Annual Study Conference June 15th – 17th 2011, Glyndwr University, Wrexham

5th Update Newsletter

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Welcome to the fifth of a series of updates about conference 2011 in which we hope to keep you informed about what is on offer as speakers and other information are confirmed.

Conference Numbers: Bookings are progressing well at this stage, but it will greatly assist the organising committee if intending delegates can book before Easter rather than at the last minute. Do remember that the option of payment in August 2011 is available to try and assist colleagues in these difficult times. For delegate bookings (which offer a substantial discount for CoFHE members), please go to:

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/PQR9PV8 or in case of difficulty, please contact our bookings   coordinator, Colin Sawers on 01623  627191  ext 8421

Sponsorship Places: in addition to the 3 sponsored places already offered by CoFHE West Midlands and the CoFHE National Committee, there is now a fourth sponsored place available to new professionals, sponsored by CoFHE North West.  Candidates must:

• Be CoFHE members working in the North West
• Write a report on conference for publication in the Bulletin and on the CoFHE website.
• Write a letter of application for a bursary, detailing how they will gain from the experience.

The successful applicants will receive a full delegate place at conference and all travel costs.

This is a great opportunity for a new professional in the North West to take a first step into professional networking, and it won’t harm their CV either. Do please draw this to the attention of colleagues who may benefit from this offer in your own workgroups.

Applications should be sent to Lyndsay Wallace at: LWallace@midchesh.ac.uk The closing date is the 28^th April.

Conference plenary sessions and Workshops: The conference plenary session speakers and workshops are now almost all confirmed as follows:

Plenary Sessions: Three out of a planned four plenary speakers confirmed so far are:

Lloyd Ellis, Chair of CILIP  Cymru, formerly Head of Libraries and Culture at Neath and Port Talbot, who will examine the conference theme of managing in difficult times and delivering quality services from a public library perspective.

Dr Judith Keene, Deputy Director of Information and Learning Services from University College Worcester, will speak about the Hive project. This is a cutting-edge joint-use university and public library facility opening in July 2012 see: http://www.wlhc.org.uk/

Marilyn Hawkins, Principal of Barnet College, will address the conference theme of managing in difficult times and preserving quality services from a Principal’s perspective.

4th Update Newsletter

Welcome to the fourth of a series of updates about conference 2011 in which we hope to keep you informed about what is on offer as speakers and other information are confirmed.

The major item of news this bulletin is that in addition to the sponsored place already offered by CoFHE West Midlands,  the CoFHE National Committee is sponsoring a further two full delegate places at conference. To qualify, applicants must:

• Be CoFHE members.
• Be attending conference for the first time.
• Write a report on conference for publication in the Bulletin and on the CoFHE website.
• Be prepared to help out at conference, assisting the organising team at the registration desk and other duties.
• Write a letter of application for a bursary, detailing how they will gain from the experience.

The successful applicants will receive a full delegate place at conference and all travel costs.

This is a great opportunity for first-timers to gain valuable experience, network with colleagues, get something published and gain some impressive additions to their CVs. Do please draw this to the attention of colleagues who may benefit from this offer in your own workgroups.

Applications should be sent to Anne Rowlands at anne.rowlands@barnet.ac.uk  closing date is the 28^th April

For regular delegate bookings (which offer a substantial discount for CoFHE members), please go to:

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/PQR9PV8

Exhibitors and Sponsors

Conference will, include an exhibitors’ mall where delegates will be able to catch up with suppliers and see their new product lines and services.

3rd Update Newsletter

On-line booking now live!

In addition to the booking information announced in our last bulletin, we are now pleased to announce that prospective delegates can now book online at: 

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/PQR9PV8

All conference rates and booking information are available at this link. In case of difficulty or for any queries, please contact our conference bookings co-ordinator Colin Sawers at: colin.sawers@wnc.ac.uk, or Tel. 01623 627191 ext 8421. We have already started to receive bookings, so to be sure of a place book early!

Sponsored Places for New Professionals in the West Midlands:

CoFHE West Midlands is offering a sponsored delegate place to the 2011 Annual CoFHE Conference for a new entrant to the profession working in the West Midlands. Details available on CoFHE Jiscmail or contact Jacquie Davies on jad@wsfc.ac.uk

Workshops Update: 

The following workshops are confirmed, with an outline of content:

Leader: Ella Mitchell, Subject Librarian for computing, information and engineering, University of East London

Introducing a new online resource for information skills developed at UEL, focusing on identifying, finding, evaluating and referencing information. Once launched and evaluated Ella will present the results at conference and the resource will be open source for the wider academic community.

Leader: Annette Crosbourne, Head of Learning Services, Lewisham College, London.

Annette will share her experiences at Lewisham in restructuring and refurbishing their Learning Centres and the development of a Functional Skills Centre staffed by Learning Facilitators. The session will look at multi-skilling and maximising resources and staff, the e-factor and supporting e-leaning, and safeguarding and e-safety policies and their application  in the centres.

Leader: Sim Taylor, Librarian/LRC Co-ordinator, Bicton College, East Budleigh, Devon.

Sustainable Libraries in the Age of Austerity. Sim will share her experience of maximising the potential of her LRC in a land-based college as part of an overall drive by the college to be progressive, driven and resourceful. The emphasis will be on practical ideas delegates can take to their own services which are resourceful and innovative, and reflect the principles that small is beautiful and people matter.

Leader: Virginia Havergal, Learning Services and E-resources Manager, Petroc College, Barnstaple, Devon

OFSTED and the Limiting Grades : Safeguarding and Equality and Diversity for Learning Resources Staff: Virginia will lead an interactive session on the work undertaken in the South West and will share good practice in the practicalities of e-safety and the steps that can be taken to improve E&D practice. Delegates will leave with a resource guide.

E-Guides and The Library: With funding from the Learning and improvement Service, Petroc have developed their Learning Resources Team to become E-guides to support ILT and e-learning throughout the college. The workshop will demonstrate the process of becoming an E-guide, the materials used and how they were integrated into the college ILT strategy.

In addition, the following further workshops are in preparation:

• The New CLA Licence
• Career Development
• The Welsh Information Literacy Framework
• The Six Books Challenge
• Student Peer E-guides
• E-Safety

As previously stated, it is in the nature of conference organization that workshop programmes are a moving target, and developing right up to the event. Past delegates will know that we always have a lively and varied programme, and that popular sessions often run twice to meet demand. Watch this bulletin for updates.

Exhibitors and Sponsors

Conference will, as always, include an exhibitors’ mall where delegates will be able to catch up with suppliers and see their new product lines and services.

2nd Update Newsletter

Colleagues

Welcome to the second of a series of updates about conference 2011 in which we hope to keep you informed about what is on offer as speakers and other information are confirmed.

The big news this month is that delegate fees for the conference are now announced. (Please note that all fees include VAT)

We believe that the conference offers excellent value for money in comparison with similar residential events, and the organizing team has worked hard to keep fees within reasonable bounds in these difficult times.

Interested parties should contact our conference bookings coordinator Colin Sawers at: colin.sawers@wnc.ac.uk, or:

West Nottinghamshire College

Chesterfield Road South

Mansfield

Nottinghamshire

NG19 7BB

Tel. 01623 627191 ext 8421

Conference 2011 will be at the Catrin Finch Centre, at Glyndwr University, Wrexham, in award-winning, state of the art accommodation. Conference registration will be from 1100 hrs on Wednesday 15^th June, and conference will end after lunch on Friday 17^th June.

Keynote speakers already confirmed are:

• Marilyn Hawkins, Principal of Barnet College,
• Robert Russell, Financial Development Manager for the Association of Colleges
• Lloyd Ellis, Chair of CILIP Cymru Wales.

A further keynote speaker will be confirmed shortly.

Delegates will be able to choose from four workshop strands. Confirmed already are

·         Merged services, multi-skilling and maximising resources

·         The e-factor : mobile technologies

·         Career development

·         Safeguarding and e-safety

Within the above, proposals already received include workshops on:

·         The new CLA licence

·         How your service can make an impact

·         A new online resource for teaching information skills

·         Multi-skilling and maximising resources and staff in a Functional Skills Centre

·         Sustainable libraries and LRCs in an age of austerity

·         OFSTED and the Limiting Grades : safeguarding and equality and diversity for learning resources staff

·         E-Guides@The Library : developing LRC staff to support ILT developments and e-learning throughout the college

Please note that it is in the nature of conference organisation that some workshops are confirmed quite near the event. We anticipate the final workshop list to be 16 sessions.

Social events will include a conference quiz on Wednesday evening, and our traditional conference dinner on the Thursday evening followed by after-dinner speaker and a disco.

CoFHE conferences are always friendly, and we make a particular effort to welcome first time delegates. We also try to support the development of young professionals by offering sponsored places to some first time delegates. Details of these will be announced in the next bulletin.

Conference will also include an exhibitors’ mall where delegates will be able to catch up with suppliers and see new product lines and services.

This year’s conference theme could hardly be more appropriate, as colleagues struggle to manage the seismic changes that are now confronting our services in both the FE and HE sectors. It has never been more important that we share our knowledge and expertise as we face the many challenges ahead. We do hope you can join us in Wrexham in June for what we are sure will be a lively and highly relevant event.

 The CofHE Conference 2011 Team