The Network
Welcome to The Network, the newsletter for University of the Highlands And Islands students.
The June edition of The Network is short and sweet as we realise that many of you have already shut your books, switched off your computers and are thinking about how to pass a long hot summer! For those of you who haven't found anything to keep yourselves busy, why not have a look at the many exciting summer placement opportunities available to current students - not only do you enhance your CV, you'll also get paid! It's a win, win situation.
Finally, from us all at The Network, we hope you have a happy, healthy and fulfilling summer and see you next term.
Paid Summer Placements for Students
Spend the summer on a placement
This programme gives students eight weeks paid work experience working with a local business or social enterprise within the Highlands and Islands, plus the opportunity to enhance their CV’s and gain valuable work experience. The programme is open to all full-time undergraduates studying at a UK university, and placements take place between June and August. See current opportunities here
Placements & Internships - All Paid!
Think differently and try a placement or internship
The Graduate Placement Programme offers graduates an opportunity to work on a short-term project with business or social enterprise. A minimum salary of £15,500 (pro rata) will be paid to students in the Highlands and Islands.
Third Sector Internships Scotland is a new programme which helps current students to find paid work experience in the Third Sector. Internships can be up to the equivalent of 10 weeks of full-time work, and can be offered on both a full-time and part-time basis.
Adopt an Intern is a cross-sector, cross-Scotland programme which offers internships to students within a wide variety of businesses.
Alumnus of the year 2011
A company director who advanced his career after gaining a degree through Inverness College UHI has been named the UHI alumnus of the year.
Ian Fraser of Maryburgh, Ross-shire, was an unemployed design engineer when he decided to sign up for the degree course in applied environmental science.
Now he is the company director of the Dingwall-based consultancy Gunn MacPhee and Associates, specialising in private water and wastewater treatment and pollution control. Read more
UHI Title Celebrations - join us
UHI Title Celebration Event - 25th August
UHI is going to be celebrating the achievement of University Title on Thursday 25 August at Eden Court Theatre, Inverness. Please email Paul Ellison if you would like to attend.
Bag pack raises a small fortune for charity
Some UHI staff, along with representatives from UHISA, spent last Sunday packing bags at Tesco, raising over £1,600 for the Highland Hospice. Amazing!
The organiser, Iain Morrison, commented that 'Such a fantastic amount for the Hospice could not have been raised without UHISA. It was great seeing UHI staff and students working together for such a good cause'
About me: I make and repair African type drums, highlights being a commission for Sierra Leone Blind School Choir and a Zimbabwe theatre group Siyaya Arts. I enjoy (and teach) salsa dancing, its music has its roots in African drum rhythm. I'm also a Zumba instructor.
My UHI: Started out with HNC Fitness Health and Exercise for the Exercise to Music module. It was all inspired by (to put it mildly) ‘mid life crisis’. I did a research module on Salsa and mood and it got me interested in the benefits of dance and mental health. I then decided to do the BA Health Studies. It covers a broad spectrum of health and within it I managed to relate a lot to dance. This degree was a real eye opener and appealed to my independent thinking. The broad spectrum of knowledge has given me a framework that helps me understand how the various determinants of health connect. The course has also improved my confidence and self esteem.
My dreams: I need to build my dreams slowly … I’m interested in breaking barriers… I have taught a salsa class for visually impaired, I also taught the bodhran (celtic drum) to some one who is deaf. I‘d like to teach dance, salsa, meringue and aerobic dance such as Zumba, formulate the classes so that they are inclusive of visually impaired and hearing impaired. I was also inspired by ‘Dancing on Wheels’ wheelchair based dancing. I've loved the research side of the degree and I'd like to conduct more research into dance and its benefits for mental health.
Connect with UHI
Quote of the month
Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire - William Butler Yeats
Events & Training
Thomas and Margaret Roddan Trust - application deadline 10th June
Undergraduates who have completed at least one year of study, postgraduates undertaking taught courses or postgraduates engaged in research for a higher degree can receive between £500 and £3000.
Entrants for the Guardian International Journalism Competition 2011 should submit their applications before the 13th June deadline. Apply here
TV Licensing is reminding students moving back home for the summer holidays that they could be eligible for a refund of around £37 on the final quarter of their annual TV Licence.
SAAS has recently become aware of fraudulent emails being issued to some of students asking for their online account details. These emails are not from SAAS.
SAAS assure students that they would never send an email asking for username, password or bank details.
Student Services
Remember the Red Button is there for you - if there is anything you would like to tell us, good or bad, about your UHI experience, just Push The Button
The UHI Career Centre provides all UHI students with essential information to help them plan their future and understand their options. Look out for our new section on the UHI website when it is relaunched in August. In the meantime keep up to date with all our services and activities at the Career Centre
Other News
Advice on measles vaccine for travellers to Europe this summer
There has been a sharp increase in the number of cases of measles in European countries, increased numbers have been noted in the UK which may have been linked to travel to and from Europe.
Students should be encouraged to:
• Complete a full course of five doses of vaccine against diphtheria, tetanus and polio
• Ensure they have received two doses of MMR – this is especially important as there have been outbreaks of mumps in students in recent years, and there has also been an increase in the number of people catching measles
• Ensure they have received one dose of MenC vaccine after the age of 12 months
