Abstracts Day One: Wednesday 3rd July

Session abstracts - Day One: Wednesday 3rd July

Creating a one-team culture that embraces diversity and inclusion in the Services Support Team: Our Journey
Fola Braimoh, Head of IT Operations & Support and Mindy Bour, Deputy Head of IT Operations & Support, Goldsmiths, University of London

Creating one team culture that embraces diversity and inclusion for fostering innovation, collaboration, and overall success within our organisation. By building a one team culture with diversity and inclusion, we are in a better position to adapt to change and solve complex problems. Diversity and inclusion are interconnected values embraced by numerous organisations that welcome individuals from various backgrounds, races, ethnicities, religions, abilities, genders and sexual orientations. 

Unlocking Opportunities: Leveraging Networking, Mentoring, and Coaching for Inclusive Participation in IT
Vicky Wilkie, IT Services Operational Assurance Officer, University of York

Drawing from personal experiences within organizations such as Women in Tech York and the University of York IT Services Gender Equality Group, as well as from active roles as both mentor and mentee, this session explores how these interconnected practices not only facilitate entry into IT but also enhance professional growth and fulfillment. By emphasizing the collaborative nature of these initiatives, attendees will gain insights into how they can leverage their networks to drive positive change and contribute to a more vibrant and inclusive IT community.

Future-Proofing Communication: Elevate your Impact in an Evolving World
Fiona Brennan-Scott, Voice and Speech Coach (Trainer, Author, Speaker), Member, Professional Speaking Association (MPSA), Bespoken

Calling all subject-matter experts! In our hybrid world, knowing your stuff isn't enough. Learn to turn your subject-matter competence into impactful communication and engagement. Discover how to inspire and influence decision-makers and stakeholders. With over two decades of experience across diverse industries, Fiona will share insights to boost your audience engagement skills. Let's build your confidence to lead effectively into the future. 

Breakout sessions 12:35

• Undercover Student: The Life of a University IT Double Agent
  Antonia Jones, Customer Success Manager, University of Leeds

  After 10 years of working in IT at the University of Leeds, Antonia Jones got her biggest mission yet, embarking on a dual journey: Undercover agent as a new student in the Chartered Managers Degree Apprenticeship whilst juggling her daily life in her new role as Customer Success Manager. From making new alliances, experiencing what it is like to be a student with a special set of (IT) skills, deciphering unexpected challenges and how the 'mission' has already contributed to improvements so far- Join Antonia and help her continue to crack the student experience code!

• Institutional Exchange. What's the story, its swapping glory!
  Wayne Winterbottom, IT/AV Support Manager, University of Huddersfield and Ed Stout, Support Services Manager, Leeds Beckett University

  Highlighting a recent trial exchange of staff between Leeds Beckett University and Huddersfield University. Successes, lessons learnt and plans for future exchanges.

• Student digital insights - four years of data, dialogue and doing...
  Emma Barwell, Head of User Experience and Engagement, University of Wolverhampton.

  The University of Wolverhampton have been running the Jisc student digital insights survey for four consecutive years. Listening to over 8,000 student voices during this time, they have watched their year on year scores improve as well as focused in on what the students tell them is really important. They call this their DOING survey!

  Come along to hear their story about the benefits to their students, as they invest time and money into this national, annual survey.

Automation in HaloITSM
Stanley Blinco, Enterprise Account Executive, Halo Service Solutions

Key points include:

• Streamlining Service Desk workflows such as auto assignment, time-based escalation and SLA warning notifications.
• Automating tasks like data import, anomaly detection, and resolving alerts from monitoring systems.
• Implementing template-based onboarding workflows triggered from AD/HR.
• Scheduling and automating task creation based on contract expiry, warranty expiry, review dates etc.
• Using Halo runbooks or native integrations with 3rd party tools such as Azure for group membership updates./li>
• Utilising automation with AI for tasks like triage, knowledge base drafting, touchless surveys etc.

Breakout session 14:55

• Journey to Empowerment: Tools for Coaching
  Bex Cattran, Associate Operations Manager, University of Leeds

  Join Bex Cattran in an insightful workshop exploring novel tools for coaching your team and yourself!

  Discover a set of novel coaching tools that will enrich your toolkit, each crafted to unlock the full potential of your mind. Delve into techniques designed to stimulate different facets of your cognitive prowess, as well as strategies to streamline your personal development journey. Through engaging demonstrations, experience the transformative power of these tools as they illuminate new pathways to self-discovery and growth. Walk away not only equipped with step-by-step instructions and customisable templates but also armed with profound insights into your own mental landscape.

  Come prepared to participate bringing with you one or two objects to explore in the workshop that you would be happy sharing. There will be objects provided if you do not want to bring your own. Your objects should be of a size that can easily be held in one hand.

  Dive into this immersive experience and emerge empowered with invaluable tools and a deeper understanding of your potential.

• Driving Improvements to IT Service Health
  Mike Haward, Head of Service Performance & Monitoring, UCL

  UCL's IT Service and Performance Monitoring function has built an annual Service Health Review process, supported by a suite of near real-time Power BI service metadata reports. This has resulted in an improved service ownership culture and real continuous improvement across our services. This session will describe the functions and include an online demonstrations of its benefits (and pitfalls!). 

• Supporting MFA (Fireside Chat)
  Andy Scott, Senior Manager (Service Desk and 2nd Line Support), Durham University

  Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) is a support issue common to HE teams. Is your institution flooded with queries? What hints and tips could you share? What challenges would you like to discuss? Join Andy Scott in this fireside chat session to air and share your MFA woes and learn good practice and ideas from our community.

The University of South Wales' Journey to Unified Service and Asset Management with Freshworks and Freshservice
Nathan Hallam, Account Lead, Education Sector and Samuel Cook, Senior Solutions Engineer, Freshworks with Matthew Pengelly, IT Service Delivery Manager and Yasiruk Karawita, IT Asset Configuration & Centralised Management Lead, University of South Wales

Join Freshworks and the University of South Wales (USW) for an insightful session tailored for IT leaders in higher education. This presentation will delve into how USW identified critical areas for improvement within their service desk and IT support strategy and how implementing a new IT Service Management (ITSM) solution became the right approach to drive transformation.     

The Robots Are Coming
James Poulter, Founder and CEO, Vixen Labs

This engaging keynote talk explores how organisations can harness the power of conversational AI and generative models to enhance their strategies and connect with customers on a deeper level. James will guide the audience through the essential human skills needed to effectively leverage AI, demonstrating how AI can help create personalised experiences, improve customer support, and optimise marketing efforts. He will also discuss the necessary organizational changes to successfully integrate AI within teams, while fostering a culture of innovation, collaboration, and ethical responsibility. Join James to discover how Ai driven educational institutions can increase student attraction, improve the learning experience and reduce administrative burdens.