Teaching And Learning Portal

Two industry experts have been announced as the keynote speakers at the UCL CALT Teaching and Learning Conference 2013, which will focus on embedding skills and employability in the curriculum.

The speakers are Jat Sahota, Head of Pharmacy and Healthcare at Sainsbury’s, and Arti Kumar MBE, Honorary Visiting Research Fellow and National Teaching Fellow.

The conference, which is being organised by the UCL Centre for the Advancement of Learning and Teaching (CALT) in collaboration with E-Learning Environments (ELE) and the UCL Careers Service, will be held on Friday 19 April 2013. As well as 30-minute talks by each of the keynote speakers, the programme will feature the following:

• 'All you need to know about Key Information Sets (KIS) but were afraid to ask' (a presentation)
• 'Putting into practice', a table-top facilitated discussion focusing on ideas from the morning session
• Closing comments from Professor Anthony Smith, Vice-Provost (Education)

If you would like to register your interest in attending the conference, you can do so via the CALT website.

The keynote speakers’ bios are below.

Jat Sahota

Jat joined Sainsbury’s eight years ago, prior to which he held senior commercial and marketing roles at Heinz UK and Safeway plc. Jat has led a number of commercial and corporate functions whilst at Sainsbury’s including Head of Fruit, Head of Corporate Responsibility and Head of Sponsorship where he led the recent partnership with Channel 4 in the sponsorship of the London 2012 Paralympic Games.

In his current role as Head of Pharmacy and Healthcare Jat is responsible for the organisation’s expansion into new channels and services such as running outpatient pharmacies at Guy’s and St. Thomas’ hospitals. The scope and variety of roles that his career has allowed him to experience show how large organisations look to develop rounded general managers and leaders who are able to move between functions and continue to add value both strategically and operationally.

Married with three young children, Jat is a proud alumnus of UCL, having graduated in 1990 with a BSc (Hons) in Biology, and continues his connection with UCL by leading Sainsbury’s graduate recruitment team for UCL.

Arti Kumar

Arti is a National Teaching Fellow, Associate of the Higher Education Academy and a Fellow of the National Institute of Career Education and Counselling. She was awarded an MBE in 2008 for services to higher education, and an AGCAS Lifetime Achievement Award in 2010.

As former Associate Director of the Centre for Excellence in Teaching and Learning at the University of Bedfordshire, and previously as Senior Careers Adviser, she worked extensively on curriculum development projects, both within and outside the University, with the aim of developing effective pedagogy, integrating a process of personalised development within all subject curricula that would lead to graduate employability. She has developed approaches and resources that are authored in her book (see below) and several other publications. These have been embedded in a revised institutional curriculum at the University of Bedfordshire and also implemented in other HE contexts in the UK and overseas, e.g. in Denmark, South Africa, the Netherlands and Australia.

Arti continues to write, is currently an external examiner at the University of East London, and is an honorary visiting Research Fellow at the University of Bedfordshire. She contributes to conferences and consultancies in the UK and abroad and is keen to collaborate on projects.

• Kumar, A. (2008) Personal, Academic and Career Development in Higher Education – SOARing to Success, London and New York: Routledge Taylor and Francis

Useful links

• UCL Teaching and Learning Conference 2013
• Register your interest in attending the conference
• View the provisional conference programme
• Employability at UCL
• CALT
• ELE
• UCL Careers Service