Director of the Learning Development & Media Unit, University of Sheffield. This post was created to manage the amalgamation of a number of previously loosely connected units into a single unit to further the enhancement of learning and teaching in the university. One of the constituent units was Sheffield University Television (of which I was Director). The new unit grew to encompass over twenty staff with a turnover of a little under £1m per year, which made it a full time ‘management’ job.
This was an exciting and challenging position in that teaching and learning in higher education was undergoing significant change, especially through e-learning and a growing emphasis on the professional development of teaching staff, areas for which my unit was at the heart. My job was to work with senior university management at the strategic level, both to contribute to policy and to shape an efficient and effective unit that would serve policy.
The unit itself was a mix of people drawn from different professional cultures which created issues in itself in terms of managing effective integration. And, as always, technological change formed a constant backdrop to decision making. But alongside these challenges all indications from Service Level Agreements and other feedback from users was that those who used the unit rated its contribution extremely highly, and the unit won recognition within the university for its strategic role in the enhancement of learning and teaching.
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