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School of CS newsletter
Published: Monday, 18 January 2016Weekly newsletter for the School of CS
[ top ]News from Head of School
Learning Enrichment Fund invites applications
The Learning Enrichment Fund is now open for applications for the second funding round of the 2015-6 academic year.
Donations to the University of Manchester from alumni and friends support a wide variety of projects and programmes across campus, including scholarships, research and projects that enrich the academic and wider university experience for the student body as a whole. Staff and students can bid for money to support suitable projects like this by making an application to the Learning Enrichment Fund.
The deadline for applications is 5pm on Monday 8th February. Projects which meet the guidelines will be considered by the disbursal committee on Friday 19th February and applicants for projects asking for more than £5,000 will be asked to attend the committee meeting. In some past years this has been the final round of funding with all available funds being allocated to suitable and high-quality projects.
Applications forms and guidelines for applicants can be found by visiting: http://www.staffnet.manchester.ac.uk/supporting-students/your-manchester/learning-enrichment/
Note that applications will need a supporting form signed by the Head of School, if you wish to apply please inform me in good time.
Kiera Gould in the Division of Development and Alumni Relations would be happy to answer any queries by email or phone (kiera.gould@manchester.ac.uk, Tel. 52771).
Jim Miles
Charity event for Mind
Time to Change is seeking volunteers to bake cakes for 4th February:
1 in 4 people in the UK will experience a mental health problem each year (Mind), yet there continues to be stigmas and misconceptions around mental health.
Help break the silence
Thursday 4 February 2016 is Time to Talk Day, and Time to Change is asking the nation to take 5 minutes to have a conversation about mental health.
Time to Change are asking staff and students to ‘Take a Break’ and join us in the University Place foyer between 11am-2pm on Thursday 4th February, where we will be holding a bake sale to raise money for the mental health charity Mind. Last year we managed to raise £107 for this great cause.
http://www.time-to-change.org.uk/
We’re calling for volunteers to bake (or donate) cakes, brownies, biscuits or flapjacks.
Get involved and make a difference
To volunteer please complete this form
Adam Lavery – Equality and Diversity Data Analyst – email adam.lavery@manchester.ac.uk Tel: 306 5859
[ top ]News and announcements
Staff changes within Computer Science
Iain Hart will be part-time from January 2016 for six months to help with a cross-schools timetabling project in EPS.
Bryony Quick has taken on a secondment as an 'Academic Support Officer' to cover Ruth Maddocks' role in the Academic Support Office until 3rd June 2016. Please contact bquick@manchester.ac.uk for Teaching Assistant; all timetabling; and duties allocation/staff loads enquiries.
Bryony C Quick
Is your Blackboard course ready for start of semester?
All Bb courses are visible to students on Monday 25 January 2016.
You can access Blackboard via My Manchester for staff. Click on the link to Blackboard in the Teaching category of links (you may need to click on ‘View all’).
You will be able to see and update your Bb course in the Course List on the Blackboard home page within 24-48 hours of it being activated.
When do students see my Bb course?
Bb courses became visible to students on Monday 25 January 2016 (unless you selected a different option when you activated your Bb course). Please make sure your courses are activated and populated with content.
Activating your course
The course academic lead is responsible for making sure Bb courses are activated. However, some schools/programmes have local arrangements for activation. Bb courses may be activated by the course academic lead or anyone listed as primary instructor in Campus Solutions.
If you haven’t yet activated your semester 2 course units, please follow these instructions.
If you are a course academic lead, find out how to activate your course - this information includes details about rolling forward your 2014/15 course content to the 2015/16 Bb course. You can activate your Bb course as soon as you want, but it needs to have been set up in Campus Solutions first. Check with your school/programme administrator if you can’t see the Bb course listed in the portlet.
You can find the link to activate the Bb course via the new My Manchester for staff:
· Log into my.manchester.ac.uk
· Click on the A-Z link (top right hand corner)
· Click on ‘A’ in the A-Z index
· Scroll down and click on the ‘Activate my Blackboard Courses’ link
· Click on the ‘Future’ tab to see your 2015/2016 Semester 2 courses
Ensuring your Bb course content is ready for the start of Semester 2
Please review the article on Preparing Blackboard 9 courses for start of year and semester 2 (STAFF), available on the Knowledge Base. It includes:
· the process required in order for Bb courses to be made available to students in Blackboard;
· a link to ‘Key dates for Blackboard 9’;
· a link to a ‘Post-activation checklist’;
· links to other related articles.
Blackboard 9 maintenance periods for 2015/16
The following dates have been scheduled provisionally for Bb9 maintenance and downtime at Easter 2016. Bb9 will be unavailable from 16:00 on Thursday 31 March until 12:01 on Monday 4 April 2016. We hope that this early notification will enable you to factor in these dates when timetabling assignment submission dates and key course activities.
Further information
Please contact elearning@manchester.ac.uk if you have any queries.
[ top ]Events
Thomas Wise