GOOD PRACTICE IN DIGITAL AND TECHNICAL AREAS

Booking Inductions and Workshops ProForma

A NEW BOOKING SYSTEM FOR REQUESTING WORKSHOPS AND INDUCTIONS

As we move into next term and the demands on the technical resource become more diverse, the technicians had a meeting to discuss the booking arrangements for future inductions and workshops and we decided to initiate some positive changes. So we are in the process of establishing a more formal arrangement whereby tutors need to provide technicians with two weeks notice by completing a form with details, the context for the workshop and intended learning outcomes. We have thought about best working practice and put together a booking system for requesting workshops and inductions in our technical workshop areas, especially as we all job share, we need a system that allows both job share partners to know what workshops have been requested and to figure out how to divide the work between us. Please can staff all follow the procedure below so that we can offer the most effective service possible to all areas.

INDUCTION BOOKING PROCESS

· Please fill in the form (which is the same for 3D workshop, printmaking and digital media) an example is attached below. Check the workshop timetable for the relevant area on Blackboard (within individual areas in Technical Resources).

· Request an available time slot bearing in mind that workshops will run only in the morning (10 am-12: 30pm) thus allowing the afternoons in DMS and technical areas to provide open access to both staff and students who wish to use these resources daily.

· We need at least 2 weeks notice in order to effectively prepare for the workshop.

· It is preferable for workshops to be delivered within the context of a project you are running as we’ve found this gives a much stronger framework to teach technical skills within so please bear this in mind. In order for us to deliver a structured and tangible workshop we need to know what skills you are expecting the students to achieve by the end of the workshop.

· Send the form to Area Leaders. This request will then be passed on to the relevant technicians who will be in touch with the relevant academic staff member to confirm the time slot and discuss further details.

· Once the workshop is confirmed we will send you a sign up sheet, which will outline what we expect students to turn up to the workshop with. They must be made aware that if they turn up without the necessary preparatory work (e.g. scanned/digital images, designs for print, drawings for 3D designs, etc.) or if they turn up more than 10 min late they will be turned away. This is because it eats into the time allocated if we have to wait while students do the prep work in the session. NB. Digital media workshops will generally have a maximum group size of 12 but it depends on the nature of the workshop. Furthermore, by insisting on punctuality we are fostering good working practice and professionalism.

· We also strongly encourage you to book the technical areas to run your own workshops, which we can facilitate or even run together as collaboration. Workshops and inductions will run through Part 2 of the course but not Part 3. During Part 3 we will concentrate on helping students one-to-one.

· We are going to make videos of the inductions so that next year we can play the video to the student cohort in one presentation event instead of extending it across a whole week.

Apologies if this is more a formal way to work with us than you are used to but due to the large number of students (700) passing through the technical areas and the fact there’s only ever one of us in each area on any day, we need to have a more structured approach to planning workshops.