In March I had the pleasure to shadow Bev Robinson, Estate Planner at Newcastle University, for a day. I was contacted by Bev earlier this year when she asked the student representatives of the Estate Student Liaison Committee if they would be interested to sign up for the Student Shadowing Project. Driven by my inquisitive nature and a keen interest in getting to know how parts of the administrative side of my home university function, I emailed Bev and signed up.

From the outset I knew that my “job situation” would not make my shadowing experience particularly easy. I am a part time student (MA in Film) and in order to finance my studies and my life in Newcastle, I have to work full time which means that my usual day at university does not begin before 5PM and often lasts until 7:30PM or longer. I was happy to learn that Bev was able to work around my availability when she shadowed me and let me pick a day that was good for my employer when it was my turn to shadow her.

The day I spent with Bev could not have been more positive. Bev is a lovely person and she made sure that the day I spent in the office and on campus was varied and represented a typical working day in the life of Newcastle University’s Estate planner.

When I arrived in the morning Bev showed me around and introduced me to some of her colleagues before talking me through our programme of the day. I immediately noticed the open space in the office of Bev’s department and I was particularly impressed when she explained her office’s hot-desking approach – a smart way of working where people in the office do not “own” their desk but instead work at whichever desk/computer is available. This way of working was familiar to me from working at the university library, however, I never thought that hot-desking could work in an actual office environment as well. Having spent a whole day with Bev and having experienced how productive one can be if one does not get used to a specific desk/work environment, I am converted and now wish that my own employer would introduce this concept as well (something that will quite possibly never happen).

I was then introduced to Az Mohammed from ISS as Bev had scheduled a meeting with him to discuss the usage and condition of the different PC-clusters around campus. Az and Bev talked in detail about the quality of certain clusters and what could be done to improve them. As a student, I regularly use a couple of clusters and it was great to hear how certain people (like Bev and Az) are making sure that everything runs smoothly and that all of the clusters are in good condition. I was quite surprised to hear that there are that many clusters around campus and I wished that I would have known of a few more when I started my own studies at Newcastle University as it would have improved my flexibility. Maybe new students could receive a list of all available clusters in the future?

In the afternoon, Bev and I visited a few rooms that she wanted to have a look at for different reasons (I was quite impressed by Bev’s navigation skills around campus). We then went to a meeting of the Sage Faculty Estates committee. As I am a member of various university committees myself, I was not surprised by the proceedings themselves, yet, I was amazed by the sheer amount of topics that were discussed by the different committee members. They discussed everything from ongoing maintenance projects at the university to how and which facilities could be used for upcoming conferences. This was exactly why I signed up for the Student Shadowing Project in the first place – I know what university life as a student feels like but what exactly needs to be discussed and done when improving certain rooms or buildings and how does the university decide where to stage certain events? This answered a lot of my questions and I am particularly thankful that I could be a part of this meeting.

My day and my experience with shadowing Bev could not have been better. I was able to get a glimpse of what working at “the other side” is like and of how much work goes into making sure that everything runs smoothly. I was – and I am still – impressed by the sheer amount of issues the Estates department has to deal with on a daily basis and I am very happy to know that my university is run by such lovely people like Bev, Az, and many others.

I would like to thank Bev and the organisers of the Student Shadowing Project for providing me with this great opportunity and I will make sure to advertise the programme so that many more students can be a part of it in the future.