Executive Support Community of Practice

Two colleagues

The Executive Support Community of Practice (ESCoP) was set up in Autumn 2016 to support those in the newly formed Executive Support roles following a reorganisation of professional and administration services.

Erin Cooper was employed as Project Manager to oversee the creation of the Executive Support Community of Practice. Erin brought together our network of over one hundred members of executive support staff. It has become a thriving community linking together colleagues across Schools and Departments on the Whiteknights and London Road Campuses. We keep up to date through utilising a shared drive, Microsoft Teams, mailman list, training sessions and termly meetings. The responsibility for keeping all this organised has subsequently been handed over to four voluntary members of ESCoP Admin Team: Kate Benyon, Daisy Croman, Eva van Herel, and Immy Jakubek.

Executive Support structure

There are generally three main roles within executive support including: administrator, officer and manager. However there has been some diversification to fit the needs of individual Schools and Functions in the past three years. The scope of work which each employee undertakes varies from area to area although there is a shared purpose of providing high quality professional administrative support.

ESCOP meetings

We hold lively termly meetings that are packed with useful information and therefore rewarded by high levels of attendance. Generally around 40-50 colleagues attend to hear speakers from across the University and be informed of upcoming changes and developments.

ESCoP working groups have from the beginning, been a way for our voices to be heard at higher levels whilst ensuring processes are effective and understood. At need we reform or roll out such groups to keep abreast of changes and ensure that we have a voice at the table where needed.

The aim of our Community is to provide a support network, improve processes, develop staff, and keep each other up to date on change and development at the University across our wider working areas.