Welcome to the August 2017 WST CoP Newsletter

By Olga Murdoch, Agile Lead.

Welcome to the second edition of our newsletter. We are delighted with the feedback received on our first edition in June 2017.   Not only did you enjoy reading about what your colleagues across campus have been getting up to, but we hear you also found our process improvement tools and techniques of practical use. …

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GIS and its potential for UCD

By Assoc Professor Gerald Mills, Head of School, School of Geography. 

A great deal of information that UCD gathers contains valuable geographic information that is rarely used for planning purposes. Geographic Information Systems (GIS) describe software that is capable of analysing the spatial patterns present in data alongside traditional statistical analysis. A good example of how GIS could be used …

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Call for participation in communities of practice for technical staff

By Jimmy Muldoon, TDN Chair, Senior Technical Officer, School of Chemistry.

The UCD Technical Development Network is initially working to map the University technical space with a view to supporting the development of Technical Communities of Practice, and to subsequently provide training opportunities which will stand to staff as part of their personnel record. We also aim to provide networking …

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UCD Agile deliver their first in-house Lean Six Sigma training

By Olga Murdoch and Kim Lacey, UCD Agile.

A big thank you to all those who attended our first in-house Lean Six Sigma training entitled "the Fundamentals of Lean for UCD". The training was delivered by Olga Murdoch and was held as part of the the WST Summer School on the 18 July. The training was a great success and …

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Local Programme Orientation Community of Practice: How it began

By Niall Dennehy, BA Student Progression Manager.

Following a workshop on Tuesday 2nd May of this year that focused on Orientation timetabling, Erin O’Malley, Irene Rose and I began to discuss how orientation worked in each or our areas, at local level. Despite being engaged in very similar work relating to orientation, we had never met prior to this workshop. …

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Local Programme Orientation Community of Practice (CoP): Our Story and What's Happening Next

By Erin O’Malley, Programme Manager, UCD Engineering & Architecture Programme Office.

Local Programme Orientation CoP Workshop – 18 July 2017 Within a number of weeks of informally coming together as a group with a common interest, Irene Rose, Niall Dennehy and I found ourselves preparing for an oversubscribed workshop with an attendance list comprising of a broad range of staff from across …

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Welcome to History

By Dr Sarah Feehan, School of History.

The School of History participated in the ‘Programme orientation – more than just the week before term’ workshop which offered us the opportunity to discuss our approach to orientation and to hear how other units in UCD managed orientation. The workshop allowed us to demonstrate the emphasis we put on welcoming and communicating with …

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Save the date: 23 October 2017 for the next WST CoP event

The next WST CoP event will take place in the afternoon on 23 October and it is not to missed! The line-up promises an exciting mix of speakers and much like the WST Summer School in July, the October event will be an opportunity not only to build skills and knowledge but will also be a chance to network with …

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EdTECx in action - Book now

By Olivia Jackman, IT Services

EdTECx in action is in its third year and in tandem with EdTECx talks (which takes place in Spring), it is becoming a fixture in the UCD calendar. This year EdTECx in action includes a series of 19 workshops and demonstrations featuring UCD educational technologies and is designed for staff with all levels of experience. Since its inception the …

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Technical development networking event: Invitation to attend on Tuesday 29th August

By Jimmy Muldoon, TDN Chair, Senior Technical Officer, School of Chemistry.

The Technical Development Network (TDN) is a UCD group which, with the assistance of HR and other affiliated units (such as Agile!), assists in the provision and facilitation of CPD (Continuous Professional Development) courses, networking and advocacy with an open and inclusive approach for the benefit of technically oriented …

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Process Mapping 101

By Olga Murdoch, Agile Lead.

What is the tool used for? "What is a process?" I hear you ask... A process is a series of actions taken to achieve a desired result. A process has inputs (things it needs to function) and outputs (things it produces or changes), as does each process step. Process mapping is an exercise where you …

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The power of asking "Why?"

By Olga Murdoch, Agile Lead.

What is the tool used for? The 5 Why's is a very simple technique to help you get to the root cause of a problem so that you can solve the underlying cause and ensure the problem does not happen again. It is one of the most commonly used process improvement tools. Why should someone …

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