Leeds Beckett University - City Campus,
Woodhouse Lane,
LS1 3HE
We thank you LBU colleagues
Beth Roberts, Service Desk Analyst - IT Operations
“The IT help desk team are superb – swift, calm, ‘can do’ attitude, keeping us going with access to all the software and on site corporate systems too where needed. Am reluctant to single anyone out – Beth Roberts has helped me nicely.”
“I would like to nominate Beth Roberts from the IT help desk who spent over an hour on the phone with me patiently working out a way I could access the central services when I was having difficulty. It wasn’t a simple or straightforward process as all the IT tips and guidance wouldn’t work for me but she came up with a solution without which I wouldn’t have been able to complete some aspects of my role while working from home.”
Michael Hirst, Service Desk Team Leader - IT Operations
“I would like to nominate Michael Hirst (IT) because he combines great expertise with extreme kindness when I need his help with any IT issue, particularly with Panopto recording (even when I ask him to brief me once again on something he had already explained a few times in the past!)”
Frazer Shelton, Academic Services Manager, Leeds School Of Arts
“I would like to thank Frazer. He is there for every single member of staff and every student. He works tirelessly with each department and ensures the ADD school is running smoothly in every way. What a treasure he has been through this crisis and every other. I also think he is a brilliant spokesperson for all support staff who never receive the credit they deserve.”
Helen Llewellyn, Course Director, School of Health
“I would like to nominate our Course Director (UG Sport and Exercise Therapy) Helen Llewellyn. She works tirelessly to support the staff and students even prior to this unprecedented time we find ourselves in. She has a great sense of work-life balance that she instils on us as a team and she makes sure we are fully supported on everything we do. This support is the same for the students - she is always available, approachable, and understanding, which ensures that their needs, concerns, and questions are addressed.”
University Security Team
“I would like to nominate the University Security Team that have remained at work during this extraordinary time, under challenging conditions, to support the university to remain working as normal as can be expected.”
“I’d like to nominate the Security team please. I would like to include our external provision axis in this team as they have worked seamlessly as one with us.
The staff have been tireless over the past few weeks covering shifts and flexibly adapting to a new way of working across two campuses during the lockdown. It has been difficult and unusual, but the team has pulled together and ensured an essential provision for both staff, clients and students still requiring our help across both sites during these challenging times. The team have come together and done their best to continue to work every day providing a 24 hours services, as well as covering other areas and facilitating requests as and when they come.
I’m really proud to be part of a team that can step-up and go above and beyond when asked.”
“Please could I nominate the Security Services Team who are still working throughout the crisis to support our buildings and monitor our fire and building alarms. They continue to cover the two campus on a 24/7 basis, with a reduced team due to Covid-19.
They are currently facilitating staff who need access to equipment which they are providing to the NHS, collections of laptops, sorting of mail for some areas and supporting colleagues in estates who have mandatory checks of the buildings to undertake.
I appreciate this is their job, but given the current health risks they are working extra shifts and are for the majority of the time, the only staff coming onto campus to work. They are managing access to buildings and supporting staff who need access and adhering to the social distancing for everyone’s safety.”
Professor Peter Slee, Vice Chancellor; Professor Andrew Cooper Dean of School, School of Cultural Studies & Humanities; Dr Lisa Taylor, Head of Subject School of Cultural Studies & Humanities
“Our Vice Chancellor, Professor Andrew Cooper and Dr Lisa Taylor. I think they have done an excellent job not only in communicating what's happening but showing real compassion and insight into the complexities of people's lives working from home. We have managed this incredible transition and it’s been done in such a supportive, caring, encouraging way without losing sight of the goals. I have never felt prouder to work for LBU.”
Rosie Bristow-Wood, Academic Services Team Leader, Carnegie School of Education
“I would like to nominate my team leader, Rosie Bristow-Wood. She has been so supportive during such a difficult time and has kept everything running smoothly so that our students are still fully supported. Even when it is such a difficult period for her especially, she has still been there for the whole team making sure that they are ok. She is such a selfless person who is always upbeat and positive. We are a very lucky team to have her as our team leader.”
Peter Cochrane, Development Services Manager, IT Operations; Mark Needham, Infrastructure Applications Manager, IT Operations
“I would like to nominate Peter Cochrane and Mark Needham. For the last three weeks, they have led their teams in developing, improving and scaling up the remote access solutions that are enabling colleagues and students to continue to operate remotely from home.
Although clearly a team effort, both of these colleagues have worked extremely long hours, often late in to the night to keep the University functioning with minimal disruption to services and business operations.
Their enthusiasm, commitment and dedication has been exemplary and therefore worthy of recognition.”
Gareth Robertshaw, Academic Services Manager, Leeds Business School
“I would like to nominate Gareth Robertshaw, Academic Services Manager in the Business School, for special recognition.
Over the past 3 or 4 weeks, Gareth has made himself available to everyone that has needed assistance, he has been at the forefront of the School’s communication campaigns, made things happen when things were stalling and put things back on track when things were threating to derail.
He has made decisions, been happy to make himself the focal point for dissatisfaction in a bid to take pressure of others when things haven’t been straightforward, and not once has he cited that he is unable to do something because he is having to home school two children. When people around him have felt the strain, Gareth has always remained cool, calm and collected (at least in company!), and most importantly, made decisive decisions quickly, which is exactly the type of person you want around when there is a crisis.
This is a reflection of Gareth all year round, however when something like this happens, it really does highlight people’s character and their ability to deal with complex and stressful situations in a methodical, constructive and timely manner which I, and many others, believe makes Gareth’s contribution stand out.”
Lucy Lister, School Secretary, Leeds Law School
“I’d like to nominate Lucy Lister, the Law School’s secretary. She is always so friendly and helpful, nothing is ever too much trouble and she is the heart of our school. We all go to her for help and she always makes the effort to assist us even when she is super busy with her own work. Behind every event, Lucy does a lot of organising to make sure everything runs smoothly and although she does not always get the credit, she never asks for acknowledgement. She has made every effort to keep communicating with us over these past few weeks and has continued to work from home, keeping us all in touch and organising games to maintain morale. Leeds Law School would not be the same without her!”
Linsey King, Course Director, School of Health
"I would like to nominate Linsey King. She is a Course Director in the Nutrition and Dietetics team.
She has a 'vulnerable' husband and three young children, and has still managed to be a stupendous colleague through all of this. She has fielded (what I can only imagine is hundreds) of student enquiries, whilst also managing to work closely with all of us lecturers.
Her handling of the challenges this pandemic has thrown up has been amazing, and she has kept me, and others, motivated to design and deliver our online materials to students. But also gone above and beyond to make sure all of the transition to online learning was as smooth as possible, particularly with ideas and help with online assessments - a vital thing the students are most worried about."
Karl Hodge, Course Director, Leeds Business School
"Firstly Karl is a fantastic course director and during this Covid-19 he has tried exceptionally hard to keep not just the team up in spirits by making personal phone calls of reassurance, but the students too. He organises regular video catch up sessions with all the students and even puts on virtual quiz nights for everyone. It’s times like these where we realise we don’t just have work companions but friends."
Sean Dodson, Course Director, Leeds Business School
“Sean is an excellent course director, no student or staff request is too big. He regular goes out of his way to advance the student experience by putting on the Journalism club, whereby he invites external speakers in to engage with the students. He’s also very supportive in staff development and has helped me immensely to develop new modules and develop my own personal skills. He works well with his team and is always the person to go to for advice.”
Dr Helen Fawkner, Course Director, Leeds School of Social Sciences
“I would like to nominate the Course Director of our BSc (Hons) Psychology course Dr Helen Fawkner. Myself and several colleagues have already nominated Helen for the Golden Robes for being an incredibly supportive colleague, an amazing Course Director and a fantastic ambassador for the university.
However, since the university had to close to prevent the spread of Covid-19, Helen's activities in all of these arenas have been amplified even further. Despite working under extremely difficult circumstances, over the last few weeks Helen has lifted the spirits of staff by forwarding on daily emails from students praising the work we are doing. She has also kept students informed and allayed any concerns they have had with really reassuring e-mails.
Today she has worked on a virtual open day, promoting our course and the university and afterwards, she took the time to email my module team to congratulate us on the fact that during the open day, one of our student ambassadors praised our module. I am in awe of Helen's seemingly boundless energy, enthusiasm, kindness and generosity and I would love to see this publicly acknowledged. I have no doubt that the rest of our team would feel the same.”