Spotlight on Andreas Opitz

What is your role and what does it involve?

I am the Education Administrative and Comms Lead for the Institute of Epidemiology and Health Care (IEHC). Working closely with the Faculty, our Director of Education, Institute Manager, Graduate Tutors and programme administrators, I play a pivotal role in managing and developing our education delivery and support, across undergraduate, postgraduate taught and research programmes. 

How are you settling into the new working from home (WFH) routine?

Not being a big fan of working from home, caring for two children, while at the same time working to manage the massive impact COVID-19 has had on teaching across UCL and beyond, has been challenging. I, like many others, work best when having the time to focus on the task in hand, yet all of a sudden I regularly find myself holding a baby in one arm, feeding my 5-year-old his fifth breakfast and constantly checking that I've definitely muted myself when in a meeting on Teams.

What's been your biggest WFH challenge so far?

There have been many challenges so far, from staff members' laptops getting the 'dreaded blue screen', to hearing about some unique student situations. However, the biggest challenge so far has been trying to keep up with the pace of the large-scale changes that have taken place in an extraordinarily short space of time. It is quite remarkable how UCL has reacted and implemented necessary changes in just a few weeks. I'm really proud of how my team has performed and I think it's fair to say that the situation has pulled us even closer together at such a critical time. 

What are your top 3 tips for WFH?

1. Be understanding with yourself and others
Working from home has its challenges, particularly when you have children. We all have our unique situations during this challenging time and taking time to understand others and reflect on your own situation is a big part of the step towards supporting one another.

2. Lower your expectations when considering homeschooling
When my partner and I started working from home, at the outset we put a large amount of pressure on ourselves to deliver to our 5-year-old a perfect daily plan to continue his schoolwork at home. As time went on it was refreshing to hear teachers put parents' minds at rest and say how the most important support you can provide your children during this difficult time is love and support.

3. Make sure you take a break
Take a break and set clear boundaries, It's easy to be engrossed in a piece of work and forget to have lunch! Also, try and fit in some exercise.

How are you managing to maintain a work-life balance?

I try and start working as early as possible in the day as that's when I work best. I  have been trying to take advantage of the remote working situation and lack of commuting time as much as possible, so I can try and spend some quality time with the children in the afternoon. Not every day works out perfectly but generally, I find that works for me.

In terms of work, what is your focus for the next 4-6 weeks?

That's a big question and every day brings a new challenge! In short, the changes in Education delivery have flipped our world upside down. My role requires the Director of Education and me to work closely with Faculty teams to understand, discuss and implement required changes within the Institute of Epidemiology of Health Care. The next few weeks will involve disseminating information and empowering our Education teams to deliver necessary changes while working closely with Faculty to report on student matters and provide information to assist with their decision making. We are also already looking towards the future to better understand any potential impact on the delivery of teaching at the start of the new academic year.

What is the first thing you’ll do once we can all begin socialising again?

There are too many to mention here. If I had to choose one thing right now, it would definitely be to book a holiday to Menorca to explore all the little coves of the island with my family.