You need at least one good eye-phone! (notes on the week)

Wow, it is hard getting used to this blogging thing, finding appropriate time – and “angle” – and them remembering to post (wrote this on Sunday but forgot to “publish” it!)

For example, I could elaborate on some particularly interesting elements of last week (which I will do below) – or else, I could point out some interesting news and tell you how surprised I am that I DO NOT want an iPhone (gadget geek that I am)!  You have to love the irony that a device designed to communicate with people at a distance is selling because of its ability to impress people stood next to you.  Yea, I know there’s more to it than that but I’m going to wait for v2 and hopefully avoid the poor download speeds and camera, plus lack of video and gps – not to mention ridiculous contract terms.  Oh, and don’t start me on accessibility issues … it should be called the “Must have at least one good eye-phone”.

Re the technology news front, maybe I’ve seen one too many Terminator movies – but was I the only one amused by the Beeb news home page over the weekend that displayed these two story headlines, one below the other:

“Skynet military launch is delayed” (Euro satellite launcher) and
“Schwarzenegger aims to end strike” (California writers’ thing).  

On the same day, it was reported that the US did however launch its “Delta IV Heavy” rocket thing that flung a 2,300 kg spy satellite into space.  Shame of course that we no longer know what a kilogram of dead weight is (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/7084099.stm) – maybe its equivalent to a pile of hacked then updated iPhones, lol.

Okay then, the week that was the first back after Seattle (then a week “off” over half-term).  I kept on top of the urgent stuff while away but still 300+ emails left over to deal with!

But firstly, they’ve done the new letters on the outside of the Caerleon Library building – ooer, very nice – well done Lesley – and what about those Barbie pink windows!

In work, we’ve also been thinking (in various fora) about how we organise ourselves for years ahead and integrating our new City Centre Campus location.

The picture below is, of course, an artist impression of how it will look (better than some of the images that have appeared in the press!)  However, it took a while to catch up with what had happened over the last 2 weeks – you don’t realise how quickly things change around here until you’re out of the meetings for a little while! (Oi, where have the LAN cupboards gone!).  We’ve done really well to secure an excellent plateau level for a “heart” space and an information resource – veeeeeery exciting.

 

Management Board was its usual excellent mix including topics such as University strategy, learning agreements and student satisfaction levels, key performance indicators, strategic planning process, third mission strategy, information management and aspects of the student application process. A nice way to get right back into things!  We also referred to the Information Strategy Panel (that I Chair) and our discussions around online diary usage …

A similar group of staff meet with the Students’ Union and this year, the meetings appear to be particularly productive.  We have a very engaging student president – take a look at the new radio service they’ve launched (with help from some of our IT staff) – it “rocks”!  You can join the Radio Noize Facebook group or check out the broadcasts from here: http://www.newportunion.com/noize.php

I had also orchestrated a meeting with a few of us and one of our external national partners who are thinking about changing the way they do their business.  It was great to see their faces almost literally light up at the thought of what more we could do to help them achieve their vision and we’re both now really looking forward to the tendering process.  VERY well done to all involved!

One of my greatest privileges in working where I do, is being able to get involved with things like our Learning and Teaching Awards scheme.  The 4^th call for proposals finished recently and the week ended with a meeting to look at some really excellent bids for funding that will genuinely have an impact on learning within our University.  Top day and good end to a long week.