Technician Commitment Update – Fantastic feedback from Peer Review!
The Technician Commitment Steering Group are delighted to report the positive feedback they have received from their recent self-assessment exercise.
The University of Leeds became a signatory of the Technician Commitment in 2018. The Commitment aims to ensure visibility, recognition, career development and sustainability for technicians working in higher education and research, across all disciplines.
The University pledged to support this initiative by drawing up a two-year action plan. Earlier this year we assessed our progress against our original plan and submitted a new document outlining our objectives for the next three years. Our assessment documentation and Action Plan 2021-2024 were sent out for Peer Review. The feedback received was extremely positive.
Feedback highlights
The report noted that: “Since becoming signatories, Leeds have made impressive progress showing clear steps forward for their technical community and have articulated the benefits to their staff well.”
It highlighted the dedicated budget, the roles of the Technician Champions and the commitment to governance by senior staff, including a reporting line through to the University Executive Group. The inclusion of the technician voice in both the Research Excellence Framework submission and the 2020-2030 strategy was also noted. Technicians have helped make progress by engaging in training and utilising new means of networking both before and during the ongoing pandemic.
The feedback highlights areas where Leeds has made good progress and also provides constructive advice regarding areas that could benefit from further development.
Progress of the work being undertaken to support the Technician Commitment is monitored by the Technician Commitment Steering Group, chaired by Professor Elaine Martin, and supported by representatives from the technical and academic communities along with colleagues from HR and OD+PL. The implementation of the Action Plan is coordinated by the Technician Commitment Working Group.
One of the actions from the current plan is to increase membership of the Technician Commitment Working Group, so if any technicians would like to find out more about how you can be involved, please get in touch.
Jennie Hibbard
RSci MIScT
Technician Champion for the Faculty of Biological Sciences
Chair of the Technician Commitment Working Group