A University of Nottingham technician is celebrating success after being honoured at the Times Higher Education Awards 2024, which highlight the outstanding achievements of universities across the UK and Ireland.
Jodie Chatfield, Head of Technical Services in the university’s School of Life Sciences, picked up Outstanding Technician of the Year at last night’s awards ceremony, which is awarded to an individual whose exceptional practical skills, commitment and vision have enabled the highest quality teaching, research or knowledge transfer.
The award recognised Jodie’s outstanding contribution to technical careers and neurodiversity, with the judges praising her open and collaborative ethos, which is exemplified by her work supporting neurodivergent colleagues and sharing good practice.
Jodie Chatfield, Technical Services Manager, School of Life Sciences, University of Nottingham said: "It was an honour just to be shortlisted alongside fellow technicians from across the sector, so to win the award is incredible. I am lucky enough to work within a team and with colleagues across the university who continually support me and the work that I do."
Professor Katherine Linehan, Pro-Vice-Chancellor for People and Culture at the University of Nottingham, said: “Huge congratulations to Jodie on her well-deserved win, we are so proud of what she has achieved. Universities need more people like Jodie, who are not only passionate about their job but committed to inclusivity and supporting people to being their authentic selves in the workplace, which is at the core of fostering talent and achieving excellence.”
In a career spanning almost 30 years, Jodie has advanced from an apprentice to Head of Technical Services and her dedication has transformed the more than 100 technicians in the school to a cohesive team fostering excellent performance with constant opportunities for career development.
Her contribution extends to playing a crucial role in university level committees, including, the Technical Managers Committee, where Jodie leads the University Technician Commitment strategy supporting staff to achieve professional registration and Advance HE status. Her work with neurodivergent staff developed from one individual, to developing University wide systems of support and increasing awareness of training needs. Through MI TALENT she expanded this nationally, to enable the sector to learn from this established good practice. For this, she was awarded a Vice-Chancellor’s award from the University of Nottingham in 2023.
The Outstanding Technician of the Year award was sponsored by Technician Commitment, a university and research institution initiative, led by a steering board of sector bodies, hosted by the UK Institute for Technical Skills & Strategy, which aims to ensure visibility, recognition, career development and sustainability for technicians working in higher education and research, across all disciplines.
Dr Simon Breeden, Associate Lead, Technician Commitment and member of the THE Awards judging panel this year said: "Sponsoring this award not only uplifts the profile of technicians in higher education and research, but also recognises that technicians often go above and beyond their day-to-day responsibilities.
"The Technician Commitment are immensely proud to honour Jodie as this year’s Outstanding Technician of the Year amongst a pool of other outstanding technicians. She truly exemplifies putting the needs of her community and networks first and took all the right steps to filling a gap in how technicians are supported in the workplace and then sharing that throughout the technical community. Congratulations from all of us at Technician Commitment!"
Technician Commitment recently published a feature on Jodie, alongside the other shortlisted nominees. Jodie also authored a short article published in THE Campus calling for increased professional recognition of teaching technicians.
Read more about other winners from the 2024 THE Awards.
