Proud to be PSS

16 Jul 2018

Matt Valentine, Student Conduct and Discipline Manager, tells us about his day to day work and what he enjoys most about working at the University.

As part of a campaign to raise awareness of the different types of work our Professional Support Services (PSS) staff do and the valuable contribution they make to the University, we’ll be bringing you a series of staff profiles from across the PSS. This week we spoke to Matt Valentine, Student Conduct and Discipline Manager, Directorate for the Student Experience.

Tell me about your role?

My role involves arranging meetings of the University Student Disciplinary Panel and overseeing the arrangements for other summary disciplinary processes.  A large proportion of my work this year will be to help facilitate the review of the University’s current conduct and discipline processes, particularly focusing on areas such as academic malpractice, off-campus behaviour and sexual violence.   

What do you like about your job?

I like the challenging nature of the job.  Each case that I work on tells a different story. You’re dealing with students on an individual, case by case basis.

It’s also a very intellectually stimulating role; you have to take an analytical approach in reaching decisions in order to offer your professional opinion.

One of the things that attracted me to this position is the potential to have a positive impact in the arena of student conduct and discipline.  It’s an important area for the University and one that has the potential for a lot of development and which presents  a great opportunity to develop myself professionally.

What do you like about working at the University?

I think one of the best things about working at the University is the people. Over the years I’ve benefited from developing a network of colleagues who I like working with and I’ve found the working environment at the University very supportive. 

There are good development opportunities here. In addition to the usual training courses, I’ve also been able to take advantage of being a school governor – which I’ve been encouraged to do.  I should note that my current role is a secondment opportunity which is another fantastic way to develop professionally.  I’ve tended to find my managers supportive of me identifying and then pursuing opportunities for development.

The University has a positive approach to wellbeing and through this I’ve been able to attend various classes at lunchtime, taken part in the Purple Wave 10k run and supported the Wood Street Mission.  All these activities help to create a good work life balance which is something that I value a lot.