School of Health & Wellbeing

First to take centre stage in our new feature is IHW Admin's Audrey Dickie, telling us about the highs and (very occasional!) lows of working here, a "secret" skill, and her mantra for a happy life...

Tell us a bit about what you do in IHW

My main role in IHW is administrative. The most common comment I get when meeting people face to face for the first time is ‘oh it’s you that sends all those emails!’ and yes it is. I think of IHW as an umbrella, each research unit is a spoke and IHW admin is the stick/handle that holds the spokes together for us all to work as one cohesive team.

To describe what I do on a day to day basis is really difficult as it is so varied and sometimes very random. I tend to ‘direct traffic’ of email, a lot, I deal with some finance, a little HR processing honorary and affiliate staff, update webpages and answer sometimes very random queries. I minute a lot of meetings, disseminate co-ordinate and collate lots of information and data. A big part of my job, which I love, is organising events, and at this time includes zoom and webinars rather than the personal interaction with speakers, venues, hotels, catering etc.

What do you enjoy about your role?

Almost everything as no two days are ever the same and there are different challenges and rewards each day. I enjoy the interaction with staff, helping others, organising events and how that all comes together. I like that it can be busy without being chaotic and that sense of achievement when something good happens and you have been part of it.

What are the challenges?

I hate to say it, but the biggest challenge is waiting for information or paperwork to be returned when the deadline has passed or is upon us. I often head emails ‘Polite Reminder’ when what I really want to say is...well I will leave that to your imagination...!

What is the best thing about working in IHW?

I like that it can be busy without being chaotic and that sense of achievement when something good happens and you have been part of it.

The best thing about working in IHW is the inclusivity. I started working in IHW in 2013. Prior to that I worked in secondary education (school office) for 13 years. It was a great team both teaching and non-teaching staff. I never thought I would experience that camaraderie anywhere else, but I found it here in IHW. I now wouldn’t want to work anywhere else, and there have been other opportunities to tempt me away. There is an inclusive and supportive atmosphere, and although IHW doesn’t get everything right for every member of staff I truly believe they strive to do so.

Tell us something we might not know about you, or would surprise us

I trained to be a hairdresser! Roll up folks, its been a while but I can snippety snip with the best of them!

When or where are you happiest?

Anyone who knows me will say I am at my happiest in a pair of flip flops on a sunny beach, and that is 100% true! But I am honestly truly at my happiest when at the end of the day, the PC is switched off and I am with my family and my rescue cat Cleveley, who I found as a stray (in Cleveleys, Lancashire!), has a mild form of CBH (wobbly cat syndrome) and would need a whole edition to himself to tell his story. I have four adult sons and one grandson, who is 15, and when we do get together at family events that is when I am at my happiest. Only my youngest is still at home with me and my husband, my oldest lives in Australia, and the two in the middle both live locally. I don’t see them all every day but we always keep in touch and the times that we do spend together are the best times ever!!!

Any secret – or not so secret! - ambitions?

No secrets. I am a bit of an open book - what you see is what you get! Ambitions? Sounds like a cliché but I do like to travel, mostly warm sunny places, and I would like to see more of the world other than Europe. I have ventured to Las Vegas, but that’s not really America is it? And of course I have been to Australia more than a few times but I would love to go on an adventure!

Do you have a favourite quote or saying, or mantra by which you try to live your life?

Every day is a new day!

I try to live by this no matter what, although that in itself is sometimes a challenge. It’s all too easy to hold a grudge, be angry or resentful or have a full on shouting match with someone but I fully believe if you carry that stress, anger, resentment into the next day it will affect both your mental and physical health, so let it go, it’s not worth it, but YOU are. You don’t always have to forgive and forget, we all make mistakes but what you can do is put those thoughts in a box and file them away on a shelf at the back of your brain. We are all busy, we can all at times be inconsiderate, the important thing is to move on, for you and no one else. Yes you can be upset and even angry but lets face it, we all have enough baggage to trail around with us without adding weight to it. Life is not a rehearsal and we don’t all get it right so just live it, don’t let anyone’s negativity weigh you down!

If you would like to appear in "Five minutes with...", do please get in touch (jane.goodfellow@glasgow.ac.uk)! We plan to alternate professional services and research/teaching staff profiles, and feature colleagues from across a wide range of roles and grades within our institute. 

---

First published: 14 March 2018