Unsung Heroes

Yesterday I spoke at the Australasian Syllabus Plus Reference Group (ASPRG) conference. Syllabus Plus is a major piece of software that is used to time table in universities. This really got me thinking about time tabling - something that I admit I rarely do. The two major (expensive) resources that we have in our university are people and our facilities. It is interesting that we invest a great deal in the management of people through our People and Culture Directorate - but relatively little on the management of our facilities. Yes I know we have our Facilities Management Directorate - but they are mainly concerned with the maintenance and construction of our buildings. The timetablers are the people that manage the utilization of our facilities. These are the guys who make sure the University gets the best return on it's investment on infrastructure.

Like many people in the University they are the unsung heroes of the place. The people who are often forgotten - unless something goes wrong. There are so many people in the University who have difficult complex jobs who keep the place running.

We are moving to recognize these unsung heroes through events such as the professional show case and the professional staff conference. We need to do more of this.

Can I take this opportunity to thank all the unsung heroes in our University. THANKS.