Conferred

The degree was conferred in absentia at the meeting of Congregation on 9 August 2011. I have the certificate.

Met academic requirements

I have an official letter:

"I am pleased to inform you that the University's Research Degrees Committee has confirmed that your thesis meets the criteria for the award of a research degree. You have therefore met the academic requirements for the award of the degree of Doctor of Philosophy of The Open University, with effect from 27 July 2011."

Yah! Go me! I have to get bound copies of the thesis to the Research School in just over a week if I want the degree awarded in August, otherwise I have to wait till the end of September.

No award

It transpires that I'm not eligible for the award after all. Like chocolate competitions say you mustn't be employed or a family of an employee of the company to enter, for this award I must not work for the Open University. Yet I work as an Associate Lecturer (AL) for the OU, and since I submitted my thesis, I've had a contract to work on the SocialLearn project in the Knowledge Media Institute (KMi).

When I think of all the times I've heard Open University post grads complain that they don't automatically get the chance be ALs so they don't get the teaching experience that the Joint Skills Statement requires of them, they'd not be impressed. (I blogged on their skills here. ) I don't think any other ALs would be impressed either. I've won the skills, but lost the nomination.

It's particularly silly because the HEFCE Joint Skills Statement of skills training requirements, now replaced by the researcher development framework, says that a post-graduate student should obtain teaching experience, which is just what I did through my AL work.

Director of research studies isn't best pleased because, she says, research students are encouraged from the start to follow the HEFCE Joint Skills statement which outlines skills expected of PhD students, including teaching. Opportunities for research students to gain the vital teaching experience needed if they are to get an academic job are very rare at the Open University. Other universities look for teaching experience in PhD qualified recruits. As such the OU encourages students to seek AL roles in order to augment their experience, and so they are employees of the Open University for their time as ALs. This is needed, is something required of them and yet AOUG apparently penalises them for taking this action. Furthermore, although I am currently working, I have gained that short term employment in KMi because of the strength of my completed PhD research.

As the award is for performance as a research student, current employment status is irrelevant and it's not like a chocolate competition.

Student award

To my pride, pleasure and surprise the director of research studies has recommended me for an award from the AOUG, an award that goes to a final year student. She says it's due to my

• recent recognition via conference papers,
• constant engagement with social media and communication tools to speak to wider communities about your research,
• service as an AL "alongside your studies and your active role in the programme".

I don't know what the award involves but I'm flattered to be nominated, especially given the struggle I had in the MRes year to write essays, and the difficulty I had to persuade the PhD interview board that I was a worthy candidate.

OU teaching awards

I've just attended the Open University Teaching Awards ceremony, where they award the nominated best tutors (associate lecturers) and others of this year. Its atmosphere is as good as at a degree ceremony, but more intimate as there were only around a score of awards. We have around 8000 tutors.

The vice chancellor, Martin Bean, was cheerfully presenting the awards, announced by Josie Taylor, professor of learning technologies. He always looks round to see who's in the audience, and welcomed one of the deans, Chris Earl, from the maths, computing and technology faculty, but our OUBS dean wasn't there. I think the VC is trying to encourage the deans to attend such events.

One incident amused us. Two FELS tutors came on the stage. Now FELS is the faculty that deals with foreign languages, so you can understand that it would have tutors in Europe, and that languages are taught using Elluminate and other e-learning technologies. One of these tutors took the opportunity to speak to the audience, explaining that this was the first time she'd met her colleagues face-to-face, despite working together since 2004, and could someone in the higher echelons please arrange for the ALs to get together more often.

Higher echelons! She's standing right next to the top echelon of the university ladder.

Martin Bean looked right, left, up, down and behind the curtain. (See him on Berrill Stadium if you're internal staff). At this point, Josie Taylor gently ushered the tutor off the stage, commenting,

"If you don't ask, you don't get!"

Yet, a few moments later, another tutor arrives on stage for her award, and also announces she wants to say something. She's a science tutor, and explains that in her faculty the ALs do get to meet, in fact had met only a couple of weeks ago, and that the FELS ALS need to ask for such a meeting and Martin Bean takes this chance to add,

"Ask your dean."

Presentation success

Our student to student presentations gained rewards. One of us the other day that as a result of the presentation he'd done for us a week or so earlier, he'd rewritten major parts of his presentation and cut out a lot. As a result, at the conference where he presented, he won an award for best presenter and £250.

He deserves it. He's the one who started off these sessions two years ago.

Supplier Value Awards Programme 2009 | Home Office

Many big customers will have a lot of suppliers to provide a variety of services: cleaning, construction, security, IT, postal delivery. The public sector uses many suppliers, so supplier relationship management (SRM) must be as important to public sector organisations as customer relationship management (CRM) is to business. I wonder why there are few business courses that include a module on SRM, or management of third party professionals. MBA courses seem aimed at people who are going to become consultants, rather than people who are going to use consultants. I'm not aware and am trying to work out where SRM fits into an MBA. CRM is usually marketing, but SRM?

The Home Office has recognised the importance of suppliers and now awards the best, hoping to encourage all. It appears to have a pragmatic approach to its suppliers. One of the criterion (from the FAQs here) for the award is:

value for money delivered through cost savings or enhanced delivery

The italics are mine because value for money is important but value for the Home Office is more than just the cheapest option - value is in the quality of the service and relationships between supplier and client and other collaborating organisations, though of course the money matters because it's our taxes that pay for services.

So it was a pleasure and a privilege to be present when the SVAP awards were announced yesterday. The winners deserve their accolades. the competition was strong - just look at the nominees in each category to see what suppliers were up against. And all praise due too to the Home Office for such positive encouragement to its suppliers.

Awards

It's interesting to see that the Home Office is recognising the efforts of staff and suppliers who drive value by offering awards. See here. One category is of collaborative working with the Home Office. I'd like to see the entrants for that, but another category is for contribution to a project or programme and that might be closer to my research interests.