Reflecting on last week’s Graduations, and why I didn’t go to mine

Last week we had graduation ceremonies at the Luton campus, which are exciting and hectic in equal measure.

Though not as busy as the summer ceremonies, the November graduations as just as important for recognised the achievements of our students, and we attend as many as we can to capture the joy and excitement of the day.

Here's a few snaps yesterday's #BedsGrads - the full album can be viewed here: https://t.co/0ShBKihNyo pic.twitter.com/DQ0sEvWP3a

— UoB Press Office (@uobnews) November 17, 2017

I‘ve sat in on countless graduations, tweeting (using the hashtag #BedsGrads), writing down quotes for the press release later, and there is always a danger of forgetting how special the day is to the students graduating, as well as their family and friends, especially when your head is down and you’re furiously scribbling away.

Then you’ll hear a name you recognise. When you look up, there is a student you interviewed for a press release a year or so ago collecting their degree. It’s during those moments that I feel a sense of pride, especially if I know they have been through a tough time to get to that ceremony and collect their degree.

I detested my graduation –I begrudging went to the ceremony after I got my degree, but refused to go to the one after I finished my Master’s. Sometimes I regret, mostly I don’t!

It was mostly because the year I spent doing my Master’s at Kingston University was one of the hardest of my life so far, so much so I nearly quit. So when it came to the end, I was glad to see the back of it.

But whenever I go home to see my parents, there are two photos on the wall you can’t fail to notice. The photos are of my sister and me in our graduation caps and gowns (my sister graduated a few years before me from Southampton Solent.)

Both my parents had very successful careers - my dad was an air traffic controller and my mum until recently ran her own business. Neither of them went to university. They were from working class backgrounds in a time when going to university was just not an option for them. So the fact that both their children went through Higher Education must mean an awful lot to them.

My point is that behind every student at graduation is a family – parents, guardians, partners, children and friends – a small army of supporters willing them on to succeed. And every student has fought their own battles to get their degrees, many of which were probably fought in private.

Congrats to the @uniofbeds #Classof2017! #BedsGrads 🎉🙌🎓 pic.twitter.com/GJZUxhN2YZ

— UoB Press Office (@uobnews) November 16, 2017

So to the Class of 2017, I salute you!    

By the way, our press releases about graduations are now online, so please do take a look.

Clearing is coming

The torrential downpours are here, wind is getting up, and every three days the sun is out, yes the Great British Summer is finally here. So summer in HE, students have done their exams, the last artworks in the degree show taken off the wall, and you can get served in the on campus Costa in under three minutes. For support staff though, it is our busiest time as we prepare for the beast that is clearing.

Each year the emphasis on clearing across the sector varies, from important to really important, and this year it is definitely the latter. In part this is due to the changing applicant behaviour, we’ve seen trends during recent cycles of applicants making decisions later and later, putting more pressure on the clearing process.

This year we are more ready than ever. Although technically an applicant can’t apply for a course with a university until the official start of clearing on 8 July, we have already launched our Clearing 2017 website. There are a few changes this year too, the first being the main call to action. As we are a month early, we are asking students to call and leave details with us, or complete a request a call back form, enabling us to compile an almost VIP list of interested applicants. This gives us the opportunity to keep those really keen, interested and warm. 

A second notable change is the way we display our student success stories. Often day-to-day the successes of our graduates can go unnoticed when absorbed in your own departments work. We can often take for granted their achievements, and this year we are going all out in shouting about them. The beautiful thing about these stories is that the successes are all from students who attended the University of Bedfordshire through clearing.

I think that the stigma of gaining a place at university through clearing being seen as a bad thing is disappearing, and reading these stories you’d see that from international Rugby star Maggie Alphonisi, to ITV news reader Becky Jago, you are just as likely to succeed and get the career you’ve always wanted, even if it all started with the clearing hotline.

To complement our early kick off to clearing, we have an array of digital ads running and inventory across key students sites, and from August you can also look out for ad in a cinema near you. The importance of this information, well as an extra who didn’t end up on the cutting room floor, the back of head gets into at least two shots.

You can register your interest in a course or just take a look at the University of Bedfordshire Clearing 2017 site at www.beds.ac.uk/clearing.