For Staff

February enews: National Student Survey opens

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National Student Survey 2012

This year's National Student Survey (NSS) launched on Monday 6 February and will remain open for eligible undergraduate students until the end of April.

The University takes responses to the NSS, which are used both internally and externally, and to all student surveys, very seriously. Because of our high response rates in previous years, the NSS is a particularly important source of understanding about students' views of their experience here. Staff are urged to encourage eligible students to participate.

For more information on the NSS and how it is used see the For Staff website.

UCAS admissions process review consultation

The final version of the University's response to the UCAS admissions process consultation is now available. Download a copy of the response (restricted to campus and remote access only).

Curriculum enhancement project - student feedback

A range of undergraduate and taught postgraduate school and course reps have provided us with some valuable feedback on the proposals to change the structure of the academic year and the electives system.

To find out more about what these students have told us, go to the Resources section of the project website and click on Consultation Documents.  This feedback, along with staff comments, is contributing to the development of alternative models which will be discussed further with staff and students in spring 2012.

For more information, please contact Project Manager, Caroline Letherland.

QAA consultation on new quality code for research degrees

The Research Student Administration team is co-ordinating a response to a Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education consultation on changes to the quality code relating to research degrees. Comments are invited from all staff and students involved with research degrees at Leeds.

For further information, please see the For Staff website.

HEFCE funding for 2012/13

HEFCE has announced its funding decisions for the academic year 2012/13. It is expected to announce its allocation of funds to individual institutions on 22 March 2012, when it will also announce its decision on 2012/13 student number controls. See the For Staff website for further details.

Head of the Library's Special Collections

Chris Sheppard, the Library's Head of Special Collections, will retire from the University at the end of the academic year 2012/13. Katy Goodrum, currently Head of Archives for West Yorkshire has been appointed as his successor and will take up her appointment on 11 April. Chris will then focus on key Special Collections projects and support Katy in her new role.

High-volume scanning service

The Print & Copy Bureau is now offering high-volume scanning for the electronic archiving of documents, including hard and soft bound theses, manuals and course books. OCR (Optical Character Recognition) scanning is also available. Scanned documents can be supplied on CD or DVD. Please contact Peter Rous for further details.

Transport disruption survey

Have you been disrupted by the recent spell of snow and ice? If so the Institute for Transport Studies would be interested to hear about your experiences. As part of a research council funded project looking at people's resilience to disruptions in everyday life, the Institute is carrying out a survey into what people do if their normal transport plans are disrupted.

Take part in the short 10-minute survey

Review of health and safety policy

Wellbeing, Safety and Health are carrying out a biennial review of the University's health and safety policy. If you have any comments to make about the Policy, please send them to safety@leeds.ac.uk by Friday 16 March 2012.

Staff Festival 2012

The date has been set for this year's Staff Festival - 6 July 2012. The Festival team is hoping to get together a staff choir for the event. If you love to sing, then why not join in. All are welcome - old hands and those with less or even no experience. If you are interested, send your name and contact details along with a note of your singing experience (if any!) to the Staff Festival team by Wednesday 29 February.  To keep up to date with what's going to happen at the Festival, join the mailing list by sending your contact details to StaffFestival@leeds.ac.uk

Leeds Festival of Science

The Leeds Festival of Science will take place from 5 - 23 March 2012. An exciting programme of activities will be taking place with partners all across Leeds, giving everybody the chance to explore and celebrate science, technology, engineering and mathematics whatever your age or experience - all that is needed is your curiosity!

See details of the Festival programme.

Climate Week 2012

Climate Week 2012 will run from 12 - 16 March. For details of how the University will be marking the week, including its 2012 Competition, see the Climate Week website.

Carbon reduction - make sure we don't land in hot water

The Energy Team needs your help in making an instant impact on the University's carbon footprint by making sure that the Zip instant hot water boilers around the campus are being used efficiently. For more information about how you can help, see the For Staff website.