Applying for Student Finance for 2012/13

If you are a full-time student who will be continuing your studies in September you are likely to have received correspondence from Student Finance England advising you to apply for your financial support for 2012/13.

In order for you to be able to apply for your funding the University is required to submit course information to the Student Loans Company.  Unfortunately, the Student Loans Company are experiencing technical difficulties with their web portal and we are unable to supply any information to them.  The situation is being looked into by the Student Loans Company but they are currently unable to state when the problem will be resolved.  We are not the only institution that has been affected by this.

Please refrain from applying for your funding for next academic year until further notice.  A further notice will be displayed here once the Student Loans Company have rectified the issue.

Do you need help finding a part-time job?

The Jobzone is here for you!

We help students find part time work by giving them examples of work in and around Worcester.

Find us in the Careers Centre and in Jobzone Bulletins around campus.

And find us on facebook at:

www.facebook.com/UniversityofWorcesterCareersJobzone

Invitation to Employers networking event

Worcester Bright Futures Society will have a networking dinner with employers on the Tuesday 31^st January.  The event will be at the Thistle Hotel, Cheltenham from 17:00 – 22:00. Currently companies attending will be Endsleigh Insurance and Enterprise Rent a Car both offering graduate schemes in management, accounting, marketing, sales, insurance and business.

Tickets prices are £12 per person for the dinner, or £10.00 for members of Worcester Bright Futures – join at  http://worcsu.com/membership/. If you join, the membership fee is £10, but the society will pay for your ticket and you will have the chance to attend all the events organized in the future, which will help you to develop essential employability skills.

A minibus is arranged from St John’s Campus at 15:30 and returns us afterwards. Dress code will be smart interview.

Currently there are 7 places available for students who are interested in participating. Places will be reserved on first come, first served basis. If you are interested please contact Tsvetan Futekov at tsvetan.futekov@gmail.com or 078 3514 7820.

At the event students will have the amazing opportunity to communicate face to face with employers and ask all the questions they want in more relaxed manner.

Last chance to apply for a University Scholarship this year

Are you involved in voluntary work, do you compete at a national level, want to attend a summer school, or volunteer to coach or teach overseas?  We may be able to help you achieve your goal

 The University runs a University Scholarship Scheme each year to assist students with participating in extra-curricular activities.  You can apply for funding, up to £1000, to finance extra-curricular involvement in activities either directly related to or distinct from your course of study. Applicants should be aware that it is exceptional for the full amount applied for to be awarded.

 There are two categories you can apply under:

 Category 1 – Voluntary activities which are community based, either in the UK, or abroad.

In 2011 students received scholarships to volunteer on projects in Madagascar, Kenya, Mexico, Thailand and Worcester

It is important when applying for a scholarship for this category that you include information about the charity you are working for, the hours involved and the location of the work.  You should provide evidence that you have been accepted as a volunteer.

 Please note that the Scholarship Funds cannot be awarded to sponsor fundraising activities in aid of another charity.

 Category 2 – Activities relating to a pastime or interest in which the student is involved (e.g. music or some other arts based area or elite sport – normally, there should be evidence of or recognised potential to participate at national level)

Last summer students received scholarships to assist them in participation in national sports competitions in a variety of sports including: rowing, golf, swimming and trampolining. 

It is important when applying for a scholarship for this category that you include information, and evidence, of the costs involved.

To apply for a University Scholarship please complete an Application form downloadable from this post or from the Student Records Enquiry Counter in Woodbury.

There is one opportunity left to apply this year – the deadlines is the 1^st March 2012. You will need to supply supporting documentation with your application e.g. details of any study visit, invitations or bookings.  If you have not already booked places etc you may still apply but any funds awarded will only be released once booking has been confirmed.

 All applications will be considered by the Scholarship Panel.

Applicants applying by the 1^st March 2012 deadline will be notified of the outcome by the end of March 2012.

Completed application forms should be submitted to the Student Records Enquiry Desk by the 1^ST March 2012 (16:00)

Please note that successful applicants will be required to participate in some form of feedback on their activity and the form this will take will be notified in the award letter.

Please note that this fund is not available to pay for the cost of courses run by the University.  If you are struggling with course costs or have other financial difficulties please contact the Student Welfare and Financial Advice Service http://www.worc.ac.uk/wfa/  who will be able to advise you.  Retrospective claims will not be considered for the scholarship fund.

Information on other scholarships and bursaries that are available in 2011/12 can be found on the Finance webpages

Places available on Academic Writing module LANG1002

If you have concerns over academic structure and style in your writing, or have received assignment feedback suggesting that you seek help regarding your written academic style, please be aware that the Language Centre offers the module LANG1002 – Improving Usage and Style in Academic Writing, which is designed to address these issues.
The module is a free choice module, open to students from any Institute, carrying 15 credits at level 4.
There are still places available for Semester 2 on Tuesday afternoons (2.15 – 5.15 p.m.).
Many students struggle with appropriate degree level academic writing style or giving a well-structured academic presentation simply because they have never received instruction in how to do this.
Let the Language Centre help you!

Riverside Event Wednesday 18th January 2012

Dear colleagues,

Please note that there is an event taking place at Riverside on the morning of the 18^th January and approximately 120 visitors are expected from 0900 to 1100hrs. As a result the social learning space will be closed from 0830 to 1130.

We have not reserved any parking spaces for our visitors however I wanted to take this opportunity to remind you that Riverside car park is pay & display as well as permit holder. As such it is likely that a significant number of spaces may be taken by visitors attending the event.

We will have a parking attendant on duty to manage parking and any congestion and when the car park is full we will be advising people to either park at St John’s or in a City Centre pay & display car park.

Please accept my apologies in advance for any inconvenience that this may cause you.

Kind regards, 

Mark Hughes

Director of Estates and Facilities

University of Worcester

SOLE page available

The issue with the SOLE page has been resolved and is available to use again.

SOLE page currently unavailable

The SOLE page is currently unavailable. We hope to resolve this issue quickly and have the SOLE page available again shortly.

Free one day food allergy course

25th January – open to all University of Worcester students only.  Please email l.robertson@worc.ac.uk using your student email address to book a place.
28th January open to students, staff and members of the public.  Please email l.robertson@worc.ac.uk to book a place.

The food allergy courses are being run by Dr Laurence Trueman and Dr Denise Mortimore from the Institute of Science.    The morning session will look at the underpinning mechanism and will assume no prior knowledge. The afternoon session will look at steps you can take to identify and minimise contact with the allergen.    An attendance certificate will be provided   The sessions will be as follows:  

09.30 – 09.40      Introduction
09.40 – 11.00      Immune functions in relation to food allergy; common  allergens encountered
11.00 – 11.20      Refreshment break
11.20 – 13.00      Differences between allergy, intolerance and chemical sensitivity; mechanism of food intolerance; oral allergy syndrome (cross reactions); signs and symptoms of intolerance
13.00 – 13.50      Lunch break
13.50 – 15.20      How to keep a food intolerance journal; elimination diets; functional testing; handling short term and long term symptoms of food intolerance; improving digestion
15.20 – 15.40      Refreshment break
15.40 – 16.40      Low allergenic environments
16.40 – 17.10      Discussion and finish

Launch of Liftshare scheme for students

The University of Worcester has teamed up with Liftshare, the UK’s largest car-share provider, to give Worcester students their very own car-share scheme.

The scheme has been developed with the Worcester Students’ Union to encourage everyone who travels alone in cars to consider a more sustainable journey to campus (and elsewhere). The scheme enables you to register your journey details and find a suitable match using liftshare’s award-winning system, which brings together potential car-sharers.

Car-sharing has many benefits: not only is it good for the environment and helps reduce traffic congestion, but it is good for your wallet too! The scheme is free to join, completely secure, and available to all students with a University of Worcester email address.

When you register your journey details, the scheme will supply you with a list of potential matches for you to make contact with and set up a car-share agreement.

Register today to find your ideal match and enjoy the benefits of car-sharing with other members of the University. www.worcester.ac.uk/liftshare

University of Worcester Carol Service on Thursday 15 December at 7.30pm

The University will hold its annual Carol Service at Worcester Cathedral on Thursday 15 December at 7.30pm.  Students and staff are all warmly invited to attend.

The Social Learning Space closed on 13th December from 4pm to 8pm

The Social Learning Space at Riverside will be closed for an event on Tuesday 13 December from 4pm to 8pm. 

Please accept our apologies for any inconvenience caused.

St Johns Campus – Car Park N Closure on 8th December

Due to a disability event this Thursday (8^th) car park N, the sports centre car park will be closed for the morning.

We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause.

Mince pies for all on 8th December 10am-2pm in Peirson to celebrate SUMMON

To celebrate the successful implementation of Summon we thought we’d have a few mince pies by the Christmas tree in Peirson. There will be a representative from Summon on hand to provide demos and answer any questions you may have, please feel free to come along and invite your students too.

Library users are now able to search across approximately 97% of our resources in one search, using Summon. Summon provides a single search for 97% of the library’s resources, delivering a Google-style experience which ranks the results in order of relevance and availability. Summon is an extremely powerful tool which will bring all of our resources direct to your desktop, from books and journal articles, to podcasts, conference proceedings, newspaper articles and much more.

For further information:

askalibrarian@worc.ac.uk         http://summon.worc.ac.uk/  

*NEW*Video guides for Summon are available, along with other ILS screencasts, on our YouTube channel at http://www.youtube.com/worcesteralt

30 November 2011 – 1 day strike – information and guidance

You may be aware that there is a 1 day strike throughout the UK higher education sector and other public services on 30 November 2011. This is a national dispute on an issue on which the University, despite being an employer, has no direct influence. The University does not regard itself as being in dispute with its staff.

The University will remain open on 30 November 2011, and the usual catering and other facilities will be available.

If you are due to attend a teaching session here on 30 November, please check Blackboard for updates on whether the session is taking place. If a session is cancelled you should be sent an email notifying you of this. In some cases a text message will also be sent. Please ensure that your contact details are up-to-date via SOLE.

If the session is not going ahead, you are advised to use the time for personal study either on campus (all the normal information and learning services facilities will be open) or off-site.

If you are a student in a placement in a school or other educational setting, please check with the setting about any plans for closure. If the setting is to be closed and you are unable to attend for that day, please contact your University course tutor for advice about alternative plans for study on 30 November 2011.

If you are unable to attend a session because you have been affected by the industrial action then you must ensure you meet any requirements regarding non-attendance as set out in the module outline.

Tuition Fee Loans

If you have applied for a tuition fee loan you should receive written confirmation that your application was successful from the Student Loan Company.

If you do not receive this written confirmation we would suggest you contact the Student Loan Company to ensure that your tuition fee loan is being processed.

Social Learning Space closure

The Social Learning Space at the Riverside Building will be closed from 1pm to 4pm on Wednesday, November 23. We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause.

Deadline for University Scholarship Applications – 1st December

Please note that the first deadline for applying for University Scholarships is the 1st December 2011.  These applications will be considered and applicants notified of the outcome of their submission before Christmas.

There will be a second opportunity to apply this year with a deadline of the 1st March 2012.

Please also note that it is essential to provide evidence of the amount you are applying for. Any applications received without this information will not be considered by the Scholarship Panel. Examples of evidence include costs relating to travel expenditure such as information relating to flight costs, accommodation, mileage and information from volunteer organisations.

For more information about the Scheme please read this previous post

NPARU require healthy (paid) volunteers

The NPARU (National Pollen and Aerobiology Research Unit) is looking for healthy volunteers to help in a study looking at the efficacy of a pollen barrier cream.

We are looking for people who DON’T suffer from allergies to pollen or animal dander and DON’T have asthma.

We would need you to visit us four times (we are based in the Charles Darwin Building) for about 40 minutes each time.

We would pay you £7.50 per visit to cover your time and travel costs.

If you are interested in taking part or want further information please contact Louise l.robertson@worc.ac.uk, text your name to 07508377618, or call in at our reception.

Open Afternoon Wednesday 16th November

There will be minimal parking available on campus on Wednesday 16 November due to an open afternoon taking place.

Staff and students are kindly requested to make use of additional parking facilities provided at Coppertops and Riverside during these times.