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Last week, the successes of our students were once again celebrated in style by staff, award ceremony sponsors and and special guests, including the Mayors of Bournemouth and Poole and the High Sheriff of Dorset. 

The sixth Student Development Award awards ceremony was held in the Student Centre on Wednesday 4 May, acknowledging the high quality of e-portfolios and range of extra-curricular activities undertaken by students, as well as the work of those selected for the Shrievalty Award.

John Fletcher, BU’s Pro Vice Chancellor for Research, presented certificates to all 31 of our students who completed the Student Development Award this year, and prizes were also awarded by the award ceremony sponsors to those who best achieved in one of four categories:

• Chloe McMenamin, Faculty of Science & Technology student [course name] - Most Outstanding Achievement, awarded by 
• Akvile Jukneviciute, Faculty of Management student - Best Reflective Writing, awarded by
• Arlene Oram, Faculty of Health & Social Sciences student - Best E-Portfolio, awarded by
• Gemma Renyard, Faculty of Management student - Dedication to Coaching & Mentoring, awarded by .

The sponsors met earlier in the week to decide on the award winners, commenting how impressed they were with the quality of the student work, and that it was difficult to choose between the candidates this year.

In addition, Sangita Sai Sevanesan and Laura Rolls, Faculty of Media & Communication students, were recognised for successfully completing this year’s Shrievalty Award which included working on a project focusing on young people’s mental health in the local community. Ian Jones, Head of Regional Community Partnerships, and Sir Philip Williams, the High Sheriff of Dorset, spoke about the success of this project which engaged our students with the community in their research and enabled them to develop their presentation skills when reporting to a panel of twelve including the Police Crime Commissioner.

Student Development Award Co-ordinator, Sonya Harvey said: “The students’ reflective writing is invaluable in helping them complete placement and job applications where they can clearly demonstrate to potential employers the skills they have developed; it also helps them to confidently articulate their experience at interview.  The e-portfolio is an impressive tool for capturing employers’ interest as well as enabling students to showcase what they have to offer, making them stand out from other candidates". 

The Student Development Award is an ideal way of capturing any extra-curricular activities you are involved with while you study. It's open to all undergraduate students and you can sign up at any point throughout the year. The Careers & Employability Team is available in The Edge and there is a link in MyCareerHub if you would like to find out more.

Postgraduate taught students can apply to the Postgraduate Development Award and Postgraduate Researchers can apply to the Researcher Development Programme.