Current Staff Celebration Awardee: Rafid Al-Khannak

‘Staff Celebration’ is an opportunity for us to celebrate members of staff who have gone above and beyond, inspired us, and deserve recognition.

February 2023

Rafid Al-Khannak (Creative and Digital Industries)

‘’Rafid’s innovative teaching technique stimulates students’ learning curiosity and encourages students to better themselves by critically evaluating their knowledge and understanding as well as building their self-confidence. He is strict and demanding but does so constructively; Rafid helps students shift their thinking and unlock their greatest potential. He challenges students making them see they can be successful and reach their dreams if they work hard and believe in themselves. Rafid teaches not just the concepts but underlying mechanisms to equip students in a holistic understanding. He also brings multiple concepts together and explain how they work in practice, specifically in the context of the industry. For all this, the entire MSci Cyber Security L7 cohort wants to say a big thank you and we hope to see Rafid’s dedication being appreciated by the university.’’ 

 

January 2023

Amsale Wamburu – (Nursing and Midwifery)

Amsale is the definition of calmness and brings out the most in you as a student. She explains clearly and makes you want to learn more and think outside the box. She encourages students to develop their knowledge more and makes you bring practical into theory which develops the evidence-based practice which is all about nursing.

As a nursing student in their final year, it’s that last push which makes you believe in yourself of how much knowledge you have gathered all these years to be ready to face the world and Amsale brings that drive in the School of Nursing.

Christina Ebanks – (Nursing and Midwiferey)

Christina knows how to bring out the best in her students. She supports them to grow as individuals within their field. Be champions of change.  She understands their learning styles and makes learning interesting, challenging and forward thinking. She knows her subject from a knowledgeable and practical perspective. She has good communication skills and works with a team who know and understand the students’ life experiences.

 

December 22

Geeta Lamichhane (Nursing and Midwifery)

‘’I believe Geeta deserves this nomination. Over three years Geeta has been a very welcoming presence, she engages with all students and will always try her best to support everyone. She truly values the student's views, and by chairing the Programme Committee Meetings, she listens, engages, and acts on issues that have been raised. For any questions students ask, she will always try her best to answer or guide them to those who will be able to support and respond to the questions asked. She is very approachable and professional; she is fun to be around making learning and gaining knowledge a little easier. Thank you, Geeta!’’

 

November 22

Obiajunwa Ama (Business and Law)

''Obi is an amazing lecturer. He teaches us with lots of passion and supports us with our learning needs – the quality of his teaching is incomparable, going above and beyond. He makes sure we understand the lectures by asking us if we understood them or not and provides a simpler explanation if need be. This is a talent because the core module of Equity and Trust is not an easy module, but the way he teaches us is so enjoyable and makes it easy to understand. Obi even offers us the time to book an online session with him to go over topics that we are not sure of. This is very kind and helpful of him to give us his spare time. He is deserving of this nomination. Thank you, Obi, for being such a great lecturer.''

 

October 22

Megan White (Nursing and Midwifery)

“I think that Megan deserves this nomination for always going above and beyond for all of her students. She is always willing to help any of us out when needed and teaches us with passion – she shares her knowledge with us all willingly and no problem is too big. We always look forward to her lectures and seminars as she is great when engaging with us as students and explaining everything in great detail. She truly is a great asset to the University and deserves this recognition!”

 

March 2022

Karen Johnstone (Student Success)

“I had an excellent experience with Karen Johnstone from the Counselling team. She’s excellent at what she does and helped me view my concerns from a completely unexpected angle. What I really did not expect (and was blown away by) was that being aware of my niche field of study, she was able to use metaphors and comparisons suited to me, which enabled us to understand each other. This also added a necessary levity and openness to our discussion, while also enabling a real understanding of what was going on with me, my mental health, and the situation. This in turn allowed me to achieve my best at coursework. I am very grateful for the help she was to me, and believe such personalisation should be recognised!"

 

February 2022

Beth Claridge (Creative and Digital Industries)

"Over the first term beth has really helped me and my peers adapt into uni lifestyle her lectures are always light-hearted and enjoyable. I find her stories and anecdotes interesting and educational. I believe she has been a great help into me and my class mates as she always has a smile on her face and a positive attitude and a smile can go such a long way. Beth has really inspired and helped me since starting uni and she continues to do this with every session we have. She deserves this award as she always has a positive outlook on teaching and always comes prepared and with her best foot forward her lectures are never dull."

Carla Avery (Nursing, Midwifery & Allied Health)

"Carla always supports our learning needs and adapts lessons to make sure that we all understand and learn as best as we can. She encourages us to understand and use our strengths to help us academically. She also raises our level of learning far above what is necessary and helps us to develop skills that will benefit us long after we've completed our degrees both professionally and personally. Carla maintains a collaborative, open and diverse learning environment and always demonstrates amazing leadership, patience and communication skills.

We learn far more from Carla than what we need to pass our exams. Carla is an incredible asset to the University and all of us Midwifery students and I'm so very grateful that she's developed such an incredible Midwifery program and that we have a Uni that has supported her to build a team and a course that teaches to such an exceptional standard."

Rafid Al-Khannak (Creative & Digital Industries)

"Rafid deserves a recognition as making a huge difference in students' experience. His quality of teaching is incomparable to anybody else's, it is way above the standard. Every lecture is filled with practical examples and connected directly to the industry, making it clear why the material is being taught and how students can use this knowledge in future employment. Material is discussed in a relation to the opportunities that module opens, Rafid encourages students to dive deeper into the material and certify themselves to improve their value in the job market. Rafid does not avoid difficult questions; he actively encourages students in each session to "put him in the corner" and bring the most difficult questions students can think of. He makes sure everybody understands the discussed points and offers additional explanation if required.

Rafid encourages all students to actively participate in the session by asking them questions, which results in many students discovering their capabilities also students’ self-confidence is improved. A lot of attention is being paid to use of the right vocabulary during discussion, so that students present their knowledge in a professional manner and are ready for entering job market once they graduate. Rafid provides a lot of support. Whenever students have any issue, he promptly helps out if possible, if not, then he points the case to the people who can help. He is an immense help for the entire student group and all of them would like to see university celebrate all the effort he puts in his work."

January 2022

Allison Savory (Human and Social Sciences)

"Allison is an amazing lecturer, she provides really interesting lessons, where we can have debates and discussions, and provides us with lots of interesting information!
When I first started Uni, I wasn't too sure about the criminal law and justice lectures I was going to be having, but Allison has ended up making it one of my favourite lessons to attend! She is an amazing tutor and clearly really passionate about the subject she teaches. I always come out of her classes feeling invigorated and wanting to find out more about what I have just learnt!
Thank you Allison for being an amazing tutor!"

December 2021

Sarah Ireland (Nursing, Midwifery and Allied Health) 

"Sarah has been amazing throughout this academic year already. Students have described her as consistently helpful and quick to respond to any and every query. No Problem seems to be too big and she is always there to help support students in any way she can. Sarah provides great communication; her responses are prompt and to the point, which students find extremely beneficial. She has also been described as very interactive and engaging in lectures, with students always looking forward to her sessions. Sarah is a great asset to the university and has been consistent support for the nursing students during a few particularly challenging years - this deserves celebrating."

November 2021

Ravi Chawla (Business & Law) 

"We would like to say a big thank you to Ravi Chawla an Associate Lecturer who has demonstrated excellence and innovation in student learning support this year through moving around the timetabled teaching sessions to provide extra sessions for students who have teaching on a Wednesday afternoon to allow them to partake in co-curricular activity on a Wednesday afternoon whilst dually enabling students who commute in from a long distance and have caring commitments not being affected by an earlier start. Ravi is providing personal exclusive seminars to students who may miss out on teaching due to partaking in sport on a Wednesday afternoon. Many thanks to Ravi for going beyond what is expected to support the student experience."