Monday is a day I usually work from home. I am lucky enough to have space in our little house for my desk, laptop, and screen, though I wish the conservatory was slightly more watertight, especially during the rainy days we’ve been having here in Gloucestershire! Here’s a picture of my desk (and yes – I have tidied it up for the photo!):
Today brings lots of variety for me, with several meetings and lots of activities to complete. My first meeting of the day is with colleagues from other universities including colleagues based in Australia.
Our team is working on re-accrediting the CREATE Scheme (our HEA Fellowship Scheme and PGCAP) with Advance HE, and so this meeting was a really exciting opportunity to learn what others across the world are planning for their own programmes. We spent an hour together creating a fabulous Padlet which contained loads of really interesting ideas, offering plenty of food for thought for how we might develop the CREATE Scheme.
Until July, I am spending half my time leading a Research Council England funded project on PGR Supervision, and so my next meeting involved catching up with another colleague interested in that project. We explored some of the strengths of PGR supervision at the University and areas that could be developed, and I briefed them on our plans to deliver a pilot training workshop with colleagues in the Faculty of Life Sciences. There are lots of exciting things ahead for PGR supervisor development at Bristol – so please, watch this space!
After a quick cup of tea and a stretch, I then began marking some of our PGCAP Unit 2 assessments, submitted by participants who had a short extension. I got to read about the ways in which one of our participants has set about decolonising their curriculum, and in another assessment, I learned about how another participant was developing inclusive approaches to field work. Assessing and giving feedback on PGCAP assessments can certainly be time-consuming, but it’s one of the things that I love the most about my job – learning about all the fantastic practice going on at our university.
Before lunch, I had a one-to-one meeting with one of the lovely Lecturers in Academic Development who I line-manage. We reviewed together their objectives and progress and explored some of the fantastic feedback received from participants on PGCAP Unit 1 in the mid-unit evaluation. I look forward to all the one-to-one meetings I have with those I line manage, as they’re a fab bunch of people who are so passionate about developing academic practice at our university, and I learn so much from all of them!
Lunch consisted of a quick sandwich (eaten so speedily I forgot to take a photograph!) But nothing exciting – ham on a gluten free roll and a packet of cheese and onion crisps!
After lunch, I met with a colleague from another university. Together, we’re working on a short piece for The Conversation about the Infected Blood Scandal and the ongoing inquiry. My academic background is in cultural studies, and whilst I am by no means an expert on the Infected Blood Scandal, I have a keen interest in qualitative research methods: reflective methods and storytelling in particular. So, where my colleague is the expert on the Scandal, my input has been in helping craft the narrative for the article and acting as a critical friend.
We reviewed some feedback I’d provided on the first draft of the article, made an action plan for the second draft, and shared our plans for the Easter break. My husband and I have an 8-month-old daughter, and as I explained to my co-author, our family have already kindly gifted her a big chocolate egg and a little felt chick bucket full of smaller eggs… As we feel she is still far too little for chocolate, Mummy will have to help her out (hands off Daddy!)
My final meeting of the day was with the Head of BILT, where we explored how we might need to make changes to our Recognition of Prior Learning policy when we reaccredit the CREATE Scheme. This prompted me to reach out to our networks to find out what other institutions are doing in relation to RPL on their programmes, to ensure that our university is broadly in line with the sector. This has resulted in a flurry of emails which I will happily read through during the course of this week. An exciting and busy start to the week for me!
