2021 winners

Individual awards

Cato Marks

Teaching Fellow in English Literature and Widening Participation Officer, School of English and Modern Languages

For starting the school’s BAME network and for prioritising diversity and inclusion in the classroom, the curriculum and in students' lives.

‘Dr Marks is not only a brilliant, supportive colleague, but also an amazing teacher who is loved and respected by his students because he prioritizes equality, diversity and inclusion in theory and in practice. His warm and welcoming manner makes his classroom a safe space for students to develop their critical thinking skills in general, and to think in particular about the relationship between English literature and race.’

Gary Mattingley

Risk & Resilience Manager, Finance and Legal Services

For co-ordinating Brookes’ response to the pandemic within the wider community.

‘Gary Mattingley has kept us Together in 2021. It is that simple.’ ‘He has been the unsung hero of the University's response to the global pandemic...He has worked tirelessly throughout the pandemic to ensure that Brookes's response has been uniform and that its response has been inclusive in terms of incorporating it within the broader community in which the University exists locally and regionally.’

Pras Ramluggan

Senior Lecturer in Nursing, Oxford School of Nursing and Midwifery

For his work to ensure the shift to online learning was as inclusive as possible, collaborating with students on a set of online learning guidelines and giving extra support as needed.

‘Pras has demonstrated empathy and resilience, fostering a sense of belonging for students by creating personalised synchronous and asynchronous learning activities. He ensured that students of all abilities felt seen and heard and respectfully interacted with each other in the virtual shared space by implementing e-inclusive teaching and learning strategies.’

Delia Redding

Campus Services Contract Manager - Harcourt and Marston Road, Estates and Campus Services

For supporting the needs of her staff, many of whom are from lower income households, ensuring they felt happy to remain at work, and that sites remained open and safe.

‘Delia’s experience and guidance has been second to none in providing mentoring support for new managers and ensuring that all staff members have felt supported working in such a challenging environment.’

Brian Rivers

Facilities and Services Manager, Humanities and Social Sciences

For supporting colleagues in the transition to working from home, and for ensuring that workspaces were ready for the return of teaching staff in October 2020 so that teaching could be delivered safely and effectively.

‘Throughout the pandemic, Brian has gone above and beyond what is expected of him in his role, often working independently in making decisions to assist colleagues who, without his help, would have struggled to continue working.’

Mariama Sheriff

Pathways Lecturer, Oxford Brookes Business School

For her continuing work to explore and challenge racism, including her ongoing work as part of the Conversations on race, racism and anti-racism initiative, and her dedication to ensuring all students benefit from support, inclusion and peer-to-peer guidance.

‘Mariama has been a beacon of inclusivity in her continuing work on Conversations on race and racism. She is always mindful of diverse student needs and is often the first to suggest ways in which activities and teaching can be made more inclusive and accessible for all our students.’

Louise Williams

Course Leader for Foundation Art and Design, School of Arts

For her efforts to support students during the pandemic

‘Louise went above and beyond usual working practice to provide equal opportunities and resources for students on the Foundation Art and Design course who were caught up in the Covid-19 pandemic. She tried her hardest to mitigate any disadvantages they would experience because of the Global Covid-19 restrictions.’

Team awards

Nursing and Midwifery Team

Health and Life Sciences

For their work organising paid placements (at short notice) for student nurses during the Covid-19 crisis, and for their ongoing support of these students.

‘The team has worked tirelessly and exceptionally hard since the pandemic began to support and educate student nurses and midwives - the latter who have been on placements throughout, contributing to the local NHS efforts to care for the community - inclusively and without exception.’

Occupational Health Covid Team

Human Resources - Occupational Health

For implementing and following up on individual health risk assessments, enabling staff to return to campus in October 2020 knowing that their health needs were being met.

‘The team had to quickly develop a way to assess health risks for individuals who were required to work on campus during the pandemic and ensure there were suitable protections in place when larger numbers of staff returned to deliver face-to-face teaching from the beginning of the new academic year.’

Safety Team

Human Resources -Health and Safety Division

For their work on site to ensure that other essential workers such as colleagues in Estates and Campus Services were able to work on campus safely.

‘Their heroic efforts meant that the campus was reopened safely in time for the beginning of the new academic year. They continued to attend sites, check on how the risk mitigations were being implemented and recommend changes as needed. They were pragmatic where they needed to be, but always had the health and safety of all staff and students as their top priority.’