Surrey recognises sector leaders Alan Parker, ex CEO Whitbread and John Mullen, Chair of Qantas, with honorary degrees.
Earlier this year, the University of Surrey celebrated two distinguished Hotel and Catering alumni with honorary degrees: Alan Charles Parker CBE (BSc Hotel and Catering Management, 1969), John Mullen (BSc Hotel and Catering Management, 1978). Alan Parker is best known as the transformational force behind Whitbread plc. During a business career spanning more than 50 years, Alan led Whitbread to become the UK’s largest hospitality group – owning Premier Inn, Marriott Hotels, Costa Coffee and hundreds of pub restaurants. John Mullen, who is currently chairman at Qantas, has more than 20 years of senior leadership experience in global transport and logistics. He has lived and worked in 13 countries and held senior roles at major companies, including CEO of DHL Express, TNT Express Worldwide and Asciano. His previous appointments include Chair of Telstra Group, Toll Holdings, the US National Foreign Trade Council and a UNICEF task force on workplace gender discrimination and harassment. You can read more and their reflections on these awards at this link.
Recent research on attendance and wellbeing in vocational education.
If student attendance and engagement is a current challenge for you or your institution, this investigation reviews the University of Surrey’s School of Hospitality and Tourism Management (SHTM) attendance policy, requiring students to meet the Senior Personal Tutor (SPT) to determine reasons for absences and to provide support for the student, and is a worthy read! Research was conducted to achieve four objectives; to understand student and staff attitudes toward the attendance policy, to identify reasons for student absence, to evaluate the effectiveness of registers as a tool for wellbeing intervention and to evaluate the impact of the policy on staff wellbeing. A qualitative approach assessed staff and student views of the policy and findings connect student absences with staff and student wellbeing, indicating that attendance monitoring can improve a student’s sense of belonging. The study provides a framework for using learning analytics to support student and staff wellbeing, draws attention to the role of the SPT and contributes to literature connecting student attendance with staff and student wellbeing. You can read the whole study here.