UNDERGRADUATE ORIENTATION 2013 WELCOME TO FASHION MERCHANDISE MANAGEMENT.

Congratulations on being accepted onto the Fashion Merchandise Management BA (Honours) degree. My colleagues and I look forward to working with you over the next few years and we will endeavour to ensure that your time with us will be creative, exciting and fulfilling. On the attached pages you will find details of your time with us at the start of the year. During Orientation week we will go through the course programme with you in detail. We have arranged a number of activities to help you settle in and prepare for your time with us. This will include familiarising you with workspaces, who you will be working with, the campus and its community before you start the formal, scheduled learning weeks. Please prepare for this week, 2 posters / mood boards one depicting everything that you love and the other depicting th everything that you dislike. Please make sure you bring these with you on Monday, 16 September. We have also included a short list of books and other resources that will help you to get a good start in your studies prearrival. If you are extra keen, dont worry, there will be plenty more , later! 1) 2) 3) Mastering Fashion Buying & Merchandising Management Tim Jackson & David Shaw To Die for: Is Fashion Wearing out the World Lucy Siegle Essential Study Skills The complete guide to success @ University Tom Burns & Sandra Sinfield We also recommend that you start to look at the Press / Online for all information regarding what is happening in retail. We also invite you to join the Fashion Merchandise Management Google Group below which has been set up for everyone due to join the course this September. It would be very useful if you joined it to contact others who will be taking the same course as you. http://groups.google.com/group/studying-fashion-at-westminster If you have any queries, please do not hesitate to contact me at the email address below. Best wishes and welcome to University life. We look forward to seeing you in September. Kind regards Louise Cootes Level 4 Leader Email: cooteslo@westminster.ac.uk

Faculty of Media, Arts & Design Watford Road Northwick Park Harrow Middlesex, HA1 3TP T: +44 (0) 20 7911 5936 F: +44 (0) 20 7911 5921 E: MADRegistry@westminster.ac.uk westminster.ac.uk

Fashion Merchandise Management

BA Honours

Orientation Week Handbook September 2013

Course Leader Helen Armour Level 4 Leader Louise Cootes

Fashion Merchandise Management Orientation Week Timetable

Monday 16 September 10.00am Introduction to Course - expectations 11.30am Orientation Handbook 12.30pm Campus tour by Level 6 students 2.00pm Level 5 FANS 2.30pm Holiday project brief and preparation Tuesday 17 September 9.45am Campus Welcome meeting 11.30am Enrolment 2.00pm Student Support 2.30pm Holiday project presentations to Louise and Helen Wednesday 18 September 10.00am Beth and Caroline to brief out London visit requirements 2.00pm Library tour and Blackboard induction

A6.9 A6.9 A6.9 / The Campus A6.9 A6.9

The Auditorium The Forum A6.9 A6.9

A6.9

Library

Thursday 19 September 10-11:30am Welcome from the Dean 11.00am Conduct London visit as briefed Friday 20 September All Day Freshers Fair

The Forum

Harrow Campus

Undergraduate Timetable 2013/14

Student year starts 16 September 2013

Enrolment and induction

16-20 September 2013

Semester one teaching

23 September - 13 December 2013

Semester two teaching

13 January - 4 April 2014

Exam period

30 April - 23 May 2014

Student year ends

21 June 2014

Referral and deferral assessments and exams

4 -11 July 2014

Semester 1 Guided Independent Study week is w/c Monday 28th October 2013 Semester 2 Guided Independent Study week is w/c Monday 17th February 2014

Level 4 - Module Timetable 2013/2014

Core

Semester 1 Fashion Marketing (15 credits) Tuesdays 10am 1pm Law (15 credits) Thursdays 10am - 1pm

Semester 2

Core

Finance (15 credits) Thursdays

Core

Exploration of the Fashion Industry, Buying Cycle and Range planning (30 credits) Semester 1 Wednesdays 10am - 1pm Semester 2 Tuesdays 10am 1pm Learning for Success (30 credits) Semester 1 Mondays 10am - 5pm (Sept to Oct) Semester 2 Tuesdays 2pm 5pm

You need to select from either Polylang or London Fashion. Polylang staff will be in the University during Orientation Week to help register interested students. You must see them for further information. If you select London Fashion, then you must go to the Registry to register for it as you are only automatically registered for Core Modules.

LEVEL 4 1 of

Core

Elective

Polylang (15 credits)

Elective

London Fashion (15 credits) Fridays 10am - 1pm

Personal Tutorials An Individual Personal Tutor will be assigned to each student for the duration of your study. An individual tutorial will take place with your allocated personal tutor within 4 weeks of your first semester.

Personal Development Planning The Fashion Merchandise Management course is committed to promoting a culture of selfreflection and proactive personal development. A meeting with you personal tutor will take place during your first semester and you will be asked to begin the process of self-reflection that is key to successful personal development. You will be asked to keep a personal portfolio throughout your time here at the University of Westminster. Your personal portfolio will be divided into 3 parts: The first part consists of your own personal record of your feelings, thoughts, concerns, accomplishments and experiences during your time at University. The second part of the portfolio will be built out from your assessment feedback sheets. You will be asked to self-reflect upon your personal development before each tutorial, by looking back through your personal record and by considering the formative assessment feedback from each module assignment. You will be asked to pull out topics for discussion during your personal tutorials and to identify action points for enhancing skills, knowledge and behaviour in order to achieve your aspirations. Both you and your tutor will keep a record of each tutorial, in regard to topics discussed and resulting action plans. A series of workshops will be offered throughout your first and second year to directly tie in with any areas identified, as development needs. The third and final part of the portfolio will consist of the written report for your Learning for Success Module, (during your first year) and the learning log that you will be asked to keep whilst out on placement (during your second year). Both ask you to record and reflect on your career prospects and progress, with particular regard to skills and employability. You will be encouraged to reflect on these and identify action points in regard to your graduate career and future aspirations. A series of workshops in the final year will concentrate once again on CV writing, interview skills and targeting career opportunities. The overall objective of your personal portfolio is to enable you to be reflective in your learning, identify you own areas of strength and weaknesses, in order to achieve your own personal targets and goals.

Important Information
Course Committee How Course Representatives will be selected Course representatives are selected through a ballot of the student year group they represent. Any student wishing to put themselves forward as a potential representative is put forward to the student vote. A year group would normally have 2 or 3 representatives, as the collective voice of the student body, the views and issues raised by the course representatives are valued and respected. The representatives will therefore attend the Course Committee meeting held each semester Semester 1 will be held on 4th December 2013 and Semester 2 on 27th March 2014.

Lecture Notes You are expected to bring a lap top or notebook and pens and paper to all your lectures, as you will not always be given a hard copy on the day. Most of your Lecture, Seminar and other notes plus all important information will be posted on Blackboard on a regular basis. You must log onto Blackboard and check your e-mail on a daily basis.

Placement Year You will be applying for a placement role in only 30 weeks from now! You must start straight away to build your CVs academic, part-time work, other.

Assignments It is not like school there is no chance to improve your grade. (Unless you fail an Assignment in which case the retake will be capped at 40%) Grades Below 30% = Fail No referral (cannot retake) Below 40% = Fail (can retake but will be capped at 40%) 40% - 49% = 3rd 50% - 59% = 2.2 60% - 69% = 2.1 70% + = 1st Must achieve 35% in every Assignment Be supportive of Each other! Particularly in the early weeks. Most of you are a long way from home. Make time for each other, especially during this week. Do not go home until GIS week! If you are struggling, then ask to see your Personal Tutor.

Contact Details Helen Armour - Course Leader e-mail h.armour@westminster.ac.uk Kate Hopkin - Senior Lecturer e-mail k.hopkin@westminster.ac.uk Louise Cootes - Senior Lecturer e-mail cooteslo@westminster.ac.uk Caroline Curtis - Senior Lecturer e-mail c.curtis@westminster.ac.uk Beth Jelly - Senior Lecturer e-mail b.jelly@westminster.ac.uk Josie Misick - Senior Lecturer e-mail j.misick@westminster.ac.uk Caline Anouti - Senior Lecturer e-mail c.anouti@westminster.ac.uk Stephanie Caplan - Visiting Lecturer - Law e-mail s.caplan@westminster.ac.uk Dr Nnamdi Obiosa - Visiting Lecturer - Finance e-mail n.obiosa@westminster.ac.uk