Breakout Sessions

Session 1

9:30 - 10:30

Session 2

11:00 - 12:00

Session 3

12:05 - 12:30

Session 4

13:30 - 14:30

Session 5

15:00 - 16:00

Creating and maintaining a professional online presence (This session is now fully booked)

This session aims to equip staff with the knowledge, confidence and learning strategies to manage their online professional identity appropriately. This interactive session is suitable for all ability levels, and is 'unplugged' (no need to bring a laptop or tablet), although participants are encouraged to consider beforehand whose professional online presence they most admire. There is also an optional follow-on session in the computer suite.

So you always wanted to learn Chinese? (This session is now fully booked)

Would you like to learn some Chinese words, phrases and Chinese culture? Come to the Chinese Language workshop to discover the four tones, basic sounds and characters of Mandarin Chinese.

Panning for gold in a deluge

Do you ever feel that you're missing out on the best of the web? Ever wonder why others always seem to post links to great stuff but you never do? And when you have found something useful how do you ensure that you can quickly find it again when you need it? In this session you will be introduced to some of the best services around for discovering online gold and discover how you could store the most useful stuff. You will then get a chance to share your own favoured methods for finding and retrieving great content.

Mail lists, memberships, mail merges: keeping it fresh and getting it done (This session is now fully booked)

Mail lists, memberships and mail merges are all things administrative staff use every day. This hands-on workshop in the computer suite will demonstrate how to get fresh, clean data to make mail lists and mail merges and keep it all up to date. Participants are invited to bring in a spreadsheet on a USB stick in order to work on a live data issue. The spreadsheet should have the following columns: title, first name, last name, date of birth, Oxford email, Oxford username. Of course you may not have all the information - it's the purpose of the workshop to fill in the blanks!

There's no such thing as a free lunch: guarding against bribery and fraud

An overview of the University’s new policies on Bribery and Fraud and Gifts and Hospitality.

Commercialising research (This session is now fully booked)

Learn about Isis, different forms of intellectual property and the various ways in which researchers and the University can benefit from closer links with business and industry to create income and impact. This interactive session will guide you through sequential modules designed to inform and stimulate discussion about commercial activities within at Oxford. Short presentations will each be followed by work in small groups, and the resulting discussions will conclude with case studies presented by Isis staff members.

Bite-sized college tour: The Queen's College (This session is now fully booked)

An exploration of life and work in a college. Each tour will be led by a senior college officer, who will give a tour of their college, talk about their role and answer any questions you may have.

Research student thesis examinations: minor corrections, major corrections, resubmissions - what are the differences and implications? (This session is now fully booked)

This presentation will review the process changes resulting from the option for DPhil examiners to recommend major corrections.

Legal issues arising from the student relationship

The legal framework governing a student’s relationship with the University is not always straightforward. This session aims to provide some constructive and practical guidance as to how difficult issues might be managed.

Estates Strategy 2013/18 (This session is now fully booked)

This session will provide an overview of the new Estate Strategy. Working in parallel with the University’s Strategic Plan, it establishes our priorities for developing the University’s estate until 2018 and looks ahead to the next 10 to 15 years. Director of Estates Paul Goffin will set out its core themes and guiding principles, which include: providing flexible research accommodation, meeting environmental sustainability goals and the shared use of teaching space. Delegates will also be updated on the structure and organisation of Estates Services and key initiatives including Customer Service Excellence.

International staff: a beginner's guide to employing and supporting staff from across the world

A key commitment in the new University Strategic Plan is to recruit and retain high-calibre staff from across the world. This session, presented by the Personnel Services policy and work permits team, will look at how we can best support international staff, and the particular issues associated with recruiting and employing people from overseas.

What can you do with £100 million? The Oxford Graduate Scholarship Matched Fund

This session will offer a brief overview of the graduate funding situation at Oxford, before introducing the Oxford Graduate Scholarships Matched Fund. OGSMF was launched in September 2013, and aims to encourage new philanthropic donations for graduate scholarships by providing matching for these donations from University funds. We will introduce the scheme’s guidelines, review its successes so far, and look forward to its second year of operation.

Demystifying the Development Office

This presentation will provide an overview of the work of the Development Office and an update on the Oxford Thinking Campaign. The Development Office consists of a number of different teams, each with different skills and responsibilities as varied as prospect research, donor relations, proposal writing, marketing and communications, and database management in addition to the fundraising teams. Working across the University as a whole, with departments and colleges, the Development Office helps raise philanthropic income from a wide range of donors – individuals, corporations and foundations – both in the UK and internationally.

An overview of the JRAM and CFF (This session is now fully booked)

The Joint Resource Allocation Method (JRAM) allocates funding received in student fees and from the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE). This session will review the principles and outcomes of the JRAM. The later part of the presentation will provide an overview of the Collegiate Funding Formula (CFF) which redistributes the portion allocated collectively to the Colleges in the JRAM.

Revised job grading processes (This session is now fully booked)

An overview of the changes to the grading and regrading processes, including advice on drafting job descriptions and applications for regrading.

Engagement with the Student Union

A bit about what we do… and don’t do! Unlike most Student Unions we have no bar, but that means we get to focus more on the important issues of student representation and engagement. We provide an independent Student Advice Service, support various campaigns including LGBTQ, Mind Your Head and Target Schools and work with and provide a student voice on many university committees. We are an ideal gateway to harness student opinion as we work closely with Common Rooms, and also develop student policy through OUSU Council. This presentation will explore engagement with the Student Union with different bodies across the University and how you could be involved too.