Old friends and new approaches

RSVPs to my Presidential Reception invites are trickling in. Today I hear back from several colleagues I’ve served with on the group over the years - it will be great to see them and catch up. There is a real sense of commonality, even dare I say it of family. The thing about committee work is that it can develop bonds of trust and a shared sense of achievement as you work together to make an event or a publication or project happen, while juggling the day job and everything else. These are the people who have endured the same travel troubles, dodgy hotel breakfasts, stressful moments along the way as well as memorable special events and the odd glass or three of wine.

Meanwhile back at the ranch, the new academic year can already be spotted riding into town with every intent of bursting open the saloon doors and drinking the place dry. Module descriptors are being revisited - it’s time to think about how we increase the strategic visibility of our information literacy programme. Also thinking about how to streamline and improve our assessment procedures, making the most of online submission tools. But part of me is screaming inside “NO NO I can’t deal with this yet!” Always a weird time of year. The clocks may have changed but the mental and biorhythms are confused by the constantly shifting work focus and unpredictable weather.

I know weather is coming up a lot in this blog but let’s face it, this is Britain, it’s a national preoccupation!