Wednesday 22 November 2017

Student Newsletter Issue 57

Contents

• Announcements
• CTIL news
• ASC news
• Careers Service
• University news
• What's on
• Opportunities
• Blogs
• From the editors

Student Services closure (Mon 27 Nov)

Student Services are hosting an event for its staff on Monday 27 November 2017.  This means that we will be offering a reduced Service between 9am and 2pm on Monday 27 November 2017. 

Staff across the University have been advised and there have been notifications issued in each area of Student Services to both students and staff.  If there is anything you need on Monday 27 November please can you contact a member of the Student Services team to arrange this in advance. 

If you have an urgent enquiry on the day, please go to the Hive Reception, 4th Floor, DUSA or contact the Security Centre.  Emergency cover will be available and can be accessed by visiting or contacting the Hive Reception on ext. 86086 (01382 386086) or the Security Team on ext. 85850 (01382 385850).

Student Services includes:

Academic Skills Centre, Careers Service, Centre of Entrepreneurship, Counselling Service, Disability Services, English for International Students, Enquiry Centre, Health Service, International Advice Service, Peer Connections, Registry, Residences and Student Funding.

University email address

If you are emailing your School or another area of the University, please use your University of Dundee email address (rather than gmail, etc), so we can identify that the message is actually from you.

November web update - win a £50 Amazon voucher

As you know, we are replacing the University website. Please help us make the website better by sorting tasks into categories - it takes just 10 minutes.

My Dundee January maintenance (4-12 Jan 2018)

As mentioned in the previous edition of this newsletter, My Dundee will be taken offline for maintenance at some point between 4 and 12 January.

The reason the team is unable to specify an exact date is that UoDIT need to run a test before giving an exact timeline. They will make every effort to minimise disruption by limiting the downtime to the 4/5 January , but this cannot yet be confirmed.

As a result, they are asking for any courses that have not yet done so, to notify us of any activities that will be running on My Dundee between the 4 and the 12 January by emailing elearning@dundee.ac.uk before the end of Friday 24 November so that a contingency plan can be put in place.

Wringing your hands about referencing? Greetin’ over grammar?

Try the Academic Skills Quick Query drop-in service. A tutor will be on hand every weekday except Wednesday, from 9-10am in the ASC Zone (opposite the Library café), to offer quick, on-the-spot advice about any aspect of academic skills.

For more complex queries, one-to-one appointments can be booked online. 

Opening hours (Mon 11 Dec)

Careers Service will be closed for staff training on Monday 11 December.  Quick Queries will not be running on that day.  Quick Queries will run as normal for the rest of the week, Tues-Fri 11am -3pm.  

What's happening soon in the Careers Service

Thursday 23 November

Have you ever considered a career as an advocate? Marcus McKay QC will talk about life at the Bar, routes to qualification and essential tips for boosting your chances of a career in advocacy. Find out more.

Monday 27 November

CCUSA will be talking about summer camp in the USA and Canada. Why not spend your summer getting paid to teach or coach the things that you are good at? You'll get to do it abroad, in the sun, before having the chance to do some amazing travelling afterwards. Find out more.

Visit the Careers Events page.

Mum and daughter graduated together

Kerry Perrie (46) and Robyn Watson (27) crossed the Caird Hall stage on Friday after studying at the School of Nursing and Health Sciences together for three years at the Kirkcaldy campus.

Robyn first decided to venture into the world of nursing after the birth of her son Arthur, who is now five. “I didn’t want to go back to my old job,” she said. “So I applied to college to do an NC Access to Nursing and then my mum said it was something she wanted to do as well.”

Mum and daughter are also celebrating their new jobs at Victoria Hospital. Kerry has taken up a position within Acute Admissions and Robyn is now working in the Infectious Diseases Unit. “I absolutely love my ward,” said Robyn. “The funny thing is that sometimes I get my mum’s patients. They move from her ward to mine, so it’s nice to see her name on their file.”

Kerry has not left education just yet - she's juggling her new career with a Masters degree in Nursing and Health at Dundee.

Read the full story.

Events submission form unavailable

The events submission web form will be unavailable from 6pm on Monday 27 November until Thursday 30 November, because the system will be down for maintenance.

UKTC Taekwondo Club (weekly)

The student UKTC Taekwondo Club meets every week to offer a range of physical activites and self-defence techniques. Improve your fitness, flexibility and self-defence skills at Dundee's West Church, Perth Road. 

First class free, pay on the day thereafter, no experience necessary.

Find out more on the Facebook page.

A chance for Art & Design students to impact student learning

PAMIS, University of Dundee and Napier University are working in partnership to make an impact on the learning of nursing students across Scotland. 

They are looking for an Art & Design student with experience in graphic illustration to develop resources that are unique and visually engaging.

This will also form part of a research evaluation project - ideal for a final year student.  If you are interested in working with us, please contact Dr Hannah Young.

Attitudes towards alcohol between generations

Verity McSheaffrey is a fourth year Geography and Economics student undertaking her Geography dissertation, which looks at the differing attitudes towards alcohol between generations.

Verity would like the support of University of Dundee students and staff - please complete her online questionnaire if you would like to help.

The effect of term-time employment on the university experience

Stuart Faulds is a fourth year student carrying out research for his dissertation, which is on the effect of term-time employment on the undergraduate university experience. 

Complete the survey online if you can help.

Experiences and perception of harassment of female students

Miriam Balfour is a fourth year social sciences student curently researching her dissertation.

The research aims to investigate the lived experiences and perception of harassment of female students at the University of Dundee. It will identify how female students define harassment in the public space and how any fear of this may impact their daily lives. It also covers the students' knowledge of the University's ordinance 40 and the DUSA Zero tolerance policy.

If you would like to help Miriam's research please complete her questionnaire.

As the topic of this survey is harassment, anyone who finds this topic distressing is recommended not to take this survey.

Volunteers needed for diabetic foot study

Rania Edris is a PhD student at the Orthopaedics and Trauma Surgery department within the School of Medicine.

Rania would like to recruit volunteers for her PhD study, 'Assessment of the Impact of Loading Pressure on Endothelial Function in Diabetic Foot'.

If you:

•     Are aged between 55 and 75
•     Have no known lower limb vascular or neurological conditions
•     Have no foot deformity or previous foot surgery
•     Have no pathology of the spine/lower limbs which results in an inability to walk unaided
•     Have no previous cardiovascular intervention, Angina or heart attack

then you might be able to help. 

The project will look at subtle changes in the skin blood flow when different in-shoe pressures are applied to the foot. This is a non-invasive study which will involve two visits to Ninewells Hospital.

Email Rania to volunteer.

Why Philosophy deserves its Day

Dominic Smith, Lecturer in Philosophy at the University, explains why UNESCO World Philosophy Day deserves its date in the world calendar. Read the blog.

What students really want from our website

The web team has been researching what you really want from our website. Read the blog.

Why I joined the History Society

Student blogger Kiah Edwards tells us how the History Society has made such an impact. Read the blog.

If you wish to communicate around the University, this fortnightly newsletter is just one way to do that. Please check our Methods of Internal Communication webpage, and feel free to get in touch if you have any questions.

The next newsletter will be distributed on Wednesday 6 November - the deadline is 4pm on Friday 1 December.

We're also gathering Christmas content for the festive newsletter on Wednesday 29 November - please email us your news and events by Monday 27 November.