June Creative Café At The University of Northampton Welcomes Leading Brand

Book a date in your diary this Friday, 8 June, when the Portfolio Innovation Centre’s popular Creative Café welcomes Mike Skidmore, a leading brand and business strategy consultant to talk on ‘Promoting and selling creative services’.

Mike has a background in marketing and brand communications, running his own London based consultancies with roles such as creative, managing & strategic director, supporting clients in the creative and professional service sectors. A Fellow of the Chartered Society of Designers and at one time on the national council with responsibility for developing and training design best practice, Mike will cover:

• Positioning and differentiation – standing out in the market ‘noise’.
• Understanding the client buying cycle – building relationships and knowledge in preparation for ‘the sale’.
• Presentation strategy – effective presentations that differentiate and build empathy.

Running from 10:30am, the Café is based at Avenue Campus’s Portfolio Innovation Centre, the successful base for new start up creative businesses in Northamptonshire and surrounding counties. There are currently 14 tenants based in the Portfolio Innovation Centre in a range of creative industries including fashion design, photography, product design and IT development.

To register for the Creative Café, please email: sasha.findlay@northampton.ac.uk

The University of Northampton’s Portfolio Innovation Centre has been part-funded by the European Social Fund and is also supported by the Northamptonshire Partnership and Arts Council England.

University Of Northampton - Discover your potential at June Open Day

If you have always thought you would like a career working with children, want to go into graphic design or see yourself as a future midwife or engineer, The University of Northampton’s Open Day this weekend could be the first step to achieving your goal.

The University opens its doors on Sunday, June 10, giving potential students the chance to find out more about the hundreds of courses on offer.

Visitors will be able to speak to tutors, see demonstrations of typical lecture activities and hear about student finance, as well as take a look inside the University’s Halls of Residence.

They will also be able to see the top quality equipment and talk to staff in the University’s brand new Sports Gym, which opens later this month.

Studying at University is not just a three-year course option, living away from home – many students study part-time and carry on working whilst living at home and there’s also the option to do a degree in two, or even four, years.

So there’s plenty on offer and University staff will be on hand to help visitors enjoy the day, while getting all the information they need.

Registration takes place at both Avenue Campus in St George’s Avenue and at Park Campus in Boughton Green Road, 10-11am and the Open Day is on until 3pm. A free bus service between Campuses is available to everyone who wants to visit both Campuses.

Potential students can register for the Open Day in advance, please contact 0800 358 2232

Conference tackles issue of non medical prescribing

Over 90 delegates from healthcare from across the UK are attending a conference at The University of Northampton next week which explores issues around the practice of non medical prescribing, an area of nursing which has seen rapid development over the last decade.

From June 2006, appropriately educated and experienced nurses have been able to prescribe all licensed drugs and a range of controlled drugs from the British National Formulary following successful completion of the Nursing & Midwifery Council (NMC) approved Nurse Independent & Supplementary Prescribing (NISP) Course.

The NISP course offered by the School of Health at the University enjoys an established reputation for providing a quality programme for experienced nurse practitioners working in the Northamptonshire catchment area. Continuing Professional Development (CPD) is now very much high on the agenda in healthcare for continuing excellence in this area of practice.

The University will welcome some prestigious keynote speakers to Park Campus next Wednesday, 6 June, including Liz Plastow, Prescribing Lead from Nursing & Midwifery Council, Professor Molly Courtenay, RCN Joint Prescribing Adviser and Professor Matt Griffiths, Visiting Professor for The School of Health, RCN Prescribing Adviser. The conference will be jointly opened by Dr Sue Allen, Dean, School of Health and Louise Proctor, Managing Director of the Northamptonshire Primary Care Trust, as a partnership initiative.

Geoff White, Senior Lecturer and Course Leader, Teaching for Non- Medical Prescribing, School of Health, The University of Northampton, commented:

“Our NISP course is extremely challenging. On completion of this course nurses are qualified to prescribe medicines within their professional scope of practice to complement the care they deliver. The initial evidence suggests that nurses who successfully complete this course demonstrate improved nursing outcomes for the patients they serve, whilst gaining additional knowledge, skills and competencies as part of their personal and professional development.

“Non medical prescribing is very topical and we are pleased to host this conference in partnership with NTPCT aiming to support future continuing professional development here at The University of Northampton”.

University excellence recognised in Guardian League Tables

The latest 2008 Guardian University League Tables have seen The University of Northampton race ahead of its regional higher education competitors in a number of teaching areas, with particular honours going to Business, Engineering and Computing. Coming in at 92 on the latest Guardian list The University of Northampton was placed ahead of numerous other competing universities within its core student recruitment areas, including Derby, Bedfordshire, De Montfort and Wolverhampton.

The Northampton Business School (NBS) is now ranked 72 from 109 business schools. NBS also ranked fourth equal in the UK for ‘value added,’ emphasising excellent improvements in learning and advancement for students.

The University’s Engineering division within its School of Applied Sciences was ranked sixth out of 30 with a Guardian score of 75.6 (out of 100). It also received 10 out of 10 for job prospects, a better figure than any other university listed in the General Engineering category. Also within Applied Sciences the University’s Computing division came in joint first for value added and joint third for teaching in the Guardian table.

The Guardian listing for The University of Northampton also noted the institution’s substantial investments in campus facilities and an ongoing £80 million plan for future improvements through to 2015. Frank Burdett, Pro Vice Chancellor at The University of Northampton, commented: “We are delighted with the detail found in many aspects of the survey, which highlights areas of significant improvement.

“In particular the results in Business, Engineering and Computing are testament to our good employer links through our partnership scheme and the University’s approach to widening participation. Both are key aspects of the University’s mission. We will continue to work hard to improve all areas of the University’s performance.”

A Successful Season for the University of Northampton's Golf Team

Photo Caption: The University of Northampton’s student golf team: (From left to right) Rob Charter, Mark Harrington, John Dexter, Matty Landers and Captain, Shaun Carway are presented with £1,000 from Vice Chancellor, Ann Tate.

After a successful season, the golf team at The University of Northampton were presented with £1,000 from the University in recognition of their outstanding sporting achievements.

The team, made up of students Shaun Carway, Matty Landers, John Dexter, Rob Charter, Adam Tarbox and Mark Harrington, finished second in their regional league qualifying them for the national knock-out. Their success continued as they progressed through three rounds of the national knock-out, beating regional league winners, Bournemouth. This victory meant they were invited to compete at the national final, which was recently held at Hoylake Royal Liverpool, last year’s venue for the British Open.

Captain, Shaun Carway, said: “This donation is a great recognition of the team’s achievements. In the four years I have been playing for the University golf team, we are the only University team that have reached a national final.”

“Five members of the team, including myself, will be graduating this year, so this was a memorable send-off for all of us.”

There are currently 25 competitive sports teams at the University and 20 societies ranging from the RSPCA society to the Ski and Snowboard society.