Learning and Teaching Strategy update 2008
Name of Service:
Development and Alumni Office (DAO)
Contact name and email address: Cathy Bell (C.Bell@admin.gla.ac.uk)
Title of case study: Support from the Chancellor’s Fund for learning and teaching
initiatives
Keywords: excelling in learning and teaching, investment
Description
The Chancellor’s Fund, supported by donations to the University, provides an important
source of unrestricted funds, enabling direction of funds to areas where they can have the
greatest effect. The Fund’s Advisory Board has identified four key areas for investment:
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supporting our students: student welfare
enhancing the learning environment: environment, facilities and equipment
developing excellence: research, scholarship and teaching
preserving our heritage: culture and heritage
All donations to the Chancellor’s Fund contribute to one or more of these areas. The
Advisory Board meets twice yearly to award grants to deserving projects across the
University community. Recent examples related to learning and teaching include:
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Glasgow University Science Festival: £10,000 to bring the University’s scientific
research to the community at large, as part of the GUSF. This annual event also
focuses on encouraging young people from all backgrounds to consider a future in
science and helps develop the existing communication skills of staff and current
students
£5,000 for development of an online resource to support staff engaging in the
Scholarship of Learning & Teaching by providing practical, collegial, academic and
pastoral support.
summer studentship in high performance physiology: £5,400 to fund an annual
studentship that will allow talented Physiology and Sports Science students to gain
valuable experience working with top class athletes. This is a particularly timely
award in the run up to the Olympics (London 2012) and Commonwealth Games
(Glasgow 2014)
high fidelity simulation in nurse education: £2,400 to allow nursing students to
develop skills by practising with a simulated critically ill patient in a safe, nonthreatening environment. This experience will be furthered by use of video whereby
students can review their own performance and receive constructive feedback.
Training the water engineers of the future: £3,000 to provide the equipment for
teaching the fundamental concepts of water treatment. These resources will be a
vital asset for practical sessions which will be conducted in the recently approved
Water Quality Laboratory and central to the public health component of the
undergraduate and Masters degree programmes in this area.
Conclusion
The Chancellor’s Fund does not fund any items or projects which a department should cover
in its normal activities and budget. There are occasions, however, when a worthy project
does not fit into existing sources of funding. Such projects which fit under the aegis of the
University’s Learning & Teaching Strategy may apply to the Chancellor’s Fund and those
receiving funding play a valuable part in lifting the richness of University’s learning and
teaching to a higher level than would otherwise be possible.