In Your Shoes - Linda McHugh

Monday

We’ve been back in the office for a few months now and so I’m used to the usual Monday to Friday routine of traveling to and from the office. I try to walk to work most days which takes me around 35 minutes which helps get me energised and motivated for the day ahead. In my role as Student Recruitment and Marketing officer, I find that this time of year is busy for study applications. To begin my morning, I’ll compare the number of applicants with numbers from the previous week and send an update to all staff members.

My morning also begins with a meeting with the College events working group, who will plan for the next academic year and make sure I’m up to date on any marketing requirements. The rest of the day is mostly spent catching up on emails and planning for the week – I love a ‘To Do List’.

Tuesday

Starting my day, I have my regular catch-up meeting with Shireen who is the Communications & Student Recruitment Officer. Together we discuss our work from the previous week, plan social media activities and analyse the paid digital adverts we currently have running. It’s also an opportunity to have a chat about student induction and what we need to organise for that. We are hoping to have some students return to campus teaching this year, which is exciting! In the afternoon, I take the opportunity to meet a friend for lunch at a local café and manage to enjoy some of the sunshine.
In returning to work, I spent the rest of my afternoon working on the Young Person’s Guarantee, which is nearly ready to be signed and sent over the Developing the Young Workforce. The College has committed to offering young people work experience and Foundation Apprenticeships over the next year.

Wednesday

I’ll spend most of the day assessing applications and working on our new website which is currently under new development by ZUDU. We have a catch-up meeting with the developers later today and I’m looking forward to seeing the test site and design options for the homepage.

This afternoon I have a catch-up with James from the University of Dundee to discuss any updates regarding the College’s jointly taught masters (MSc) in Islamic Finance. The partnership is going well, and we are looking forward to being able to hopefully travel internationally again for recruitment purposes. We identified and discussed the countries in which we plan on visiting based upon our recruitment data. So far, it looks as though Indonesia and Malaysia are our focus. I haven’t yet visited these countries and so, can’t wait for the travel restrictions to end.

Thursday

I recently joined the Carolina House Trust Board of Trustees. We have a meeting scheduled for this afternoon, so I made sure to get to the College early to give myself some time to get prepared. Meetings are still held online, although I’m hoping I’ll get the chance to actually meet my colleagues in person soon.

Today, I also have my weekly catch-up with the Head of College and Academic Registrar where we will discuss updates for student recruitment, numbers, and partnerships.

Friday

Today, Shireen and I are stationed at the Overgate Shopping Centre. We have a recruitment stand setup and this is our first opportunity to do some face-to-face recruitment activity in over a year. We are looking forward to it and hope that we’ll get the chance to meet and speak to lots of potential students. I hope that as the COVID-19 restrictions ease, we’ll have more opportunities to once again attend recruitment events in person. There is nothing better than being able to engage and talk to people about the College, what we do and what we have to offer in person.