Alistair Craig is the Technical Learning Services Manager for Edinburgh College of Art (ECA) and shared some thoughts about continuing professional development (CPD) with the Bulletin Magazine.

“I’ve been a technician at the University for 25 years; the first 15 as a workshop technician, and the last 10 as a technical manager. The wellbeing of my staff is a huge priority for me, making sure they feel supported in their Continuing Professional Development (CPD) projects.

“In my role as a manager I have the ability to help and assist staff in decisions around CPD and it’s about balancing what we need as a business and the wishes of what individuals want to learn. CPD can be time off for courses and qualifications, but doesn’t always have to be; it can be as simple as a visit to a conference, or a manufacturer or to meet and talk with counterparts from other institutions, sharing issues, challenges and achievements.

“Here at ECA we’ve always been considerate of staff development but before the Technician Commitment I wasn’t necessarily doing it in a way that could be measured or recorded. Since the University signed the commitment in 2017 and with the backing of ECA this whole process has become much more formalised. Plus, it’s good to get support from Peter too.

“For me, the commitment has made a huge difference in highlighting what we do – very few people understand our day-to-day work and how vital this work is to the University. Now it’s more recognised that our jobs include learning and teaching processes too and we contribute an integral aspect to the student experience here.

“The biggest change I can see is individuals being proactive about their own development and having more confidence in themselves and their skills. Last year ECA technicians organised a show to exhibit their own artworks, and discuss them with each other. It was a huge success. I think this shows that although managers are important, it’s up to staff themselves to take things forward and now they’re confident that they have the support in place they need to do that.”

An edited version of this post first appeared on the University of Edinburgh Bulletin Magazine Blog and we’ll be posting Stuart Martin’s section of this post on our blog soon! You can also find previously posted sections here 

Technically Minded – Alistair Craig [Reposted from University of Edinburgh Bulletin Magazine] / University of Edinburgh Technicians by blogadmin is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution CC BY 3.0

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