The Sad Sixth Day!

June 11, 2015

Well, I got to sleep in a bit longer today, which was until 8:30am.  I grabbed a quick chocolate muffin, some frosties, and an orange juice.  We made our way to the University of Bath, which is a top ten university in the UK.  The University of Bath felt more like an American University by architecture and course offerings.  Several faculty and staff members came by to speak to us about the history of the institution, which spans five decades.  In 1856, the University of Bath was named Bristol Trade School and had serveral other names and in the mid 1900s became known as a technical college and moved from Bristol to Bath. Today, the University of Bath focuses on engineering and design, humanities and social sciences, science, and management.  There is about 16,000 students total with 13,000 undergraduates, 3,000 graduates, and around 2,000 faculty members.  The University of Bath has began to use Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) to provide more opportunities for students to gain more knowledge and experience on subjects that they would not otherwise have exposure to than in a traditional classroom setting.  The courses are only 6 weeks and students do not actually receive course credit but can use the completion of the course as a continued skill to put on their CVs.  The retention for their MOOCs is in the 30 percentile range, which is good for a MOOC.  Some of the subjects discussed in the MOOCs include cancer, military life, and sustainability.  Most of the faculty members that teach on the MOOCs are either from or affiliated with the University of Bath.

I got more information to how student services are conducted on campus with the student engagement speaker today.  She works in their student union and learned that have several activities for students to participate in ranging from recreation sports, student societies, and cultural groups.  There are over 60 sport clubs.  They have skill training programs for CV writing and how to use social media etiquette much like career centers in America.  Alcohol is very prevalent in the UK and students drink alcohol, but they have to be at least 18 years old to consume alcohol legally.  To provide a safe environment for new students, the University of Bath has a alcohol free induction week, which is like welcome and orientation weeks in the US.  They have balls and international weeks as well.  During October, there is a Zombie run around on campus.  There are over 150 clubs and organizations on campus.  They have club nights twice a week.  The campus has a bar and sells discount cards to help with funding the student union and activities.  For leadership and representation, at least two students from each academic department are elected to serve on a committee. There are around 90 to 120 members that serve on committees.  First year students primarily live on campus.  The residence halls are mostly single rooms with shared common spaces, which surprised me because this is Europe, but they are moving toward suite style residence halls as well.  The departments in student services use all of the social media platforms such as Twitter, Facebook, Snap Chat, Yik Yak, and databases such as Blackboard and Moodle.  Student Services focus on bringing awareness to their student clubs by providing programs such as Lad Culture, which educates students on the harm of drinking games, banter, and inappropriate jokes.  They provide training to sport teams as well and will shut them down if they violate the rules.  All violators of the student conduct policy will have to take an awareness course.  I got to talk with a staff member that works with disability services on campus.  We talked about government mandates and emotional supportive pets. She mentioned that her department is currently being re-structured and will be contacting me via email for more information.

We heard from a few more speakers and found out that the UK accepts a 60% and above unlike the US with at least a 70% and above for test and assignment scores.  Lunch consisted of sandwiches and potato chips.  We got a campus tour and went on a trail through a field and got a great view of the whole town of Bath from an high perspective on the hill.  It was beautiful, and the pictures will be posted tomorrow or Saturday.  I slept on the bus ride back to Heathrow.  There were no silly bathroom experiences today unlike the past few days.  I had a Cadbury Twirl, which looks like a Twix but does not include the cookie, and a Nestle Lion similar to a Reese's'  Nutrageous as well as a real sugar vanilla coke. The rooms at the Crowne Plaza are huge, and I actually have a desk in the room with a queen size bed. There are bath robes to wear if I need to use one.  We had dinner at the hotel with lentil soup, baked or roasted chicken, mashed potatoes, sugar snap peas, and some strawberry cheesecake.  At the conclusion of dinner, everyone shared their favorite memories of the trip and some tears were shed by some co-hort members making this both a happy and sad moment of the trip.  We all hugged and said our goodbyes and most of us will depart in the morning back to the good ole US of A.  I wish that I would have gotten to meet with some housing professionals and gotten a tour of the residence halls.

I will be on the plane for most of the day and will be back in the area around 5pm tomorrow.  My last blog about this trip experience will be tomorrow night, so you will know how my trip went on the way back.

Tooting Common!