TBS News 4.pub (Read-Only) - Teesside University

TBS NEWS Volume 1, Issue 4

May 2006

TEESSIDE BUSINESS SCHOOL

Athens Graduation John Wilson and David Allison from TBS and Dave Woodhouse and Jan Anderson from the School of Social Sciences and Law attended a graduation ceremony in Athens on 22 March. The ceremony was for students at Mediterranean College, Athens. John Wilson gave the Keynote Address at the ceremony. TBS and Mediterranean have been collaborating since 2002 and, this year, nearly 40 students graduated at undergraduate or postgraduate level. The collaboration is now being extended to include the University’s School of Social Sciences and Law.

Student Says "Apart from giving me more confidence as a manager, the course has enhanced my understanding of public service generally and my ability to think in a strategic way. It has provided me with an intellectual 'toolkit' which I can use to assist in any projects I'm asked to undertake."

Julia Svennevig, Master of Business Administration (Public Management) A Service Manager in Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council’s Social Services Directorate Inside this issue: Athens Graduation Student Says Recruitment & Marketing China Recruitment Fairs Aarlen Visitors Visitor from Rotterdam TBS and Farm Diversification

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TBS News TEESSIDE BUSINESS SCHOOL

Marketing & Recruitment Applications for TBS undergraduate programmes are sharply higher than in the previous year, though postgraduate applications are running slightly behind last year’s figures. The introduction of variable tuition fees from September 06 may be encouraging students from the Tees Valley to study vocationally-oriented subjects such as business, and to do so closer to home, but the upturn almost certainly also reflects the increased marketing activities of the School to which many colleagues have contributed.

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For example the school has: • Raised its marketing budget by approximately 50% this year. • Appointed a Marketing and Recruitment Manager (Fiona McQuillan) and reorganised the administrative support for marketing and recruitment. • Been heavily featured in highly targeted advertising on the UCAS website • Been represented at educational events in the UK and internationally in China, India, Germany, Kuwait, Oman and Bahrain. • Advertised in publications in North Yorkshire to widen its core target market. • Run a wider range of ‘Discovery Days’, which allow students to gain a taste of specific subject areas. There have been 28 sessions (8 of which were run as special events for particular schools) and they have attracted over

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400 pupils, a substantial increase over previous years Worked with Redcar and Cleveland College to design a TBS higher education module to be delivered at the College to encourage progression to the University. Had direct contact in various ways with a large number of local schools and colleges including Carmel School, Queen Elizabeth 6th Form College Darlington, Ian Ramsey School, Stockton, Whitby Community College, Stockton 6th Form College, Stokesley School and Prior Pursglove 6th Form College (see Activities with Schools below). Updated the website and ensured that new stories are presented on the site regularly. Initiated a series of profileraising articles on ‘Business Today’ which are featured on the TBS website and fortnightly in the The Northern Echo. At the postgraduate level, ensured the MBA programme is featured on the Hobsons MBA website – a major information provider on MBAs worldwide (see www.mba.hobsons.com).

Activities with Schools TBS hosted separate ‘Discovery Days’ for Ian Ramsey School, Stockton, and Carmel School, Darlington, on Leisure and Tourism. The events were well attended and the feedback from each School was very positive. One of the aims of the events

was to raise students’ and parents’ awareness of the academic nature of the TBS degrees in these subjects as well as the excellent career prospects for leisure and tourism graduates. Queen Elizabeth VIth Form in Darlington. Maria Hopwood gave talks on the TBS Public Relations degree. This consisted of 3 x 1 hour sessions to students in the Upper Sixth and a total of 55 students attended. Again, very positive feedback was received. Noel Dennis ran a Jazz Workshop at Whitby Community College on 8th May. In addition, two pupils from each of the local schools in Whitby (Caedmon and Eskdale) were invited to attend. Alan Smith and Noel Dennis will be running a two-day Advertising and Marketing Workshop for Prior Pursglove 6th Form College in Guisborough. They ran this last year and it was extremely successful. Mike Machin, who is the head of Business at the College, is a former student of TBS. Noel will also be running a business orientated session with St John’s RC Comprehensive School in Bishop Auckland. TBS was also represented at a well attended Careers Fair held at Stokesley School.


China Recruitment Fairs Representatives of TBS, School of Social Sciences and Law and the International Office visited China from 16 - 27 February and attended recruitment fairs at Beijing, Chongqing and Shanghai. TBS was represented by Terry Robinson. The fair at Beijing was busy throughout the two days. Numerous visitors sought information from the University stand, including one “child prodigy”, aged about 12 and who spoke near-perfect English, who was looking for university entrance in September. The stand was also visited by the British Ambassador to China. There was a great deal of interest in business programmes, both at undergraduate and postgraduate levels. Most visitors were clearly aware of what they wanted and had a good knowledge of the entry requirements e.g. most visitors realised that if they wished to study for an MBA at TBS they would need at least two years of managerial experience. Chongqin, about two and a half hours flying time south of Beijing, is China’s fourth largest city with a population of some 31.3m. It appears to have less connections with UK universities than other cities. The fair was a half day event that was busy from the outset. Again, there was considerable interest in business. A presentation on the University and TBS was also delivered at Sichuan International Studies University (SISU) . At Shanghai, about two hours flying time west of Chongqin, the fair was a two day event and busy throughout. Students here were more aware of UK education than at the other locations, reflecting Shanghai’s position as a modern cosmopolitan city. There was a very high level of interest with some visitors from the Shanghai University of Finance and Economics with whom TBS has a developing relationship. There was particular interest in the MSc Management and the MSc Marketing Management programmes. There is an obvious need now to follow-up the interest that was shown and to provide all possible support to convert interest to enrolment.


Aalen Visitors Two visitors from Hochshule Aalen visited TBS on 28 and 29 April. Professor Robert Rieg is the current Dean of the Department of Management and Professor of Control (management accounting), while Professor Peter Gentsch is Professor of Customer Relationship Management.

in management and marketing. They also led a research seminar discussing their research interests and potential for collaborative research with TBS. Their visit also provided an opportunity Both colleagues were here as part of an exformally to celebrate the change agreement, pro- collaboration agreement viding opportunities for between the two instituTBS academics to visit tions and to explore arAalen, and gave lectures rangements for PhD to postgraduate students studentships, joint pro-

Visitor from Rotterdam Peter Anker, Lecturer in Finance, visited TBS between 2 - 5 May from Rotterdam University. Peter specialises in finance and business development and taught on a number of modules during his short visit. He also took the opportunity to take part in a research seminar, in which he explained the opportunities provided by the internship programme in his institution. This requires students (up to 10,000!) to work for six months or one year in a company providing important input into decision making and planning. Peter sees this as an opportunity for research and development in an area of interest for the School.

grammes of learning and exchanges of teaching expertise. This provides an ideal opportunity to bring a broader range of cultural experience into courses in TBS. Staff can also gain experience by teaching on courses in Aalen for a short period.


TBS and Farm Diversification TBS has teamed up with the School of Science and Technology’s Food Technology Centre (FTC) to develop a new and innovative programme of support for farmers in the North East and North Yorkshire. The programme combines six one day workshops delivered in the farming community on key subjects such as: • Planning for Change - business de-

velopment strategy and planning • Spotting Opportunities – market re-

Farmers and their families who attend the workshops can subsequently benefit from three days of one-to-one training and advice. ‘Farm diversification is essential for survival in many farming businesses, but the skills needed are not always there’ stresses Head of the FTC, Dr Leo Guevara. ‘Teaming up the generic expertise of TBS with the sector specific knowledge of the FTC places the University of Teesside in a particularly strong position’ argues Professor Christos Kalantaridis, Assistant Dean (Enterprise) at TBS.

search • How to Take Advantage of Opportuni-

ties – marketing • Developing Successful Products - diversification • Keeping on top of Accounts –financial management • Meeting food safety regulations, Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) and Food Hygiene.

The project, which is worth around £90,000, is funded by DEFRA (Department of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs).

Contacts for more information about this issue: Nigel Evans Deputy Dean

01642 342568 [email protected]

Christos Kalantaridis Assistant Dean


Alan Lawton Assistant Dean


John Wilson Dean


We are on the web: http://www.tees.ac.uk/ schools/TBS/

University of Teesside Middlesbrough Tees Valley TS1 3BA Reception

01642 342851