Staff nomination at the Times Higher Education Awards 2022

Employability: Preparing learners for practice

Lyvia Royd-Taylor, Principal Lecturer in Marketing, was nominated for the Most Innovative Teacher of the Year award at the Times Higher Education (THE) Awards 2022.

The awards attract hundreds of nominations each year across 20 different categories and are considered among the most prestigious awards in the sector.

Lyvia’s THE award shortlisting highlights the final-year undergraduate module (Marketing Communications) she developed, which includes a live client group project. On this project, our students gain invaluable practical insights and hands-on experience by providing support to a host of external charities.

The shortlisting also acknowledges her focus over two decades at University of Brighton on the importance of adapting teaching to student abilities and academic level, while also providing opportunities to gain experience.

Societal impact: Business as a force for good

Lyvia always seeks to cater for different learning styles, and her innovative approaches using Technology Enhanced Active Learning (TEAL) and live-client projects has helped many of our students overcome the challenges of a highly competitive graduate job market.

She said: “I’m delighted to be shortlisted for the 2022 THE Awards. Marketing graduates face a highly competitive graduate job market that requires both a degree and previous experience.

“By incorporating a live-client project, learners can build their experience while the client charity gets marketing advice it couldn’t otherwise afford. [Students] also get an understanding of the challenges facing the third sector – and, as a result, I hope they consider a role in this important field as they begin their careers.”

The winners were announced at the awards ceremony that took place on 17 November 2022 at the Hilton London Metropole Hotel.  Unfortunately, Lyvia did not win the award and following the event she said: “I didn’t win but the ceremony was fantastic. The compère for the evening was Stephen Mangan, who did a brilliant job and bought along his own award from winning Celebrity Mastermind (his specialist topic being ‘The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy’). It tickled me when he hesitated over how to pronounce my name!”

UN Sustainable Development Goals

Lyvia’s development of the Marketing Communications module meets the following UN global goals:

• Quality education – standard four
• Decent work and economic growth – standard eight
• Responsible consumption and production – standard 12