Statement Regarding Dr Dalgetty

Posted 117 Months Ago

On Friday 7^th August the Student Union was made aware that the School of Life Sciences decided not to reappoint Dr Donna Dalgetty as Associate Professor in Biology following a change to her previous teaching role. The Student Union is extremely disappointed with the School Of Life Sciences decision and does not support this action in any way.

The Student Union strongly believes that Dr Dalgetty consistently upholds the standards and values of Heriot-Watt University in improving learning and teaching standards and supporting students’ learning.  We believe the decision by the School to let such a valued and valuable member of teaching staff go is unacceptable and goes against the University’s values in engaging and listening to students’ views.

The Student Union calls for a review in to the focus of learning & teaching within the School of Life Science, with a view to ensuring that outstanding lecturers such as Dr Dalgetty are not dismissed in the future. We believe Dr Dalgetty’s departure will have a damaging effect on the student learning experience and welfare within the School. Considering the decline in student satisfaction in the School the Student Union believes they have made the wrong decision in not continuing Dr Dalgetty’s employment. We believe that reemploying Dr Dalgetty within the school would drastically improve student morale, and the overall standards of the school.

Following the decision by the School, the Student Union understands that a large number of students are devastated at the news that Dr Dalgetty will no longer teach at Heriot-Watt University. The Student Union would like to express our support for those who wish to protest the decision peacefully, and urge those of you who wish to do so to contact us for any advice you need.  Additionally, we want to remind students that both the Student Union and our Advice Hub are here to support you should your face any problems during your time at Heriot-Watt.

The Student Union would like to wish Dr Dalgetty all the best in her future endeavours wherever she may end up, and would like to reiterate our unending gratitude for the support she’s given students and the Student Union during her time at Heriot-Watt. The Union is proud to award Dr Dalgetty an Honorary Lifetime Membership, as a small thank you for all her hard work and support.

Learning and Teaching Oscars 2015 winners

Posted 120 Months Ago

The Learning and Teaching Oscars took place on Wedneday 13^th May 2015 in the Student Union. The awards themselves were attended by 80 staff and students from across the University who enjoyed informal afternoon tea in a New York styled room.

There were 6 Learning and Teaching Oscars presented, which were:

Switched On Award: Most Engaging Lecturer – Jonathan Leach (EPS)
Support Staff: Admin or Technical Support – Jolanda Currie (SLS)
Thinkers Award: Most Challenging Lecturer – Mark MacQueen (SML)
Guiding Hand Award: Most Supportive Lecturer – Donna Dalgetty (SLS)
Feedback Award: Innovative use of Feedback – Valerie Dickie (SML)
Refreshing Award: Innovative Teaching Styles – Andy White (MACS)

The Maths department won the award for Representation Team of the Year for their excellent work in student representation and improving the mentoring system.

In addition, a few surprise awards were presented, firstly the Suave Staff Award to Pierre de-Gioia Carabellese for his offer to students to take them shopping and to teach them how to buy a well tailored suit.

John Sawkins received an award from Jessie Nelmes, Student President for his guidance, support and commitment to improving the student learning experience.

Denise McCaig received an award from Jessie Nelmes, Student President for her ongoing hard work and enthusiasm in all aspects of her role.

Shorter Shop Queues

Posted 121 Months Ago

We’re constantly looking at ways to improve the services we provide, which you will hopefully have seen recently with our changes to the food available in the Student Union café and bar. Our latest changes have taken place in the shop to reduce the queues we experience at prime times throughout the day – something else you told us we needed to fix.

As such, we have recently upgraded the debit and credit card systems in the shop. This new equipment works much faster than before, and also features contactless payment (if your card supports it) meaning you can pay within seconds.

We have also removed the PayPoint terminals from the shop, as we noticed these transactions often took a few minutes to process and held up those of you who simply wanted to quickly grab your lunch between lectures. Don’t worry though, PayPoint is still available on campus at the Student Union Reception – so you can still topup your bus pass, pay your bills and buy a mobile phone voucher.

We hope you will find these changes useful, but as always we love to hear your comments so send them to us on student.president@hw.ac.uk.

Opening over Spring Break

Posted 121 Months Ago

Friday sees the start of the Spring vacation, so we thought we would update you on our opening hours over the next three weeks:

Student Shop

Student Union Offices

Monday - Friday : 9am - 5pm (closed Fri 3rd April & Mon 6th April)

Geordies

Closed

Libertys

Closed

Please also note that the Medical Centre will be closed Friday 3rd April - Monday 6th April inclusive. 

For medical assistance during this time please call NHS24 - Tel 111

For dental assistance during this time please call Chalmers Dental Hospital - 0131 536 4800