Stephanie Allen is travelling to the 2009 ATEM Student Services Centre Conference from Norwich in the UK where she is a founding partner of Chapel Associates.  Stephanie was interviewed by the conference blogger via email on 14th April 09

I notice you’re working in the private sector in the UK – can you tell us a little bit about where you work and what you do there?

I run two learning consultancies: the first enables me to work with people in all sectors to help them get better a what they do. In real terms that means running interactive sessions for managers and their people on any topic to do with leadership, management and organisational development. I am passionate about helping people grow and this gives me the chance to meet a wide range of people in all parts of public and private sectors.
The second consultancy is accredited by BTEC and the ILM to offer the full range of management, leadership and coaching qualifications from entry level to post-graduate diplomas (Masters level). this means I can work with different organisations over a period of time ranging from three months to three years and really get to know them and their culture. I’ve developed a niche within the HE sector which I love!

How does your current work at Chapel Associates overlap with the Higher Education sector?

It was through delivering the qualifications programmes to the University of East Anglia (UEA). I started working as a consultant  to the UEA in 1997 and  was fortunate to gain a number of other contracts to work with different faculties and central units in a umber of change and skills development projects. This led to my being recommended to other HEIs around the UK and I was able to work on a range of projects with them. I know run a a number of programmes both accredited and not, with a major focus at the moment , on creating a Student Services facility or ‘one stop shop’. I still deliver qualifications for HEIs as they value my wide experience as a senior manager in ‘the real World’ but also my total understanding of HEI culture and the key issues.

You’re setting off for the conference a lot sooner than most delegates; is this your first time to Perth/Australia?

I’m very lucky in that I’ve been to Australia before! My cousin runs ‘Global Gypsies‘ which is a very successful four-wheel drive trekking company based in Perth. I was delighted to be asked to speak at ATEM and thought it would be good to add a couple of days to be with her! I’ve too many bookings with clients to be away from the UK for more than a week or so, but will leave the UK on Wednesday 15th, arrive in Perth 24 hours later and then return home when conference finishes. I value the chance to meet people in other countries (I run an HR Strategy Masterclass in Shanghai every year!) and try to speak at major events as a way of sharing my passion for development with others.  ATEM is a major opportunity to learn and share more about ‘one stop shops’ for students.

How’s preparation for your presentation going and can you give a hint as to what delegates can hear about during your talk?

My style is not chalk and talk. I thrive on facilitating discussion and encouraging people to learn from each other, so I’ve not prepared a Powerpoint presentation!!!!! I’ll share my experiences of working with a range of HEIs as well as successes and lessons learned. I’ve written an accompanying paper which will, I gather be uploaded onto the conference website.

And finally, what does the conference theme of ‘changing expectations’ mean to you?

As I’ll mention in my presentation, our society has increasing expectations. Students invariably start tertiary education later than before and have often had experience of travel and life in general. In the UK, parents are also more involved as it is up to them to pay the increasing fees (don’t start me on that one!!!!). Parents have even higher expectations, quite rightly so, therefore if we cannot ‘wow’ them, we lose the student and the reputation.  Finally, why should students be treated as anything other than important customers????