College of Social Sciences Birmingham Professional

I am the Centre Manager for Women’s Enterprise, Leadership, Economy and Diversity (WE LEAD). I manage the day to day activities of WE LEAD, undertaking project management and stakeholder engagement roles, as well as a variety of administrative duties to ensure the smooth running of the Centre. Two key areas of my work are event management and communication activities, which are essential for creating an arena for debate, for putting research into practice and for the dissemination of WE LEAD’s work. I would like the CoSS Birmingham Professional Programme to benefit colleagues across the college, by organising engaging events that will help to develop skills and knowledge. The programme will also provide an excellent opportunity to network and connect with members of staff across the college and I am looking forward to working with all of the champions to develop an exciting programme of events!

As a Birmingham Professional Champion I find myself working alongside enthusiastic and dynamic colleagues. I hope this experience will allow me to develop my own administrative and organisational skills whilst at the same time putting my knowledge and experience of working at the University over many years to good practical use.

My first post in Higher Education was as a Resource Assistant in the Regional RE Centre based at Westhill College (now the Selly Oak Campus). Starting in 1986, I remained at Westhill in various roles including; Centre Administrator, finance assistant, publication sales and programme administrator. I was involved in the introduction of the new student loan scheme and can remember issuing cheques to students on their arrival! Westhill College became part of the School of Education (SoE) in the 1999-2000 academic year and since that time I have worked mainly for the SoE although I have had spells working in the Academic Office, Central Timetabling and the Business School. Current and more recent roles in the SoE include; Extenuating Circumstances Officer (previously mitigations) Reasonable Adjustments Contact (RAC), responding to complaints and appeals, plagiarism and the joys of timetabling. My previous experience helps me immensely in my current post as Welfare Officer. 

Many Professional Services colleagues do not see personal or career development as being something applicable to them or something they aspire too, I hope to use my time on the team to change at least some of those opinions.

The Birmingham Professional programme is an excellent way of meeting colleagues from different schools within CoSS and from across the University.

After working as a filmmaker for a few years after graduating university, I began working at the University of Birmingham; first in the Medical School, then Education, and finally School of Government, where I have risen to be Undergraduate (Deputy) Manager. My role already involves some events organisation in the Applicant Visit Days I manage, and as this is my favourite part of the job I jumped at the opportunity to become the COSS Champion for Government.

Having attended COSS Birmingham Professional events previously and been impressed by their high standards, I look forward to being involved in helping to deliver similarly diverse and exciting events in the future. I am also looking forward to building more links with colleagues in different departments and colleges, which will allow me to be more efficient in both this role and my regular job.

I arrived at the University in 2012 and have had an interesting journey ever since! In that time, I have undertaken a variety of roles, both support staff and academic-related, and I’ve developed a keen interest in professional development done well – not just to tick a box. I’m currently leading the Post-Award Research Support Team in the College Hub, which is an engaging role which sees my team support academic colleagues with some of the administrative and systems challenges and negotiations which may arise when conducting funded research.

Since joining the College, I have been attracted by the mix of networking, cultural and themed events on offer under the CoSS Birmingham Professional banner and I think it’s this mix that keeps the event portfolio fresh. There are times when a really engaging event, be it a lunchtime tour of the Barber or an inspirational talk about an interesting subject, can really make the difference in what might otherwise be a challenging day or week. I want to see the CoSS Birmingham Professional continue to devise and support these positive experiences, and I’m delighted to have the chance to contribute to the team.