Staff Conference 2018: Day 1
Staff Conference 2018- Celebrating 175 years of Excellence- the Coventry Way
Text by Amrita Gokal
The 2018 Annual Staff Conference, held on 14th and 15th of June marked a momentous milestone at Coventry University. The event hailed “175 Years of Excellence- the Coventry Way”, which celebrated the development and growth of the academic institution since its establishment in 1843, in the city of Coventry. The 2-day conference was held at the Engineering and Computing building. The exhibition included 26 stalls with staff teams across various faculties exhibiting work done both in the UK and internationally. Some of the stalls were supplemented with a discussion space with the view to engage with attendees.
Day 1 of the conferenced started with attendee registration, where delegates were handed badges, a schedule for the day comprising all speaker events, and a map of the main exhibition hall. This was followed by a keynote opening speaker event by Iann Dunn, who shed light on the ‘Coventry Way’. Additionally, this session provided a brief regarding the 7 strands to look out for throughout the 2-day conference. The 7 strands all cover the nine principles of the Coventry Way.
· Equality, Diversity & Inclusion: This strand included stalls which championed diversity and engaged with attendees through debates pertaining disability, race, gender, and the ways in which they intersect.
· City of Culture: This strand reflected the city’s cultural re-development and discussed the benefits of hosting the City of Culture in 2021. Furthermore, internal and external speakers discussed plans to maintain the presence of Coventry’s cultural role in the economic and social growth of the city.
· CU Online: Coventry University Online aims to deliver 50 online degree programme across the next 5 years. This strand allowed attendees to interact with staff who are involved in designing, delivering and achieving their ultimate goal.
· Short Presentations: A showcase of ideas around the above themes- all delivered in short, sharp presentations comprising 20 slides of 20 seconds each.
· Teaching Briefings/Sharing Practice: This strand discussed the changes in teaching and learning environment at the University and how it is facilitated.
· Teaching & Learning Discussion Space: Dialogue around assessment and feedback, plus chance to experiment with the Jisc digital discovery tool
· Graffiti Wall: Space to share ideas on the Coventry Way
Alongside the main hall where the exhibition was taking place, workshops were organised by faculties from the 7 strands throughout the 2-day conference. This allowed attendees to play an active role in discussions regarding the university’s growth and development.