Employability Awards 2021 video transcript and audio description

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[Ambient music plays. The University of Derby three peaks logo fades in and out over a black background. The screen shows a gold star, text reads: 'Careers and Employment Service, welcome to the Employability Awards Celebration'. The music fades out and we see Jacqui Measures speaking. She has short blonde hair and is wearing an orange dress.]

Jacqui Measures: Good evening my name is Jacqui Measures, I’m the Employer and Community Engagement Manager for the Careers and Employment Service here at the University of Derby and this evening I’m really excited to be welcoming you along to the Careers and Employment Service, Employability Awards. This evening we will be announcing our winners for our 14 awards welcoming an array of guest presenters and highlighting some great stories. This year, we've had enormous engagement with the awards receiving our highest level of nominations ever. To welcome you formally and talk you through the awards I’m going to hand you over to our Head of Student Careers and Enterprise, Rachel Mutters.

[Music fades in and out]. 

[Rachel Mutters begins to speak. She has blonde hair and is wearing a black top].

Rachel Mutters: "We are so excited to be presenting our virtual Employability Awards as hosted by the Careers and Employment service this year due to the ongoing situation we're doing things a little differently rather than gathering to celebrate which is just not possible at the moment we're announcing the winners today and we'll be sharing the videos on our social media channels afterward, as well as showcasing our nominees and award winners on our web pages.

Although we're disappointed not to be celebrating with you all in person we are really pleased to bring you the runners-up and the winners. Each year the awards highlight the fantastic work that is done by our students and graduates and the wonderful support provided by our academics and amazing opportunities and encouragement our partner organisations provide.

We were overwhelmed this year to receive our highest level of nominations ever received many thanks to all those who nominated. The academic year of 2021 has been exceptionally challenging for the majority of us, however, it has been so inspirational to read the nominations that we received and I know the judging panel thoroughly enjoyed discussing and digesting all the great stories covered in these nominations.

Throughout this period, the Careers and Employment Service have been working hard to carry on delivering great opportunities for skills development showcasing employers and offering support for all careers related activity which is really reflected in these nominations. So sit back and enjoy the show and I’d like to hand you over to Keith McLay."

[Ambient music plays, we see a holding screen showing a gold star]. 

Academic Employability Champion

[Keith McLay sits in front of a bookcase, he is wearing a white shirt and purple tie]. 

Keith: "My name is Professor Keith McClay I’m the Provost of Learning and Teaching here at the University of Derby and it's my delight and pleasure to announce the Academic Employability Champion as part of the Employability Awards 2021. Now I’ve been given a script and I’ve been told I must stick to the script and not ski off-piste, so I’ve got a piece of paper in my hand here which I’m going to try and read and give you some sense of this award.

So, for the Academic Employability Champion this year, we had an exceptional amount of nominations for the award with over 50 nominees making the judging stage. At the University of Derby, we value employability in all that we do, so this award recognizes those who have excelled in this regard. Staff and students were encouraged to nominate a lecturer, course leader or personal tutor that has championed employability within their course.

The winner of this award has worked tirelessly over the last year to create employability opportunities for students of the biomedical and forensic sciences. With the impact of COVID-19 they have set up live, industry-led briefs for forensic students to complete their 30 hours of work experience and employers of these briefs have been so impressed that they are keen to continue to do these briefs on an annual basis. They have also played a pivotal role in the School of Human Sciences 'Educating Derbyshire' live brief event - using the lessons learned from the forensic science brief to create a smooth plan for these school-wide briefs.

They also secured two of the three employers who were involved including Teach First who have offered some amazing opportunities for our students including delivering mini-lessons to training teachers and leading a research project on why more Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) students don't go into teaching. Alongside this, they have lead employability skill-based and discipline-related workshops and organized the BFS employability conference where students had a whole day of virtual workshops with employers and industry experts.

Despite a hard year they have maintained daily communications with students and supported them in developing a sense of independence and professionalism. Their hard work and dedication has meant students have had the best opportunities to develop their key skills while working closely with employers and having fun along the way, of course. Before the winner is announced, let's take time to recognize the runners-up who have all excelled in their roles this year. Caroline Harvey, Laurice Fretwell, Bill Whitehead and Kaye Howells.

But without further delay, drum roll please! It's time to announce the winner and the winner is Sanita Nizarovic. Congratulations to Sanita and all the nominees.

[Ambient music plays, we see a holding screen showing a gold star].

Be the Boss: Enterprising Student or Graduate

[We see Oliver Stonier is he is wearing a suit and glasses]. 

Oliver: Hello my name is Oliver Stonier, the Enterprise Manager. As part of the Careers Service at the University of Derby, I’m delighted to be introducing today the Be the Boss: Enterprising Students and Graduate Award. The Be the Boss program has seen the launch of many student-led businesses since its start. The program uses industry professionals through mentoring workshops and one-to-one support to individuals in their enterprise. While many students have entered the program over the last year they've all truly exceeded.

Our winning student did an amazing job performing in the 2020 Pitch-Perfect competition. This small business is part of the hospitality and catering sector, so at the time of the pitch, the sector had been brought to a halt in most cases. With small businesses struggling in navigating through the tough COVID world and many collapsing in the process, this student managed to pivot her business just in time from a physical restaurant to an online restaurant with a delivery service.

This achievement would be hard in normal circumstances but is vastly more challenging given the current way of the world, and this fact shows their commercial brain as well as their passion and determination to succeed. They now have a plan to bring their business to Derby where we await their soul food with pride and anticipation.

But for a second let's take some time to look at the runners-up. The runners-up: a group of students who formed Not a Goose company and Tyra Tooker with her Culture Scoop company.

But for the winner, the winner is Michelle Chard with Mimmi's Soul Food.  Congratulations to Michelle and all of the nominees. Thank you.

[Ambient music plays. Gold star holding screen is displayed].

Community Engagement Award

Jacqui Measures: "Before the winner is announced, I would just like to announce the runner-up in this category which is the NSPCC.

Without further delay, the winner for the community engagement award is Bumblebee Conservation Trust led by Rodger Green. Congratulations to Bumblebee and all nominees."

[Music fades in and out]

Employer Engagement Award

Rachel Mutters: "The Careers and Employment Service reach out to and work with a wide range of organisations for our students to engage with opportunities that apply to an endless range of disciplines. Students, graduates and staff were asked to nominate an organisation that stood out from the rest. This year we have joint winners.

Firstly, according to the nomination, as soon as lockdown hit this organisation adapted quickly and efficiently to help support and enhance our students learning. For five years, we've been partners with them and they have always been incredibly supportive of the University. Now during COVID-19 they have given extra time and effort to support and engage our students.

In March of last year, they quickly adapted to teaching online and opening up their professional online course 'Travel Life for Sustainable Accommodation', providing students the opportunity to complete their own CPD certificate. The certificate is designed for accommodation providers to improve their social, environmental and economic impacts. With this, students gained a developed further skill which helped them contextualize skills that they had learned in the classroom, with industry practice.

The education partner at this organisation has been instrumental in engaging students and organising exciting, informative and career-building events for our students. As well as supporting those with their independent studies and also instigating a student rep scheme with their company to allow students to attend regional meetings, as well as strengthen the ties with the University.

The second employer. This employer has engaged with the University of Derby Careers and Employment Service team to run an exclusive campaign for the recruitment of special constables. They committed to supporting this campaign by running three information sessions with our students with five team members supporting this. The sessions were well planned thorough and focused on developing the student’s employability skills in line with their recruitment process. They have supported 16 candidates through the application process with 11 being successful in gaining a role as a special constable.

This role will offer students invaluable real-world experience and the training will enable them to develop a variety of transferable skills that they can detail on future applications. They are collating all the data regarding the applicants and have agreed to share this with the University of Derby so we can learn together as to how we can support students in the future.

Further to this, we are continuing engagement through an 'ask the expert activation', whereby they have arranged for a young in-service officer and a chief constable to be involved. We have also begun discussions around creating a talent pool for students to be fully aware of their opportunities and how to access them in the most effective ways.

Now I would like to take a moment to recognize the runners-up, Detective Inspector Adam Wilkins of Derbyshire Constabulary, Sarah Lopez of Lopez HR, Alison Heart of Children's Choice Therapy, and a special thanks to Paula Lewis from the University Hospitals of Derby in Burton for her work with us at the Riverside Testing Centre this year.

And the joint winners of the employer engagement award are The Association of British Travel Agents and Derbyshire Constabulary. Congratulations to all the nominees.

[Music plays over holding screen].

Futures Award Student of the Year

Sue Morrison: The Futures Award recognises students and graduates who have engaged in a variety of extracurricular activity such as volunteering in the community or with the Union of Students, and this develops their employability. Students and staff were invited to nominate for this award and this year is extra special as we have two students who are joint winners of the award.

According to the nomination the first student has been exceptional whilst volunteering at SENTAS and had a great impact on the cases that they have taken on. Thanks to them, families across the country with children with special educational needs and disabilities have had home-to-school transport for their children.

This is a right that they are legally entitled to and one which this student has helped to secure for them. A quote from one of the families said:

A huge thank you to you for all of your help we found out that our appeal was successful, and our child will be receiving transport to school in September. This has removed a lot of stress emotionally and financially and I can't thank you enough.

They also produced a template of letters for families to follow so that they could continue to get the support they need. Empowering those families with the knowledge to self-advocate, this student displays skills that any employer would look for, acting in a proactive manner, displaying an ability to use initiative, and an ability to think outside the box.

The second winner, the nomination reads this student has completed the Gold Futures Award they have undertaken a range of extracurricular activities including working with their church and designing and delivering innovative online farm tours for their own business. They have explored enterprise in addition to working hard to enhance their own career learning and attending a large range of careers events to achieve this. This has had a positive impact on their confidence, and they've gone the extra mile to achieve the gold award by applying their learning and skills to such a wide range of activities.

Let's take some time now to honour the runners-up Amy Rennnatt and Diane Lazari, and without further delay to announce the joint winners.

The winners are Cheryl Tooth and Maureen Mckeague. Congratulations to Cheryl and to Maureen and to all of the nominees.

[Ambient music plays. Gold star holding screen is displayed].

Graduate of the Year

[We see Russell Lewis speaking to the camera, wearing a blue shirt].

Russell: Hello I’m Russell Lewis, I’m the head of the Student and Graduate Experience Team here at the University and it is my pleasure to be presenting the Graduate of the Year Awards. This is only the second year this award has been running and it has had some stiff competition as it has challenged students to be the very best version of themselves.

The winner of this award will have shown early career development and potential through undertaking a graduate-level job, voluntary work, an internship, accessing personal development through careers, or being a role model to their fellow students. Despite graduating in the middle of the pandemic they have secured a graduate-level role within the Dementia Rapid Response Team. They were the only Occupational Therapist graduate in the service and have created valuable connections within that team. In the first three months of their role, they secured a lead role on a voluntary sector project in which they led various teams to collate voluntary trust information and a trust web page.

This created and strengthened internal and external connections with local voluntary charities related to dementia. They've also helped out on mental health wards in hospitals, community mental health, and mental health helplines to keep families and their loved ones safe. They are an ambassador for the student platform occupational therapy as an Outreach Coordinator where they communicate with OTs and other OT students all around the world to collaborate with them on OT events.

During COVID-19 they created the stay home campaign which connected people around the world every day of the week with various events they also still support paradigms online and other various projects. I’d just like to take a moment to recognise the runner-up this year who is Tyra Tucker. Well done Tyra.

And now the winner of the graduate of the year. This year goes to Emma Rodrigues, congratulations Emma and to all the nominees this year well done.

[Music plays over holding screen featuring gold star].

Mentee of the Year

[We see Clare Holden, she has short blonde hair and is wearing a plaid shirt]. 

Clare Holden: Mentee of the Year. Students who take part in our university mentoring schemes are partnered with industry experts who share their inside knowledge of the professional climate. In these schemes, students have the opportunity to gain valuable insight and engage with a potential career option. Mentors have been asked to nominate a mentee for this award. According to this nomination, the mentee is determined, hard-working and conscientious as a person and this shines in everything they do, with a clear goal in mind to be a detective and a crime investigator. They have worked tirelessly to reach this goal, as well as helping those who are most vulnerable.

Away in the digital investigation team in Derbyshire Police, they've taken personal responsibility to survey and gather information from fellow students as to how police respond to incidents and crimes that occur online. Their workers helped the Derbyshire police to prepare guidance for investigators to improve how they deal with these online incidents in future. Outside of their studies, this mentee has completed a mix of voluntary and paid work, the scope of which is admirable, and this combined with their personality has developed a maturity and experience far ahead of their years. Their voluntary work is driven by an immense desire to help others and with this attitude, they'll be hitting the ground running as an investigator and police officer.

Having studied their undergrad and postgrad at the University of Derby they have developed into an impressive and hard-working student and we can't think of anyone else who deserves this award more, but now let's just take a moment to honour the runners-up Jessica Dutton and Sadie Cunningham. Congratulations to you both.

And now I’m proud to announce that the winner of the mentee of the year award is Beth Price. Congratulations to Beth and all the nominees. 

[Music plays over holding screen featuring gold star].

Mentor of the Year

[We see Fiona Naismith on stage. She is wearing glasses and has short brown hair.]

Fiona: Hello my name is Fiona Naismith and I’m the External Engagement Manager for the Careers and Employment Service and it's my pleasure to announce the Mentor of the Year. Our mentees were invited to nominate a mentor that has gone above and beyond in providing professional business opportunities for the local community. This year is special as we have two winners of this incredible award.

According to the nomination, the first is one of the most supportive passionate and caring people that the University has ever had the pleasure of working with they are a true hard-working workaholic with ambition and a drive to succeed. The mentee who nominated them said:

I got lucky with my mentor who wanted to assist me whenever I needed and was happy when I succeeded. They helped me get on my feet and even more than that with their help, I made a LinkedIn account wrote my CV and joined the Derby Enactus team. Moreover, as a true mentor they even helped me with some employability unrelated things such as: guiding me to where I can learn, how to open my own business and research a legal background for it. Recently, they helped me finding a job by reaching out to some of their contacts I know that they are the person of the year in my life.

The second winner has been a brilliant mentor and has supported their mentee by offering personal experiences, alongside invaluable advice on their chosen subject. With regular support and checks of their CV and help with creating a virtual image across multiple social media platforms, this mentor has crafted their mentee into a professional role model for other animation students. As well as teaching the 12 key principles of animation, this mentor has offered her knowledge on how to find jobs, approach employers and different companies and explain the importance of networking within the industry.

They have gone out of their way to support their mentee including getting a colleague to explain their experience of freelancing, it is fair to say that they have gone above and beyond what was expected of them. Before the winners are announced let's take a moment to recognise the achievements of the runners-up Claire Bicknell and Stephen Pasey.

Without further delay, the joint winners of the Mentor of the Year Award goes to Abigail Marsden and Ellen Parks. Congratulations to Abby and Ellen and all of the nominees.

[Music plays over holding screen featuring gold star].

Finalist of the Year 

Clare Holden: Finalists of the Year Award. This award recognizes our finalist students who have made a great endeavour to prepare for the world of work by enhancing their skills, raising their profile. According to the nomination this student has taken part in several work experience placements over the past two years, even throughout the pandemic, their university module work has never suffered as a result of other commitments, no matter how busy they are.

Having co-founded Enactus, encouraging students to boost their employability, they are encouraged and currently working towards their Futures Award. They consistently offer help to friends who need a volunteer for their own coursework, modelling for a photography student's portfolio for example, or interviewing for somebody else's dissertation for primary research.

They're always interested in hearing how their cohort studies are progressing being a good friend may not contribute to making them the most employable student, but their kind, interested nature certainly does. A determined focused individual who does whatever it takes to get the job done within a year of working for Inspire Fitness Academy in their marketing and funding department, they have risen to a managerial position and are trusted to oversee others who work in the charity.

They managed to organise funding for the organisation. Having known them from being a first-year, I’ve seen such a change from someone who wasn't sure what they wanted to do career-wise to today being a confident individual who's capable of achieving great things in the world of business. I hope they'll be considered not just because of what they've already achieved in a tough final year but for what they've got to achieve yet in the financial and professional world of marketing and business while proudly carrying the title of University of Derby alumnus on their chest.

Let's take a minute to recognise the runners-up for this award congratulations to Ioana Batcu and Joseph Webster.

And now the winner of the finalist of the year award is Thomas Berrington. Congratulations to Thomas and all the nominees.

[Music plays over holding screen featuring gold star].

Student Employee of the Year

Jacqui: Hello my name is Jacqui Measures the employer and community engagement manager for the Careers and Employment Service and I’m really excited to be here today to announce the winner of the Student Employment Agency, Student Employee of the Year. Employers both internally and externally who have hired through the student employment agency have been invited to nominate a student employee who is shined during their role.

As a digital media producer, this student has demonstrated that they were creative responsible and extremely driven being among the most talented in the role. Their creative skill set for designing logos, advertisements and videos have impacted both the staff and students at the University with a range of teaching and learning materials and in their own personal development. Throughout the time they had worked with us, they pushed themselves beyond expectation by taking full responsibility for projects from start to finish increasing their skill set and even presenting these projects at conferences.

This student showed a high level of professionalism across all aspects and is an immensely valuable part of the digital media production team they are optimistic, motivated and easy to get along with and a true joy to have in both the office and online environment. They're always quick on their feet with sensible reactions in all circumstances with an exceptional ability to write, speak and communicate as English is their second language. This student combines both their high academic and digital skill set with strong intuition and always meets deadlines and exceeds expectations.

Before I announce the winner let's take a moment to recognise the runners-up: Bryony Picton-Turberville and Tom Berrington.

And now without further delay, the winner of the student employment agency student employee of the year is Barbara Horackova congratulations to Barbara and all nominees.

[Music plays over holding screen featuring gold star].

Student Volunteer of the Year

[Nina Cupric is shown on screen, she has dark brown hair and is wearing a black sweatshirt].

Nina: Hi everyone, my name is Nina Cupric the Vice president of Education at the Union of Students and I’ll be presenting the Student Volunteer of the Year. Volunteering is a wonderful way for our students to gain valuable experience engage with the local community and make a difference, all the while developing employability skills,  alongside their studies. Charities and other organisations that have hosted our students were invited to nominate those who made a big impact.

The British Acoustic Neuroma Association also known as BANA is a Chesterfield-based national charity that helps people who suffer from acoustic neuroma and this student was brought in to help update the charity's HR policies. While there a student updated simplified and amalgamated this charity's policies making them easy to understand and navigate.

Julie Dixon, CEO of BANA said:

The impact this student has had on our charity and potentially other charities of a similar size is more incredible than people would realize. We care about our employees and volunteers, having suitable HR policies in place is important. We get so busy it can be hard to pause and find the right support for this kind of thing, never mind the funds to pay for it. We greatly appreciate the result and ialso the student has offered to be a volunteer HR consultant going forward.

The student is a role model to others and the perfect example of the benefits that volunteering can have not only on improving one's own employability but also to help a good cause and to make the lives of others better. Before the winner is announced let's take a moment to honour the runners-up, Eleanor Crooks and Faith Turner-Paxton.

It is now time to announce the winner and the winner is Matthew LeDoux-Deakin. Congratulations Matthew and all the nominees.

[Music plays over holding screen featuring gold star].

Work Experience Employer of the Year

[Kieran Chester is shown on screen he is wearing a blue shirt]. 

Kieran: My name's Kieran Chester I’m the External Engagement Manager for the Driven project at the University and these are the nominations for the Work Experience Employer of the Year. This award recognises incredible employers who have hosted students either through Driven or the curriculum embedded micro placements or the year in industry placements. All students who had completed any form of work experience were able to nominate their employer for this award.

According to the nomination, a family is how this employer is best described. There's never been a more supportive community than this one and the lengths the employees go to support each other is unheard of. The camaraderie here is nothing short of remarkable from the site team to the I.T team and last but not least the teaching staff.

Beginning as a nervous student, the nominator grew into a confident capable and independent employee and feels ready for the next challenge all with thanks to this employer, and the impact that they have had on the student’s life is something they will be eternally grateful for.

A unique trait of this employer is that there are no limitations, this allows room to grow by working within the infrastructure typically reserved for those with more experience, and shadowing or contributing to projects that would usually require a senior position. This flexibility and openness makes the experience of working here priceless, this employer is fantastic dedicated and deserving of this award.

But before they are announced let's take some time to recognize the runners-ups: Erin Brown, Yellow Bird Marketing and Communications, Franklin Ellis Architects and Derbyshire Constabulary.

Now time for the winner and the winner is Saint Benedict Catholic Voluntary Academy. Congratulations to Saint Benedict's and all the nominees.

[Music plays over holding screen featuring gold star].

Work Experience Student of the Year

Fiona: Hello my name is Fiona Naismith and I’m the External Engagement Manager for the Careers and Employment Service and it's my pleasure to announce the winner of the Work Experience Student of the Year. This special award recognises those students who have completed a micro placement in curriculum or a co-curricular internship through Driven or students who have completed a year in industry placement.

All businesses that had recruited an intern and organisations that had hosted a placement were invited to nominate a student or graduate that had a significant impact on their organisation. According to the nomination, delivering food parcels, hot meals to local residents, collecting and delivering medication for vulnerable persons, volunteering to help maintain the local church gardens and volunteering to work as a research assistant on a staff research project within the University, is just some of the incredible work that this student has undertaken over the last year.

Showing commitment and dedication in everything they do; this student has proven themselves to be a real asset. Also, they have produced work of an extremely high standard maintained accurate records and provided an excellent standard of supportive documentation for a literature review they contributed to. Being a team player and making exemplary work in the community this student is a real credit to the University so much so that the local area coordinator who works for the Derby City Council has expressed how impressed he was with the work that this student had undertaken.

This student has recognised the value in gaining experience in a variety of roles and we are sure this will be of benefit for them in their future career. Allow us to take a moment to recognise the achievements of the runners-up Kayode Oliver, Natalie Kudalova, Adam Price and Hugo Holmes.

Without further delay it is time to announce the winner and the winner is Sarah Mason. Congratulations Sarah and all the other nominees.

[Music plays over holding screen featuring gold star].

[Sue Morrison is shown on screen. She has brown hair and wearing a turquoise blouse]

Sue: And now for our final award, the Student Employability Award. This award goes to students who have worked hard to develop their employability skills either through the curriculum, the co-curricular through volunteering or through employment, all with the goal of making themselves more employable.

The award tonight is extra special because we are celebrating the achievement of two joint winners of the award. The first student has excelled in all manner of ways and the nomination reads over the past year they have worked with the university student and graduate experience team. They have represented the needs of students to influence decisions and to shape the future of the student experience.

They are integral in leading the first-ever, sector-leading virtual summer celebration, this ensured that graduates of 2020 were able to share their achievements and to celebrate despite the pandemic. The virtual celebration gave 20,000 alumni from all over the world the chance to engage in their graduation. To do this the student worked with university staff and lecturers to put together a series of celebration videos which included content from the Vice-Chancellor Professor Katherine Mitchell.

With all of this and work with the University team they have made a positive impact on the experience of students now and in the future. They are an exceptional individual with a successful career ahead of them. The other winner of the joint award. This student has triumphed in organising the University's very first Law Mute in association with Westlaw. This was a prestigious nationwide advocacy competition involving institutions from across England and Wales. It was judged by eminent law academics from across the country who are world leaders in their subjects as well as by eminent judges such as Mary Prior QC.

Displaying tremendous drive and ambition and ability they have put together the event despite the difficulties caused by the pandemic. They organised for teams of students to partake in the Mute. Feedback from the judges in respect of how Derby students performed was fantastic. Our students benefited a great deal from taking part in this competition, it has boosted their employability and driven their ambition to be solicitors and barristers of the future. During the final contract law competition the University of Derby team triumphed over the University of Oxford to become the winners.

Before the winners of this award tonight are announced let's recognise the achievements of the runners-up and they are Andrew Marriott and Charlie Herbert. Congratulations.

And now let's celebrate the winners the joint award winners for the Student Employability Award are Amy Hellen and Nicola Lambert, congratulations.

Congratulations to also to all of the award winners and the nominees of our amazing event tonight. We could only host this because you've all been so busy and done such a tremendous job to develop your employability with lots of support from employers and partner organisations too.

This award has brought us to the end of our proceedings and I just want to thank you all for joining us this evening to celebrate such great achievements. From our student’s academics and our partner organisations, congratulations to all nominees and winners and please do share your celebrations with us through social media channels using the hashtags #derbyunisuccess and #uodcelebrate.

Thank you all for joining us and have a good rest of the night. Thank you. 

Video ends with the University of Derby three peaks logo displaying on screen whilst ambient music plays. 

Audio described version of Employability Awards 2021 video

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