Cardiff Futures Final Day

On Thursday, it was the last day of the first Cardiff Futures programme. The day was designed for reflection, planning and celebration, so there were no guest speakers, nor formal sessions.

Instead the VC opened the day by setting out the themes and purpose of the day, and we watched a video diary of the last 8 months compressed into 6 minutes.

Then it was over to the participants. They worked initially in small groups, then in plenary, and then in their project teams; reflecting, sharing, discussing and looking ahead. I don't want to say too much about the process, as we want future cohorts to approach it fresh...

From the feedback on the day, it seems people have found the whole programme a powerful and valuable process - and largely enjoyable, too.

We will, of course, be undertaking a longer term evaluation; but it is heartening to see that next year's programme is attracting a very high level of interest, from which I conclude that participants are saying good things about the programme behind the VC's back, as well as to his face!

From our point of view it has been good to see that the programme works even when extended beyond the Humanities, to include scientists and other such strange people... We always thought it would, but it is good to have that proved.

In the evening we were joined for a celebratory dinner by many of our guest speakers over the year, as well as by sponsoring managers, and had a very convivial evening, particularly giving them an insight into the projects.

A successful bid

Just learned that Glyn, Stuart and I have been successful in a joint bid for 3 lots of work at another university.  I'm still not a fan of the bidding process (we heard today - the date we were meant to hear was last June!  I'd actually forgotten this one was outstanding!)  However, success is always gratifying...

The cycle continues

Down to Colchester yesterday, for two events.  The first was a planning meeting for next year's Essex Futures programme; chaired by the VC, the main contributors were a couple of reps chosen by this year's cohort, to give us feedback on what had worked well and what could be improved.  Althrough they didn't pull their punches, and gave us some clear indications of things to change, overall their feedback was very positive, and we had a most productive meeting.

The second event was a celebration: hosted by the VC, all participants from the first two cohorts of the programme were invited for a drink and buffet - and a viewing of the video diaries I made of both programmes.  It was lovely to catch up with everyone, and great to see the links starting to form between the two cohorts.  We are keen to support that, and hope that being a 'graduate' of Essex Futures will become a part of peoples' identity and a real boost to interdisciplinary networking etc.