People

Will Swann, the OU’s recently retired Director of Students has been awarded an MBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours.

Will, who retired from the OU in December last year after more than 35 years with the University, becomes a Member of the Order of the British Empire for his services to higher education.

Will’s career at The Open University spans a lifetime of commitment beginning first as a student, then academic and later Dean and since 2004 as Director, Students where he had responsibility for more than 250,000 students in the UK and overseas.

Since 2004, Will led the University’s strategy and programme in widening participation – to promote and protect the needs of all students whatever their background. In this regard Will made a significant contribution to the achievement of national policy objectives designed to expand educational opportunities for people from disadvantaged backgrounds.

The improvements in the numbers of such students signing up to OU modules followed the development and implementation, under his direction, of a highly-focused approach not just for recruitment but for retention and attainment.

Will’s other achievements during this period include expanding the OU’s outreach service, development of services to the disabled and an enhancement of the University’s work within a prison setting.

With the introduction of the new Higher Education funding environment in the UK, Will proposed the introduction of the Access to Success Route as a way of maintaining the University’s commitment to students from disadvantaged backgrounds.

This pathway provides a low-risk, low-cost route into Higher Education for students with low income or low self-esteem in studying at HE level.

Congratulating Will on his MBE, Martin Bean, Open University Vice-Chancellor, said: “Will is an exceptional individual who made an outstanding contribution to The Open University and its students during his 35 years with us. As both a friend and a colleague, I am delighted that he has been recognised with this richly deserved honour.”

On receiving his MBE Will said: “I am honoured and delighted by the award. In the eight years I was Director, Students at the OU, my role was to make it possible for our inspiring OU staff to do their best for hundreds of thousands of students, and so to offer them opportunities that would otherwise be denied to them. It was a joy to be able to do that.”
 

An Open University Business School PhD student who graduated in May found that voluntary organisations face considerable barriers in securing European funding.

Rebecca Rumbul, who received her OU PhD in Business at the Cardiff graduation ceremony on 27 April, looked at how money filters down to grassroots voluntary organisations. She found that the way that government bodies administer European monies can dictate what kinds of organisations are able to access funding, often to the detriment of others.

Rebecca’s thesis examines the process of a European Union funding programme in Wales and its implementation within a network context, and asks how institutional and network factors influence which organisations acquire funding. It focuses on one European programme and one project partnership that was successful in gaining funds, and details the processes and influences that determined the way in which such programmes are developed and funds are distributed.

“I found that there are certain voluntary organisations that will get funding due to how they have orientated themselves”, said Rebecca. “My call to Government as a result of my research is that they need to take into account that not all organisations are geared up in a way that will secure funding, but that doesn't mean that they can't deliver high quality outcomes. There is a huge pool of talent that Governments can use to reduce economic disadvantage, but right now the process is so complex that many organisations cannot benefit.”

When Rebecca started her research, she had been working in grant-making for the Big Lottery Fund, and previously the Arts Council of Wales. She now manages the Wales Governance Centre in Cardiff University; a job she got just before she finished her PhD which she believes was a direct result of her studies.

• Find out more about Rebecca
   

 

Chris Lima, Managing Director of Simon Hegele Logistics, has won the Institute of Directors regional Chairman’s Award for Leadership in Corporate Responsibility.

He talks about how humbling it felt to win an award from such a prestigious organisation and the impact his MBA, the OUBS and alumni have had on the business: “The OU Business School and its alumni have been a major influence on the turnaround of the business primarily through the application of principles learnt during my MBA.”

Leadership in Corporate Responsibility
The award recognises the efforts made by Simon Hegele Logistics to engage with its local community. All the employees are able to take an extra day holiday each year to work with a charity, school or community organisation of their choice. The company has engaged with local schools and colleges, supporting students with learning difficulties by running workshops and supporting A level students in applying theory into practice as well as organising events to raise funds for charities.

Chris said, “We are a small company with only 64 employees. So our ethos, in regards to engagement with social activities, is like dropping a pebble into water, we try and generate the maximum effect with the few resources we have. We recognise the need to balance financial profit with social profit and contribute to our local community where we can. Winning the award from such a prestige organisation was a very humbling experience for me, but great recognition and a proud moment for our HR manager and all the other staff that have contributed to the company’s CSR efforts.”

Applying MBA principles
Chris joined Simon Hegele Logistics in 2007 following the successful completion of his MBA. Chris recalls that when he arrived at Simon Helege he was greeted with an unhappy customer banging on the table, a failed quality audit, a high turnover of staff and a loss making business.

The business today looks very different and Chris attributes a lot of this to the OU Business School, as he explains, “The OU Business School and its alumni has been a major influence on the turnaround of the business primarily through the application of principles learnt during my MBA. But also through the development of skills learnt by attending regular alumni events, bringing my team along to OU workshops as part of their development and further developing my own education with an accounting for strategy course.”

Having left school at 16 with a few CSEs Chris decided to join the army. Twelve years later after serving in the Falkland Islands, Northern Ireland, the first gulf war and Bosnia, he left the military but stayed in Germany and got a job with a German company.

“It was whilst I was working with this German company I recognised that my civilian career would benefit from some formal qualifications. After carrying out substantial research into different providers of management training, both German and English, I started studying with the OU in 2001. The OU was a clear choice both from the quality of their presentation, the materials and the accreditations and reputation that came with OU qualifications.”

As a regional winner Chris will go forward to represent London and South East in the UK Director of the Year Finals, taking place in October 2013.

(Chris Lima is pictured above with the awards' host Gyles Brandreth (left))

For more information:

Study with the OU Business School
Institute of Directors Awards

Posted on 16 May 2013