Vice-Chancellor's Awards 2024

 News 

Celebrating outstanding members of the Bath Spa community

On Thursday 16 May 2024, the Bath Spa University community came together at our beautiful Newton Park campus for the annual Vice-Chancellor’s Awards ceremony. 

Nestled next to Main House, a marquee played host to students, alumni and staff from across the University to celebrate the outstanding individual and team achievements of their peers. 

Run in partnership with the Students' Union, the Vice-Chancellor’s Awards nominations began in the new year. Everyone at Bath Spa could nominate staff and students that they felt had made outstanding contributions to the University community. 

A panel of representatives decided on this year’s winners, and Vice-Chancellor Professor Sue Rigby and Students' Union President Jas Raymond-Barker presented the winners with their awards at the ceremony.

Creating this year’s awards 

To mark the occasion, a BSU student was commissioned to design and create the awards up for grabs. Ellie Fellows, second year student in Creative Arts Practice, has created ceramic bowls for each of the winners. The decorated awards feature gold stars, designed to spark child-like joy and pride in winning the award:

“It’s such an honour to make all these wonderful and talented people awards and to be a part of this amazing event.” Ellie reflected. “I truly hope everyone likes the award and is proud of themselves for the achievement!” 

Time to celebrate outstanding achievements

With an evening of celebration ahead, Professor Sue Rigby addressed the crowd: “This evening, we reflect on our academic year and celebrate all that we have achieved and our community.“

With awards lined up for students, staff, alumni, and even our care dogs, Sue reflected: “It’s been heart-warming to read the thoughtful nominations submitted by colleagues and our students.”

Introducing new categories for 2024

This year’s awards included the introduction of some new categories:

• Student event of the year
• Adobe creation award
• Professional creativity award
• Bath Spa community champion of the year

Celebrating our students’ success

First up was the outstanding achievements of our students. From 'Academic impact' and 'Academic achievement' to team and student of the year, the marquee erupted in applause to praise the amazing work of our students. 

Among the winners of the student awards, Arran Feltham took to the stage as the winner of the 'Academic impact' award. Nominated for work as the Business School’s Student Community Champion, “Arran has been excellent at reaching out to and representing students throughout the year. […] Arran's presence and contribution has made a big difference to the academic experience of our students.”

Bath Spa Women's Rugby took home the 'Student team of the year' award for their outstanding achievements this year. Alongside raising awareness of mental health issues and raising money for related charities, the team have also “reached the Cup Semi-Finals, breaking a record in Women's Rugby at BSU and finishing second in their league.”

Putting the spotlight on our wonderful care dogs

Care dog of the year took centre stage, celebrating our wonderful team of accredited care dogs. Georgie and Daisy jointly took home this year’s prize with a paw shake and a joyful wag of the tail. 

Congratulating our staff for excellent work

The University staff also had some time in the spotlight as we celebrated Colleague, Staff team, Manager, Supervisor and Lecturer of the year, as well as 'Outstanding support' and the 'Unsung Star of Bath Spa'. 

The 'Unsung Star of Bath Spa' celebrated staff members, from academic staff and professional services, who quietly make a significant impact on the success and day-to-day running of the University. This year it went to:

• Phil Griffith, “a highly valued member of the PGCE teaching team” who started a PGCE staff and student choir allowing students to gain experience conducting and staff and students to enjoy singing together.
• Jamie McCaskie from the Timetabling Team. With a “strong and well-rounded vision of where the department should be headed”, Jamie bears a significant workload, but “always manages to make the time to support his colleagues”.

Drawing this year’s awards ceremony to a close

The evening of celebrations came to an end and all that was left to say was a huge congratulations to this year’s Vice-Chancellor’s Awards winners.

Find out more about the Vice-Chancellor’s Awards.