A huge thank you goes out to everyone who contributed to this collaborative achievement. NSS action plans should now be underway, so please work closely with your DEL to ensure these are completed.

The deadline for submission is the 2nd September, so these need to be with your DEL, who will draft a school or department level plan, prior to this date.

Welcome Week - 23rd - 27th September 2024

Family Fun Day @ Brooks - 2nd November 2024

10/9/24 2pm-3.30pm 

Supporting Disabled Students 

12/09/24 2pm-3pm 

Supporting students who are Care Experienced or Estranged 

17/09/24 2pm-3pm 

Supporting students with caring responsibilities 

19/09/24 10am – 11am 

Support for students who are studying whilst pregnant 

20/09/24 10am – 11.30am 

Neurodiversity and Inclusive Practice

• The deadline for the submission of first sit and resit exam papers (including exams falling outside the main assessment periods) is Friday 27 September 2024.  

• For courses with Peer Assisted Learning (PAL) sessions, please let the Peer Support Team know if there will likely be a different student cohort based on grade profile so we can inform PAL Leaders and encourage them to work closely with the academic course contact throughout the year and plan accordingly.  

• If you have any other suggestions for peer-to-peer support please contact pal@mmu.ac.uk

• Optima will issue a "Fit to Attend" slip on the back of the student questionnaire. Once they have had the first two doses of their immunisations, the are issued a "Cleared for Practice" slip.

• Plans are in place to set up a clinic Brooks on the 2^nd floor however this will not be ready for the new academic year.

• We will need staff help to consider when it would be best to schedule clinic sessions during the early weeks.

The University’s decrease in progression to graduate work/study was higher than that of the sector and benchmark groups.

The focus of the GO Optimisation Strategy is to identify Known Positive (KP) populations through a variety of means, encourage a higher proportion of KPs to complete the survey, and direct graduates with negative outcomes towards Career and Employability Service (CES) support. 

The DigiEd team are putting on face to face sessions for staff to work on their Moodle set up in real time: No need to book, just turn up.

Tuesday 3rd September 2024 BS 3.21

Thursday 12th September 2024 BS 3.13

Wednesday 18th September 2024 BS 3.20

Monday 30th September 2024 BS 4.04B

Format: Drop-in session (Feel free to attend at any point throughout)

Sessions will also be running on enhancing learning through reading lists throughout September. In this brief interactive session, we will look at what makes a good reading list for learning and suggest ways you can improve your reading list using evidence-based practices to help meet the Moodle Baseline. This training is aimed at all academic staff involved in teaching.

Moodle pages will be audited during this academic year to evaluate the success of the Moodle Baseline initiative.

The sessions include an overview of DELTA strategy and some tips for how to incorporate digital and active learning in your teaching sessions and your assessment.  It is also a useful reminder if you are planning to align your modules or programmes to CAF. 

The Digi Ed team will be putting on additional sessions delivered by staff members who have already implemented digital education initiatives to talk though their experience.

All online resources are being updated to reflect this. There will be a slide distributed to all academic staff to incorporate into presentations given to students.

With returning students, we think we need to actively tell them of the change from self-certification and there will be sent an email outlining the changes. Information will be along the lines of: Non-evidenced extensions - This allows you to add a two-day extension without needing to submit any evidence. This type of extension isn’t available for every type of assessment; it typically applies to things like essays but not event-based assessments such as exams.  Please note, this type of extension was previously known as a ‘self-certification extension’ – originally a seven-day extension which was introduced temporarily to help students deal with the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on their studies. While this measure is no longer in place, we want to make sure you continue to benefit from the option of a short extension you can easily apply yourself, which we understand can be very helpful when your studies are disrupted. The two-day non-evidenced extension option means you’ll still have access to this type of support. 

Evidenced extension - This allows you to request a longer extension than a non-evidenced extension and requires you to provide evidence of the circumstances impacting your assessment. This type of extension is available for most exams and tests as well as coursework. 

We have negotiated with our OH provider Optima for clinics to be run from the Brooks Building, initially from the Movement Clinic on set days during September.  These dates are Thursday 19^th, Friday 20^th, Monday 23^rd, Thursday 26th and Friday 27^th. Clinics will run from 09.00-17.00 on those days.

Please note: these clinics will initially be for students with placements early in semester 1 only.

Staff are asked to support students to attend their appointments wherever possible as non-attendance has been a problem in previous years.  Having the clinic at Brooks should mean they miss much less from their timetable.

Work is also underway to transform a room on the second floor into a permanent clinic room that can be used going forward.  It is not clear yet when this room will be ready.  Once this is set up it will be a valuable resource and will enable students to attend appointments more easily than travelling to the Optima clinic in Deansgate.

You will have the opportunity to submit drafts of documentation for review by the curriculum team and by Judy, prior to the panel.  This is recommended wherever possible so that any significant issues can be addressed before the FAPs.  Please also work closely with your DEL to discuss any changes you are planning as they have a broader, Department or School-wide view of education provision.

As of Friday, we are expecting 1326 new UG first degree students across the faculty who have received offers through the main cycle and clearing.  We are also expecting 111 Foundation Year students to the School of Psychology and School of Education.  We are around 160 students down on our target across the faculty, but we have exceeded target for BSc Psychology and FY Psychology.  

Programmes will stay open to clearing until they meet target, or other deadlines which mean that students would not be able to complete necessary steps if recruited to close to the start date.

Thank you to everyone who has been involved in clearing, I have been impressed by the commitment of staff to the process.  Thanks too, for your patience while negotiations about closing new targets have been undertaken.  

• Access to PCs, photocopiers, laminators and stationery

• Offering inductions and workshops

• Demonstrations of digital media and specialist equipment

• Filming and uploading of content on request: H&EResourcesTech@mmu.ac.uk

• Loaning of faculty wide equipment: Connect2

• Uniform fittings and distribution: H&EResourcesTech@mmu.ac.uk

• Maintaining specialist spaces

• Providing lab support including preparation of materials on request: H&EResourcesTech@mmu.ac.uk

• Auditing and purchasing consumables for students and staff 

Facility locations and contacts

• Based on the 2nd floor in the Brooks building (BR 2.33)

• Student and staff drop-in counter service available 8.45am - 4.30pm Monday to Friday

• Dedicated helpline: 0161 247 2544

• The space can be booked in advance for special student focused events and activities, subject to availability: H&EResourcesTech@mmu.ac.uk

Rise points can be awarded for things that students are already doing; they can self-claim for points on the website (for volunteering, paid work if related to their degree, etc) and any work that isn’t credit-bearing can be awarded by staff. Awarding student points is a very quick and simple process.

Faculty of Health & Education

Suggested actions for module teams:  

• Digitised chapters from a range of different books and articles can be embedded in the course, rather than relying on one single text: a single chapter or 10% of a book can be digitised & added to the reading list.   

• Is there an alternative title that’s available to purchase via our usual eBook platforms which could be used as the core text instead? Contact your Academic Liaison Librarian who can help check whether a text is available electronically through our usual platforms library@mmu.ac.uk.  

• If not available via an eBook license, can demand for the book be met through the purchase of some extra print copies in the library supplemented by digitised chapters/articles? ​

• General module information provided including marking criteria

• Contact information and availability of staff delivering the module

• Clear expectation on the use of AI in the module

• Materials provided to support learning activities outside of the taught face-to-face environment

• Specific readings/resources from the reading list embedded into the topic or week section of the main Moodle page

• All graphics and images have meaningful text descriptions (“alt” tags) and all learning resources are provided in an accessible format at least 48 hours in advance of the session.

·       University-wide support resources, e.g. getting ready to learn, ASPIRE, and Future Me plan

·       Staff facing resources, e.g. Education for Sustainable Development Toolkit, and CAF Toolkit

·       Faculty specific resources, e.g. Difficult Conversations (Speech & Language), Health & Safety and Virtual Escape Room

·       Curriculum design, e.g. MBA

·       Professional services, e.g. Essential Training

Please contact Osman Javaid if you have any questions or ideas: Osman.Javaid@mmu.ac.uk

The Student Engagement Team is now set up and we have two Senior Student Engagement Advisors for Health and Education: Fatima Sufi and Rachel Marshall, who will be linking with Programme Leaders to discuss student engagement at regular points. This is important as monitoring student engagement is a significant aspect of our continuation work.

Student allocation has been bespoken for our faculty as we have lots of different PSRB requirements. Most students have been allocated a Personal Tutor (93% in H&E) but there have been significant IT issues – if you still are having any problems or have any feedback, please contact Judy to let her know.

While we have followed the positive sector-wide trajectory (we have seen successive YoY reductions in 1sts awarded), our relative results may be of some regulatory / reputational concern.  We awarded a very high proportion of firsts in 2022/23 (37.7%) – for context this is higher than Oxbridge and most of the Russel Group; with Health having the highest percentage with 38.5% firsts.

We need to look at scaling so that it is normalised and doesn’t increase the marks at the top end.

It is open to all UG and PG students and is centred on supporting racially minoritised student experiences. There are still some remaining places available, and it commences in October 2024.

Link: https://rise.mmu.ac.uk/courses/strive-100-2/ -students need to login to be able to access this.

The Bollywood Choir's first meeting will be every Wednesday in this new semester, details below:

Starting on 2nd October 2024

Wednesdays:    2-5pm

Room:          GE116 - GE 1.16 - Studio

Building:         Grosvenor East

·       Exam papers – we are expecting a question paper to be submitted alongside completion of the exam submission form. 

·       Quizzes or Practical/Serial exams – whilst we are not expecting a question paper to be submitted, we require colleagues to complete all available fields on the exam submission form to ensure correct set up. 

·       Exam type missing – we don’t have a record of the exam type for these exams (i.e., written (on campus), Moodle Quiz) but colleagues can specify this when using the exam submission form. 

If colleagues have any queries relating to exam paper submission, they should email submission@mmu.ac.uk

It is worth noting that in very limited circumstances, negotiated deadlines have been agreed for exam papers which are dependent on external stakeholders or latest external data being available. Any exams that have a bespoke deadline will be specified on the exams list page of the exam submission form. 

If you receive either of these emails:

• Don’t click any links. Just delete the email. If you do this, you don’t need to report it.

• If you clicked a link, please contact the IT Service Desk to report it using the channels listed below.

We have alerted students via Moodle and are using Student Life and social media channels to help spread the word. 

We encourage student-facing colleagues to share our guidance on common scams, including tuition fee payment scams and student loans fraud. Students should ensure they are only making the payments via our payment partner, Flywire.

Updates to this incident can be found on our service status page.

IT Service Desk

Call us: 0161 247 4646
Chat with us: manmetchat.mmu.ac.uk
Use self-service: assist.mmu.ac.uk
Service Status: servicestatus.mmu.ac.uk
Visit our website: www.mmu.ac.uk/itd

We are also looking further ahead at new courses we can develop that will bring in larger numbers of international and home students to meet our financial contribution.

Judy has requested engagement reports at the level required by our PSRBs and this should be actioned as soon as possible. Judy has also asked for PRESTO training for DELs and Programme Leaders – please be reminded that all personal tutor contact with students should be recorded on that system. 

Early withdrawal – the criterion for this workflow is 0% attendance and less than 10 Moodle hits in the first 3 weeks of teaching (most of these students are likely to have enrolled but never commenced their studies at Manchester Met).  Senior Student Engagement Advisers will meet with Senior PTs to go through this data and agree withdrawals; the deadline for completion of this activity is Friday 8th November, with withdrawals processed from Monday 11th November.  Students will be withdrawn from their last date of engagement (which in the case of 0% attendance is the start of teaching); departmental attrition rates will therefore remain unaffected by the timing of these withdrawals. 

Please note that the early withdrawal process is not the same as the University’s usual withdrawal process, which is scheduled for week 9-11. The output from the data cleanse will be available from 8th November.  Students who haven’t engaged at all will be withdrawn, and their withdrawal backdated to their last engagement point meaning means they may not be charged fees, even though our census point is after week 3.

Central FAQs are also under construction and will be shared to help staff across the University and manage expectations by mid-November. Common FAQs to date include:

Q:  My tutee is on placement and should not have received a text message about their attendance.

A:  Please contact your Senior Student Engagement Advisor with the relevant course code and course details and we will contact SIMAC to remove this course from attendance monitoring.

Q:  My tutee is on an apprenticeship and should not have received a text message about their attendance.

A:  Please contact your Senior Student Engagement Advisor with the relevant course code and course details and we will contact SIMAC to remove this course from attendance monitoring.

They will be giving a lecture on the 26th November from 12-1pm in the Brooks Building on the Finnish approach to Education.

If you have any problems, please contact Kalum Bodfield: K.Bodfield@mmu.ac.uk

Beyond the Baseline: QAA Resource Map

Please review the attached updated documents from QAA, UTA will soon be adding these to ‘The Awarding Gap’ tab of our Addressing Awarding Gaps webpage. 

Other resources across the provision complement the Addressing Awarding Gaps webpage, including Inclusive Curriculum Toolkit and recently published Agree to Disagree resource on Academic Freedom and Freedom of Speech.  

Please also look at the Differential Outcomes Toolkit, which will also be added to the web pages alongside the UTA Pledge Cycle adopted by the EDI team to support the implementation of the Inclusive and Diverse Culture Strategy.  

In addition, there is an online workshop on the Curriculum Assessment Framework Toolkit coming up on 3rd December. 

·       Highlight the benefit and explain why the students are asked to complete this.

·       Encourage use of the QR code.

·       Allow students time during sessions to complete it.

·       Give Course Reps time to shout out for completion.

·       Deliver with enthusiasm.

Remember you can use this as evidence on impact for EPC promotion.

Text exclusions:

We have agreed a work around with SIMAC with regards to excluding individual students from receiving text messages due to exceptional circumstances.  Senior Student Engagement Advisors have requested student names and ID numbers from PT leads and these have now been collated and forwarded to SIMAC.  The process for exclusion is as follows:

PT Lead contacts the Senior Student Engagement Adviser to request a student exclusion from text.  Relevant details, including student name, ID, reason for exclusion to be provided, with a recommended period for exclusion (e.g. 2 weeks etc).

Senior Student Engagement Adviser submits the request to a senior manager in Student Services who will review the details, check whether the student is known to support services, make referrals (where appropriate including into risk panels) and decide re whether to exclude the student from student engagement monitoring.

Where appropriate, the Personal Tutors should keep in contact with the student during the length of exclusion and inform their PT Lead where an extension is required.  The PT Lead should discuss the extension with the Senior Student Engagement Adviser.

The week will comprise of:

Departments are asked to organise and facilitate at least 4 hours of activity on Tuesday, Thursday, or Friday. Like previous years, the challenge will focus on students working on a real-world challenge. The activity can be delivered in-person or online and should be student-centred, future focussed and inclusive.

The department challenge is available in the attachments section of this page. Workshops with the department convenors will be held in September.

If you have queries about the department challenge, you can contact your department's convenor.

Department Convenors:

School of Education - Kate Bacon

Nursing – Rachel Neithercut and Stuart Roberts

Health professionals – Bartek Buczkowski

SCSW – Margaret Struthers

Psychology – Emma Tarpey and Melissa Pilkington

We need all academic staff to promote the survey, explaining why it’s important and how their feedback contributes to changes right across the University.

Feedback Festival dates and locations

• Tuesday 6 February: Business School (South atrium), Geoffrey Manton and Institute of Sport, 11am – 4pm

• Wednesday 7 February: Benzie, 10am – 1pm

• Thursday 8 February: John Dalton and Brooks, 11am - 4pm

For resources, information, FAQs and the full list of questions, take a look at the updated intranet  NSS Toolkit support page.

Date: Thursday 12th December
Time: 2:00 PM - 4:00 PM
Location: Brooks, Spanish steps

Join us for an afternoon filled with celebration! Enjoy festive music, seasonal refreshments, and a chance to relax and connect with colleagues as we wrap up the year.

✨ Highlights ✨

• Colleague of the Year Award – Nominate an exceptional teammate who has gone above and beyond this year! Submit your nominations by 5th December. Using this form.

• Health & Education's Got Talent! 🎤🎨🎸­ – Showcase your hidden talents! Whether you sing, dance, paint, or play an instrument, we’d love to see what makes you shine.

Submit your expression of interest here. The performance must be no longer than 5 minutes. Let’s make this event unforgettable with a range of amazing talents! Submit interest by the 5^th December.

Information about staff volunteering will be sent out soon - don't miss the chance to get involved!

Unwind and connect at our cosy Coffee Afternoons! Grab a warm cup of coffee and take a break from your studies in a relaxed atmosphere. Meet fellow students, share experiences, and make lasting friendships.

Whether you are looking to chat or just enjoy some downtime, our coffee afternoons are the perfect way to recharge. Plus, anyone who joins will receive a free coffee voucher, and participants are welcome to bring friends along!

Join us and discover the joy of community – one sip at a time!

Please check that dates are set up correctly well in advance. 

Ffion and Judy will also be looking to put on a faculty workshop this side of Christmas for Programme Leaders to share good practice and support preparation for the survey period. Please encourage attendance if you can.

We offer a range of financial assistance options and services to help students manage their finances, including bursaries, scholarships, and access to budgeting advice. If students are looking for further information on our services, please guide them to the following areas:

• Student financial support

• Support funds

• Students’ Union finance advice

• The Student Financial Support Team helpline is also open Monday to Friday, 9am – 4.15pm on 0161 247 1045.

·       There has been discussion about whether this period can be extended, and a second week is being trialled this week for a programme in Science and Engineering.  To extend the survey window takes a lot of manual work around and is not feasible for all modules for this run, but evaluation of the trial in S&E will give us an idea of whether a 2-week window would be better for semester 2.

·       This year we have been able to create QR codes of the survey link and Judy has asked for feedback on the success of this tool.

More information is available at: Student Surveys - Student Voice Survey, National Student Survey, End of Module Survey - Manchester Met Intranet

On Friday there was a lot of sharing of good practice, which the attendees felt was very helpful.  Ffion is also putting together some top tips from both sessions and there will be a central toolkit available soon to support activity.

·       Campus will be fully dressed for entire week, with facilities doing set up and takedown, pop up banners in additional locations.

·       Technical Services have been included in the planning team to identify opportunities to add to festival content.

·       Library - project team to mitigate for library satisfaction risks working alongside Feedback Festival working group - also will improve visibility in Library & Poetry Library.

·       The Winter Warmer is a faculty-wide ‘student voice’ themed pop-up, taking place at the bottom of the Spanish Steps in Brooks Building.

·       Faculty programme staff will be available to listen to students about their university experience and to tell them about the student support available to them, including mental health and wellbeing support, faculty events and peer support. The Union and student reps will also be on hand to discuss the student self-care movement campaign and gather peer feedback.

·       In exchange for a coffee voucher and festive sweets, students will have the chance to share positive messages and show their thanks and gratitude to peers and facilities staff, leaving a note on our ‘belonging’ tree. They can also send a message via our festive-themed post-box, to personal tutors, or programmes teams about anything they wish – positive or constructive feedback – about their course experience.

·       Finally, students can join in and make their mark on our Health and Education collective ‘big-doodle’ illustration, capture a memory using our winter warmer selfie frame, and have the chance to win a 200th-anniversary hoodie.

Staff will receive summaries of their student messages the week of the 16th of December. 

·       This is a great opportunity to look at areas of strength and areas that require focus in each department and programme.  The three top areas of scrutiny have been awarding gaps, continuation, and graduate outcomes, but there is particular focus on programme and module level detail this year. 

·       You can access your programme and module level data on PowerBI and consider what you may be able to do to sustain or improve current performance. 

·       The EARs are all scheduled for December and will result in an action plan that will require contributions from the wider team. At university level, and faculty level, our continuation (returners) data shows a positive improvement, so thank you for all your work in that area. 

13:00 to 16:00

The Dalton Atrium

​

• Embracing Generative AI responsibly guidance Embracing generative AI responsibly - Manchester Met Intranet (mmu.ac.uk)and requirement to add Gen AI Permitted/Not-permitted statements to all assessment briefs for this academic year​.

Monday 3^rd February

Brooks (medium event)​

Business School South Atrium  (large event)​

Sandra Burslem (small event)​

Becoming Culturally Competent

·       Academic and Study Skills 

·       Chaplaincy 

·       Counselling, Mental Health and Wellbeing 

·       Inclusion and Disability Service 

·       Peer support 

·       Prevent 

·       Safety 

·       Sport 

·       Student Engagement Services 

·       Student Financial Support 

·       Student Welfare 

Sessions will include an outline of our services and a reminder of how to signpost students to them, followed by an open Q&A. 

Book your place: 

·       Tuesday 14 January, 1pm - 2pm   

·       Wednesday 22 January, 11am – 12pm 

If you can’t attend a session and need advice on how to refer students for support, you can also visit our updated Student Referral Guide. 

Next steps: 

• We highly recommend you email your students directly this week as a reminder about your activities (including any relevant info, Rise link etc). An email from you can help ‘conversion’ to ensure students attend. 

• Additional materials to support any local comms are available here. 

• A slide deck to support you in your sessions/activities is available here:   Faculty Challenge Pack.pptx Please download and personalise this as you see fit.  

• A crib-sheet with info about attendance monitoring is here:  Information for staff delivering Faculty Challenge Activities.docx Attendance monitoring is key for us to analyse who comes (and more importantly, who doesn’t) and allocate Rise points for attendees.  

• If you are doing any activities off campus (specific visits) or technical workshops, please ensure you have a risk assessment in place. Speaker visits, and general talks and activities (that are typical of campus activity) are already covered by the  Future me week risk assessment. If you are unsure if you need a risk assessment, please do ask. Please note, similarly to regular teaching on-campus, department activities are not suitable for under 16s (in case students bring children/dependants to campus) 

• Please ensure you have enough staff available to help support you at your department activities (we realise it is challenging to estimate student numbers for activities) 

There are 5 full-time roles available with a full time salary including:

+ President

+ Education Officer

+ Wellbeing Officer

+ Societies and Development Officer

+ Sport Officer

https://forms.office.com/e/0c721dJz1J

Please see the details below: 

Event:                                        ‘Inclusive wellbeing applied tools” 

Date:                                          06/02/2025 

Time:                                         2pm – 4pm 

Session delivery:               Face to face  

Room:                                       Institute of Sport 1.06/1.07  

Students may be leaving university around 4pm to get home to break their fast and consequently miss taught sessions, revision sessions, etc. 

We can be pre-emptive with this through student voice committees to find out what students who are affected might like us to do.  The numbers for some of our departments are considerable, so changing the times of classes is not always an option (it may be for some of the smaller programmes).   

There may be practical things we can do e.g. student led/PALS catch up sessions during the days and/or evenings online. 

More fundamentally, is the ability for students to tell us what they think they need, and they would engage in. 

The approach may be slightly different in the different departments, but the principles I’d like us all to apply in H&E are: 

• Avoid assessments where possible during the fasting period (there are still some scheduled in nursing and health professions) 

• Negotiate to timetable unavoidable assessments at the most agreeable time of day for fasting students (for practical assessments students can choose their timeslot) 

• Communicate with students that they can apply for an extension if it is a written assignment – to be negotiated with their tutor 

• Communicate with students that they can negotiate locally with practice learning partners to change their rota on placement if necessary 

• Reschedule any late timetabled sessions so that students can go home and break their fast (this mainly affects Psychology).

It may also be a good idea to have food available late afternoon if the students need to stay. 

They are there to listen to students and talk to students about anything related to understanding how the university works, accessing university support and services, confidence, making friends, and engaging in university life.

Date: March 13th 2025

Time: 10am - 1pm

Location - The Multifunctional Hall, Brooks Building

There will be over 30 employers and MMU postgraduate programmes hosting stands. As well as the networking aspect of the event, there will be a series of Q & A type talks & Alumni panels taking place where students can find out more about careers in specific sectors. We’re also hoping to run a ‘LinkedIn headshot’ area for students to get professional style photos taken for their LinkedIn profile.

If you have any questions about the event, please do contact Megan Sharifi (M.Sharifi@mmu.ac.uk) who will be able to provide further information.

The workshops are designed to be informative, collegial and supportive, and tailored to Faculty, group and individual needs.  

Awareness: Writing Abstracts - Where to start  

Wed 12^th February – 13.00-14.00 - In person - BR.2.04 (BIRLEY) In person session 

Action: Developing your abstract   

Wed 19^th Feb – 13.00-14.00 – In Person -  BR. 2.37  (BIRLEY)  In person session 

Agency: 1-2-1 support to finish your abstract  

Wed 26^th Feb – 13.00-14.00 – In Person – BR.  3.02 (BIRLEY) In person session 

10 x Graduation packages

100 x £50 Love2shop vouchers

Ipsos will choose 110 winners at random after the 28th February

An example of the B&L website:

B&L GoGlobal: Week 6 - Manchester Met Intranet 

Here is the list of non-S&E specific opportunities which are on offer in FSE that are unrestricted, so feel free to share with your own students too: 

Global Ties: Clothes Mending with Stitched Up - Rise x Future Me at Manchester Met (in-person, drop-in) 

Global Student Library: Immerse yourself in cultural storytelling - Rise x Future Me at Manchester Met (in-person, limited spaces) 

Keynote and Q&A with Jeremy Hicks: From Manchester Met to Fujitsu, Siemens, Wipro and beyond... - Rise x Future Me at Manchester Met (online) 

Play the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals Card Game - Rise x Future Me at Manchester Met (in-person, limited spaces) 

Becoming Culturally Competent - Rise x Future Me at Manchester Met (in-person, limited spaces) 

Connect Hub: Celebrating International Women's Day - Rise x Future Me at Manchester Met (in-person, limited spaces) 

Please find attached a link to our new Student Services menu of training opportunities for staff Student support training - Manchester Met Intranet.  These bespoke training opportunities are available in addition to our regular training sessions throughout the academic year.  

Taking place on Wednesday, 12 March 2025 17:00 - 18:00. 

Please join us in our series of webinars designed to keep you up to date with relevant information from NHS England. 

Professor Sheona MacLeod, Director of Education & Training and Sam Illingworth, Director of Education Quality, Reform & Professional Standards, NHS England will be chairing the event. 

At this session you will hear more about how we improve learner experience. 

We are delighted that Professor Namita Kumar - National Postgraduate Dean, Bev Harden - Deputy Chief Allied Health Professions Officer, Kerri Elertsen-Feeney - Lead Midwife, Laura Smith - AHP Workforce Lead, Ellie Melkuhn - Capital AHP Education Workforce Lead and Emma Jones - National Head of Education Quality will be joining us to share some of the work underway. 

The session will cover: 

•         Examples of how our NHS education quality strategy and framework is applied to improve the overall educational experience for our leaners; 

•         How we use our data and intelligence to improve overall leaner experience; 

•         How leaners can engage and support ongoing improvement. 

The webinar will also provide the opportunity for you to ask questions. 

Joining Link: https://teams.microsoft.com/l/meetup-join/19%3ameeting_ZmQxMzc5YTktMWI1NC00NDc0LTlhNjQtZmI1MTliY2VmMGUw%40thread.v2/0?context=%7b%22Tid%22%3a%2237c354b2-85b0-47f5-b222-07b48d774ee3%22%2c%22Oid%22%3a%22a8750a26-e6a9-4b77-8227-a78553f1e645%22%7d  

The survey runs in Weeks 10 and 11 for semesterised modules. For exempt modules, it opens three weeks before the final assessment date. Local Faculty Planning teams can confirm the dates for exempt modules. If your module does not fit this timetable, please email surveys@mmu.ac.uk 

The survey is open for two weeks (rather than the previous one week) and appears on each module’s Moodle page at least one week before the survey opens. Students are reminded to complete the survey when they log into Moodle, and staff are encouraged to promote participation. 

Note: Apprenticeships use their own survey and practice modules are exempt. 

These scholars will have the opportunity to engage in a range of events, mentorship and resources designed to support their own growth and success, as well as advance their thematic leadership across the Institution.  We are very lucky to have two Lead Scholars in the Faculty, working on Equity in Education, and Active Learning. 

You will be able to filter to your School/Department, as well as Fee Status (Home / Overseas), Mode (Full-Time, Part-Time and FT & PT Distance Learning), and Apprenticeship programmes. 

We’ve also included a KPI report on the same SharePoint page to show departmental/school metrics on entry quality, student satisfaction, level 5 returners and graduate outcomes. 

Students needing to accommodate religious observance should discuss scheduling conflicts with their module leader. If an alternative session 

is available, the student should be permitted to change to a class at a different day/time. If no alternative class is available students should be 

provided with access to lecture recordings or materials. The session leader is responsible for ensuring the student is not penalised for non-attendance, late arrival or early departure. 

• Arrangements to manage scheduling conflicts (2.10) 

Scheduling conflicts will be resolved with consideration to the combination of the following priorities: 

i. Reasonable adjustments for students and staff with disabilities will take precedence over other considerations, (unless this causes unreasonable impact); 

ii. Solutions with the least impact on the fewest students will be prioritised; 

iii. Regular linear delivery will take priority over irregular non-linear delivery; 

iv. Activities which have a longer duration will take precedence over shorter duration activities; 

v. Larger activities will take priority over smaller activities; 

vi. Solutions minimising travel for the most students; 

vii. Activities will be prioritised according to the following level of study L6, L4, L7, L3, L5; 

viii. Consideration will also be given to activity complexity, institutional priorities and home building context; 

In the first instance, conflicts will be resolved by Timetabling Services and the parties concerned. Irreconcilable conflicts will initially be referred to the Head of Timetabling Services, and then if necessary to the Faculty Director of Education where impact is contained within a faculty or Pro Vice Chancellor for Education where impact is interfaculty. Any conflicting priorities requested outside of the relevant deadlines must be approved by the Faculty Director of Education where impact is contained within a faculty or Pro Vic Chancellor for Education where impact is interfaculty. 

UEC was asked to decide whether there was an appetite to further explore uncapping resits.  The committee was also asked to consider if there was an interest in retaining capped resits but potentially allowing uncapped marks to be displayed on transcripts. 

The committee decided to retain capped marks as this was seen to be the fairest way to distinguish between those who passed at first and second attempt.  There was concern that uncapped resit marks would encourage more students to resist or to not submit at first attempt.  The decision was made investigate whether the uncapped marks could be displayed on the transcripts, to motivate students to achieve the best mark they could. 

The in-year amendment to remove the descriptive language (Exception, etc) from the scheme, whilst leaving the steps unchanged.   

The policy changes included: 

• Introducing a requirement for verification to consider if assessments are accessible and fair. 

• A visual timeline covering calibration, marking and moderation activities.

• Clarification that adjustments should not be made to individual module marks.

• The stepped marking scheme has been altered to ensure the steps are evenly spaced, including the upper end of the scale.  The term marginal fail has been replaced with condonable fail. 

• More guidance on the limitations of moderation.

• Changes resulting from internal and external moderation are to be approved by the FDE. 

Please email for the invite - PAtoDirectorofEducationFoHandE@mmu.ac.uk

In the Faculty of Health and Education we are committed to ensuring our students and graduates are well equipped to respond with empathy and compassion to the people they work with in the face of difficult life events and trauma. Our students also require the chance to develop and practice essential life skills and strategies to manage their own wellbeing. As such we play a vital role as educators, by teaching and modelling these practices, providing space to allow for self-refection, and fostering opportunities for students to develop self-efficacy and emotional regulation strategies.

Please join us for this forthcoming workshop on Trauma Informed Practice in Higher Education. The session is led by Dr Kalum Bodfield from the School of Psychology, who will present key findings from his research on trauma informed and compassionate education. The workshop will explore how wellbeing and trauma informed practices can be integrated into our programmes and will allow space to unpick the concept of being ‘trauma informed’, the sharing of current practice, and the chance for discussions and questions.

You can find out more about Kalum’s educational research on his Manchester Met staff profile.  Dr Kalum Bodfield | Manchester Metropolitan University

o   Please email for the invite - PAtoDirectorofEducationFoHandE@mmu.ac.uk

o   You can find out more about Kalum’s educational research on his Manchester Met staff profile.  Dr Kalum Bodfield | Manchester Metropolitan University

Undergraduate level:

For many students studying at Undergraduate level, their is no required contact time over the summer. They can therefore travel during the summer, permission from the University is not required.

Postgraduate Taught:

Yes. However, as the summer period is still counted as term-time for postgraduate students, we advise Student visa holders to only do so if necessary, and to do so only for short periods of time if they are intending to keep their student visa. As a student visa-holder, they are expected to be engaging with their course and working towards their degree from inside the UK. UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI) have never had any permanent concessions that allow remote study.

Postgraduate Research:

Yes. However, as the summer period is still counted as term-time for postgraduate students, we advise Student visa holders to only do so if necessary, and to do so only for short periods of time if they are intending to keep their student visa. As a student visa-holder, they are expected to be engaging with their course and working towards their degree from inside the UK. UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI) have never had any permanent concessions that allow remote study.

There may also be instances where students would like to conduct data collection overseas. Students should consult our changes of circumstances webpages in these instances.

This toolkit is for any member of staff looking for guidance, ideas and resources about integrating employability into the curriculum. It focuses on Work Integrated Learning (WIL) and Career Learning which are sub-sets of employability. 

There will be a new post in the Faculty attached to the FPO to help with our GO activity. 

If you can attend, then please do (just let Chloe know if you haven’t already sent and RSVP).

We’ve got Mike Coldwell talking us through research language and landscape for educators and you’ll have chance to quiz him on anything research orientated, should you want to. 

We then have Ian Sadler joining us from LJMU to introduce the concept of social moderation and how calibration of academic standards. 

In the afternoon we have two sessions on ESD, with Liz Price setting the scene and Elizabeth Malone helping us to consider how we can best integrate and scaffold ESD into our curricula. 

On 12^th June we have the second away day, so please save the date in your diaries as the agenda will be coming round soon.  We are planning to focus on preparation for extended induction and the new academic year, peer review, and showcasing excellent practice.  

11.00-12.00

MS Teams

We are running an information and sharing good practice session on preparing for transition to higher education.  We will run through the key areas of focus for transition this year and we can share examples of effective activity from across the faculties. 

13.00-14.00

MS Teams

Kalum Bodfield will showcase his work on Trauma Informed Practice in Higher Education and inspire you to consider how you can utilise his ideas in your programmes. 

All Staff Welcome

Use this link to submit an expression of interest:

Elevating Careers - Showcasing Employability in Academia and Beyond - Manchester Met Intranet

• 18 June 2025: online 

• 19 June 2025: on-campus at Manchester Met Business School

To add to the list of circumstances in which an Assessment Board decision can be overturned without consultation with the Chair:  

1. Where a student has been offered a pass or an award “subject to acceptance”, whether they opt to accept the decision or be reassessed  

2. Where a student has requested to change from repeating without attendance to repeating with attendance (which requires Programme Leader approval)  

   
   

   To amend the role that nominates membership of an Assessment Board from the Faculty Pro-Vice-Chancellor to the Faculty Director of Education, which reflects processes in recent years.  

   To remove a reference to the maximum period of registration, which has been removed from the Assessment Regulations 

If you'd like to discuss Digital Accessibility & Inclusion further please drop Phil Sayer or Stuart Parkin in LEED a message - we're happy to work with individuals or teams, providing training or advice where needed.

• Lucy Stevenson, Senior Marketing Manager (Projects) 
  Future Students Marketing 
  l.stevenson@mmu.ac.uk