Category: News

The University of Lincoln, UK, has won a national award for its student accommodation and is also placed in the top three universities in the UK to be recognised in the University of the Year category at the prestigious WhatUni Student Choice Awards (WUSCAs) 2024.

WhatUni is the UK’s largest source of real and honest reviews directly received from students. This year, more than 39,000 student reviews were collected from over 100 universities across the UK, making the WUSCAs the largest and only annual university awards in the UK, voted for exclusively by students.

Hosted by well-known comedian Sir Lenny Henry CBE, the WUSCAs ceremony took place on the evening of Wednesday 24 April in London. The University of Lincoln came first out of all UK universities for its modern, high-quality accommodation. The institution was also awarded bronze in the highly-sought after University of the Year award.

Lincoln student Kadie, gave her review of the University’s accommodation and campus: “Very convenient location, well maintained and modern-looking accommodation, great proximity from both high street and uni campus. Extremely beautiful campus and city, with everything in close proximity makes it an easy and enjoyable place to live and attend for uni.”

Student, Tia-Marie Cane, also reviewed her experience of living in University-managed accommodation, saying: “I love that it’s a two-minute walk to my lectures as the accommodation village is on site. This also makes me feel safer as I know I’m surrounded with students and staff from the uni and security gave me their number to keep saved in my phone.”

Another review from current student Alexandra Samson was: “Cygnet Wharf is in an excellent location and is approximately a 20 second walk from campus. We have amazing views and the rooms are very modern. I love the layout of the accommodation and how many people are assigned to the flats.”

The Global Student Living Index 2023 has certified Lincoln’s accommodation as GOLD, based on the condition and quality, value for money, care and support, recycling and environmental facilities, and overall management of University-managed residences. Lincoln is the third most affordable university city in the UK in the NatWest Student Living Index 2023.

A summary of the University’s awards from the event: 1^st in the UK for Halls and Student Accommodation, 2^nd in the UK for International, 2^nd in the UK for Postgraduate, 3^rd for University of the Year, 3^rd in the UK for Student Life, 3^rd in the UK for Facilities, and 4^th in the UK for Student Support.

The Postgraduate Taught Experience Survey (PTES) is open from Monday 8 April and will run until Thursday 13 June 2024 for eligible postgraduate students studying here at the University of Lincoln.

This is your best chance to share your feedback on your degree experience at Lincoln. It is easy to complete and only takes 10 minutes on average. By completing the survey, you will help shape the experiences of current and future postgraduate students.

If you choose to complete the survey, you can claim a free drink and sweet treat voucher from the Minerva Building Atrium between 8 April – 26 April. This is subject to a limit of 1,000 vouchers.

Keep reading for more details about the survey and why it is important, your eligibility, and the free drink and sweet treat voucher offer.

What is the PTES?

The Postgraduate Taught Experience Survey (PTES) is the only UK higher education sector-wide survey run by AdvanceHE which invites postgraduate taught (PGT) students to comment on their learning and teaching experience. 

What does it cover?

PTES concentrates on your course and includes:

• Teaching and learning
• Engagement
• Assessment and feedback
• Organisation and management
• Skills development

It will also include some additional questions about areas that are particularly relevant to us and to students at Lincoln.

Why does the PTES matter?  

PTES matters because it makes a tangible difference to the experience students have at university. By completing the survey, you can make it clear what you have enjoyed about your experience at Lincoln and what you think could have made it better. Your feedback is incredibly important to us, and we value the time you take sharing your thoughts.

As a result of previous feedback from PTES we have been able to improve various aspects of our students’ experience.

Eligibility

To be eligible all students:

• must be studying a programme of at least 60 credits.
• must be in their final year of study (where applicable).
• must be enrolled PGT students: full-time and most part-time UK, EU, and international.
• All eligible students will receive an email on 8 April inviting them to complete the survey from the JISC Online Survey System, as well as subsequent reminders from their lecturers.

Your email will contain a personalised link through which you can access the survey. 

Is it anonymous?

Your survey response is confidential to the team processing the results and no reporting outside of this team will identify any individual. Any results communicated to teaching staff will be anonymised.

The survey asks that any comments you make should not identify yourself or any specific members of staff.

If you have any questions or concerns, please contact us at studentvoice@lincoln.ac.uk

Claim your free drink and sweet treat voucher

If you complete the survey before Friday 26 April, you can claim your free drink and sweet treat voucher from the Minerva Building Atrium. You will need to provide a screenshot/image of your survey completion message (at the end of the survey) to claim the free drink and treat voucher. Please note, the voucher will only be available for collection from the Minerva Building Atrium between 8 April – 26 April.
Opening times: Mon to Fri: 10am-2pm. The free drink and treat voucher can only be redeemed at the catering outlets based on the Brayford Pool Campus, Lincoln:  Lindons (Minerva Building) OR Theorem (Isaac Newton Building) and must be used by Thursday 13 June.

Lincoln Academy of Learning and Teaching (LALT) and Lincoln Students’ Union have revised the Student Charter.

The Student Charter sets out the general principles of a partnership between students, the University of Lincoln, and the Students’ Union.

This includes the University’s commitment to delivering a high-quality learning experience to all of our students. It is a statement of mutual expectations and aspirations, setting out our respective responsibilities and what we can expect of each other.

Jointly created by LALT and the Students’ Union, the Charter is reviewed every year to reflect the developments and changes of the University.

Vice Chancellor Professor Neal Juster says, “This Charter sets out how the University of Lincoln is committed to delivering a high-quality student experience that not only meets, but hopefully exceeds expectations, enabling students to realise their hopes, aspirations, and ambitions.”

The University and Students’ Union work to create a community where students are part of our University, regardless of who they are, or where they come from. Founded on the values of our One Community, the Charter reflects who we are and helps us to ensure that in everything we do, we always have our students’ best interests at heart.

For more information on the Student Charter, and how we support students during and after their studies, please visit lncn.ac/stucharter.

The Sports Centre is selling past stock of cycle-hire bicycles, at the reduced price of £50 per bike. There’s currently a stock of 16 bikes available, on a first-come-first-served basis, one per person.

Staff and students can purchase a bike, while stocks last by visiting the Sports Centre during open hours (Monday – Thursday 7am-10pm, Friday 7am-9pm, Saturday and Sunday 10am-5pm).

For more information, please email Heather Robinson: herobinson@lincoln.ac.uk.

The University’s Digital Services team is pleased to introduce Microsoft Copilot, the Artificial Intelligence (AI) learning companion now available to all students. Copilot is here to support the way you learn, research, and create. The benefits of using Microsoft Copilot include:

• Study support: Copilot is like having a learning companion by your side 24/7. It can help you:
  – Answer questions or explore complex ideas
  – Discuss and debate topics
  – Summarise content
  – Get AI feedback on your work.
• Creativity and innovation: Be inspired by generating new ideas.
• Content Generation: Copilot generates content while respecting copyright rules, including image generation.
• Safe: Copilot is run on ethical guidelines, ensuring a respectful and safe environment.
• High quality AI engines: Copilot uses ChatGPT 4 for text responses and DALLE-3 for image creation.
• Equal access to AI tools: Copilot is a free AI service that is comparable to premium ChatGPT.

Before using Microsoft Copilot as a learning companion, you should familiarise yourself with the guidelines for AI use, including the potential misuse within academic offences at the University of Lincoln. This includes how to acknowledge appropriate use of AI in assessments.

Guidance:

• Learning at Lincoln | AI Guidance | Web (external)
• Learning at Lincoln | AI & Academic Offences | Web (external)
• Learning at Lincoln | Using Copilot (external)
• Learning at Lincoln | How to ask AI questions? (external)

How to access Microsoft Copilot:

• A helpful video can be accessed via the link here: https://youtu.be/PYFYIVaV3Co
• Microsoft Copilot can be accessed in two ways:
  – Via the Microsoft Edge browser (available for Mac and PC) by choosing the Copilot logo in the top right-hand corner.
  – Use any browser to visit copilot.microsoft.com
• Sign in with your University username and password, making sure that the green shield ‘protected’ logo is visible  to ensure your data is secure.
• Start chatting with Copilot! 

Important Note: While Copilot is a valuable support tool, it does not replace your own critical thinking, research, or assessment submission. Always follow guidance on when use of AI is authorised within your assessments. If authorised, you will be given specific guidance on what can be created using AI for the assessment. Outside of assessments, Copilot should only ever be seen as a starting point for developing original work, conducting research, or as a useful framework for evaluating your own work. Anything you create using AI is your responsibility to verify and refine outputs to ensure accuracy and originality.

It’s time to vote for your next Student Leaders & Student Experience Officers, and have your say on who you want to represent you. 
You can now vote on the SU App for your chance to win one of 1000 prizes – there’s a 1 in 3 chance of winning! Free drinks, curly fries, gig tickets and more to be won!
To vote, visit www.lincolnsu.com/elections24. Voting closes at 2pm on Friday 15 March!!

Students living in Lincoln are encouraged to register their term time address in order to vote in the upcoming local government elections on Thursday 2 May.

Students can register at both their home address and term time address. If your addresses are in two different local authority areas, you can vote in local elections at both. Please note that you can only vote in one location during the general elections, as it is a criminal offence to submit a vote in more than one location.

The deadline to register to vote is Tuesday 16 April. To get registered, visit www.gov.uk/register-to-vote. You will need to provide your date of birth and National Insurance number, so make sure you have this available to you.

The University will be hosting a polling station this year, but to find your local polling station, please visit https://www.lincoln.gov.uk/v/find-polling-station.

The National Student Survey (NSS) 2024 has launched and we are encouraging all eligible final year students to take part!

What is the NSS?
The NSS is an annual survey completed by nearly half a million undergraduate students at universities across the UK each year.  It offers the opportunity to have your say about what you liked about your experience of studying at the University of Lincoln, as well as what you feel could have improved it.

Questions look at areas such as the teaching on your course, academic support and learning opportunities. You will also get the chance to give your thoughts on aspects such as mental health and wellbeing support.

The survey is administered by Ipsos, an independent research agency on behalf of the Office for Students (OfS) and the UK funding and regulatory bodies. Participation is voluntary and responses always remain anonymous.

The NSS, which has been conducted every year since 2005, provides higher education institutions with valuable information from students about their overall experience.

Results of the NSS are made publicly available on the Discover Uni website, which can help prospective students to decide on what they want to study and where.

Universities also use NSS data to help identify areas of weaknesses and areas of strength, which in turn, allows them to make changes to enhance the experience for future generations of students.

With the survey launching this week at Lincoln, course tutors will start talking about the NSS in sessions to encourage eligible students to take part.

So please do leave your mark and help shape the future of your university by taking part. All eligible students can complete the NSS online at www.thestudentsurvey.com, and can do so from Monday 8 January until Tuesday 30 April.

Appointments are now available for our Sports Massage and Injury Clinics – book now!

Body Text:

Reopening details are as follows:

Monday	(14:15 – 18.00)	Sports Massage Clinic	Recommencing 05/02/24
Tuesday	(12:15 – 15:00)	Sports Injury Clinic	Recommenced 30/01/24
Wednesday	(13:00– 16:00)	Sports Injury Clinic	Recommencing 31/01/24

If you are interested in making a booking, appointments are released up to two weeks in advance and can be made here:

Sports Therapy Clinic (office365.com)

The People, Performance and Culture wellbeing programme offers staff members the chance to book without having to pay. Appointments are available for a nominal fee of £5.00 for University students. Instructions on how to pay are available here: The University of Lincoln Sports Injury Clinic | University of Lincoln

PLEASE MAKE SURE YOU SELECT THE CORRECT DATE AND TIME WHEN BOOKING TO SAVE ANY CONFUSION.  

Please email us at sportstherapyclinic@lincoln.ac.uk if you have any questions.

Best wishes,

The Sports Therapy Clinic