Outstanding student projects nominated for two prestigious Guardian University awards


Two projects which showcase the outstanding student experience and employability initiatives at De Montfort University Leicester (DMU) have been nominated for the prestigious Guardian University Awards.

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BusinessWorks – which sees students work with businesses in Leicester to help boost business and seed new ideas – and 100 Ideas to Change Britain, which saw students come up with policy ideas for the General Election, both made the shortlist which is announced today.

BusinessWorks is a DMU Square Mile initiative, which works to share the expertise of staff and students with the community. It is run by Dr Robert Bradshaw and Dr Hulya Oztel of DMU’s Faculty of Business and Law. 

More than 100 students were matched with local businesses to provide consultancy support, allowing them to put academic theory into practice and giving them a distinct edge in the graduate jobs market.
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The 100 Ideas to Change Britain saw students create 100 new policy ideas on areas as diverse as welfare, youth employment, immigration, housing and citizenship.

In a first for any UK university, DMU students took their policy document to a reception at the House of Lords and handed it to members of the Conservative, Lib Dem and Labour parties.

DMU Square Mile manager Mark Charlton said: “Businessworks is immensely popular with students in our Business and Law faculty who want to give their studies an edge by working with a company or organisation to give them fresh thinking and new ideas.

“It’s been a great project for the university because of the impact our students have had in the community by helping small firms in Leicestershire find ways to increase revenues and efficiencies in challenging economic conditions. It is also having a really positive impact on the students’ employability.

“It has enabled Dr Robert Bradshaw to study what outcomes this activity has had on helping our students into top jobs, as well as the benefits to industry. It shows Businessworks really does work - and this shortlisting from a prestigious national newspaper recognises that.”

Professor Alasdair Blair, Head of the Department of Politics and Public Policy, said: “I am delighted and honoured to hear that the 100 Ideas to Change Britain has been nominated for a Guardian award.

“The ideas arose out of a Policy Commission initiative which resulted in students and staff working together to jointly discuss and seek solutions to some of the most pressing issues that Britain faces today. This resulted in taking students outside of the bounded nature of the classroom and to provide them with real opportunities to undertake politics in action.

“This reconsideration of the student learning experience empowered students to be producers of knowledge and assisted in providing them not only with knowledge about the political process of trying to seek changes in the governance of our country, but more importantly brought out their skills of advocacy, leadership and team work.

“I see this work as forming a template for a new method of teaching, which marries theory and practice and which will hopefully inject life, energy and passion among the youth to seek change for the better of our country.”
 
The Guardian University Awards showcase and celebrate the outstanding innovation, creativity and impact of UK universities across the higher education sector in delivering world-class teaching, research and engagement.

Posted on Monday 2 March 2015

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