We're proud of Tawney for her dedication to her Students, her profession and our community here at Staffordshire University.
Proud to be Staffs Story: Tawney Bennett
Lecturer, School of Law, Policing and Forensics
Tawney Benett has recieved quite so many nominations that selecting a few to display online was originally a difficult task, before we received this perfectly worded nomination from a memebr of Tawney's family. In this one nomination, Tawney's many nominations are perfectly summarised. Thank you Tawney, for making us Proud to be Staffs.
Tawney Bennett 's Story
"It’s with great pleasure that I nominate Mrs Tawney Bennett for consideration of the Proud to be Staffs award of 2019. Her exemplary commitment to this university and her students is deserving of recognition for this award. Unlike many nominations that will be submitted, I bring forward a unique perspective for nominating Tawney Bennett. Not only am I a current Staffordshire University postgraduate student, I am also the proud husband of Tawney and would like to share the outlook on how she shapes all the lives of those around her. Tawney’s ambition to grow her professional network over the last 12 months has provided students a plethora of opportunities both inside and outside of the classroom. In this year alone, Tawney has been able to create unique opportunities for her students, by building strong relationships with key officials in both the prison and legal industry. By securing these contacts Tawney has provided her students both first-hand knowledge and experience of the realities within these professional worlds, whilst creating future opportunities for Staffordshire University students. In addition to her ambition Tawney spends many nights and weekends seeking out different technologies and applications that can further engage her students. Anyone who has attended one of Tawney’s seminars or lectures will know her wide use of teaching methods and interactive features such as Kahoot and Mentimeter to ensure that student interaction is enjoyable. As a PhD student, I can appreciate all the hard work and determination that all lecturers provide however being a husband of Tawney, I continually see the hard work that goes on behind the scenes that many students do not get to witness. Outside of the university Tawney is always thinking about how she can bring more back to the classroom, more opportunities, more unique experiences and more information. During the last twelve months I have lost count of the times that Tawney has incorporated elements of her field into our family trips, all to better the student experience. In 2018/19 in what I would describe as “reconnaissance work” for future student excursions, we have visited courtrooms, old prisons, law museums and conferences to name a but a few, many of which have then developed into classroom material and/or student experiences. Not only has Tawney been busy ensuring the student experience is perfect inside the classroom she also has also been actively contributing to external engagement on behalf of the university by running the law department’s twitter page and being able to: • Publish her first article • Submit her first journal article that has passed first stage approval • Appeared on BBC Radio Stoke discussing current affairs within the prison sector. • Started her own PhD • Submit her first conference paper • Engage in professional memberships and networks to further research opportunity for the university Her curiosity in her professional field has not only had a positive impact on her students but has had a profound influence on the whole family. Tawney’s passion for equal access to higher education has inspired her own mother to pursue academic study at Staffordshire University. Furthermore, to show the magnitude in which Tawney has impacted our lives, myself and Tawney were called into our daughter’s after-school club whereby we were presented with an extremely excited and equally impressed teacher. We were shown a whiteboard in which our daughter had single handedly been teaching the other children and staff the differences between civil and criminal law. She then moved onto presenting how law is made in England and the different types of courts that are used (something that I as a 35-year old adult struggle with). Tawney’s work ethic and personal attributes not only make me proud as a husband but I think everyone would agree that she is the epitome of PROUD TO BE STAFFS!"