Spotlight On…Investing in Success
(1 March 2018)
When the Investing in Success programme was last run in 2012, over 150 bids went on to receive funding. In this special Spotlight On…feature, we hear from two Humanities colleagues who made the most of the opportunities the programme offered. Sharing their experiences are Betty-Ann Bristow-Castle, Humanitarian and Conflict Response Institute (HCRI) Communications and Events Officer in the School of Arts, Languages and Cultures, and Dr Ralf Becker, Senior Lecturer in Economics in the School of Social Sciences.
What inspired you to submit an entry for Investing in Success?
Betty-Ann: At the time I applied to the first round of Investing in Success, there were not many opportunities for Professional Support Services (PSS) staff to engage in activities outside of the usual day-to-day working remit. I was interested in the Investing in Success scheme as it was open to both academic and PSS colleagues, and I saw this as an opportunity to get involved in a couple of things that otherwise I would not have had the opportunity.
Ralf: Me and a colleague (Arthur Sinko) realised that in order to support our Economics students to develop statistical programming skills, initially in MATLAB, we needed to provide some high quality support material. While resources on the internet are vast, they tend to not be specialised for economists and our students needed some initial go-to site before they could develop enough confidence to find the right support amongst the vast internet. To get this started we needed some initial impetus and the Investing in Success grant provided us with that impetus.
What was your application for, and how did you hope it would support your personal development?
Betty-Anne: I had recently taken on a new role as HCRI Administrator and wanted to further develop my knowledge and expertise in supporting students from the humanitarian sector. I spent time with the British Red Cross to obtain a broad understanding about the field of humanitarianism, and to gain a deeper understanding of our students’ values and background in order for me to support them fully. I also had the opportunity to gain a unique insight into how the British Red Cross organises and manages its large events.
The project also enabled me to spend a number of days working with the community group Incredible Edible Prestwich and District (IEPAD), on projects which ranged from designing and building planters to be placed across the Prestwich area, to establishing and maintaining the Growing Schools Network, liaising with schools involved or interested in growing edibles and encouraging them to work together and use ‘growing’ in the curriculum and extra-curricular activities.
Ralf: We used that grant to develop an initial version of a wiki - the Econometric Computing Learning Resource.
I did learn about wiki creation and ‘markup’ languages, knowledge that turned out incredibly useful over the next few years.
How did you feel when you found out you’d been successful?
Betty-Ann: I was really pleased to hear my bid had been approved and was excited about the projects. I also felt like I was being supported in my professional and personal development by both my line manager and the wider University as an employer.
Ralf: Frankly I can’t remember. Most likely something like … gosh, now we really have to do this!
What impact has the opportunity had on your development, career, way of working?
Betty-Ann: I am pleased to say that I gained a lot from Investing in Success, and I appreciate being given those opportunities. I have now worked at HCRI for six years, and the scheme enabled me to gain an invaluable insight into working with the charities and NGOs that I would be supporting and collaborating with over these years, and in particular supporting our students who work in many challenging environments. I still volunteer with IEPAD, have made some close friends, and value the work I was able to offer the group through this scheme – work which would not have been able to take place due to a lack of resource were it not for this scheme.
Ralf: Creating this open educational research has been transformational for me. I have since extended the wiki to also cover the programming language R and it has played a part in me now contributing to an international open educational resource project.
What advice would you give other staff who may be considering submitting an entry?
Betty-Ann: Do it! Think about what you are interested in both in relation to your role and beyond, and what you would like to get out of the scheme. And have fun with it.
Ralf: Think about the project first. Is it worth doing - in fact would you be itching to do it even without extra funding? If the answer is yes, then you may as well apply for help.
If you’d like to launch a project, engage in a new activity, or realise a professional ambition, Investing in Success could enable you to develop your potential and support the University. Applications of up to £10,000 will be considered. Led by the Staff Learning and Development team, the scheme is open to paid staff regardless of their grade, role or contract type, subject to eligibility criteria. A total fund of £1 million is available across the University.
- Applications close on 16 March 2018. Find out more and apply on StaffNet.