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Common Awards (Theology, Ministry and Mission)
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February 2022 Bulletin

11 February 2022
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COMMON AWARDS - FEBRUARY 2022

 

1.       Upcoming Deadlines

2.       Rearranged Congregation Dates

3.       Durham University Board of Examiners (Overarching)

4.       New Student Registration Data (Late Entrants)

5.       Module Registration and APL Data (Late Entrants)

6.       Assessed Conversations information webinar

7.       Training Events: working with students with dyslexia or other SpLDs

8.       Seedcorn Grants: 2022 Call for Applications

9.       Annual Conference for Theological Educators 2022

10.     Common Awards Webinar: The Church and Working Class

11.     TEI Invoices

12.     Staffing Update

13.     Further Information

 

1. Upcoming Deadlines

11th February - Deadline: TEIs to submit New Student Programme Registration data (late entrants)

11th February - Deadline: Students to submit Common Awards Management Board (CAMB) Student Representation Nominations

18th February - Student Representative Information is published on Durham’s Common Awards website and the election opens

25th February (approx.) - TEIs to receive Banner IDs for late entrants

1st March – Invoices issued to all TEIs (payment terms: 30 days)

11th March – Deadline: TEIs to submit APL credits and supporting documentation for late entrants

18th March – Deadline: CAMB Student Representative Election closes

25th March – Deadline: TEIs to submit CAMB Student Representative Election Results to Common Awards Team

30th March - Durham’s Common Awards Team announces the results of the Student Representative Election

 

2. Congregation

As TEIs are aware, in December 2021 the University took the difficult decision to postpone the Congregation ceremonies planned for January 2022. Awards for Common Awards students were legally conferred on 7th January 2022 ‘in absentia’, and documents have now been dispatched to TEIs. 

The University has secured dates at Durham Cathedral to hold the rescheduled Congregation ceremonies for Common Awards students on Monday 27th June, at 1.45pm and 3.45pm. We will be in touch shortly with full details on how students may register for their ceremony, once the Ceremonies Team has confirmed the details with us. All graduands who were eligible to attend the congregation ceremonies in January 2021 and January 2022 will be able to attend.

TEIs are reminded that the University does not hold contact details for registered or graduated students. We would ask that you contact recent graduates who were eligible to attend the congregation ceremonies in January 2021 and January 2022 to ensure that you are able to communicate with them regarding the registration processes for the rearranged ceremonies. This will ensure that all graduates who are eligible to attend the rescheduled ceremony will receive notification via their TEI of the registration process when it opens. 

 

3. Durham University Board of Examiners (Overarching)

The Overarching Board of Examiners are due to be held on September 1st (Summer) and December 1st (Winter), 2022.

We therefore ask that TEIs hold their own Board of Examiners no later than 5th August 2022 (Summer) and 4th November 2022 (Winter). This allows the Common Awards Team enough time to process the data received from TEIs, and resolve any queries, before the Overarching Board of Examiners. Thank you.

 

4. New Student Registration Data (Late Entrants)

TEIs are to submit New Student Programme Registration data for late entrants by the 11th February.

Detailed guidance on this process is available on the Common Awards website here.

 

5. Module Registration and APL Data (Late Entrants)

TEIs are to submit Module Registration data for late entrants by the 11th March. Please ensure you include all HTML Reports alongside the spreadsheets.

Detailed guidance on this process is available on the Common Awards website here (Module Registration) and here (APL data).

 

6. ‘Assessed Conversations’ information webinar

In response to queries from some TEIs, we are running a webinar on the new “Assessed Conversation” assessment type.

 

There is some guidance already available on the Common Awards website, but this webinar will be a chance to hear from people who are already using this assessment type, and to discuss some of its possibilities and pitfalls. It will be useful to any teachers on Common Awards programmes who are considering setting assessed conversations.

 

The webinar will run from 11 to 12.30 on Monday 14th February. You can register to attend at https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/a-conversation-about-assessed-conversations-tickets-252188631987

 

7. Training Events: working with students with SpLDs

The Common Awards Team is pleased to be able to offer to TEI staff some training on working with students with dyslexia or other Specific Learning Differences.

The training will be offered over two sessions, from 2 - 4.30pm on Wednesday 16th February and Wednesday 23rd February. The first session will focus on what it’s like to be dyslexic or have another Specific Learning Difference, with the second focussing on how best TEI staff can support students with an SpLD.

The training will be run by Ginny Stacey.  Ginny is herself dyslexic, and was responsible for the development of support for students with Specific Learning Differences at Oxford Brookes University.  She has co-authored a number of books in the area (see Living Confidently with Specific Learning Difficulties (SpLD) (routledgetextbooks.com)).

Please use this Eventbrite booking link to register your attendance at both events.

 

8. Seedcorn Grants: 2022 Call for Applications

We are currently open for applications to the 2022 round of Seedcorn Grant Applications. The deadline is 8th April 2022. Please read our Seedcorn Grant-Call for applications, and use our Seedcorn Grant-application form.

We are interested in proposals in any relevant area of research, but for this round we will give priority to projects in two areas:

  • Theological education in the climate crisis
  • Diversity, inclusion and belonging

Further information on these, and our current research theme can be found on the Common Awards website.

 

9. The Annual Conference for Theological Educators 2022  

Currently we are planning on hosting the Annual Conference for Theological Educators in-person at College Court, the University of Leicester between 4-6th July 2022. We hope to offer online participation options for some elements of the conference, for those who are unable to attend in-person.

TEIs are advised to make a note of the date, and booking information will follow closer to the time.

10. Common Awards Webinar - The Church and Working Class: A Dialogue

The latest webinar in the Common Awards webinar series will be taking place on 25th February, from 11:00 - 12:00. Tickets are available here.

The webinar will be hosted by Rev. Ray Gaston, and will provide an opportunity to engage with Dr Robert Myles, Dr Monica Jyotsna Melanchthon and Dr Chris Shannahan. Some of the questions that will be explored include:

  • Does Scripture speak to class struggle?
  • What is the relationship between the Church and the Working Class?
  • How can Church leadership enable solidarity with the poor?
  • How might the history of class struggle be relevant to the mission of the church today?

Contact Dr Eve Parker (eve.r.parker@durham.ac.uk) if you have any questions.

 

11. TEI Invoices

Thank you to all TEIs who reviewed the census data and informed us of any remaining errors in the records. Our Finance Team will be sending invoices to TEIs around 1st March 2022. The invoices will be based on a snapshot of student records data from 1st December; all changes communicated to us before 1st December will be reflected in the invoices.

As per the Standard Validation Contract, the TEIs were previously informed of the increase to the validation and per capita student fees in line with inflation. Please contact us if you have any further questions on this.

 

12. Staffing update

  • Katharine Groves, who is currently covering Emma Harrington’s Assistant Quality Manager role, will be leaving the team on 23rd February as she has been offered a permanent position elsewhere. Although this is sooner than we had hoped, this is an excellent opportunity for Katharine and we wish her luck in her new role. Emma Harrington will be returning from maternity leave at the end of April 2022.
  • Jennifer Gray will be joining the team on 14th February as Assistant Quality Manager (Maternity Cover) until the end of 2022.
  • This month the Common Awards administrative team will begin returning to the Durham office, initially for one day a week and building up to two days a week as part of the University’s hybrid working pilot. Our office days will be Thursdays and Fridays; we will provide TEIs with office contact details for these days once we are settled in.

 

13. Further Information

The full 2021/2022 academic calendar is available here.   

With thanks,   

The Common Awards Team