Those of you who have seen the DPE and DPW shared office this year will know the state that I found it in when starting handover a few weeks ago. With previous DPEs clearly being hoarders, I was left with 5 YEARS worth of documents and papers to sort through. Couple this with an inbox full of 16,000 emails and you understand why my first job as DPE was a huge clear out. With important documents now archived (1999 Rep Handbook anyone?) and the rest filling up numerous recycling bins, I am now ready to take on the year ahead!

Our Mums and Dads scheme is now live for potential parents to sign up, so if you haven’t signed up-what are you waiting for!?! https://www.imperialcollegeunion.org/mumsanddads

If you need more encouragement, a separate blog about the positives of this scheme and examples of where it has worked well will be coming your way shortly!

I also experienced the first of many 3 hour Quality Assurance meetings, there to ensure that courses delivered here at Imperial are of the highest quality. And please don’t worry; a separate blog about these will NOT be appearing…

David and I attended our first Aldwych conference, which is a meeting for the President and Education Sabbatical from each of the Russell Group universities. This was set up to share best practice across these institutions, and I’m sure you’ll hear more about the outcomes of these throughout the year.

The next challenge is priority setting and drafting an action plan for the year ahead, with those key buzzwords of: Postgrads, UROPs, and Mums and Dads being sure to appear heavily in my plans.

Finally I’d like to thank my predecessor Doug for all the help he has given me the last few weeks, and for the amazing job he has done this past year. He will be a tough act to follow, but I’m ready for the challenge!

DPE love,

Nat x