December 27, 2011 8.00 am
This story is over 126 months old
Reflections 2011: An interesting year to put it mildly
Education race: University of Lincoln Vice Chancellor Mary Stuart anticipates stiff competition for places despite increases in tuition fees.
By Mary StuartUniversity of Lincoln Vice Chancellor
2011 has been an interesting year to put it mildly.
For some it has been a difficult year with the problems in the economy, the difficult decisions about cuts in public services and problems in Euroland. Universities have seen significant changes to the way higher education is funded and new priorities from government about what activities we should develop.
However, overall at the University of Lincoln we have seen a year of many successes. In the last two years the university has shot up the league tables by a staggering 40 places and is now in the top half of universities in the country. We have seen huge demand for our courses so much so that many students who wanted to study with us could not get a place at the university this year.
Next year, unfortunately, the government is reducing the number of places that will be available so the competition to get into the University of Lincoln is going to be even keener in 2012.
Our new Engineering School building was opened and we are delighted that the university and our partner Siemens won the prestigious Lord Stafford Award in November of this year against stiff competition from Loughborough, Nottingham and Warwick Universities.
Our new Business and Law building with its innovative learning spaces is a huge success with students and we continue to attract excellent new staff who contribute to teaching of our students and programmes for businesses across the region and internationally.
The university led and participated in the highly successful Frequency digital arts festival across the city in October, another success we are very proud of, and our students continue to win awards for their work in media, journalism, design and advertising. Hence all parts of the university are flourishing.
I am very proud to be part of such an ambitious and exciting institution and I am looking forward to 2012, as I am sure Lincoln will continue to develop and grow.
Professor Mary Stuart is the Vice Chancellor of the University of Lincoln. She is a graduate of the University of Cape Town and the Open University, where she obtained her Doctorate in Social Policy in 1998. Her research interests are focused on life histories, social mobility, higher education students and community development.
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Drivers in Lincoln will face nearly a fortnight of disruption when electrical works cause a road closure on Skellingthorpe Road from next week (July 11).
Western Power Distribution will install a new electricity connection for a new primary school on Skellingthorpe Road.
The county council has been constructing a new 130-place school on the site of the former Priory Witham Academy Junior School, which will be for St Christopher’s primary-aged pupils.
As a result, Skellingthorpe Road will be closed between Tritton Road and Boultham Park Road between July 11 and July 22.
This is to ensure the safety of engineers and local people while work is taking place.
A diversion will be put in place via Tritton Road, Doddington Road and Newark Road.
Western Power Distribution said: “We apologise for any inconvenience caused while we complete this essential new connection.”
We are investigating a road traffic collision which happened just after 5pm today.
The crash happened on the A15 just south of Waddington and involved a black Peugeot 208 that collided with a tree. The driver of the car, a 56-year-old male, was taken to hospital with serious injuries.
The A15 was closed just before 6pm and is likely to remain closed for some time.
We are particularly keen to hear from those who were driving along the A15 this afternoon between 4pm and 5:10pm and may have captured dashcam footage of the road during the collision.
If you have dashcam footage or any other information that will assist in our enquiries, there are a number of ways you can get in touch.
By calling 101 quoting incident 285 of 4 July.
By emailing [email protected] quoting incident 285 of 4 July in the subject line.
If you wish to remain anonymous, you can report via the independent charity CrimeStoppers on 0800 555 111 or online.