I would like to begin by welcoming all students to the university. For those of you who are brand new to the institution, you have chosen well, as the University of Salford offers so much more than just a degree! You have a beautiful campus with excellent social spaces, a vibrant and welcoming students union, a fantastic academic team, and a phenomenal student society. Welcome back to all those returning to campus, we are looking forward to what the next year has in store. This is hopefully our collective return to ‘normal’!!! Whilst we will retain some of the flexible ways of working, I think its safe to say we have all missed the human element , the real on campus buzz and the richness that comes with university life. So, I take the opportunity to encourage you to be present ! Make every moment count, whether it is a lecture, tutorial, an extracurricular event, or a chance to socialise. These are the best years of your life, and you are financially invested in your programme of study – so let us nurture this investment together.
Last year was a great year in terms of success stories. More students than ever before secured placements, prestigious internships, and postgraduate study courses. Many areas of the National Student Survey have improved, and we successfully received reaccreditation of Human Biology and Infectious Disease Programme. For the Biomedical Science degree, the programme team continue to work on reaccreditation, and we are immensely proud of some of the preparation we have made in this regard – you will hear more about this as we progress through this academic year. For returning students, you may recall the introduction of proctorio for online assessments to improve rigour. I am pleased to inform you that despite some teething problems, this was a remarkable success overall and we have seen a positive impact of this intervention on the quality of assessment outcomes. You should be proud of this and your key role in making proctoring successful. In latest news, I am really pleased to welcome three new academics to the team. Dr Holly Mathews joins us after several years of postdoctoral research experience as a teaching fellow in immunology. Dr Henry Madubuike joins us from industry as a teaching fellow in molecular biology and Rumana Rafiq joins us following extensive industry and technical experience as a teaching fellow in laboratory sciences.
Looking to the academic year, I want to take the opportunity to remind you of the importance of your personal goals and getting the most out of university. As returning students you will already be aware, but for those of you who are new, please look out for opportunities via the programme site, email, society communication and students’ union. The opportunities, activities, and events we offer as a subject area are designed to boost your employability – you will usually see these tagged with #BeeGradReady . So, whether it’s joining (and engaging with) one of the careers working groups, the student society, attending the careers festival, taking part in outreach opportunities, Salford PassionFlash, art exhibitions, book clubs and much more… know that these things will absolutely make the difference to your experience and job prospects. You will hear lots more about these opportunities during induction week. I would like to take the opportunity to welcome you once more and wish you every success in the coming academic year.
Dr Sara Namvar, Programme Lead for Biomedical Science and Directorate Lead for Student Experience