The AUA Annual Awards are usually announced and presented as part of our Gala Dinner. As our Annual Conference & Exhibition has been postponed, we have had to rethink how we will recognise and acknowledge the hard work by our members and networks for this year’s awards.

Each weekday from Thursday 26 March, we will be publishing a short article about each member and network that has been shortlisted by our awards panel. This will lead into Monday 6 April, which would have been the date of this year’s Gala Dinner, where we will announce the winners.

Here you can read about Joanne Caldwell from the University of Salford, who has been shortlisted for member of the year!

What it means to be shortlisted

Having been a member of the AUA for more than twelve years, it a delight to be nominated for AUA member of the year. I have been active within the AUA branch at Salford for a number of years and work alongside great colleagues so I think this should be a team award. It is great to be recognised for the work I have undertaken and the support I have given other colleagues.

The AUA has enabled me to present at local and national conferences and even in South Africa a couple of years ago and I enjoy giving back where I can. This is a real highlight in what has become a really strange year but I am pleased that the AUA is keeping the awards going and members are getting recognised. Here’s to an even better conference in 2021.

Why Joanne was shortlisted

In her nomination, Joanne is described as an outstanding advocate who has provided significant support to her local branches, as well as contributing to development activities for the North Wales and North West regional network and to the AUA nationally. Joanne also represented the AUA at the Higher Education Faculty Administrators Forum Annual Conference in Johannesburg, South Africa in 2017.

Joanne has contributed content for both Newslink and Perspectives. In her Perspectives article, she provided an insight into the reflective practice that a professional doctorate encourages and how this affects the professional practice of professional services staff.

The awards panel were particularly impressed with Joanne’s long-term engagement and advocacy with the AUA, along with how she had achieved Fellowship by supporting others and her role as a PgCert mentor.