The impact of the formal equality stance on institutional processes and legal compliance in Higher Education

The aim of this paper is to build on a previous paper which explored the politics and perspectives of various social actors regarding anti-discrimination legislation and equality within a higher education setting. This paper will discuss the impact of the politics and perceptions on compliance with legislative requirements as reflected through the equality processes within a case study institution. In considering this, the question which will be borne in mind is: does the tendency towards adopting the formal equality stance also impact on the case study’s equality processes and, in turn, their response to the Public Sector Equality Duty (PSED)? Such an analysis could have wider implications on how equality and compliance with the law is dealt with in other Higher Education Institutions (HEI)

Teaching information skills for legal method

I have been involved with teaching information skills as part of the Law Department’s 1st year Legal Method course since 2000. These sessions have developed from a set of half hour sessions offered on a drop-in basis in 2000, to the current format of four seminars of an hour each. The four seminars deal with searching the library catalogue; searching the law databases for cases and statutes; searching for journal articles; and finding and evaluating material for law on the free internet. There are 10 seminar groups for Legal Method so each library seminar is delivered 10 times in the week. The aim of this article is to provide a snapshot of the seminars on journals from January 2009, which I hope will prove interesting to colleagues as an example of services provided by the academic services librarians

Synagapetus dubitans, a caddisfly new to Britain

The caddisfly species Synagapetus dubitans has been found recently for the first time in the UK in 2010. This study reports on the sampling and discovery of that species in North Yorkshire. A list of sites where S. dubitans (either as larvae or adults) has been found is give

Lightning protection of full authority digital electronic systems

Modern electronic systems are vulnerable to transient and they now provide safety critical functions such as full authority digital electronic control (FADEC) units for fly by wire aircraft. Of the traditional suppression technologies available diodes have gained the wider acceptance, however, they lack the current handling capacity to meet existing threat levels. The development of high speed fold back devices where, at a specified voltage, the off state resistance switches to a very low on state one has provided the equivalent to a semiconductor spark gap. The size of the technology enables it to be integrated into connectors of interconnection cables. To illustrate the performance the technology was developed to meet the Lightning Protection requirements for FADEC units within aeroengines. Work was also carried out to study switching behavior with the waveform 5, the 500 us, 10 kA pulse applied to cable assemblies. This test enabled all the switches in a connector to be fired simultaneously

Efficient detection of periodic orbits in high dimensional systems

This paper is concerned with developing a method for detecting unstable periodic orbits (UPOs) by stabilising transformations. Here the strategy is to transform the system of interest in such away that the orbits become stable. However, the number of such transformations becomes overwhelming as we move to higher dimensions [5, 16, 17]. We have recently proposed a set of stabilising transformations which is constructed from a small set of already found UPOs [1]. The real value of the set is that its cardinality depends on the dimension of the unstable manifold at the UPO rather than the dimension of the system. Here we extend this approach to high dimensional systems of ODEs and apply it to the model example of a chaotic spatially extended system - the Kuramoto-Sivashinsky equation

The politics of equality and diversity in Higher Education

The aim of this paper is to provide an exploration of the perspectives relating to equality, diversity and anti-discrimination legislation from multi-actors at different levels of seniority and with varying involvement with equality issues and diversity management within a Higher Education institution. The role of management has been regarded as key in providing the leadership required and sending out the message that equality and diversity issues are significant in order to ensure that legislation is adhered to, not just by the letter, but also the spirit. “This top-down commitment and support was regarded by line managers as extremely important for leading the cultural change which was felt necessary in order to achieve equality for all...” (Greene, A. et al (2005) p36) The same may be said of the role of management within Higher Education Institutions where “[t]he extent and importance of managers in higher education has increased considerably in recent years as UK higher education has expanded…and the commitment of senior managers to equality of opportunity is clearly of considerable significance…” (Deem, R et al (2005) p82) Management perspectives of the meaning of equality therefore have an impact on establishing the priorities for an institution thereby determining how equality and diversity issues are dealt with. In addition, a comparison between management perspectives of the meaning and scope of equality and other members of staff as well as students is significant as these perceptions may differ depending on the role and status of the individual. Previous research has found that “[t]here appeared to be a considerable gulf between the views of staff…and the perceptions of their senior managers.” (Deem, R et al (2005) p6) Differing perspectives of equality may affect the relationships between various actors within the institution and how the politics of equality and diversity are managed. Of particular interest are the views and perceptions of equality and diversity practitioners within Higher Education. Their position and role within the case study institution is unique as they are neither regarded as part of the academic departmental structure of the institution, nor part of the management structure and are therefore poised somewhere in between. Once again, their positioning within the institution, their role and status will be explored and the impact on the politics of diversity management considered. This research aims to further understanding of how perceptions of equality and diversity, and the role of equality and diversity practitioners, affect the management of equality and diversity within Higher Education and implications for the practice of equality will be considere

'Wet' care homes for older people with refractory alcohol problems: a qualitative study

Background This study describes a registered care home in England and a registered nursing home in Norway which provide permanent care for alcohol-dependent older people who are unable or unwilling to stop drinking and cannot maintain an adequate standard of self-care and/or live independently. Prior to admission, most residents have been living unsafely in their own home or were homeless. They have high levels of contact with health, social and criminal justice services and complex needs as a result of mental illness, poor physical health and physical disabilities. Most have lost contact with their families. The aim is to stabilise drinking, physical and mental health and improve quality of life. The homes are based on a harm reduction philosophy, that is, they focus on strategies to reduce harm from high-risk alcohol use, rather than insisting on abstinence. Residents can drink as much alcohol as they want on the premises but staff encourage them to drink less and in a less harmful way (e.g. spreading drinking throughout the day and having ‘dry’ days). Method We carried out interviews and focus groups with staff and residents, observed verbal exchanges, experiences and routines in communal areas, took field notes during staff rounds and analysed documents such as care plans for individual residents. Key findings • Most residents’ drinking, physical and mental health stabilises and their use of health, social and criminal justice services reduces following admission. • This is achieved by encouraging less harmful drinking, providing on-site health care, assistance with medication and self-care and provision of nutritious meals and social activities. • Wet care homes are viewed by some residents as a safe refuge which has improved their quality of life. • Other residents are frustrated by a lack of personal autonomy. • Suitable outcomes include improved hygiene and nutrition, increased self-esteem, better compliance with healthcare, healthier living which is not entirely alcohol focused and more hope for the future. • Homes should have processes in place to collect quantitative measures which provide clear evidence of impact.