The 2017 Times Higher Education Awards and the Wharton-QS Stars Reimagine Education Awards are both open for entries – and the University is seeking your help to makes 2017 its most successful year yet.

Glasgow has gained tremendous recognition for outstanding practice in areas such as student support, employability e-learning, sustainability, strategic planning and many more through an explosion in the number of nominations and wins in major higher education awards schemes in recent years. Last year Glasgow staff submitted a record 22 entries to the Times Higher Education awards and the University was shortlisted in a record five categories.

In fact, Glasgow has been the most shortlisted University within the THE Awards for the past five years – and the key to this significant growth has been a coordinated drive led by a small volunteer team drawn from the Colleges and University Services.

Benefits

Carina Scott (External Relations) is one of the key contacts. She says: “We’ve made a real effort to draw people’s attention to the benefits of entering these awards, and we work closely with staff who are putting together drafts, reading over their entries and making suggestions to ensure they’re as strong as they can be.”

Jamie Wightwick (Office of the Vice-Principals) said: “There’s real value beyond the feel-good factor. We often hear from staff that they’ve been able to re-purpose the text for later purposes such as impact case studies, and some of the greatest recognition for the University has actually been the result of times that we didn’t win – like in 2014 when our entry for the University of the Year led to THE talking about our precision medicine in a subsequent editorial. It really helps to keep the spotlight on Glasgow’s world-changing work.”

Potential

Staff who are thinking of making an entry to an Awards Scheme are asked to let the team know as soon as possible by emailing planning-awards@glasgow.ac.uk. Carina explains: “We always ask staff who are entering these awards to let us know as early as possible during the process – not only so we can offer our help, but also so we’re prepared as a team to capitalise on the full potential of the entries and any shortlistings with accompanying press releases and stories.”

The full list of awards available through the Times Higher and Wharton-QS Stars Awards are available on their websites:

Stars Awards 2017 - Reimagine Education

THE Awards 2017

And if you think you’ve got what it takes to win, read on for the team’s top tips.

Tips from the team
1. Be clear and upfront
“You need to grab their attention from the outset. It’s an elevator pitch essentially – if the judges don’t understand your entry in the first 30 seconds, you’ve already lost them. And while the judges are usually drawn from higher education, you shouldn’t assume they’ll be experts in your particular discipline or profession – so write for a lay audience.”
2. Make it relevant
“In general, you need to show how your work responds to an issue that resonates throughout the higher education sector – so start by identifying a problem, explain why the issue resonates beyond Glasgow, and then set about explaining and evidencing how your work has addressed this.”
3. Tell a good story
“Good entries are good writing. Set out your case logically, write in clear and concise language, and above all, keep it simple – cut out the unnecessary details and digressions.”
4. Evidence your excellence
“Back up your claims with hard evidence wherever possible. User testimony, statistics, photographs, press clippings – it all helps to give your story authenticity and impact.”
5. Let the guidance guide you
“Make sure you’re explicitly addressing the criteria given in any guidance – that’s what you’ll be ‘marked on’ if you want to call it that – and pay attention to restrictions such as word counts and formatting as well. It’s basic stuff, but it’s amazing how many people don’t!”

 




First published: 1 May 2017

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