In a celebration of academic excellence, the 2023 Tutor Award winners were crowned at our Freshers Fair on campus in September.
Building on the success of the 2022 awards, a record breaking 738 nominations were recieved this year. A 421% increase on 2022.Out of the 738 students who nominated a tutor, we also saw 305 students volunteering to be part of the student judging panels. If you are interested in volunteering with us, visit our volunteering opportunities page.
FASS winner: Jacky Blanchard
Jacky sent in these words in response to winning the award:
"I am so completely honoured to receive this award. I did my first degree with the Open University in the 1980's and my year one tutor was the best tutor I could have wished for. She made all the difference to my confidence and made sure I kept going when things got tough. This university does better than all other universities in recognizing the importance of student support in enabling success and it is very gratifying when students are happy with that support and care they have received. I love my job with the Open University and each and every student is important to me. I have nearly retired several times, but am so glad this year again I will have my cohort of lovely students. Thank you to all the students who voted for these awards, it really is very much appreciated."
STEM winner: Margaret Robinson
Here is Margarets acceptance speech:
"First, can I say thank you to everyone for this award. I feel very honoured, and also embarrassed to receive it.
I was once an OU student, and the experience I gained then has been invaluable since I started working as a tutor. I remember the pressure of deadlines, of keeping on top of my full time job, of keeping enough time for my own life and family. But I also remember the feeling elation when I got the result of my first course, and started to believe in my academic ability. I’d done badly in my A-levels, and starting the OU had been a step in the dark, but I started to believe I really could do it. That feeling grew as I went on to second and third level courses. I was already working as a secondary school science teacher, and getting my OU degree made it much easier to progress in my career. A couple of times my OU degree was mentioned during interviews, but always in a positive way. Interviewers always counted it as a positive as they appreciated the organisation and determination required by doing a degree this way.
I started working as an OU tutor after I got my degree, and I found straight away, that having been a student with the OU certainly gave me insight into the sort of hurdles that OU students encounter, and I hope it made me a better tutor. I've learned a great deal from students, and I am more and more admiring of everyone I tutor. It’s very different now from when I started as a student ( we didn’t even have electronic calculators, let alone computers), but the OU has moved on, adapting to change in a steady way, and is now an institution which has respected reputation and is internationally known.
Thank you once again for the award, and I wish you all well for the rest of your OU degree and beyond."
WELS winner: Stuart Wroe
A few words from Stuart:
"Thank you and I am so sorry not to be with you today.
I joined the OU family in 1995 as a nervous student studying the humanities. I went on to get my bachelors degree and masters degree in International Development Management. As an OU student I appreciated the support of all my tutors.
After a career working with children, young people and their communities globally as a result of my OU qualifications – some 28 years later I am proud to still be part of the OU family and doing the job I love.
To receive this award today is so special to me. I cannot express the value I place on having been nominated by my students. It is priceless – and humbling.
All I have ever tried to achieve is to be the tutor I would want to be taught by. This award seems to suggest I am getting some of that right and I will continue to do everything that is in my power to ensure my students successfully complete their studies. Nothing is more important to me.
- I would like to thank my students for nominating me. It was so nice of you to take the trouble.
- I would like to thank the OU Students Association for your invaluable work with and for the student body.
- And I would like to thank Harold Wilson and Jenny Lee for having the vision to create a University that continues to welcome all (as we have seen today) and helped this council estate boy see the world and do the job he loves and treasures."
FBL winner: Dr Marc Shucksworth
The winning tutor in the Faculty of Business and Law has been teaching law at the OU for nearly 3 years, and this is what their student had to say about them:
‘My tutor is a very high-calibre scholar and teacher. It is well known that a lawyer must be a teacher, to help others understand complex legal matters, and my tutor is the epitome of this. My year has been tough, and my tutor has gone above and beyond to help me. Over the past 12 months, I have reached my personal limits, but they were always there to support me, and I am in deem gratitude to them. They completely and genuinely embrace the OU mission. They have made me feel like I belong to the OU which is exceptional. I am honoured to have had them as a tutor and I, myself, am a professor, but my tutor is a role model for other professors like me.’
We also extend our congratulations to the runners up of each Faculty
Dr Heather Price – FASS
Julie Dore – STEM
Jeremy Wilcock – WELS
Eileen Baird – FBL
We would like to thank all students who nominated in the 2023 Tutor Awards. We hope the awards recoginise the significant impact a tutor has on the student journey.