National award recognises Harper Adams student experience excellence

Posted 4 July 2014

Harper Adams University has won the CUBO Innovation Award for Excellence in Student Experience. 

Organised by College and University Business Officers, in association with University Business magazine, the awards recognise the achievements of those working within the UK higher education industry. 

The award submission was compiled by David Nuttall, Catering Manager, who collected the trophy at the awards ceremony last night. He said: “This is a fantastic result - very welcome recognition of the efforts made across Harper Adams to put students at the heart of our operations. 

“The CUBO award winners are voted for by members, so it is a true honour to have been chosen as the winner by peers from the UK higher education sector. 

“Our entry focussed on the way we put sustainable development and environmental consciousness at the heart of support services at Harper Adams University. Core studies cover sustainable farming, land, animals and the food chain, therefore all support services integrate thoroughly with the overall student experience. 

“The ethos of farm to fork runs from students learning about animal systems from the on-site commercial farm, to the catering department using the farm’s produce to feed the students. We practice what we teach! This award recognises the hard work of staff throughout the university, and I would like to say particular thanks to the team in the catering department for their support of the various initiatives,” said Mr Nuttall, a board member of The University Caterers’ Organisation (TUCO) and Food Standards Agency advisor.  

Other examples of sustainability practices that enhance the student experience at Harper Adams include the use of pigs trotters (which would otherwise be classed as food waste) for veterinary nurses to practice suturing and livestock offal used in a student project focussing on the use of cheaper meat cuts, which won a national prize and represented the UK in European food innovation finals.

Supply chain management taught at the university encourages food students to interact with the catering department. Mr Nuttall, Chairman of the Shropshire Fairtrade Coalition and of the Telford and Wrekin Fairtrade Alliance, added: “Fairtrade sourcing is one particular topic that students engage with and Harper Adams is now in the best practice guide for Universities striving for Fairtrade status.

“We’ve got the students thinking not only about where their food comes from, but where it ends up, thanks to efforts to reduce food waste and recycle as much as possible.”