Southampton’s Technician Commitment Implementation Group (TCIG) is delighted to announce that Kevin Smith, Production Facilities Manager in the Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences, will become the newest member of Senate in the forthcoming academic year.
The Technician Commitment Action Plan includes an action to raise the visibility of technical staff at university-wide committees and the inclusion of a technician at Senate was proposed and agreed in June 2021.
Our technicians are often on the front line of the student experience and directly involved in academic affairs relating to teaching, research, and enterprise activity, including ethical conduct and intellectual property.
The inclusion of a technician will bring a different perspective and valuable experience to Senate. It will also facilitate new networking opportunities and communication channels between members of Senate and the technical community.
The candidates for election were drawn from eligible Technical and Experimental staff (TAE) at Level 4 (66 per cent) and Level 5 (34 per cent). They represented the three faculties with the largest proportion of TAE staff; Environmental and Life Sciences (2 candidates), Engineering and Physical Sciences (3 candidates) and Medicine (1 candidate). Candidates for election also represented men and women equally. Voting took place during August, with a turnout of 22 per cent. Kevin Smith won the election with 27 per cent of votes.
Kevin commented:
“I am both delighted and honoured to be the first member of the TAE to be elected to Senate and am keen to see how the Technical Staff and the Technical Commitment can fully benefit from this appointment”.
Professor Michael Butler, Executive Sponsor of the Technician Commitment said:
“I would like to congratulate Kevin on his election to Senate. He has a wealth of technical and managerial knowledge and expertise, a deep understanding of the significant role technicians play and an enthusiasm to make a difference. He is already a valuable member of the Technical Commitment Implementation Group (TCIG) and will make an excellent contribution to this committee on behalf of all technicians.”
Professor Mark Smith, Vice-Chancellor and Chair of Senate commented:
“I would like to thank all those who took part in this process, either as a candidate or by voting. This is an important role and a great achievement for Southampton in recognising the contribution of our technical community to the academic agenda and our student body.”
You can read more about Kevin Smith in the October edition of Staff Matters.
More about the Technician Commitment at the University
