RAPPORT
Issue 5 (August 2020)
connections as providing information.
This in turn empowers them to be
more effective in their role as
personal tutor (and possibly beyond
this). Giovagnoli and Stover believe
that fostering cross-departmental
communication increases shared
knowledge, which in turn allows an
organisation to function at a higher
level – in our case, in the service of
students. They also state that
understanding each other’s roles and
goals allows members of staff to see
their own fit within and contribution to
the organisation, which enhances
their performance. (Portfolio 30, CS
3)
In addition, fostering networking, and
thus empowering others, increases their
own capacity and scope for action:
Beyond this, [Giovagnoli and
Stover’s] key message is that
networking enhances leadership
skills, and they propose actions to
develop networking capacity and
skills. One of these is to create
‘divergent networks’, by which they
mean connecting with varied
people who are very different from
you. As SPT [senior personal tutor],
I clearly see the value in this – my
team includes a range of
colleagues from different disciplines
and I meet staff from across the
university, as well as a whole range
of students. The different
perspectives they provide on issues
are extremely valuable to me, and
help to shape the development of
the personal tutoring system [here].
Reading the article has caused me
to reflect on how I already use
networking and how I could further
refine my skills, and has motivated
me to draft a proposal to our central
team to propose a programme of
workshops for tutors that will run
across the university (rather than
just in [my department]), which will
serve to bring a more diverse range
of tutors together. (Portfolio 30, CS
3)
Support and development
Sometimes, the opportunity for
leadership came from the desire to
champion support and development for
staff. Having discovered while running a
workshop that staff were unaware of
central support services and struggled to
navigate the online information (a
situation that will be recognised by many
across the sector!), this colleague found
themselves presented with the challenge
of battling the system in place:
Initial thoughts on a solution are both
obvious and difficult to implement.
Firstly, where possible, the ‘New to
tutoring’ workshop (or equivalent)
should be a mandatory part of
induction for new staff to the
University. This idea was welcomed
by all the workshop participants
when suggested to them. Indeed,
one participant questioned why this
wasn’t the case already.
Secondly, the feedback highlighted
how difficult it is to maintain up-todate,
readily accessible information
on central services. […] It is my
intention, as a member of the newlyformed
Personal Tutor Special
Interest Group, to lobby the
University to support the
development and maintenance of
such a resource (I intend to develop
something for the Academy in the
interim) and to include the ‘New to
tutoring’ workshop in all induction
programmes for new staff.
(Portfolio 10, CS 4)
As a person involved in support and
training this individual was alerted to their
colleagues’ needs, which otherwise may
have gone unheeded:
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