Award winners honoured for supporting students
Outstanding efforts to actively support students and encourage positive learning experiences have been highlighted during a prestigious awards ceremony.
Dr Nadine Cavigioli won the Equality and Inclusion accolade at this year’s Leeds Partnership Awards
The latest in our feature series – profiling winners in all 13 categories of this year’s Leeds Partnership Awards – highlights the outstanding accomplishments of recipients of both the ‘Equality and Inclusion’ and the ‘Global’ accolades.
Promoting equity and social justice
The Equality and Inclusion category of this year’s Leeds Partnership Awards recognises the efforts of University colleagues working inclusively, either in their everyday roles or through initiatives to create a sense of belonging.
This year’s award was received by Dr Nadine Cavigioli, from the Lifelong Learning Centre (LLC), for her work in supporting under-represented mature and part-time students.
Nominations recognised Nadine’s work in the LLC and beyond, which is grounded in the belief that every student, regardless of background, should feel they belong within the Leeds community.
Nadine has also been praised for encouraging colleagues to reflect on their own life histories and journeys, using this to engage authentically with students, ultimately providing students with the confidence to succeed in academia.
Dr Cavigioli said: “Winning the Equality and Inclusion Award is such a highlight for me in the 10 years I’ve worked in the LLC.
“My role in the LLC has equity and social justice practice at its core in supporting mature and part-time students, who are typically under-represented in the wider academic community. I’m also contributing to the wider Belonging at Leeds work, drawing on my doctorate study and lived experience being a proud working class and first generation academic.
“The awards evening in the Leeds University Union was just fantastic! It was very inspiring to hear the range of achievements across our University in committing to the Leeds Partnership.”
Global collaborations
The Global accolade in this year’s Leeds Partnership Awards recognises excellence among those who’ve actively engaged in the promotion and maintenance of international or intercultural activities, education or competence.
This year’s award was presented to Melanie Flynn, a PhD student from the School of Earth and Environment, for her work with indigenous communities to co-create food security strategies.
Melanie’s nominators admired the thought, care and conscientiousness in all her work, particularly in the collaborations with Inuit communities and the government in Nunatsiavut, Canada.
Other PhD students in Melanie’s field have commended her peer-support and mentorship, particularly when supervising students with less experience. One PhD student attributed their decision to study at Leeds to Melanie’s presentation on her work with the Inuit community.
Melanie said: “I’m so honoured to receive the Global Award.
“It’s a welcome opportunity to zoom out from the highly detailed work of a PhD and to remember the way I conduct myself, the things I choose to focus on and the ways I spend my time as an academic to help create spaces of radical change.
“I'm grateful to be working towards this broad and ambitious goal, and thankful to be surrounded by peers who provide the space, flexibility and trust to allow this work to happen.”
Find out more
The annual Leeds Partnership Awards celebrate the achievements of staff and students who truly put into practice the agreement setting out our shared commitment to work together to support all aspects of our University community.
The winners were announced during a gala celebration in May.
More in-depth profiles of each of the winners will appear on the For Staff website during the coming weeks. These will also be promoted via the weekly All Staff enewsletters and the Staff Twitter account
Posted in: University news