Huddersfield Technical Network

In this session, Sally will give you the top tricks and tip on how you can use social media to support your career and develop a wider professional network

• Understand how to create an effective online presence
• Understand the different social media platforms taking a more in-depth look at LinkedIn and Twitter and how they can help your career
• Top Tips for making the most of social media

About Sally

Describing herself as a shoe loving, tea drinking, Yorkshire lass, Sally is a motivated and adaptable  IT Service Management professional who has worked in Higher Education IT for over 13 years. Sally has experience of developing and delivering high quality sector leading support services and creating highly respected, motivated and award winning teams. Winner of the Everywoman  Team Leader of the Year Award in 2019, Women in IT Business Role Model of the Year 2018 and Service Desk Institute Inspirational Leader of the Year 2017, Sally is passionate supporter of the enhancement and empowerment of women in tech and is an ambassador for diversity within Higher Education. Sally is well known across the ITSM and Service Desk Industry as a thought provoking and inspiring speaker

In 2017 Newcastle University was one of the founding signatories of the Technician Commitment but the journey started in late 2014 with Professional Registration.  This presentation will follow the journey from 2014 to date and take a look at some of the successes and how we are now working with the National Technician Development Centre to take us onto the next phase of the journey.  

About Mel

Mel has been a Technician at Newcastle University since 1984, progressing from Trainee Technician to Technical Manager and from November 2019 Deputy Head of Infrastructure for the Faculty of Medical Sciences.

In 2014 Mel started promoting Professional Registration at Newcastle University and shortly after gained CSci designation through the IST. The sustained success in Professional Registration at Newcastle was recognised by the Science Council and Newcastle University was awarded the Employer Champion award in 2016.  Mel has previously shared the HEaTED coordinators role for the North East, and with colleagues at Newcastle and Sheffield University he established an internal Technicians Networking group – NU TechNet. To date, this has been a huge success and indeed it paved the way for Newcastle University becoming a founder signatory of the Technician Commitment in 2017.  Since then Mel has led on numerous Technician focussed activities to deliver on the Technician Commitment.  In September 2019 Mel was shortlisted in the ‘Outstanding Technician of the Year’ category of THE awards 2019.

Mel jointly leads a ‘Working in Partnership Forum’ for Technical and OD leads in HEIs.  This forum meets twice a year to share experiences of implementing the Technician Commitment and has good representation from HEIs in northern England, Scotland and Northern Ireland.  In partnership with the NTDC, Mel is also co-organising the ‘Technician Partnership Conference 2020’ which is due to take place on 24 June 2020 in Newcastle University.  This conference will bring Technicians from HEIs and within the private sector together to explore opportunities for development and innovation.

Mel is also interested in exploring ways to measure the impact made by technicians in teaching, research and knowledge transfer and how that might be counted and recognised by the host organisation.

Technician commitment overview

About Simon

Simon has worked in Universities in the UK and Ireland for 25 years since graduating with a PhD from the University of Manchester (UMIST as it was then). He has worked as a researcher developing anti-cancer Drugs (Manchester), treatments for opiate abuse and analgesia (Bristol), catalytic asymmetric synthesis (Warwick) and he also ran a successful independent research group at the National University of Ireland, Galway.

Simon is a passionate advocate for networking and engaging with colleagues at all levels of an organisation, believing that the most effective way to learn is from understanding other’s successes and failures.

He has been a strong voice encouraging the recognition and empowerment of technicians at York, for example by handing control of TechYork to technicians themselves. TechYork has now grown even further and is a great success and a trusted and respected brand for technicians, as well as being the platform for York’s Technician Commitment communications and events.

Simon sits on the University of York Technician Commitment Steering Group and is leading the sub group identifying skills of the technical community across the institution. He will be looking to use the information for strategic workforce planning and technician development as well as developing career pathways for technicians.

https://nationaltechnicianscentre.ac.uk/team-2/

 

2019 Conference

The first annual HudTechNet Conference was held on 19th December 2019 in the Barbara Hepworth Building. The conference was aimed at all technicians / technical staff, with guest speakers, breakout sessions and an opportunity to network.

See the HudTechNet programme here

The Technician Commitment

THE University of Huddersfield has signed up to a UK-wide initiative designed to ensure that the technical experts, who are vital to the work of researchers and students, receive full recognition and career advancement.  There is also a need to head off a potential shortage of technicians nationally and thereby ensure the country’s global competitiveness.

Technicians have been described as “the linchpin of the UK economy” and readily provide that everyday ‘technical backbone’ for organisations in all sectors to thrive and achieve success, including universities.

As well supporting teaching and research, university technicians can be on the frontline for student support and can be the first port-of-call for both undergraduates and postgraduates alike.

The Technician Commitment – led by the Science Council, supported by the Gatsby Foundation, founded by Lord Sainsbury – is a university country-wide initiative that seeks to recognise the work of these unsung heroes.

In signing up to the Commitment, the University of Huddersfield has pledged to take up a number of key challenges affecting its technical community and take part in an annual assessment to evaluate its progress.

Over 200 technicians support staff and students at Huddersfield, in subjects that range from science, technology and healthcare to business, education, architecture and the creative arts. 

The University formally joined the Technician Commitment at a special signatory event, which took place at Jaguar Cars’s Castle Bromwich headquarters. 

To further the goals behind the Commitment, a steering group has now been formed that will draw up an action plan designed to address the four key themes:

• Visibility – ensuring that all technicians within the University are identifiable and that the contribution of technicians is visible within and beyond the institution;
• Recognition – supporting technicians to gain recognition through professional registration and external awards schemes;
• Career Development – enabling career progression opportunities for technicians through the provision of clear, documented career pathways;
• Sustainability – ensuring the future sustainability of technical skills across the organisation and that technical expertise is fully utilised.

The institutional lead for the Technician Commitment is the University’s Director of Human Resources, Siobhan Campbell, who was proud that Huddersfield was one of the 75 institutions nationwide to join the scheme. 

“The Technician Commitment is a great opportunity for us to support a key area that will improve and safeguard vital technical skills,” she said.  “Our technicians are a highly valued and crucial part of the excellent teaching and research that takes place at this University and this commitment will help us provide the recognition, support and development that they deserve.”