What’s your job title and how long have you been at Loughborough?

I’m the Head of Enhanced Academic Practice and joined Loughborough on 1 October 2021.

Tell us what a typical day in your job looks like?

There is no typical day, although when on campus the 8am Daily Grind visit is an absolute must! Beyond that, I can be discussing with my team ideas on how to develop excellent teaching one minute, supporting Fellowship applicants the next, providing individual mentoring for National Teaching Fellow applications, attending meetings (of which there are many), or, on occasion, sitting on a student discipline panel (thankfully not something that happens too often). In August this year, I was on the Clearing phone lines (fully recommend if you haven’t had the opportunity to do this), which probably gives a flavour of just how varied the role can be!

What’s your favourite project you’ve worked on?

This probably has to be the University-wide project on assessment and feedback, commissioned by Rachel Thomson. Why is it my favourite project? Because it brought together so many colleagues from across the University and gave me the opportunity to hear directly from students about their assessment and feedback experiences.

One of the things I enjoyed most was translating those insights into practical recommendations that could genuinely make a difference. Since the project was completed and its recommendations implemented, we’ve worked hard to improve the student experience in this area, and it’s really encouraging to see the positive progress being reflected in our NSS results. There’s still more to do, of course, but we now have a much stronger foundation to build on and a clearer understanding of what matters most to our students.

What is your proudest moment at Loughborough?

There have been many: supporting a number of colleagues to achieve National Teaching Fellow recognition would certainly be up there, as would working with the Enhanced Academic Practice team more generally. But if pushed, I think I’d land on the Leadership Sprint series that my line manager, Sharon Platts, asked me to own and deliver. What made it such a rewarding experience, though, was the willingness of colleagues from across the University to get involved. Their generosity in sharing their experiences, insights and expertise made the series what it was, and it would have been impossible to get this over the line without that commitment. The feedback from staff afterwards made all the hard work feel worthwhile and reinforced just how much appetite there is for colleagues to learn from one another.

Which University value do you most resonate with and why?

Adventurous, without a doubt, as it feeds my slightly mischievous and creative (there’s another value ticked off!) spirit. Living by the idea that ‘we have to continually be jumping off cliffs and developing our wings on the way down’ (Vonnegut), I love coming up with new ideas to tackle problems or improve existing ways of approaching our provision. Some are more ‘out there’ than others, and my team do a fantastic job in reigning me in to consider the art of the possible.

Our new PGCert coming on stream in January 2027 is a good example of doing things differently. I can’t provide details but am very pleased with the design and excited to see it come to life in due course.

Tell us something you do outside of work that we might not know about?

I am absolutely passionate about synchronised skating, pickleball and pointers (dogs)! My first degree is in music, and I play piano and violin.

I am Chair of the Board at the National Ice Centre, Nottingham and will be doing all the announcing for the World Synchronised Skating Championships that will be held at the venue between 28 March and 4 April 2027 (do come along to watch this fantastic sport!). History is literally being made in Nottingham with Synchro9 having its first ever major competition ahead of going into the Olympics – something we have been campaigning for for some time! I am beyond excited!

Then there’s pickleball, which I started playing in March this year. It’s such a fun sport – fast and furious and at times a little dangerous! I got hit in the face by the ball recently and was anticipating a black eye, but fortunately it didn’t materialise! My dignity probably took more of a beating than my face!

I have two pointers – Barnaby and Chester (our rescue boy). I would have many more but unfortunately my husband disagrees with me on this one!

What is your favourite quote?

This was a tough one, but I think my focus turned to the important message of being yourself. I landed on these two:

“Be yourself; everyone else is taken” (Oscar Wilde)

“Let go of who you think you’re supposed to be; embrace who you are” (Brené Brown)

If you would like to feature in ‘Five Minutes With’, or you work with someone who you think would be great to include, please email Martha Causier at m.causier@lboro.ac.uk.