Technician Commitment
The award winning Technician Commitment group at Cardiff Metropolitan University champions the vital contribution technicians make to teaching, research, innovation, and the overall student experience. Our Technician Commitment Group brings together dedicated technical staff from across the institution to ensure that technicians are recognised, supported, and empowered in their roles.
We work collaboratively to advance the four pillars of the national Technician Commitment—Visibility, Recognition, Career Development, and Sustainability—while shaping local initiatives that reflect the unique strengths and needs of Cardiff Met’s technical community.
Through advocacy, professional development opportunities, and meaningful dialogue with university leadership, the group aims to create a positive and inclusive environment where technicians can thrive and continue delivering exceptional value to our academic community. The group consists of members from each school within Cardiff Metropolitan University and is made up of the following members –
Mark Dabee Saltmarsh – Chair, Katherine Wibmer – Deputy Chair, Sean Duggan, Melanie Van Der Veen, Oskar Werys, Hani El Samadi, Alice Jones, Jac Palmer, Hannah Lovell, Charlie Bull and Keira Smith.
The group has been working to promote and support technical roles since 2018 and has completed two action plans with the third plan available to see here –
- Internal marketing presence including banners, web site, videos. Improve external communications with the wider University.
- Technician shadowing exchanges with signatory universities in Wales.
- Skeleton job description for all Technical Roles.
- To develop and create a fair Attribution Policy that recognises the work of technical staff and teams for their contributions to research.
- Consolidate Membership and setup regular lines of communication and meeting points with VCEG, people services, EDI.
- Improve engagement with sustainability initiatives – Identify whether there are any accreditations or initiatives we can join.
- Involve TCS in CMU decarbonisation working groups and activities seek accreditation/ recognition from schemes such as Labs2Zero
- Continue to develop the Technician Career pathway alongside the developing academic pathway. To remove perceived and structural obstacles to progression and establish routes and opportunities for career development and promotion.