Frontrunners
News
frontrunners shortlisted for national award
*Great News!* frontrunners has been shortlisted for Work Placement of the
Year, Public Sector at the National Council and Work Experience Awards 2012.
The awards will be held in March, we'll keep you updated! The NCWE Awards
are an annual awards scheme which celebrate organisations across the UK -
whatever their size or industry - that display very good practice in work
experience.
frontrunners at the Big e Awards
Congratulations to all of the frontrunner finalists and to the winner
Mark Maher
Big e Awards recognise workplace
skills developed at University of Essex
17 June 2011
Hard working students making a difference through their extra-curricular
activities have gained official recognition through the University of
Essex’s Big e Awards.
The awards are part of the University’s work to ensure students have the
right employability skills to pursue the careers they aspire to. Nearly 40
students were shortlisted in the eight categories from across our Colchester
and Southend campuses.
The award winners were:
- Enterprise - Emma Flaherty
- Student Activity - David Giles
- Peer Support - Alex Guntert
- Work Related Learning - Adriana Alexandru
- Student Ambassador - Vicky Scott
- Student Employee - Radoslaw Zimny
- Frontrunners - Mark Maher
- Volunteering - Magda Abramowicz
Pictures of all the Big e prize winners
Vice-Chancellor Professor Colin Riordan presented the awards. He said:
“We have so many students doing incredible work in the University and in the
wider community and these awards celebrate their achievements.
“The Big e Awards gives university recognition to students who have
achieved exceptional standards in a particular extra-curricular activity and
we hope this will help illustrate to employers the outstanding potential and
ability of our students.”
Emma Flaherty, who won the Enterprise category, said: “I applied for the
Big e Award after being actively involved in the Essex Entrepreneurs Society
as the President and the Team Leader of SIFE Essex. In this role it was my
responsibility to lead up to 52 students in participating in various
projects over the last year. Projects ranged from volunteer work in schools,
helping the local community find employment and an international project
based in Sierra Leone.”
Emma was also part of the University team which reached the final of the
Prince's Trust - Million Makers competition.
Nightline co-ordinator Alex Guntert, who received the Peer Support Award,
said: “I'd like to think that I received the award on behalf of Nightline
and our volunteers, as recognition of all our input into the service.
Through our combined efforts we were able to sustain and improve Nightline's
service, and impact positively on university students' welfare. In
contributing to a welfare service you do not necessarily expect to be given
such an award; I am very grateful for receiving university recognition for
Nightline's and my own achievements.”
The University is committed to developing the employability of students
by providing a wide range of extra-curricular opportunities.
To guide this work an Employability Framework has been developed to
outline the skills and attributes that help make a person more likely to
choose and secure a career they will be satisfied and successful in.
The Big e Awards ceremony was organised through a partnership between the
Research and Enterprise Office, the Careers Centre, Learning and
Development, Student Support, Communications & External Relations and the
Students’ Union.
Prizes were donated by the Academic Section and Santander Universities
provided overall financial support for the event.
The University provides a wide range of extra-curricular opportunities
including studying abroad, placements, enterprise activities, work
experience and volunteering. The development of professional skills is also
being built into the curriculum where appropriate.
The Employability Action Group is working to develop further
employability initiatives and is looking to establish a system of
recognition for student achievement which aligns with national proposals for
a Higher Education Achievement Record (HEAR).
Another frontrunners-related initiative was promoted and commended in
Wyvern:
13 May 2011
“Language students have been getting extra practice thanks to the
newly-launched Spanish Café in the Department of Language and Linguistics.
“The initiative was led by Frontrunners, Enrique Gomez Bravo, Raquel Serrano
Ramirez and Laura Aguilera Cassis, under the supervision of Spanish lecturer
Teresa Torres, and has included a flamingo guitar demonstration and a tour
of the Latin American Art at the University.”
Wyvern, May 2011, p.21.