‘Belonging Cube’ initiative shortlisted for Guardian Award.

An initiative set up at Cardiff Metropolitan University to enable Postgraduate Transition, the ‘Belonging Cube’, has been honoured this week by The Guardian University Awards. ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​

The Guardian Awards showcase best practice, achievement and innovation in higher education throughout the UK across a range of categories. Honouring excellence in everything from teaching practice to inspiring facilities, the awards act as a sector benchmark and offer universities a seal of approval for their most outstanding work. ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​

The Belonging Cube has been shortlisted within the Excellence in Teaching category. ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​

Created to help students studying Postgraduate International Business Management, the Belonging Cube encourages students to share differences in culture, background and experience, highlighting their future hopes and aspirations. This helps form shared identity amongst an internationally diverse student population, creating the basis for developing on-going course belonging. ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​

This collaborative initiative was established by Senior Lecturer, Mark Sutcliffe from Cardiff School of Management and Ruth Matheson from Cardiff Met’s Learning and Teaching Development Unit. ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​

Both Mark and Ruth, from Cardiff Met will attend an awards ceremony in central London this month where the winners of each category within the Guardian University Awards will be announced. ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​

Ruth and Mark, said, “It’s fantastic to be recognised for the innovative work that we are carrying out with students. This shows the real benefits of collaborative work between academic staff and our Learning and Teaching Development Unit”. ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​