Making A Difference!
The University of
Nottingham’s
Technical Focus
Group
Kelly Vere
@kellyvere
kelly.vere@nottingham.ac.uk
One of over 700 technicians at
the University of Nottingham.
Joined as a trainee technician in
1999.
STEM background (Biomedical
Sciences).
Cross faculty – based in both the
Faculty of Medicine and Health
Sciences and the Faculty of
Engineering - IBIOS.
Research, teaching &
management responsibilities.
Technical Services Staff
Overview
•
•
•
UK: 645 TS staff (600.67FTE) – illustrated by Faculty above
Malaysia ~45 TS staff (Science and Engineering Faculties)
China 15 TS staff (Science and Engineering Faculty)
MA Higher Education (2008-2011) – HEFCE Scholarship
Technical Services Staff
The Invisible Workforce?
“Because technicians
work in organisations that
tend to be dominated by
other occupational
groups, especially
professionals such as
doctors, scientists and
engineers, technicians
constitute an almost
invisible part of the
workforce.”
Shaplin (1989)
Technicians 350 years ago….
Boyle & Hooke 1657
Guericke’s early air pump – early 1660’s.
University Technical Staff Today
Over the years our role has diversified - we
are not simply the stereotypical technician in
a white coat wheeling equipment from lab to
lab.
Alongside the provision of traditional
technical duties many technicians today
collaborate on cutting edge research and
make a substantial contribution to the
student teaching & learning experience.
We’re also well qualified - over 50% of
technical staff in the UK are educated to
undergraduate degree level or above. Many
have postgraduate qualifications and we have
an expert and experienced skills base.
Crucial resource for the University.
Key Tensions/Challenges
for UoN Technical Staff
• Lack of professional
recognition – low social
status
• No representation at a
senior management level
(lack of TS
policies/strategy)
• Career pathways
• Professional development
opportunities
• Ownership of profession “I’m just the technician”
Key Challenge: Communication
Due to the diverse range of disciplines, activities, levels & locations we
are a hard group to communicate with!
Lack of communication between each other – technicians rarely
communicated across discipline or geographical borders.
Lack of a direct route of communication between technical staff and the
University’s Executive Management Team (no opportunity to influence
policy/strategy).
Limited communication between the technical workforce and other
university departments, despite the clear benefits that this
communication can bring (e.g. Procurement Lab User Group)
Technical Services Staff
Changing External Environment
Fantastic that these developments &
opportunities are out there...
…..but we don’t know about them!
No clear source of information dedicated to
the University’s Technical Services Staff.
Despite there being so many of us we don’t
really talk to each other! (perhaps because
there’s no clear mechanism to do so!) As
technicians we tend to hide in our own labs,
offices & workshops.
Important that we break down departmental &
geographical barriers and share information – a
much more efficient way of working!
Useful to know what is happening in the wider
University and the higher education sector.
Essential that as technicians we create and
maintain a professional identity for technical
staff at the University of Nottingham.
Technical
Staff
Technical Services
Focus Group
UoN
Technical Focus Group
Group
(formed October 2013)
Objective: To create a professional identity for technical staff at
the University of Nottingham by:
1.
Providing a mechanism and network for technicians to share information,
resources and expertise across the University.
2.
Providing technicians with a voice in the University and the opportunity to
contribute ideas to professional service units and management.
3.
It provides management/professional services departments/external
organisations a direct route of communication to technical staff across the
university.
4.
Championing technical staff across the University and to build on the high
quality technical support that we offer our academic and student
colleagues.
TFG identified a number of ways we as technicians could engage more
effectively within our own institution.
Technical Focus
Technical
Focus
Group Progress
Group
to Date: Internal
& External
Progress
Activitiesto Date
•
“Technically Speaking…” Conference
- 9th January 2014.
•
“Technically Speaking…” Newsletter
•
“Technically Speaking…” University
wide Seminar Series
•
Technical Skills/Expertise Database
•
Workspace & external website in
development
•
Technical training opportunities
•
Professional Registration Fund
•
Professional registration workshops
•
International campus interactions
•
UoN Film on TS Staff
Representatives from other UK HEIs
attended January Conference –
looking to replicate our activities
Technical Services Staff
Internal Opportunities
Feedback from staff at
Nottingham has shown that the
formation of the TFG has been
very motivating.
Brought the technical community
at UoN together (internationally!)
Provided voice and visibility.
Issues affecting technical staff
that have been traditionally
overlooked (i.e. succession
planning, career pathways) have
been brought to the attention of
university management via the
group.
Awareness of the scope of the
technical role and skills set has
been raised.
External Activities
Regional Reach: NUAST
The Technical Focus Group is fully
engaging with the University of
Nottingham’s’ new Academy of
Science and Technology (NUAST) –
a new university technical college
for 14-19 year olds to focus on
STEM activities.
Technical staff will have the
opportunity to offer work
placements to students, give
career talks & offer master classes
in technical skills.
External Activities
Regional Reach: Midlands Five
The Technical Focus Group has led on the formation of a M5 Technical Managers Forum across the
research intensive Midlands universities in order to ensure sharing of expertise, resources and skills
across Midlands' higher education institutions.
Plans are underway to host a joint conference for technical staff in Summer 2015 at the University of
Nottingham.
External Activities
National Reach
HEA: UoN leading on the Higher Education
Academy’s Technician Project which aims to
promote the contribution technicians make to
the student teaching and learning experience
and to engage university technicians with the
Higher Education Academy’s Professional
Standards Framework in order for them to
gain accreditation in the same way as their
academic colleagues.
HEaTED: UoN is a member of HEaTED & is
engaged with delivery of the HEaTED
programme. A number of presentations at
the HEaTED regional network events and
dissemination of UoN activities.
IST: The TFG has strong links with the
Institute of Science and Technology.
UBMA: UoN has representation on the
University Biosciences Managers Association
& will host their 2015 annual conference.
External Activities
National Reach: HEFCE
Catalyst Award
The University of Nottingham is a pilot institution in a £400,000 HEFCE Catalyst Award to deliver a
national project examining career pathways for technical staff in Higher Education. The grant is led by
the University of Sheffield and other collaborating universities include the University of Birmingham &
University of Westminster.
The scheme will:
Create a series of generic classifications for technical jobs that align to a national grading structure.
Identify typical career pathways and specialisation routes for technical staff so institutions can plan
recruitment and training and development.
Address a gap in training for technical staff at the basic level by creating consistent training and
assessment structures which can be used at apprentice and graduate level.
Train technical staff at an advanced level as senior staff retire with the loss of the skills and knowledge
that underpin cutting edge research.
External Activities
National Reach: Times
Higher Education,
Guardian &
www.jobs.ac.uk
Articles stimulated debate and
contributed to raising the
profile of technical staff in
higher education.
External Activities
International Reach
UoN is recognised as a leader in this
area.
Invited presentations at a number of
international meetings to discuss the
development of technical staff in higher
education.
2013/14- presentations in Malaysia,
UAE, China, USA and France on the
University of Nottingham’s activities
with regards to TS staff.
A lot of interest from overseas HEIs who
wish to look at developing and
professionalising their own technical
support staff.
Technical Services Staff
External Recognition
Summary:
• As technicians we took ownership of our profession and pushed
forward in creating a professional identity for ourselves.
• Resulted in an increased awareness (and appreciation!) of the
technical role across the University – e.g. technical representation has
increased on UoN committees.
• It is important for us to a) be seen & b) see ourselves as part of a
bigger picture - an integral part of research and teaching teams in
universities – not an isolated staff group that can fall through the
gaps.
• Technicians are now firmly on the agenda in terms of UoN’s future
strategy.
Acknowledgements:
Andy Lee (Medicine/Biosciences)
Susan Woodward (Biosciences)
Christine Grainger-Boultby (Pharmacy)
Ian Taylor (Physics and Astronomy)
Scott Hulme (Vet School)
Teresa Needham (Geography)
Paul Antcliff (Engineering)
Anna Bertram (Chemistry)
Claire Cawthorne (Professional
Development)
Kevin Padgett (Engineering)
Judith Greenfield (Pharmacy)
Tommy Napier (Physics and Astronomy)
Eddy Faber (Humanities)
Robert Moss (Medicine)
Elaine Watts (Geography)
Sarah O’Hara (PVC)
kelly.vere@nottingham.ac.uk
@kellyvere