Colchester Campus so Southend Campus was quite small to me, though I have found this has plenty of advantages to it.

“It got dark so early here as well, I couldn’t figure out when I was meant to go bed. The cold meant I had to wear a jacket and  that took a while to get used to.

“In class in Ghana I was quite timid, but when I started at Essex I became a course rep and started to make friends. The previous Vice President urged me to stand and he finally persuaded me on the last day for nominations.

“My mother and brother laughed at me for doing it, but my brother said if you lose we will laugh, but it won’t be for long.

“I learnt a lot the first year so I decided to stand for a second year to put that learning into practice.

“Southend is like home to me now, it is a very calm place. I know everyone on Campus now and people in the High Street say hello.“If you are coming to Essex from another country, I would say just put yourself out there, make the most of your course and be friendly.  That’s how I live my life in the UK.”

When Ida Bjorneras arrived from southern Norway to study politics at the Colchester Campus,  she was overjoyed to see autumn for the second time in the same year. “When I left Norway the leaves had already fallen and then I saw it again at Colchester,  it was stunning to see, ” she said.

“People in the UK are very friendly, you can strike up a conversation in a supermarket. Everyone on Campus is very sociable too and there is  an amazing atmosphere with so so many different nationalities in one place.

“I would advise all students to get out and about as much as possible. Join as many clubs as you can, I went on to be President of the Equestrian Society. The people you meet will shape your whole experience.

“I was introduced to curries and love those. I’ve back in Norway now having finished my PPE degree and Masters course, but I make sure I have a curry whenever I am in the UK visiting my University friends.”

Ernest Nyarko

Whether you are planning to come to Colchester or Southend there is plenty to see and do, whether you are visiting for a day or longer.

Colchester is Britain’s oldest recorded town and Colchester Castle and Colchester Zoo are not to be missed. Southend, of course, is home to the longest pleasure pier in the world and there is a superb selection of art galleries in the town, including Focal Point Gallery in The Forum and The Beecroft Gallery.

Eating wise there is choice aplenty.  At Colchester you can keep it on Campus and choose one of the restaurants in the Squares or head up to Wivenhoe House hotel our four-star hotel offering a delicious afternoon tea or meals in the brasserie restaurant.  Southend has some lovely cafes and restaurants along the seafront, either for typical seaside fish and chips or more upmarket fare. And you cannot leave without enjoying a Rossi’s ice-cream!

If you are planning to stay Wivenhoe House is a lovely place to relax, looked after by our team of professional staff and Edge Hotel School students. At Southend there is single room accommodation which can be rented at University Square on a bed and breakfast basis.

For more suggestions have a look at www.colchester.co.uk and www.visitsouthend.co.uk. We look forward to seeing you.

We’re building a new staff information directory and we need your help!

Take part in our session – email wedm@essex.ac.uk

You told us that you found it difficult to find the information you need on our website.  So we’re building a new staff directory which will be a single, central place for staff website content.

The aim is to improve the way in which information is stored so that you are able to find what you need find faster and more easily.

To make sure we organise the content correctly, we need to know where you expect to find content on the website.

We’d like you invite you a workshop where you work with other staff members to sort some example content into categories. Your help will give us valuable insights about how we need to organise the directory.

The session will take place on:

• Wednesday 25 October
• 10am – 11am
• Room 6.101

If you’d like to take part please email us at wedm@essex.ac.uk

We look forward to seeing you there

Web Editing and Digital Media team

Professor Aletta Norval

Join us on Thursday 9 November to say farewell to Professor Aletta Norval, as she leaves us to take up her new role as Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Education) at Anglia Ruskin University.

Aletta has made an amazing contribution to life at Essex. As PVC Education, Aletta has initiated a wide range of initiatives to deliver our Education Strategy, she has developed an excellent relationship with our students and the SU, and has led the University through a very successful QAA Higher Education Review and our Teaching Excellence Framework submission.

Aletta has been a tireless advocate of the University over the past 26 years. During her early years at Essex, she was awarded an MA in Ideology and Discourse Analysis (with distinction) in 1986 and a PhD in 1993. She was promoted to Professor in the Department of Government in 2012.  Aletta has been a Member of Council and a Member of Senate and has been part of several working parties looking at Equal Opportunities for Women, amongst many other issues.  She has been both Deputy and Co-Director of the Centre for Theoretical Studies in the Humanities and the Social Sciences and was Dean of the Graduate School from 2013-2014, before her appointment as Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Education) in 2014.

Her farewell event will be held in The Hexagon from 5.30pm-7.30pm on Thursday 9 November. If you would like to sign Aletta’s card or make a contribution to her leaving gift, please contact Jodie Field, Department Manager, Department of Government (email Jodie.field@essex.ac.uk or telephone 872759). If you would like to attend Aletta’s farewell event, please RSVP to events@essex.ac.uk so we can make sure we have enough food and drink to celebrate Aletta’s contribution to our community.

After a hectic two and a half weeks, registration at the Southend Campus is now completed.

More than 400 students have started on a staggered intake which began in the third week of September.

Terry King, Senior Student Administration Manager said: “We have received excellent feedback from the students who have registered. We have introduced a few innovations this year and they have worked well. We will continue to look for even more improvements for next year.”

The team, worked closely with the Students’ Union to greet the new students, who receive their SU Heirloom and a bag of sweets on their way to register.

Terry added: “We have used the big screen outside The Forum to welcome all the cohorts and there is plenty of information available around Campus and in the SU Lounge for anyone who is unsure.”