Business and Law at the University of Wolverhampton

28 Mar 2018

“I would say that I owe the University and my lecturers a huge debt for all the support they have given me. I do not believe that if I had studied anywhere else I would have achieved a First or the Queen Mother Award. Overall it was a great experience and I could not recommend the University highly enough.” Sarah Platts, University of Wolverhampton LLB (Hons) Law graduate awarded the highly coveted Queen Mother’s Scholarship to study the Bar Professional Training Course (BPTC).

With a heritage that spans more than 190 years, the University of Wolverhampton is a pioneer of UK higher education. Delivering 500 programmes across 18 schools and institutes, it offers a breadth and depth of knowledge that empowers far-reaching student ambitions.

Incorporating the Business School, Law School, School of Social, Historical and Political Studies, International Academy, Centre for International Training and Development, and the Centre for African Entrepreneurship and Leadership, the Faculty of Social Sciences presents a diverse education which prepares students to thrive in a complex modern world.

The faculty has built on a history of success, enhancing graduate prospects through a range of brand-new projects and partnerships. Staff, students and associates share understanding and experience, not only enriching each other but also communities and businesses at home and abroad.

Collaborative relationships

The University of Wolverhampton Business School continues to deliver a vocationally relevant curriculum, informed by close working relationships with regional and national firms and maintaining strong links with professional and accrediting bodies such as the Chartered Management Institute (CMI), Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM), Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD), Association of Certified and Chartered Accountants (ACCA), Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW), and Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA). The Institute of Directors (IoD) mentoring scheme, offered to all final year undergraduate business students, continues to attract large numbers of applications with over 160 final year undergraduates business students having benefitted from the scheme over the past 5 years. Through high-level mentoring support participants further develop their key skills, become more confident, are helped to realise their full potential and career ambitions.

A new Challenge Academy project was launched to bolster student vocational skills, pairing students with a regional business or organisation to work on a bite-sized assignment with support from academic experts. The Business School is working with the Chartered Management Institute (CMI) to deliver a Chartered Management Degree Apprenticeship programme through a three-year partnership with leading public sector provider SERCO, whilst simultaneously extending degree apprenticeships to students from a range of different business organisations through its open programme.

“The best thing about being in a university environment, especially at the University of Wolverhampton, is that you learn to stand on your own two feet. You’re given the chance to develop not only your knowledge base but to develop as a person as well,” says Stephanie Barratt -BA (Hons) International Business Management graduate.

“Excellent course and the lecturers were the best part for me, I could never ask for more, they truly are incredible people. They pushed me and encouraged me to thrive and be the best that I could be, and always there to help when I needed them,” says Tanya Mpofu – BA (Hons) Accounting and Finance graduate.

Leading Law School

The Law School has once again joined forces with national law firm DWF to provide students with careers guidance from mentors working in commercial legal practice. The Law Student Representation Project, via the City of Wolverhampton Welfare Rights Service, has helped individuals in the community recover £2.2 million in benefits entitlement over the past four years, an impressive feat that was nominated in the national LawWorks Pro Bono Awards.

Students have gained a wealth of hands-on experience through schemes such as the Wolverhampton Legal Companions in collaboration with Wolverhampton Combined Court Centre, supporting members of the public in their dealings with the court. On top of this, students from the University’s Legal Advice Centre, based in the city’s Mander Centre, have provided free, generic legal advice to over 70 people and signposted scores to other local services. These students work under the supervision of respected academic staff and lawyers from local law firms.

“The LPC taught me the essential skills and knowledge that I need to practice as a solicitor, but studying at University gave me the invaluable time management and organisation skills that I need to be efficient at my job.

“…My advice to any student would be that nowadays it is not enough to simply go to University. You need to get as much experience as possible and really work on your employability skills as well as your academic ones,” she adds. “That’s why the Faculty of Social Sciences is so good as it has numerous links with Law firms and businesses so you are able to build up your work experience and develop people skills too,” Hannah Randall, graduate of the university’s LLB (Hons) Law and LPC programmes, explains.

Excellence in research

Research into the diversity of various boards of directors – undertaken by Professor of Corporate Governance, Silke Machold – has received global acclaim from scholars and practitioners. The findings of a recent EU-funded project into women on boards in South-eastern Europe, conducted together with colleague Dr Wen Wang and employers’ associations, were accessed by close to 60,000 managers of companies in the Balkan countries, while almost 500 companies and social partners took place in follow-up training.

The University has been granted more than £650,000 from the Arts and Humanities Research Council to undertake a major study of the British coal industry and its subsequent demise. The three-year project will be led by Keith Gildart, Professor of Social and Labour History and former coal miner.

Inaugural professorial lectures by Keith Gildart, George Kassimeris, Graham Brooks and Peter Walton provided interesting and unique insights into their research, the contents of which inform teaching and curriculum developments across the Faculty of Social Sciences.

Student successes

The volunteering efforts of Wolverhampton students received notable recognition again this year in the annual Employment and Volunteering Awards. Volunteer of the Year went to Rebecca Baker (Event and Venue Management) for her outstanding work with Acorn Children’s Hospice, while Abigail Fletcher won the faculty’s WEEA Gold Award for her outstanding study efforts. The Volunteering Certificate of Excellence was awarded to students who achieved over 500 hours of volunteering: Charlotte Holmes and Annika Nisbett (Deaf Studies and Special Needs and Inclusion Studies), Daniel Raw (War Studies) and Naila James (Law).

Spanish student, Marta Rios received the Chartered Management Institute (CMI) Rosebowl Award 2017 for the best Masters’ in Business Administration (MBA) dissertation of the year.

Impressive staff achievements

The prominence of the University of Wolverhampton’s name is also evidenced in the quality of teachers. Professors Peter Walton (Law) and Stephen Badsey (History) were appointed to the Arts and Humanities Research Council’s Peer Review College, a sought-after accolade for researchers with an active track record held in esteem by their peers.

Then there’s Dr. Lucy Zheng, a professional who was recently awarded Paper of the Decade in the 2017 Journal of International Business Studies (JIBS) Decade Award. The award, sponsored by Palgrave Macmillan, recognises the most influential paper published in JIBS over the past ten years.

And finally, Beverley Rizzotto, Lecturer in Law and Manager of the University’s Legal Advice Centre, was shortlisted as a finalist for the Community Champion Award at last year’s Wolverhampton Law Society Awards.