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Welcome to the WST September Newsletter

The year has begun! My son was conferred three weeks ago, teaching started two weeks ago, Orientation was last week, and on this first Monday of their new lives, the campus is full of 1st years, the leaves are starting to turn and the conkers have fallen. Lots of unknows and lots of change are still in the air... yet …

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Welcome to the WST September Newsletter

Recognising ourselves - The path to Work Smarter Together

The path to Work Smarter Together Memory is a dangerous thing, especially if you believe yours is accurate. My memory has its particular dangers – I can remember things that did not happen and only remember some things through the photos I look at afterwards. Sometimes it is like trying to peel a partially diced onion. So my memory of …

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Recognising ourselves - The path to Work Smarter Together

What is a Community of Practice?

In this issue of the WST newsletter we are focusing on Communities of Practice and specifically the CoPs already established here in UCD, we have been in contact with different types of CoP to find out what they are, how they came together, how they work and how participation in these communities can benefit us as individuals. What is a …

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What is a Community of Practice?

CoP Spotlight - Project Management

CoP Spotlight - Project Management
Who are you? Frank Desmond (IT Programme Management Office Manager), Marian O'Connor (Senior Project Manager, Office of the Registrar) and Brídín Walsh (Head of IT Programme & Risk Management) coordinate the group’s activities. What is the purpose of the group? The purpose of the PM - CoP is to tap into the experience of project managers across the university …

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CoP Spotlight - GDPR Champion Network

General Background The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) came into force in May 2018. Data protection and privacy is not designed as a legal or administrative exercise, but rather it is about respecting people’s dignity, their right to make decisions regarding their personal information, and about not putting them at risk through inappropriate data processing. Data Protection at UCD It …

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CoP Spotlight - GDPR Champion Network

CoP Spotlight - Ally for Brightspace

Overview Ally for Brightspace was introduced in 2021 as a joint project between UCD IT Services and UCD Access and Lifelong Learning (UCD ALL). Ally is an accessibility advisory tool which integrates with Brightspace to improve the accessibility of content for students.As part of the roll out of Ally in Brightspace, the project looked for early adopters to work with …

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CoP Spotlight - Ally for Brightspace

CoP Spotlight - Teaching & Learning Community

CoP Spotlight - Teaching & Learning Community
Who are the group? UCD Teaching and Learning Community How often do the group meet? How is this structured? Members of the community have a broad range of teaching and learning interests and work across UCD covering multiple disciplines and services. As opportunities to meet arise, members of the community, post the opportunities, inviting colleagues to attend. These can …

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CoP Spotlight - UCD Research Managers & Administrators Network

What is the role of URMAN? The main role of the UCD Research Managers & Administrators Network (URMAN) is to provide an avenue for knowledge-sharing for research managers and administrators, while also being an additional pathway for participation in broader UCD Research events. How did the URMAN community of practice come about? By virtue of the diverse research taking place in …

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CoP Spotlight - UCD Research Managers & Administrators Network

Are you in a UCD Community of Practice (CoP)?

In this edition of the WST newsletter, we are aiming to compile a list of any active Communities of Practice in UCD to create a database of CoPs for colleagues to access through the Work Smarter Together website. Inclusion in the database will help create more awareness about your CoP, potentially attract new members and help WST to shape a …

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Are you in a UCD Community of Practice (CoP)?

Facilitating Meetings for Engaged Communities of Practice

This article is aimed at anyone who finds themselves with the responsibility to run a CoP meeting, perhaps for the first time. If this is you, read on for some practical hints and tips. Each Community of Practice is unique, extending to how they operate and run meetings. For some, there is a key individual or group of people who …

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Facilitating Meetings for Engaged Communities of Practice

What I learned through setting up a Community of Practice - the Excel Problem Solvers Group

In this article I describe the lessons I have learned from establishing a new Community of Practice, the Excel Problem Solvers Group. The Excel Problem Solvers Group is a group of colleagues who share skills and knowledge by solving real life data problems on behalf of the community through the use of Excel and other similar tools. Formerly the Excel …

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What I learned through setting up a Community of Practice - the Excel Problem Solvers Group

A new staff perspective on getting involved in the UCD Community

A new staff perspective on getting involved in the UCD Community
When did you first join UCD and what was that experience like? Were the immediate team fully remote or hybrid at the time? Simon - I joined UCD proper in January 2022. (I say "proper" because I had spent 4 years on the outskirts of UCD, so to speak, teaching at the International Study Center. This allowed me to …

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Instant Messaging To Felice

We’ve all felt like this on a Monday morning: “Time is short, my strength is limited, the office is a horror, the apartment is noisy, and if a pleasant, straightforward life is not possible then one must try to wriggle through by subtle manoeuvres.” Hybrid working, or any working, clearly wasn’t agreeing with the claims assessment officer of the Worker's …

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Instant Messaging To Felice

WST Summer School – here’s what happened

WST Summer School – here’s what happened
Thanks to everyone who attended this year’s hybrid version of our annual Work Smarter Together Summer School on July 12 -14. We programmed a jam packed roster of sessions running in remote, hybrid and in person, offering a number of the popular DO sessions, a case study on the succesful hybrid University for All Hybrid Symposium, the relaunch of the …

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2022: Upcoming Change Management Training

We are offering two upcoming sessions on Change Manangement techniques through the booking centre: October 25 - Change Management Employee Orientation Program In person training on campus Organisations are facing pressures to change faster and in more ways than ever before. They are also recognising that successful change requires much more than achieving deliverables or embracing new technological solutions. Without …

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Save the Date - WST October is coming

Our next Work Smarter Together event is fast approaching – join us on Thursday October 27th. Booking will open on October 3rd for our in person WST October event Details to follow. Watch this space.

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Save the Date - WST October is coming
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