Academic Staff
Individual Achievement Award
This Award recognises individual members of academic staff who have made a
significant contribution to making BU an excellent place to work and/or study.
Nominations for this Award needed to demonstrate visible and tangible outcomes
that linked to one or more aims in the BU Strategic Plan.
The nomination also needed to show how the individual had created a stimulating,
challenging, or rewarding university experience for staff and/or students and how
they have demonstrated one or more of the University values of Excellence,
Achievement, Authenticity, Creativity and Responsibility.
Professor Stella Fearnley
Professor in Accounting, Faculty of Management
Nominated by:
Professor Jens Hölscher
Chair/Head of Department in Accounting, Finance & Economics,
Faculty of Management
Professor Venancio Tauringana, Professor,
Faculty of Management
Professor Stella Fearnley has made a substantial academic contribution to the UK
Accounting and Finance industry. This was recognised by her receipt of a Lifetime
Achievement Award from the British Accounting and Finance Association in 2014.
Stella’s achievement of the prestigious Deloitte/American Accounting Association
Wildman Medal is the first time that this award has been made to a non-US
researcher, and therefore a direct acknowledgment of her significant contribution.
Stella engages with practitioners, holding high profile leadership positions within the
financial community. Her recent REF impact case study was noted as ‘outstanding’.
Stella’s research is frequently evidenced by the House of Lords and House of
Commons and in 2013 she gave evidence to the UK Parliamentary Commission on
Banking Standards. Stella has spoken extensively on topics related to the financial
crisis, being invited to practitioners' and regulators' conferences in London, Paris and
Brussels.
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Tom Goss
Programme Leader, Kingston Maurward College
Nominated by:
Susan Scott, Higher Education Co-ordinator,
Kingston Maurward College
Mat Jarvis, Head of Higher Education,
Kingston Maurward College
Tom Goss leads the part-time Foundation Arts Degree in Tourism and Park
Management. He has been consistently creative and inspiring to students, many of
whom left full-time education some years ago, and all of whom are working in
Caravan Parks throughout the UK. Tom’s enthusiastic, encouraging and friendly
manner inspires these students to renew their engagement with education and his
co-ordination of the team's efforts ensures consistent delivery of the learning
experience throughout the Programme. Tom receives positive feedback from
students, tutors and external examiners, as well as Caravan Park owners who are
the students' employers. He has also excelled in designing and delivering a complex
programme suitable for different student abilities in different environments, planning
well in advance and taking an innovative approach.
Professor Elizabeth Rosser
Deputy Dean Education and Professional Practice,
Faculty of Health & Social Sciences
Nominated by:
Professor Gail Thomas, Professor and Director of the Centre for
Excellence in Learning (CEL), Office of the Vice-Chancellor
Professor Elizabeth Rosser embodies Fusion, integrating a fully rounded academic
profile with a senior leadership position and exemplary academic citizenship. She is
seen as a role model for colleagues, personally achieving Principal Fellowship of the
Higher Education Academy and supporting colleagues through peer review,
mentorship and appraisal. Elizabeth is highly respected at local, national and
international levels and regularly inspires new student nurses. Her own research
project to evaluate the impact of the ‘humanising’ nursing curriculum provided
evidence that the right values and skills are being developed and these positive
results, which Elizabeth has also published and shared at conferences, help identify
BU as a leader in this field. Elizabeth has significantly increased the reputation of
nursing at BU through her presidency of a prestigious international nursing honours
society.
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Vice-Chancellor’s Staff Awards 2015
Professional and Support Staff
Individual Achievement Award
This Award recognises individual members of professional and support staff who
have made a significant contribution to making BU an excellent place to work and/or
study. Nominations for this Award needed to demonstrate visible and tangible
outcomes that linked to one or more aims in the BU Strategic Plan.
The nomination also needed to show how the individual had created a stimulating,
challenging, or rewarding university experience for staff and/or students and how
they have demonstrated one or more of the University values of Excellence,
Achievement, Authenticity, Creativity and Responsibility.
Neil Goridge
Technical Resource Assistant,
Faculty of Media & Communication
Nominated by:
Phil Spicer, Senior Lecturer in Computer Animation,
Faculty of Media & Communication
Neil has patiently and diligently provided outstanding and personalised support to
students on the MA Digital Effects programme. This has involved him in developing
his own knowledge and skills in the area of digital effects, learning new material to
the level required but also drawing on his own well-established professional
photography practice. These areas of expertise combined to enable Neil to enrich
the student experience and increase the visual quality of the filmed elements created
by students on the Programme for their Digital Effects projects. The ‘You’re Brilliant!’
Award Neil received is a testament to the tangible impact the students themselves
perceive that he has had on their learning experience.
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Sian Hedger
Marketing Coordinator, Marketing & Communications
Nominated by:
Sue Bloss, Faculty Marketing Account Manager,
Marketing & Communications
In her role within the Faculty of Media and Communication, Sian consistently strives
to deliver an outstanding and personalised student experience and help to create an
inspiring, creative and world class learning community. She has played a pivotal role
working alongside academic staff and graduating students in the Faculty to organise,
promote and evaluate key events. These include the BVE media exhibition, the
BLAST/Transmission Symposium and all the Faculty’s graduate shows. The
excellent service Sian has provided for all aspects of the organisation and marketing
for each of these different events helped shape their content and directly influenced
their success. Not only did Sian work tirelessly, but above and beyond the
expectations of her everyday role, excelling at the challenges that each of these
projects presented her.
Paula Peckham
Academic Administration Manager,
Faculty of Science & Technology
Nominated by:
Mark Brocklehurst, Director of Operations,
Faculty of Media & Communication
Professor Stephen Jukes, Dean of the Faculty of Media &
Communication
In her previous role as Academic Administration Manager in the Faculty of Media &
Communication, Paula’s personal and professional achievements were significant.
She effectively led and motivated a large and diverse administrative team who were
themselves playing a critical role in delivering an outstanding student experience.
Whilst encouraging team members to address their own continuing professional
development, Paula enhanced her own through completion of the ‘Inspiring Leaders’
Development Programme and private study, applying what she learnt to further
inspire the team to make tangible improvements to service levels. Paula has also
made a positive contribution to the Student Journey Project in her role as a Change
Facilitator and by deploying innovative and creative approaches with the team to
enable them to support development of new areas of work such as the Postgraduate
Fusion Curriculum.
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Vice-Chancellor’s Staff Awards 2015
Academic Staff
Unsung Hero Award
This Award recognises where an individual member of academic staff has
contributed significantly to an excellent staff or student experience, but where the
contribution that they have made has been largely invisible to date, or conducted
behind the scenes. Nominees in this category may include those whose circle of
influence is small, but whose impact on the people around them is significant.
This could have been done through one or more of the following:




By making a significant contribution to an excellent staff or student experience
that has so far gone unrecognised
By making a substantial contribution to the early stages of an initiative that
went on to become very significant
By being an influential role model to their colleagues by demonstrating their
skills and/or attributes in providing an excellent staff or student experience
By routinely providing a consistently excellent service to staff or students that
‘oils the wheels’ of the organisation, but that might otherwise go un-noticed
The nomination also needed to show how the member of staff had demonstrated
one or more of the University values of Excellence, Achievement, Authenticity,
Creativity and Responsibility.
Melanie Gray
Senior Lecturer in Advertising,
Faculty of Media & Communication
Nominated by:
Academic colleagues in the Faculty of Media & Communication
Melanie Gray has made a strong contribution to BU’s intellectual and teaching
culture in her achievements as Programme Leader (PL) of a new and unique crossFaculty degree, the BSc Marketing. Over and above what might usually be expected
from someone in the PL role, Melanie has embodied BU's value of excellence in
overseeing the design of the degree, using leadership and stewardship skills to
blend creative and management disciplines, ensuring a harmonious teaching,
learning and administrative experience across the two Faculties. In addition,
Melanie has made a substantial contribution to the collaborative revalidation team
reviewing the Corporate and Marketing Communications Framework. Furthermore,
she has been an influential role model in leading a winning team of students in a
world-class student competition, ‘AdVenture’ as well as mentoring a student who
subsequently went on to receive a ‘Graduate Achievement Award’.
Vice-Chancellor’s Staff Awards 2015
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Chris Keenan
Lecturer in Learning & Teaching,
Faculty of Science & Technology
Nominated by:
Professor Gail Thomas, Professor and Director of the Centre for
Excellence in Learning (CEL), Office of the Vice-Chancellor
Professor Jim Roach, Professor and Business Engagement
Leader, Office of the Vice-Chancellor
Chris Keenan has made creative and tireless efforts to stimulate colleagues to think
differently, adopt new ideas and develop new skills in learning and teaching in order
to provide an excellent student experience. While already acclaimed externally as
an innovator, this nomination recognises Chris’ leadership of collaborative projects
and other research and policy work within BU. The outcomes of these have been
adopted across the University as well as influencing how other Higher Education
Institutions support and develop their students. Chris’ nomination also acknowledges
her enthusiastic contribution to the success of the Centre for Excellence in Learning
and the effective dissemination of good practice in education.
Dr Richard Scullion
Senior Principal Academic, Faculty of Media & Communication
Nominated by:
Beverly Barker, Lecturer in Advertising,
Faculty of Media & Communication
Dr Richard Scullion has worked tirelessly during a challenging year affected by major
staff illnesses and absences, ensuring that students continued to receive an
excellent service and minimal interruption to their schedules. He has made a
contribution that goes above and beyond expectation to re-schedule and re-structure
units and teaching teams at short notice, in order to ensure that the student
experience was not affected. This nomination is a testament to the personal,
professional and pastoral support Richard has provided to team members, which has
enabled them to continue to give their best support to students during these
challenging times.
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Vice-Chancellor’s Staff Awards 2015
Professional and Support Staff
Unsung Hero Award
This Award recognises where an individual member of professional and support staff
has contributed significantly to an excellent staff or student experience, but where
the contribution that they have made has been largely invisible to date, or conducted
behind the scenes. Nominees in this category may include those whose circle of
influence is small, but whose impact on the people around them is significant.
This could have been done through one or more of the following:




By making a significant contribution to an excellent staff or student experience
that has so far gone unrecognised
By making a substantial contribution to the early stages of an initiative that
went on to become very significant
By being an influential role model to their colleagues by demonstrating their
skills and/or attributes in providing an excellent staff or student experience
By routinely providing a consistently excellent service to staff or students that
‘oils the wheels’ of the organisation, but that might otherwise go un-noticed
The nomination also needed to show how the member of staff had demonstrated
one or more of the University values of Excellence, Achievement, Authenticity,
Creativity and Responsibility.
Greta Danuleviciute
Marketing Coordinator, Marketing & Communications
Nominated by:
Sophie Larder, Faculty Marketing Account Manager,
Marketing & Communications
Jenine Timms, Corporate Marketing & Liaison Manager,
Marketing & Communications
Greta Danuleviciute took on the project management of a new initiative to combine
Applicant Open Days in order to improve the student experience, maximise
attendance and increase conversions. She developed the project beyond the initial
brief despite an already demanding workload, co-ordinating, managing and
implementing three successful events. Greta’s efforts ensured that students had a
more personalised experience as well as giving applicants a better understanding of
the courses on offer. Her approach resulted in excellent feedback from staff and
prospective students. Importantly, students felt more confident about their course
choices and conversion rates increased. Greta has a positive work ethic, always
willing to volunteer for new tasks that will expand her knowledge and skills.
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Nicola Marlow
Internal Communications Officer, Marketing & Communications
Three nominations were received from:
Lauren Duff, Reception Team Leader, Estates
Sally Gates, Internal Communications Manager,
Marketing & Communications and Dan Ford, Digital
Communications Officer, Marketing & Communications
Serena Witt, Staff Intranet & Projects Manager,
Human Resources & Organisational Development
All three nominations recognise Nicola Marlow for being reliable and calm under
pressure. Working closely with Faculties and Departments across BU, and in her role
as editor of Inside BU, she creates engaging and informative news stories for staff
across the University in print and on the Staff Intranet. Nicola also contributes to
strategic activity through her involvement with the Centre for Excellence in Learning
(CEL) and the Dignity, Diversity and Equality Committee (DDESG). Nicola epitomises
an unsung hero as she works quietly behind the scenes to enrich the day-to-day
experience staff have of BU, offering service excellence as standard, with her positive
‘can do’ attitude.
David Stone
Web Developer, Marketing & Communications
Nominated by:
Matt Northam, Front End Applications Development Team
Leader, Marketing & Communications
David Stone is consistently helpful and proactive in his role, making a significant
impact in many areas of Bournemouth University's digital output, both internally and
externally. David’s input during the recent BU website project helped to ensure a
consistent user experience on the site and that the student journey is as seamless as
possible. His ability to see and take creative opportunities has enabled him to extend
this work to create pitch-side advertising in readiness for the new premier league
season at AFC Bournemouth. David’s friendly manner and many constructive
contributions have had a positive impact on team morale.
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Vice-Chancellor’s Staff Awards 2015
Affiliated Staff Award
This Award recognises where an individual affiliated staff member has contributed
significantly to an excellent staff or student experience, but where the contribution
that they have made has been largely invisible to date, or conducted behind the
scenes. Nominees in this category may include those whose circle of influence is
small, but whose impact on the people around them is significant.
This could have been done through one or more of the following:

By making a significant contribution to an excellent staff or student experience
that has so far gone unrecognised

By making a substantial contribution to the early stages of an initiative that
went on to become very significant

By being an influential role model to their colleagues by demonstrating their
skills and/or attributes in providing an excellent staff or student experience

By routinely providing a consistently excellent service to staff or students that
‘oils the wheels’ of the organisation, but that might otherwise go un-noticed
The nomination also needed to show how the member of staff had demonstrated
one or more of the University values of Excellence, Achievement, Authenticity,
Creativity and Responsibility.
Sue Burt
International Chaplain, Friends International
Nominated by:
Canon Dr Bill Merrington, Lead Chaplain, Student Services
Sue Burt brings passion to the way in which she cares for international students and
staff, using the pastoral skills of friendship, listening, supporting, signposting and
encouragement. As a voluntary worker, Sue has gone above and beyond what
might be expected from her in her role. She has introduced a wide range of
initiatives all aimed at helping international students to make friends and to integrate
successfully into British culture, notably at the crucial time of their arrival, as well as
to re-integrate into their own culture on the conclusion of their studies. Not only is
Sue an excellent ambassador for BU, ensuring that students return to their native
home praising the care and support the University provides, but she has also
promoted a culture within BU that is sensitive to the international student need.
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Teri Lowther
Nursery Manager, Talbot Woods Day Nursery and Pre-School
Nominated by:
Colleagues with children in the Talbot Woods Day Nursery and
Pre-School
Teri Lowther makes a significant contribution to an excellent staff and student
experience, through her commitment to service excellence and authentic leadership
of the Talbot Woods Nursery Team. Teri plays a tangible role in the provision of
outstanding on-campus childcare that helps make BU an excellent place to work and
study. This is a key factor in retaining staff returning to work after parental and
maternity leave by putting their minds, as parents, at rest. Teri is an inspiring role
model for the team, sharing her enthusiasm for and knowledge of childhood
education with them, and mentoring/enabling all team members to fulfil their
potential. Teri has used her creativity to provide the children in her care with
stimulating, enjoyable and unique learning experiences that help them to flourish. In
all of these ways, Teri epitomises BU’s values.
Shane Wilson
Catering Manager – Talbot Campus, Chartwells
Four nominations were received from:
The UET Support Team
Rebecca Walsh, Student Recruitment & Outreach Officer,
Marketing & Communications
Edward Ellwood, Admissions Assistant,
Marketing & Communications
Susanne Clarke, Head of Service Excellence,
Office of the Vice-Chancellor
All four nominations recognise Shane Wilson’s ‘can do’ attitude and the attention that
he gives to individual needs. The nominations identify how the innovative ideas
Shane contributes add value to the events he supports, and the way in which he
personally embodies the principles of service excellence. Shane’s professionalism,
flexibility and willingness to ‘think outside the box’ ensure that catering solutions
accommodate the changing needs and requirements of those organising and/or
attending the events with which he is involved, be these high profile and large scale
with external visitors or students, or simply a small internal meeting. His commitment
to Chartwells and to BU is exemplary and the relationship that he has built up with
the team inspires them to follow his example and provide excellent service
themselves.
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Vice-Chancellor’s Staff Awards 2015
Collaborative Team Award
This Award recognises staff who support each other and work together in a coordinated way to significantly enhance the experience of others and have made a
significant contribution to making BU an excellent place to work and/or study. The
‘team’ can be a structural or geographical team, or a team that is made up of staff
from across the institution who have been working together to achieve a common
goal. The team could be an academic team, professional and support staff team,
affiliated staff team, or a cross-functional team made up of two or more of these
groups.
The nomination also needed to show how the team had created a stimulating,
challenging, or rewarding university experience for staff and/or students and how
they had demonstrated one or more of the University values of Excellence,
Achievement, Authenticity, Creativity and Responsibility.
Faculty of Health and Social Sciences Widening Participation
Steering Group
Lead team member:
Dr Bethan Collins, Principal Academic,
Faculty of Health & Social Sciences
Nominated by:
Nicola Murray-Fagan, Head of UK Student
Recruitment and Outreach, Marketing &
Communications
The Faculty of Health and Social Sciences Widening Participation Steering Group is
an excellent example of a diverse group of staff working effectively together to
enhance the student experience, thereby enabling BU to address national Widening
Participation (WP) agendas. Working over and above normal practice, the Team has
a shared passion for WP and one of their key achievements includes the production
of a suite of resources to provide guidance and support to raise aspirations and to
enable prospective students to complete credible university applications. The Team
also secured funding to undertake a co-creation project with WP students to
understand their perceptions of applying to BU and this has resulted in piloting online
Open Days as well as the submission of an academic paper. The Team’s work is
recognised as significant, engaging and innovative across the University as well as
within the local community.
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International Admissions Team
Lead team member:
Elisabeth Nietsch, International Admissions
Manager, Marketing & Communications
Nominated by:
Andrew Bird, Head of International Marketing and
Student Recruitment,
Marketing & Communications
The International Admissions Team has dedicated itself to supporting the
challenging implementation of SITS and to helping ensure that BU achieves its
goal/KPI of having 16% of non-UK students on campus three years earlier than
planned. The Team has worked across the University, supporting other teams with
training, to ensure that the system was fit for purpose. They have kept the needs of
the student at the heart of every decision and implemented creative work-arounds to
achieve the Service Level Agreement of 48 hours turnaround for each applicant
enquiry even with record application numbers coming in. As a Team they have
consistently provided an excellent service to both potential students in their applicant
journey and to staff members throughout BU. In this way they also reflect BU’s core
values of creativity and responsibility.
Peer Assisted Learning (PAL) Training Team
Lead team member:
Charlotte Thackeray, Peer Learning Officer,
Academic Services
Nominated by:
Neil Ford, Library and Learning Support
Academic Liaison Development Manager,
Academic Services
The Peer Assisted Learning (PAL) Training Team have delivered an outstanding and
personalised student experience in preparing students for their role as PAL Leaders.
By role-modelling the facilitation skills expected of the students in that role, and
through their efforts to continuously evaluate and improve the learning experience in
response to student feedback, the Team has ensured that the Programme is active,
engaging and useful. The development the Team provides enables student
participants to develop leadership, confidence, communication skills and the ability to
collaborate with diverse groups. Through their work, BU has become not only a
leader in PAL, embedding it across all full-time undergraduate frameworks, but also
a role model for other Higher Education Institutions – two achievements of which it is
extremely proud.
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Vice-Chancellor’s Staff Awards 2015
GlobalBU Award
The GlobalBU award recognises where staff are:

Taking an innovative and global approach to our Fusion of education,
research and professional practice

Inspiring colleagues – students and/or staff – to engage globally

Establishing innovative or creative partnerships with institutions, enterprises
or government agencies that have resulted in global reach and impact

Supporting the internationalisation of the curriculum and developing the global
awareness of our students

Enhancing the University’s reputation globally
The nomination also needs to show how the member of staff has demonstrated one
or more of the University values of Excellence, Achievement, Authenticity, Creativity
and Responsibility.
Kerry Leanne Berry
International Manager, Faculty of Management
Two nominations received from:
Dr Richard Shipway, Associate Dean: International
Engagement, Faculty of Management; Mark Ridolfo, Principal
Academic, Faculty of Management and Chris Hall, Associate
Dean, Faculty of Management
Lydia Chen, International Student Recruitment Manager,
Marketing & Communications
Kerry Leanne Berry has demonstrated commitment and exemplary leadership in
ensuring that strategic international partnerships, recruitment and mobility
opportunities are managed, maintained and enhanced in a way that raises BU's
profile. She has achieved this through her professionalism, efficiency and integrity,
as well as with patience and good humour. Kerry has high level interpersonal skills,
encouraging, inspiring and mobilising academic staff to engage in BU's global
development. Both nominations recognise how, through the excellence, creativity
and responsibility she has shown, the Faculty of Management has a solid foundation
from which to develop fully its global engagement aspirations and ambitions.
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Jill Davey
Principal Academic, Faculty of Health & Social Sciences
Nominated by:
Professor Elizabeth Rosser, Deputy Dean Education and
Professional Practice, Faculty of Health & Social Sciences
Professor Gail Thomas, Professor and Director of the Centre for
Excellence in Learning (CEL), Office of the Vice-Chancellor
In her role as Framework Lead for Social Work and Sociology, Jill Davey has
brought a committed and creative approach to supporting BU's international agenda
over a sustained period of time. As the University's long-standing representative on
the European Social Work Network, Jill has developed mobility initiatives such as
placements, exchanges and visits that enable students to learn from other students
in social work and social sciences overseas. In addition, the social work and
sociology curricula have been commended internally and externally as examples of
excellence in integrating global issues. Jill has also led the development of a oneyear MA Social Care programme specifically for international students and a
successful Fusion Investment-funded bid that enabled staff to further develop
collaborative opportunities in education, research and professional practice. Jill is an
excellent ambassador for BU, continually developing new global links.
Dr Marta Vizcaya Echano
International Mobility Officer, Academic Services
Nominated by:
Erica Mazerolle-Castillo, Student Mobility Administrator,
Academic Services
Dr Marta Vizcaya Echano has a strong commitment to facilitating opportunities for
students to gain international experience. In addition, she has developed initiatives
such as the Global Experience Tour that encourage students less traditionally
inclined to engage globally, to increase their international activities. Marta has also
led on other successful innovations such as providing face-to-face drop in sessions
at The Edge supporting students with international experiences, and designing a
successful Study and Work Abroad Festival that promoted funding opportunities, as
well underlining the reasons why students should engage globally. Marta has worked
to remove barriers to international mobility by successfully bidding for additional
internal funding to enable widening participation students to engage in study
exchanges. Her efforts have directly contributed to embedding the globalisation
agenda within the student experience.
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Vice-Chancellor’s Staff Awards 2015
Vice-Chancellor's Achievement Award
In order to mark the anniversary of five highly successful years of Vice-Chancellor’s
Staff Awards, the Vice-Chancellor will this year bestow a new award.
The Vice-Chancellor’s Achievement Award is made in recognition of exceptional
topical or career accomplishments and/or unparalleled service to BU not
acknowledged directly by the other award categories.
There is no shortlist and only one winner for this Award, which will be announced this
evening.
Evening Reception
Thank you to everyone who took part in the Vice-Chancellor’s Staff Awards 2015.
Please now join us in The Atrium for a light buffet supper accompanied by live music.
Please remember to share your congratulatory messages and photos on Twitter
using #VCStaffAwards
Vice-Chancellor’s Staff Awards 2015
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