I seem to have been doing so much this month that it is hard to know where to start selecting key bits to make a note of here. Workwise, as usual, a mixture of teaching, research and writing. I have spent a good part of the month working with colleagues on a research bid to the joint research councils, but will have to keep fingers crossed for several months before we know the outcome. I have also been pleased to be invited to become involved in an international collaborative research project, which although unfunded at this time will be the focus of some funding bids in coming months. I have spent a good bit of time this month on the analysis work for the Irish evaluative research to support the development of progress and interim reports.
The book that I have written about several times over the last year in this journal was finally submitted in its finished form this month, phew! It has been a long haul, but a satisfying project to complete. That being said, it is not really complete as there will be more work to do on copy-editor queries and proofing as the publishing process progresses – the plan is for publication October 2011. In the meantime I have been commissioned to write another book for the same publisher, so need to make a start on planning and writing again!
I was also pleased this month to have been successful in my application for recognition as a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (HEA) at Standard Descriptor 3 (SD3) - I have held SD2 for some years, so was pleased to participate in the pilot implementation of the University of Lincoln Professional Standards Framework for Teaching and Learning in Higher Education, following the HEA accredition of the institution’s framework earlier in the year. The HEA have now announced a consultation on a review of the recognition scheme, so I hope that the outcome will be that SD3 is given a distinct tier of recognition, rather than being titled ‘Fellow’ alongside SD2, but we shall see.
At home, one of the highlights of November, was a trip to the grey seal colony at Donna Nook, on the Lincolnshire coast – this is the time of year when the seals come right up close to the shoreline to give birth to their cubs and when we visited, we saw over 1,000 seal cubs – it was amazing. I felt priviledged to be so close and see so many seals in their natural habitat in the wild – wonderful. Follow this link to see the photographs and video clips we took on our visit - Seals at Donna Nook.
Finally, I couldn’t make a journal entry for this November without mention of the weather! I don’t think I can ever remember such cold weather, or the extremes of ice and snow coming so early in the winter. This picture was taken by a colleague and shows the frozen expanse of Brayford water in front of the University.
One of the high points of September is always the graduation ceremonies. University of Lincoln ceremonies take place in Lincoln Cathedral with celebrations afterwards in the grounds of Lincoln castle – a truly magnificent setting. Here are a couple of pictures of the event.
