After two years developing skills and experience as Digital Hub Ambassadors while studying at UoE, Johan Spruit and Thea Collins took the opportunity to progress to the role of Digital Hub Coordinators in the University of Exeter’s Digital team after graduating. Read this blog to hear about how the Digital team has enabled them progress to their current positions and why they love working in Digital at UoE.
Joining the Digital team
Thea: In June 2021, I started as a Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) triage team member for the Digital Hub service. This was a new team which was created to aid the digital transformation at the University, involving working on a helpline for University staff and students who needed support while MFA was being rolled out across the University. I loved helping staff and students and making their digital lives easier, so this role quickly led to me starting a new role as a Digital Hub Ambassador in Penryn ready for Welcome Week of September 2021.
Johan: I joined the Digital Hub in Penryn as a Student Ambassador in October 2021 during my second year of uni as I loved the flexibility of the role and wanted to find work alongside my studies. I joined with two other new Ambassadors following a busy first few weeks of term to create a team of six ambassadors for the academic year. The role was exciting and challenging and I loved getting to serve customers and fix their problems while building my own knowledge of digital tools.
The first year of the Digital Hub
Thea: The beginning of my first year started with the Digital Hub in Penryn moving locations from the Penryn master’s suite to the Penryn library, enabling us to share office space and collaborate more closely with Falmouth University’s FX Plus IT team. I learnt lots about the University’s IT systems and how to use many digital tools, using this knowledge to help staff and students across the University. Following my first year I was promoted to the role of Senior Ambassador. This was exciting as it came with more responsibility such as training our new Ambassadors, taking on Digital Hub MS Teams bookings and co-managing the staff rota, so I was able to develop additional transferable skills including skills in leadership and communications.
Johan: During the first year in my role I was able to develop my technical skills, of which I had little previous experience using, while also gaining more customer service experience. As a team we quickly learnt how the various IT systems on the Penryn campus work and how FX Plus and Exeter IT collaborate to facilitate students and staff from both Falmouth and Exeter. After our successful first year of the Digital Hub in Penryn, I was promoted to the role of Senior Ambassador. This new role provided me with new responsibilities, including training and mentoring the new ambassadors who joined the team.
Graduating and becoming Digital Hub Coordinators
Thea: After finishing my degree, I was offered an opportunity to work as the temporary Digital Hub Coordinator over the Summer at Exeter’s Streatham campus, as there was a need for a member of staff to begin recruiting new Ambassadors and planning Welcome Week 2023. During the Summer I applied for the permanent position and was successful and I was glad to be working in a role which was I was familiar with and enjoyed, and I loved having the opportunity to continue progressing in the UoE Digital team and to continue growing and sharing my knowledge of the University’s digital tools.
Working in this role has proven to be an exciting journey so far; it has been a rewarding experience as we’ve united as a team to deliver excellent service to both our staff and students, as we move into the second half of this term.
Johan: Following graduation in July I was able to take on the opportunity to become the Digital Hub Coordinator on the Penryn campus. This new role has come with a lot more responsibilities, the first of which was to interview and hire six new Student Ambassadors to work at the Digital Hub in Penryn. The Senior Ambassador role provided me with skills in training new starters and my experience from working on the Digital Hub for two years was invaluable for this role.
Since becoming the Digital Hub Coordinator in Penryn, I have helped improve relationships between the Digital hub and other University service desks. I have also been able to integrate more with the UoE Digital team in many ways such as through supporting users with using the new UoE web-based app, and also through joining the Digital team Culture Club which aims to improve and guide the team culture within Digital.
Why we love working in Digital at UoE
Thea: The recent Digital team away day offered a chance to connect and cultivate relationships by engaging in team-building exercises and learning more about the roles of people within the team. I also enjoy working alongside the Student Ambassadors; we are always sharing knowledge which strengthens our digital skills and creates an exciting and fresh working environment.
Johan: The culture in UoE Digital is a supportive one and has allowed me to develop skills and experience that have enabled me to go from a part-time Student Ambassador to a full-time Digital Hub Coordinator in the space of two years.
-Written by Johan Spruit and Thea Collins, Digital Hub Coordinators
Read this blog post to learn more about the Digital Hub service provided by the University of Exeter.
Look out for opportunities to join the Digital team on the University of Exeter job board.