Future Events

Trinity Term 2009

Oxford Brookes AUA Branch Lunchtime Seminars :

Ian King, Director of Estates and Facilities Management
Are they satisfied? Student Centred Strategies and the National Student Survey, Monday 8 June, 12:00-1:00, Buckley Building BG11
Mike Ratcliffe, Director of Academic and Student Affairs
Collaborative Provision – Why we do it, Friday 10 July, 12:00-1:00, Headington Library Training Room
Diana Rayner, Quality Assurance Officer
Professionalising HE Administration, Monday 14 September, 12:00-1:00, Buckley Building BG11
Matthew Andrews, Academic Registrar
Oxford Brookes IT Strategy, Wednesday 14 October, 12:00-1:00, room tba
Rex Knight, Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Registrar
Team Building – Myths of Management – date to be agreed
Will Clements (AUA member and External Consultant)

Hilary Term 2009

TOMORROW!!! Wednesday 1 April 2009 - Meet the Director of Oxford University Library Services (OULS) 1pm-2pm, Wolfson SeminarRoom, Chemistry Research Lab.

Past Events

Wednesday 25 February 2009 - Meet the Director of Student Administration and Services 1pm to 2pm
Examination Schools, High Street
Keith Zimmerman has very kindly agreed to come and talk to us about his role and his plans for Student Administration and Services in the University.

The questions he will be addressing are: (1) What more can be done to improve student systems in the collegiate
university? (2) What should QA processes look like in the future? (3) What is an appropriate university role for student support and welfare services?

Friday 16 January 2009 - Meet the Registrar 1pm to 2.30pm
Lecture Theatre, Classics Centre, St Giles Dr Julie Maxton has very kindly agreed to come and talk to us about her role and her plans for the unviersity.

Michaelmas Term 2008

Tuesday 16 December 2008 - Mince Pies and wine at the Taylorian 5.30pm to 7pm
Please contact Andrew Fairweather-Tall if you can come along!

Hilary Term 2008

Monday 31 March to 2 April 2008 - 16th AUA Annual Conference and Exhibition : University of York

Thursday 28 February 2008 - 'Building a heritage: how universities shape, and are shaped by their architecture and campus planning': A lunchtime lecture given by Mike Ratcliffe, Director of Academic and Student Affairs at Oxford Brookes University -1-2.30 (venue tba).

Wednesday 24 October 2007 - The Tenth AUA Annual Guest Lecture  'Quietly flows the Don? Higher Education, turbulence, and timeless verities': Professor David Eastwood, Chief Executive, Higher Education Funding Council for England. You should have received an invitation in your Newslink pack this week. If not, there is plenty of information on the AUA website. Remember, you need a ticket to get in, so fill in the back of the invitation and return it asap to AUA head office.

Wednesday 17 October 2007 - Visit to UCAS: The UCAS AUA Branch have kindly invited us to spend a day with them in their Cheltenham HQ. The programme includes a welcome from UCAS' CEO, Anthony McClaran, an introduction to UCAS and the company's work, a tour of the offices, an introduction to "You Go Further", and a presentation (download here) from Janet Graham of Supporting Professionalism in Admissions (SPA).

Monday 15 October 2007 - "The Future of University Administration": Michael Sibly, the Academic Registrar, is coming to tell us a bit about who he is, what he does, how he got there and what he thinks the future will be like. 12pm- 2pm MPLS Conference Room, 9 Parks Road.

Michael Sibly Biography:

Michael Sibly read History at Cambridge and, abandoning a Ph.D. in its early stages, he entered the Home Civil Service in the (then) Department for Education and Science (DES). He did three jobs in three years, covering higher education and industry links, schools policy and organisation, and local authority/education funding and finance. It is from this period that can be traced the origins of his view that people should move jobs regularly! Michael then trained as a secondary school teacher, but chose not to follow that path, and then moved to Oxford to take up his first posting in the university administration in what would now be called Personnel Services. Since then he has held a number of posts in Oxford: from 1986-88 as Senior Administrator in the Department for Continuing Education, 1988-1990 as Graduate Studies Officer and Assistant Registrar, after which he undertook a two-year secondment to the Universities Funding Council, which transformed itself into HEFCE during the course of his period there. On returning to Oxford in 1994, he was given responsibility for running the Commission of Inquiry (the North Commission), to which he was secretary, and also covered the 1996 Research Assessment Exercise. Following reorganisation after the North Report, he became Head of the Planning and Resource Allocation Section in 1998, and in 2006 took up the post of Academic Registrar and Secretary of Faculties. Michael has also undertaken a substantial amount of evening class teaching, including teaching for the Department for Continuing Education.

Trinity Term 2007

Thursday 5 July 2007 - Creation Theatre presents "Hamlet" at the Oxford Castle: The Oxford Brookes Branch have invited us to join them in a trip to the open air theatre - webpage http://www.creationtheatre.co.uk/. Tickets are priced between £13 and £26 but a group discount may be possible if numbers are known in advance. If you are interested, please email Pippa (pippa.boyce at psy.ox.ac.uk) to reserve a ticket.

7 June 2007 - Regional Event: The new AUA Executive Director, Liz Bromley, will be visiting Oxford to discuss the work of the AUA and her role in the organisation in 2007 and beyond.=

Friday 25 May 2007 - Wine Tasting at St Johns: The welcome return of this extremely popular event, now practically an institution, organised once more by Ian Sobey, another chance to taste some of the fabulous wines of the St Johns Cellars. Venue: St Giles House, St. Giles, OX1, cost is £10.50, payable at the event, including bread anc cheese.

Hilary Term 2007

Friday 9 March 2007 - "BREAKING OUT OF COMFORT ZONES" - John Ryan, Registrar and Clerk to the Governors at the University of Worcester, previous Chair of the AUA and currently a member of the AUA Executive and Chair of the AUA Conferences Committee.

Venue: Oxford Brookes University, Board Room 1, Gipsy Lane Campus, 12.30pm

Comfort Zones are routines in our lives that we've become accustomed to - we're comfortable with them, at work and at home. Habits, practices,preferences, learned sets of skills or procedures - "the way we do things round here". There are some good things about comfort zones - they can keep us safe and save us time. But there are also some not-so-good things - they limit our ability to adapt and change. This (hopefully fun) session willallow you to identify your own comfort zones and explore some techniques for breaking out of them - that's if you decide that's what you want to do.

The session is expected to last about an hour and the aim is for it to be informative and fun!

Trinity term 2006

6 July 2006 - Creation Theatre "The Merchant of Venice" at Oxford Castle Please register interest with Pippa (pippa.boyce@psy.ox.ac.uk) by Friday 26 May or as soon as possible thereafter. Joint event with the Oxford Brookes AUA Branch.

31 May 2006 - One-day national AUA conference at UCL in London (Registration  £195 to AUA members). Includes presentations from leading employment lawyer John McMullen of Watson Burton, Jocelyn Prudence, Chief Executive of UCEA and David Allen, Chair of the Heads of University Administration. The day will be chaired by John Hogan, AUA Executive Committee. For anyone involved in the implications of the pay dispute and action short of strike this is an unmissable opportunity to be informed on the key issues.

Full details are at http://www.aua.ac.uk/events/courses/industrialaction/

The flier is at http://www.aua.ac.uk/events/courses/industrialaction/flyer.pdf

Friday 19 May, 5pm-7pm  Annual Wine tasting, St Giles House, St John's College
Ian Sobey has kindly agreed to arrange another famous annual AUA wine tasting event. Cost is £10.50 per person, and this covers the cost of wine for tasting, as well as cheese and bread.
There is no restriction on numbers, but you will need to book in advance, by email  to Alana Davies (alana.davies@materials.ox.ac.uk), before Friday 12 May, so that we can make the necessary arrangements.  Please bring cash to pay for the tasting on the evening!  Partners are welcome.
For those who  may not know how to find St Giles House - it is just north of the Lamb & Flag Pub, and directions can be found at
http://hinksey.sjc.ox.ac.uk/index.php?A=17&B=24.

Hilary Term 2006

23 March, 5pm     "Behind the Scenes at the Museum" A tour of the University Museum of Natural History led by Mrs Malgosia Nowak-Kemp. Please contact Diane Harris (diane.harris@safety.ox.ac.uk) to book your place (numbers limited to 15)

Michaelmas Term 2005

10 October 2005, 5.30pm  Tour of Headington Hill Hall, formerly home of Robert Maxwell, now leased to Oxford Brookes University, kindly arranged by Oxford Brookes AUA Branch, please contact Pippa Boyce (pippa.boyce@psy.ox.ac.uk) to let us know you are planning to come along.

Oxford Brookes University AUA Events:

1 December 2005, 12:30pm, Lloyd Board Room, Oxford Brookes University, Gipsy Lane Campus

Dr David Palfreyman, The Student - HEI Legal Relationship: Consumer Law Rules? David is the Director of OxCHEPS (Oxford Centre for Higher Education Policy Studies - http://oxcheps.new.ox.ac.uk/) and Bursar and Fellow of New College, Oxford. He has previously worked at the Universities of Liverpool and Warwick, and has written numerous articles on education management.

13 December 2005, The Quod Restaurant, Oxford - A repeat of this successful Christmas celebratory meal which will start at 7.30. Great food, good company. Come and join us. If you would like to attend please either please contact Caroline Brown (clsbrown@brookes.ac.uk, 01865 483300) or Mike Newell mnewell@brookes.ac.uk, 01865 483054).

9 June 2005 - Issues in the history and philosophy of English higher education, 12:30-14:00, Oxford Brookes University, Gipsy Lane Campus - Mike Ratcliffe, Director of Academic and Student Affairs at Oxford Brookes will be repeating his very successful lecture given at the 2005 Annual Conference. In the last 150 years, the idea of the university and its history have been linked, and the various attempts to define HE, and to shape it, are still relevant in considerations of policy and practice today, particularly when institutions need to define and deliver a distinctive mission. This session aims to show that by understanding past debates we can make full contributions to current debates. Although based on English HE, influences from other nations will be discussed. Please email clsbrown@brookes.ac.uk or mnewell@brookes.ac.uk if you wish to attend.

3 June 2005 - 5.30pm - 7.30pm The Annual St John's Wine Tasting, St Giles House, price £10.50

19 April 2005 - 5pm - "Behind the Scenes at the Museum" The tour will be conducted by Mrs Malgosia Nowak-Kemp, who is the Vertebrate Collections Manager at the Museum (see http://www.oum.ox.ac.uk/zoology.htm). The tour will include a behind-the-scenes look at the Museum, the history architecture of the Museum and a closer look at some of the exhibits, including the remains of the dodo. Please contact Diane Harries (diane.harries@safety.ox.ac.uk) to book your place (numbers limited to 15)

8 March 2005, Rewley House Charity pub quiz, 6pm - raising money for a Tanzanian bursary fund that enables kids to complete their secondary school education when their parents [affected by HIV and drought] cannot come up with school fees. Teams of 5 welcome. Lots of quirky prizes as well as a cash prize.

17 February 2005, 7 for 7.30pm - "One Night in Fair Verona" Oxford Brookes Restaurant - £25 per person: Price includes complimentary cocktail, three-course dinner with coffee and a string quartet "Experience the culture of the enchanted and magical city that lays host to William Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet" with "One Night in Fair Verona", which combines meticulously prepared authentic Italian cuisine, fine wine from the Verona region, and stunning entertainment". The website for those who are interested in finding out more about the Brookes Restaurant is http://www.brookes.ac.uk/restaurant/

2 December 2004 - 2.45pm to 5pm - Regional AUA Workshop and Networking Reception: 'Career Planning for HE Administrators'. Followed by drinks and light refreshments. At: Birmingham Business School, University House, University of Birmingham B15 2TT. To register, please contact: pippa.boyce@psy.ox.ac.uk

15 November 2004 - 4pm - Seminar: 'Managing Change: From Restructuring to Relocation'
by Val Maxwell, Administrator in NDM in the Department of Experimental Psychology, South Parks Road.
(Please bring your University/Brookes card with you, the receptionists will point you to the room).

21 October 2004 - from 5.30pm - Introductory Social Evening
at the New University Club, Mansfield Road. Tour of the new Club and its facilities around 6.30pm for those who are interested.

27 May 2004 - 5.30pm - Tour of the University Archives
(A second chance for those who didn't make the list for the first tour in February)
The Archives are located in the Tower of the Five Orders in the Bodleian. The lower archive room is as it was when the Archives were moved there in the 1630s, with the records still in their original places in the cabinets, the upper room was given to the Archives in 1854. More recently the Archives have expanded into the History Faculty and Examination Schools (the tour will not be visiting these rooms as there will not be time).
The material in the Bodleian tower is fascinating, and the Keeper of the Archives, Simon Bailey has offered to give us an explanation of their history and show us some of the treasures. Numbers are limited to 10 due to limited space, and I should warn you that the only access is up a narrow stone spiral staircase. We will have some wine and nibbles afterwards in the upper archive room, which also provides some the best views over Oxford - which it will hopefully not be too dark to enjoy.

21 May 2004 - St Johns Wine Tasting event

28 April 2004 - 5.30pm - Tour of the University Parks
A chance to be shown around the University Parks and find out what is there, how it got there and how the Parks are managed. It will be a very nice, gentle stroll around the Parks and no doubt finish with a visit to a nearby hostelry..

25 Feb 2004 - 5.30pm - Tour of the University Archives

18 November 2003 - 6.00 pm - Talk by and about ISIS Innovations, Seminar Room, Central Chemistry Laboratory (building no 8 on this map)
ISIS Innovations is the subsidiary of the University of Oxford founded to exploit know-how arising out of research at Oxford University.

22 October 2003 - 6.00 pm - 'Next Door', 38 Holywell Street
Initial social event to launch the AUA programe for this year. Come along for a chat, a drink, sugestions for meetings, bring a friend!

30 May 2003, 5.30-7pm  - Wine tasting, St Giles House
The third year of this popular event. Once again, Ian Sobey opens up the St John's College wine cellars to allow members to taste a range of white and red wines. There will be a charge for this event.

29 January 2003, 6pm - Developing Virtual Oxford, Oxford Internet Institute, St Giles
Linda Frankland, Oxford Internet Institute and Kelly Smith, Medical Sciences
A chance to see the new Oxford Internet Institute, find out what it is all hear something of what it has been like for Linda to set up a new department from scratch. Kelly Smith will be talking about how Medical Sciences are using computer aided learning in the new Medical Sciences Teaching Centre, and the plans to set up a Virtual Learning Environment.

27 February 2003, 6pm - Tour of the Said Business School
For all those who haven't yet found an excuse to talk their way into Oxford's newest landmark, a tour of the Business School with Administrator Richard Briant and a chance to hear what it is like to work there.

28 November 2002, 5pm - Rewley House Charity Pub Quiz

21 November 2002, 5.30pm - Tour of New College's Treasures

Trinity Term 2002 - Tour of the Botanic Gardens

20 March 2002, 5.00pm - Tour of the Pitt Rivers Museum led by Rachel Walker