Warwick Advantage Award to recognise student excellence

The Warwick Advantage Award will formally recognise student achievement in activities outside of their degrees and in such a way as to highlight skills to employers gained from these activities.

The scheme is being organised in by the Centre for Student Development and Enterprise and Warwick Advantage itself. It will be possible to apply for the award starting this year.

Mike Pidgeon, Communications Officer for the Students’ Union, explained that students at Warwick are some of the most effective at the running of student events societies and sports clubs.

He highlighted One World Week as an event whose large scale only happens at Warwick.

Yet graduate employers complain that students are unable to articulate the utility of their experiences to that employer. This is one of the main reasons why IBM has been the major sponsor of the scheme.

A separate award is available for sports: the Warwick Sport’s Colours which will be coupled with a Warwick Advantage award. This requires “at least three years of club service” and “evidence of commitment to the club, for example through an exec role.”

There is the possibility of applying for the higher award of the Warwick Advantage Gold Award which would be signed by the Vice Chancellor.

The Warwick Advantage award requires “At least one term’s involvement in a proactive role” and “experience of organising and running at least one major event or project.”

Meanwhile, the Warwick Advantage Gold Award requires you to have “At least three years of club service” and “Evidence of commitment to the club, for example through an exec role”.

The Union said, “The aim of the Gold Award is to recognise those students who have really gone above and beyond in their activities, such as coordinating WSAF, WIDS or OWW, organising a major long-running campaign, or setting up a charity.”

This is hoped to be a beneficial scheme but there is some skepticism. “It seems a little bit like going back to school and getting a gold star from the teacher, but I guess it’s fairly harmless,” said one Warwick student.