Technician Commitment

The Commitment aims to ensure visibility, recognition, career development and sustainability for technicians working in higher education and research, across all disciplines. NTU has joined 83 other Universities and research institutes in becoming signatories of the Technician Commitment and pledge action against the key challenges affecting our technical staff.

The Technician Commitment includes four key areas:

1. Visibility - Ensure that all technicians within the organisation are identifiable and that the contribution of technicians is visible within and beyond the institution.
2. Recognition - Support technicians to gain recognition through professional registration.
3. Career development - Enable career progression opportunities for technicians through the provision of clear, documented career pathways.
4. Sustainability - Ensure that the future sustainability of technical skills across the organisation and that technical expertise is fully utilised

NTU has made extensive progress against the recommendations from the TALENT Commission Report.  Below are a few examples of the positive action we have achieved;

• NTU is now an Employer Champion and actively promotes the benefits of professional registration.
• NTU is proud to hold an Athena SWAN Institutional Bronze Award and Race Equality Charter Bronze Award.
• Recognition of technical contributions achieved through performance ratings within the Appraisal process as well as internal and external award nomination opportunities.
• January 2022 New NTU acknowledgement guidelines for technical contribution to research launched. Technicians are included as authors/co-authors on published papers/presentations as appropriate.
• Increased technical representation at conferences, teaching showcase events such as TILT and wider celebration of technical achievements on our NTU Newsroom.
• Discussions on technical career pathways underway with associated workstreams being set up for next 36-month action plan.
• Technicians are involved in interview process through supporting tours and practical interview elements or through interview panel membership.  This is a useful development tool for those interested in line management experience.
• Heads of Operations are technical advocates into University Leadership and on other strategic committees.
• Technical colleagues have the opportunity to be members of School and University Level groups/committees such as Athena Swan, EDI and the Shadow University Executive Team.  Technical staff are included in course committees.
• Technical colleagues are invited to be part of staff networks across the University. Our four colleague networks, Women’s Network, Race, Ethnicity and Cultural Heritage (REACH) Network, LGBT+ Network and Disabled Employees Network (DEN) provide an empowered network of voices that make a significant contribution to our work and culture.
• Technical staff are included in University Internal Communication channels such as MyNTU, Newsroom, School distribution lists and on the NTU Technician Network SharePoint.