Bridging Minds: The Value of Cross-Institutional Collaboration

Manoj Singh, Senior Digital Education Consultant at Birkbeck, shares his experiences of taking part in the BLE's 'Great Minds' buddy exchange. Any BLE staff members interested in meeting colleagues working on similar projects, activities or towards common goals should get in touch with us here and we will happily arrange a session.

As a relatively new member of staff at Birkbeck, one of the valuable experiences I've had has been participating in the recent cross-institutional networking led by Sarah Sherman and Julian Bream from BLE. Through sensibly arranged introductory meetings, I've had the opportunity to connect with colleagues from City St George's and SOAS, exploring shared interests in project management and learning analytics respectively.

What made these sessions particularly meaningful for me was discovering how much we have in common. Despite working at different institutions, we're often dealing with similar challenges, implementing comparable systems, and working toward parallel goals. It's reassuring to realise that you're not alone in facing obstacles, and even more valuable is learning how others have approached (and in most cases resolved) similar issues.

For someone who values networking and knowledge sharing and who is still finding their feet in a new role, these connections have been very helpful. The meetings provided not just practical insights but also a wider perspective on how our work at Birkbeck fits within the broader landscape of higher education and particularly within the BLE. Hearing how colleagues at City St George's approach project management, or learning about SOAS's practices in learning analytics, has given me perspective and helped me understand my own work better.

A similar type of collaboration, which was also organised by the BLE, had proven essential in the past for me in a prevuios role (and to others involved). This was when a system we all used was suddenly decommissioned with little time to find a replacement. Working together across institutions was vital in overcoming this challenge. That’s why I think this new scheme lays the groundwork for establishing ongoing collaboration on a wider scale. Rather than each institution working alone and potentially repeating the same mistakes, we have ways to share knowledge, compare approaches, and learn from each other.

The value of these connections goes far beyond the initial meetings: they represent the beginning of a community of practice that will prove beneficial for years to come. Finally, this exchange of ideas can only strengthen our practice and benefit our institutions, and I hope this scheme continues and expands.

Workshopping an Effective Library Communication Strategy

Tim Spring, Academic Services Librarian at Birkbeck, shares his personal reflections and takeaways following a communications workshop he attended as part of the BLESS group.

Back in July, the Bloomsbury Library, E-Systems & Services Group (BLESS) ran a workshop focusing on developing a communication strategy for libraries. Sarah had invited Philip Pothen, a communications consultant for Higher Education, to come and run this session for us.

I came into this session as a member of Birkbeck's former Communication and Marketing Group for the Library but I have to confess, my experiences left me feeling quite cynical about ‘Comms’. I never had much interest in the strategic or structural idea behind it all – more of a ‘get it done’ type than a ‘develop a strategy’ type. After all, it’s just communicating, how hard can it be? I do it all the time!

Well, it turns out, there’s a lot more to think about than I realised.

We had a mix of colleagues from different institutions in attendance, including Birkbeck, SOAS, and the Tavistock & Portman NHS Trust. I think it’s fair to say that most of us in attendance didn’t have much experience in this area but were keen to learn some ideas about how we could improve or develop our comms strategies.

A lot of ground was covered in a very short time, and we definitely could have gone for much longer but here are some of the key ideas that came up.

What encompasses a comms strategy?

We put together a list of words and ideas trying to define what is communication and some of its key characteristics, and what is the wider context of the library (why does it exist, what are we there to do)? Some of the ideas that came from this included:

·        Communication is about making a connection with our users.

·        Communication we disseminate should be trustworthy and values driven

·        Communication is a two-way street. Who is receiving information and how? Why?

·        A library service is often at the heart of an institution, and is a significant factor in successful outcomes, whether that be student attainment, academic research, etc.

During this discussion, Philip made an interesting point that often libraries are not as confident as other departments when it comes to communicating about our impact and services, which is certainly true from my experience! How can we use an effective comms strategy to improve this?

Understanding our audience – who are they? What do want to say? How do we reach them?

For this section we split into small groups and discussed who our audiences are. Unsurprisingly, we came back and had a mammoth list including examples like undergraduates, postgraduates, researchers, lecturers, professional staff, students with disabilities, healthcare professionals, international students, senior management, etc etc.

Some topics for further thought that also came up included:

·        What kind of communication do we need for different audiences?

·        What do we call our audience – Members? Users? Something else?

·        How can we build partnerships with stakeholders to advocate for the library?

·        Do we need to make more efforts to be visible in places where our audience are at the expense of other areas?

 With such a vast range of stakeholders, how do we decide what level of communication might be needed? One idea Philip gave us was to complete a stakeholder mapping exercise:

By Zirguezi - Own work, CC0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=30927010

Let’s take the University Vice-Chancellor as an example. Her ‘Power’ would be very high up the Y-Axis, but ‘Interest’ might be somewhat low-to-middling. Communication to these users might be in the form of an annual report. A lecturer might be somewhere in the middle of the chart. Maybe they could receive some sort of termly/monthly update, regular support through emails etc. The list goes on, but this sounded like a great exercise to help identify who our audience is, but also how we might want to communicate with them.

Blue Sky Thinking!

The final exercise we had time for was a bit more light-hearted and idealistic focusing on ‘blue sky thinking’. Imagine we didn’t have any resource constraints – what would we do to improve our communications? You won’t be surprised that most ideas involved more money…

·        Hire specialist staff to work on library communications.

·        Pay students (generously) to take part in surveys, focus groups, etc. to identify where we could improve services.

·        Mandatory library induction for staff and students as part of corporate induction.

·        Various brochures, leaflets, bookmarks, etc. to promote the library at events and high-quality digital marketing. Professional images and graphics, etc.

Whilst these ideas aren’t likely to suddenly happen in the imminent future, it was a pleasant exercise to end on, and who knows? If we ever find ourselves in a situation where we can afford to try any of these, at least we already have some ideas in mind!

We wrapped things up shortly after and even though I’ve tried to summarise what we went over, there was just so much content, I’ve missed a lot out! Overall, it was a very productive session and I thought Philip did a great job guiding a group of ‘amateurs’ in this area and we all came away with something useful.

Now for the actual hard part – implementing all of these ideas!

Academic Career Stage Framework

Linda Amrane-Cooper, Laura Brammar and Jessica Hancock presented at the July meeting of the Bloomsbury Academic and Researcher Development Group BARDG to share their proposed Academic Career Stage Framework. 

What is the Academic Career Stage Framework? 

The Careers Service at UoL has been using a Careers Stage Framework (Brammar, Wade & Weaver, 2025) with students for several years. This approach helps students to self-categorise into Career Starters, Career Developers, and Career Changers. This enables targeted careers and employability support with the most relevant resources for the stage in their career that they are currently at.  

The Careers Service wanted to adapt this into a Framework that might support all staff involved in academic work at Higher Education Institutions, which led to discussions with colleagues within both the School of Advanced Study (SAS) and the Centre for Online and Distance Education. We have now adapted the Careers Stage Framework into an Academic Career Stage Framework. This Framework also involves three stages: Academic Career Starters, Academic Career Developers and Academic Career Enhancers. It also acknowledges the three key strands of academic work colleagues are generally involved with: Learning and Teaching, Research and Scholarship, and Leadership and Management. 

Because of the significant variations in people’s career backgrounds before entering academia (e.g. coming from a research or doctoral background, or transferring from professional practice), and the different careers paths that people might choose or be required to focus on, colleagues might be at very different stages in each strand. For example, someone might have worked as an accountant for many years, leading large teams and projects, so be at ‘Enhancer’ stage for Leadership and Management but be at ‘Developer’ stage for Learning and Teaching (perhaps having taught in HE for 3-5 years), and ‘Starter’ stage for Research and Scholarship, not having completed any research previously.  

The Framework can therefore be used to explore relevant resources for each stage and offer some guidance on what kinds of experiences or qualifications may be beneficial in moving towards the next stage. 

The initial proposed Framework is below (select the image to enlarge the view): 

How will the Academic Career Stage Framework be used? 

Our aim is for the Academic Careers Stage Framework (ACSF) to be the basis of a digital toolkit. This toolkit will support the career and professional development of academics, and teaching and research communities across UoL and Federal Partners. The toolkit will enhance student experience and outcomes, by supporting all academics (widely defined as all those involved in the academic areas of activity, and includes professional services staff involved in teaching and supporting student learning for example) to systematically improve their practice through reflective professional development. 

We are now at the stage of the project where we are gathering feedback from relevant stakeholders, including BARDG. 

How has BARDG contributed to the development of the Academic Career Stage Framework? 

We were grateful for the useful comments and suggestions made during the BARDG meeting. If you weren’t able to attend, and would like to offer feedback, please do so here: https://forms.office.com/e/yCnvCcVrJb  

We had some useful feedback around particular resources that might be beneficial to include in the Framework, and about how to ensure that it aligns with other professional frameworks that people involved in research or learning and teaching might be using already. 

We also had some valuable discussion around training and career development in HE in general. Three key points emerged from this:  

1. The framework needs to work not just for those colleagues who are on ‘academic contracts’, but for everyone who is involved in the three strands of academic activity. There are many professional services colleagues who are active in both research, and teaching or supporting student learning, so the framework needs to be suitable for them as well as the more traditional roles such as ‘lecturer’, ‘research fellow’ or ‘teaching fellow’. This is also crucial when considering the Leadership and Management strand, as this might involve a move into a different kind of contract when taking on a particular Leadership or Management role. 

 

2. People working within the three strands of academic activity don’t always recognise the skills and experience they are developing as part of their roles – especially when working towards a formal Academic Promotion, or thinking about a sideways move within HE, or moving outside of HE altogether. The Framework should provide them with some ability to assess where they currently are and work out what they can do to get to the next stage. 

 

3. We had initially envisaged the Framework mostly being used by individuals, but the BARDG discussions demonstrated how it could play a key role in line managers initiating conversations about career development and using it as a tool to prompt regular check-ins with staff about how they want to progress. Often line managers may not be experts in all the resources available, or have knowledge of requirements for each strand, particularly if they themselves have focused on one or two strands in their own career. 

4. 
   

We also explored how the Academic Career Stage Framework can be used to support and develop a reflective approach to career development. 

Thanks to everyone who came and contributed to the discussions, or who have filled in the survey. We plan to return to BARDG to demonstrate the toolkit once we are at a later stage of progress, so watch this space! 

Reference 

Brammar, L., Wade, V., & Weaver, J. (2025). The Career Stage Framework: facilitating enhanced engagement with students, institutional partners, employers, and alumni. Journal of the National Institute for Career Education and Counselling, 54(1). 

Dynamic Teaching Showcase June 2025

Over 20 colleagues enjoyed a lively and enriching seminar last month to learn ways in which academics are using lightboards plus surprisingly-innovative uses of Teams to enhance their teaching in a number of varied ways. We discussed the challenges (e.g. access to/storage of lightboards, training and testing, accessibility - captioning maths videos, relationships with suppliers) and the benefits (e.g. supporting hyflex/blended learning, and encouraging improved course redesign).

Huge thanks to our fantastic speakers, Sue, Dan, Rich and Ken, for taking the time to present some excellent and thought-provoking talks, and for all who came. Thank you also to the team at the University of London, who let colleagues loose on the lightboard in their studio.

You can access the presentations below:

• Using Lightboards to create dynamic teaching videos:
  Sue Venables and Dan Bennett (both Videographer and Editor), University of London

• Experiments with eGlass - UCL presentation.pptx: Rich Osborne (Faculty Learning Technology Lead), UCL
• Pushing MS Teams to its limits for teaching: Ken Hori (Head of Education and Student Experience - Faculty of Business and Law), Birkbeck

If you have any follow-up questions or comments either for our speakers directly or ideas for future BLE sessions like this, please feel free to get in touch with us!

Course Administrators and Academics in Partnership

Reflections from the BLE/UoL Distance Learning Course Administrators Network 

Course administrators from across of University of London’s federation members met on 19th June 2025, for the second BLE/UoL Distance Learning Course Administrators Network event.  Created earlier this year by Sarah Sherman (Director of the Bloomsbury Learning Exchange (BLE) and CODE Fellow), the network was established to give distance learning support staff a dedicated space to connect, reflect, and develop. It is co-chaired by Joanne Jarvis (CertAVP Administration Manager, RVC), Ruth Chandler (Course Manager, RVC), and me, Gustavo Olivo (Head of Programme Support, University of London Worldwide). 

Hosted in a hybrid format at Stewart House, the event welcomed colleagues from UCL, UoL, RVC, LSHTM, Royal Holloway, and City St George’s. The event was divided into two themes: exploring our training and development needs, and building effective partnerships with academics in distance learning contexts. 

Part One: Understanding Our Training Needs 

The first half of the session was led by Julian Bream, BLE Coach for Digital Leadership. His interactive exercise encouraged attendees to reflect on the core tasks, skills and behaviours that define our roles, and to identify areas where more structured training and development could help. 

Working in pairs, participants drew a representation of their role and annotated it with tasks, competencies and challenges.  

  Ruth Chandler, from RVC (left) and Mel Bridges from UoL (right) mapping the many roles of a distance learning course administrator during the skills exercise. 

Unsurprisingly, the results painted a picture of highly versatile professionals: managing virtual learning environments, liaising with students and teaching centres, organising events, supporting academics, assessments and graduation, and navigating complex communications with multiple stakeholders. 

Skills like organisation, communication, empathy, and attention to detail emerged as essential. But many also reported being asked to perform tasks, such as HTML editing or platform troubleshooting, without sufficient training. There were concerns about unclear team boundaries, overlap in responsibilities, and assumptions that staff simply "figure it out". 

Participants suggested that professional development often happens informally, through peer exchange or self-teaching. “Talking to a colleague doing the same job at another university can completely change how you think about a task,” someone noted. Others emphasised that new technologies, such as AI tools for transcription or data analysis, are often underutilised, not due to lack of interest, but lack of visibility and training opportunities. 

“If you do your job well, it’s invisible.” 

Some colleagues reflected that their work only became visible when something went wrong, or during major disruptions like the COVID-19 pandemic. That’s when years of careful process-building suddenly became essential.  

There was also a heartfelt recognition that many of us do far more than our job descriptions suggest, because we care deeply about students, academics, and the quality of our programmes. But doing things “the way they’ve always been done” can become a barrier to growth if we don’t make space to reflect and adapt. 

In-person attendees engage in discussion with remote colleagues during the hybrid session, bringing together voices from across UoL. 

Part Two: Building Stronger Partnerships with Academics 

In the second part of our session, we turned our attention to the relationship between course administrators and academics. This built on our first network event earlier in the year, where we focused on our relationships with students. 

We were joined by Lynne Roberts (Programme Director, International Foundation Programme) and Jessica Hancock (Programme Director, PG Cert in Learning and Teaching in Higher Education), who shared their experiences and responded to questions from the group. 

The session opened with a recorded talk from Donna Smith (Senior Lecturer and Staff Tutor, Open University), who outlined best practices for effective collaboration between support staff and academics in a distance learning setting. 

Principles of Good Collaboration 

Donna highlighted several key principles: 

• Clear role definitions – knowing who does what, and where boundaries lie. 
• Collaborative planning – involving support staff early in course development. 
• Consistent communication – using shared platforms and agreed norms. 
• Regular check-ins – to flag issues and align priorities. 
• Mutual feedback – encouraging open, constructive dialogue in both directions. 

She also advocated for joint professional development, shared onboarding, and regular opportunities to build empathy across roles. 

Irina Petrova (City St George‘s), Claude Romero (UCL) and Natasha Evans (UoL) engage with the theme of academic collaboration; sharing experiences and ideas from their own institutional contexts. 

Breaking Down Barriers 

During the discussion, colleagues questioned the ‘us vs them’ dynamic that can sometimes be reinforced by labels like “academic” or “support staff”. Several mentioned that they had closer working relationships with academics than with other admin colleagues, and that strong communication was the key to successful collaboration. 

One colleague shared a past experience at a non-London institution, where hierarchical structures had reinforced a clear divide between academics and professional services staff. While this wasn’t reflective of the University of London, it sparked useful discussion about how institutional culture can shape working relationships. The colleague was quick to contrast that experience with what they’d seen in more inclusive environments, highlighting UCL as an example, where administrators and academics are viewed as part of the same team. 

Visibility, Appreciation and Voice 

A recurring theme was the importance of recognising the often unseen work that goes into distance learning administration. Jessica and Lynne encouraged colleagues to use appraisals and check-ins as opportunities to highlight achievements, not just look ahead.  

Lynne reminded attendees not to shy away from naming their successes: ‘It’s not boasting, it’s essential. You might be doing incredible work behind the scenes, don’t assume others know about it”. She also encouraged staff to speak up about their training needs, as senior staff aren’t always aware of what support might be helpful. 

Jessica noted how helpful it was when admin staff were proactive and kept her informed of upcoming tasks, especially during peak periods. 

Final Reflections:  

As the session drew to a close, we discussed the importance of inclusive practices, not just for students, but for staff too. Accessibility, wellbeing, clear processes and professional respect all play a role in creating a healthy working culture. 

It was heartening to see so many colleagues echoing the same values: empathy, communication, collaboration, and a desire to learn.  

The BLE/UoL Distance Learning Course Administrators Network continues to provide a much-needed space to reflect on our roles, share practice, and advocate for the recognition and support we deserve. 

Authored by Gustavo Olivo, Head of Programme Management Support, University of London