Southampton celebrates teaching and learning
Innovation and excellence in teaching has been celebrated by the University of Southampton at a reception and dinner to toast the first winners of the Vice-Chancellor's Teaching Awards, a scheme set up this year to raise the profile of teaching and learning within the University.
The dinner also marked the informal launch of the University's Centre for Excellence in Teaching and Learning in Interprofessional Learning in the Public Sector (CETL:IPPS). The CETL contributes to the Vice-Chancellor's Awards scheme as part of its internal role to develop strategies to reward and recognise excellence in teaching and learning within the institution.
It is one of a national network of 74 Centres for Excellence set up in January this year and funded by the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) to promote excellence in teaching and learning in higher education across a range of subjects. Carole Webb, CETL Project Co-ordinator for HEFCE, was a guest at the dinner. In her speech, she described the network of Centres as a catalyst for change to achieve excellence in teaching and learning.
The Southampton Centre has itself this year awarded eight Interprofessional Education Awards to University staff and the recipients of these awards also attended the dinner. In total over 50 award recipients from across a range of disciplines across the University were honoured at the event.
Professor Bill Wakeham, Vice-Chancellor of the University, commented: "One of the key aims of our corporate strategy is to enhance excellence in our teaching staff, reflecting national strategic imperatives to develop the teaching and research workforce. I consider the establishment of the CETL:IPPS at Southampton and our new teaching awards to be fundamental in helping to embed the recognition and reward of excellence in interprofessional teaching, learning and scholarship within the University."
Notes for editors
- The Centre for Excellence in Teaching and Learning in Interprofessional Learning in the Public Sector (CETL:IPPS) offers health, social care and education practitioners in the public sector increased opportunities to 'learn with, from and about each other' in order to improve services delivered to local communities. The Centre works closely with local partners and employers including Social Services, the NHS and Local Education Authorities.
- The University of Southampton is one of the UK's top 10 research universities, with a global reputation for excellence in both teaching and research. With first-rate opportunities and facilities across a wide range of subjects in science and engineering, health, arts and humanities, the University has around 20,000 students and 5000 staff at its campuses in Southampton and Winchester. Its annual turnover is in the region of £274 million.
Southampton is recognised internationally for its leading-edge research in engineering, science, computer science and medicine, and for its strong enterprise agenda. It is home to world-leading research centres, including the National Oceanography Centre, Southampton; the Institute of Sound and Vibration Research; the Optoelectronics Research Centre; the Textile Conservation Centre; the Centre for the Developmental Origins of Health and Disease; and the Mountbatten Centre for International Studies.