Huge congratulations to Kingston Publishing MA for being shortlisted in the Widening Participation or Outreach Initiative of the Year category of the Times Higher Education Awards 2017.

Kingston University’s Big Read initiative which earned them the shortlisting, demonstrates their strong sense of community. The initiative which was launched in 2015, aims to make those coming to the university feel welcome before they arrive.

With the initiative, as each new student (undergraduate and postgraduate) meets their offer, they receive a free copy of that year’s special edition KU Big Read title. Equally, current staff and students can pick up their free copy on campus. Then, in the early weeks of the new academic year, the university holds events relating to the chosen title such as discussion groups, a talk by the selected author and more recently an ‘Extreme Reading’ competition on Twitter and Instagram over the summer. This enables the students to make links with staff and students already at the university, helping them feel welcome, settle in quickly and adjust to their new life as a student.

BookMachine have been working with students on the MA at Kingston Publishing for a number of years and we’re really proud of their shortlisting. Known as the “Oscars of higher education”, this year’s Times Higher Education Awards will be the 13^th annual awards and the competition in the categories will be tough. THE editor John Gill said: ” All those shortlisted can be immensely proud to have made it through this first phase, and we at Times Higher Education look forward to honouring the winners for their talent, creativity and commitment at a time for the academy when these qualities are increasingly essential.”

The gala ceremony will take place at the Grosvenor House Hotel on Park Lane in London on Thursday 30 November 2017 and we wish Kingston Publishing MA good luck and look forward to seeing what comes next from the Kingston team.