UCL Teaching Administrators come together at annual conference

Image: Teaching Administrators Steering Group

The annual Teaching Administrators Conference took place on Thursday 30 March with almost every department represented as well as colleagues from Student and Registry Services, UCL Arena, and UCL Union.

The event was supported by a number of students, who looked after the registration desk and joined some of the workshops to provide a student’s point of view.

The conference was opened by the Provost Michael Arthur, who talked about UCL 2034, Brexit, TEF and TOPS. UCL’s Registrar Wendy Appleby talked about the challenges for UCL’s Student and Registry Services and plans for further improvements, including the Academic Model Project. 

Delegates then joined a wide range of presentations and workshops on topics as diverse as research-based teaching, student engagement and personal development. Twenty interactive workshops focused on timely issues such as the Moodle My Feedback tool, webinars for prospective students, managing student complaints and changes to regulations.

One delegate said: “I enjoyed meeting colleagues and finding out about new developments. It was good to have the opportunity to feedback issues and concerns and to make links with members of staff from central services.”

Another delegate said: “Hearing familiar struggles and how others are dealing with problems was useful as was having time to consider improvements and ways to be proactive in the department.”

Stefanie Anyadi, chair of the committee organising the event, said: “The Teaching Administrators Conference was once again a highlight of the year as it’s a rare chance to catch up with colleagues, put names to faces and share ideas as well as any difficulties we face.”

The day was rounded up with a presentation about the recently launched Induction, Engagement and Development Initiative for Teaching Administrators (InEDITA). InEDITA was launched in November 2016 as a result of feedback from previous conferences which showed the need for systematic support for personal and professional development for teaching administrators.

The committee is now looking forward to developing this provision for more experienced colleagues. Additional workshops are being planned in a number of areas for colleagues who were unable to attend this year’s conference, and on additional topics which colleagues expressed an interest in through their conference feedback.

If you are interested in getting involved further either with the Teaching Administrators Conference Organising Committee, InEDITA or in some other way, please contact ucl.inedita@ucl.ac.uk.