One Step Beyond

As part of our Sheffield Leader programme, groups have to work on a joint project, and I am lucky to get invited to some of the feedback sessions. Yesterday I went to such a session on a project entitled "One Step Beyond".  This group had decided to look at the relationship of the University with the city, and had concentrated on our relationship with the Muslim community. It had obviously been a journey for them, and they had been in some interesting conversations with the local community, as well as our own chaplaincy, the Student Union Islamic Circle and the BME society. They'd also visited two local mosques, observed prayers, and had the faith explained to them,as well as visiting local Eid celebrations. A lot of fact finding, and some interesting conclusions. We perhaps aren't as visible to local communities as we should be and  it's easy to stay in our "silos" at work, and in our social lives. An interesting example was that many of us are too tied up in our own calendars, celebrations and events, and are often not aware of what's happening in other communities and faiths. A really interesting and thought provoking presentation.

Also so far this week, I've had a number of KITs (not kittens, Keep In Touch meetings), which are vital to me to keep abreast of what's going on in the University, and to network with colleagues.

I also had lunch with a colleague from Gartner, where we talked about how they might help us with some of our big projects which are coming up. Gartner have an enormous amount of research available, and anyone with a University of Sheffield Account can access it through our portal, MUSE. Just click on View All Services and go to Gartner Research. There's some fascinating stuff there.