CHRIS ARMSTRONG – CURRICULUM VITAE

Personal Information

Full Name: Christopher James Armstrong

Address:

Home Number:

Mobile Number:

E-mail Address: bantam79@btinternet.com

Nationality: British

Date of Birth: 8th February 1979

Work Experience

November 2011 to present date – Student Education Support Officer (Teaching Quality), School of Civil Engineering, University of Leeds

In this position my duties and responsibilities include: Assisting with knowledge management for the School’s Quality Assurance systems, including implementation of the School Quality Assurance procedure; act as secretary to the School Taught Student Education Committee, Staff Student Forum, and Examination boards; assist in developing programme specifications, handbooks, policy and procedures; provide administrative support for Periodic Reviews and accreditation visits; produce management information in the form of statistics for periodic reviews, accreditation visits, programme and module reviews; act as the School’s Catalogue Manager overseeing the maintenance of programmes of study and module documentation on Banner, including collating rubric and module reviews; manage the student feedback process; oversee module enrolment and registration; contribute to student induction; offer general student support (letters, student lists, general queries); monitor student attendance and authorise absences; preparation of examination papers; student prizes. In addition, I have had experience in recruiting staff; I have been a member of the interview panel for junior staff in the Faculty Employability team, and the School of Mechanical Engineering (I also took part in the shortlisting for the latter named position). I am also the School’s administrative co-ordinator for the Peer Assisted Student Support sessions and helped develop the scheme based on my experiences in Manchester.

September 2008 to October 2011 – Examinations and Assessments Administrator, University of Manchester

In this position, I was responsible for all examinations and assessments in the Department of Chemical Engineering & Analytical Science at the University of Manchester. My duties and responsibilities include: the preparation and distribution of examination papers; servicing examination boards; the production of examination results; maintaining student records; assisting with the preparation and publication of student handbooks; partial responsibility for the supervision of the School receptionist.

May 2007 to August 2008 – Community Support Assistant, City of Durham Council

In this position I was part of a small team who supported the Community Development department of the City of Durham Council. My duties and responsibilities included: undertaking word processing and database work including the production of posters and leaflets; the servicing of groups and committees including minute taking; creating surveys for

consultation events; minor scale event management; I also was the lead on a small project for improvements for a Gardening club in Durham.

January 2006 to January 2007 – Scholarships Clerk – University of Leeds

In this position I was part of a small team responsible for the administration of undergraduate and postgraduate scholarships at this major UK University. My duties and responsibilities included: the logging and distribution of scholarship applications to the relevant department within the University; the organisation and issuing of travel tickets to successful overseas scholarship holders; the organisation of welcome parties for overseas scholarship holders; and general office duties.

February 2005 to December 2005 – Personal Assistant, Durham and Chester-le-Street Primary Care Trust

This was a temporary position organised by a recruitment agent. In this position I acted as personal assistant to the Pharmaceutical Lead and the Information Technology manager within the trust. My duties and responsibilities included: diary management; the collation of data and production of medical statistics; minute taking; organising travel and accommodation for conferences and meetings outside the Durham area; researching information; general office duties including filing and typing.

May 2004 to November 2004 – Group Bookings Manager, Gala Theatre and Cinema, Durham

This was a temporary position organised by a recruitment agency. In this position I was responsible for all bookings by groups larger than 8 to shows and films at the theatre. My duties and responsibilities included: the maintenance of the groups database; organising and conducting visits for groups planning visits to the theatre; mail shots of show information to relevant groups; assisting in the creation of press releases for upcoming shows; assisting in the box office when required.

April 2003 to September 2003 – Departmental Secretary, Combined Honours Department, Durham University

This was a temporary position by a recruitment agency. In this position I was department secretary and personal assistant to the Head of School within a small university department. My duties and responsibilities included: assisting in the admissions process including liaising with UCAS; distribution of course information to potential students; to provide assistance to current students; to maintain current student records; to liaise with other department secretary; the preparation of documentation and minutes for meetings; the drafting and creation of letters; the organisation of graduation receptions and open days.

My reason for leaving this position was to undertake a full-time education course which I subsequently left in March 2004 due to ill health.

January 2002 to March 2003 – Administrator, The Chimneys Rest Home, Sherburn Hill, County Durham

In this position, I was administrator for a small elderly residential home. My duties and responsibilities included: maintenance of staff and resident records; diary management of the home manager; general office duties including filing and typing.

October 1999 to November 2001 – Customer Service Advisor, Abbey National PLC, Bradford, West Yorkshire

In this position, I was part of a small team of customer service advisors for a major UK bank. My duties and responsibilities included: taking ownership of incoming customer calls and trying to resolve them at the first point of contact; cashier duties for standing orders and bank transfers; promotion of new and existing products.

September 1998 to September 1999 – Waiting List Clerk (Grade 2), North Durham NHS Trust, Dryburn Hospital, Durham

In this position, I was responsible for the maintenance and upkeep of all waiting lists in a medium-sized hospital in the North East. My duties and responsibilities included: liaising with medical secretaries to keep the waiting lists up-to-date; produce a monthly report and statistics to be added to the national waiting list figures; maintain computerised and paper records.

June 1998 to August 1998 – Filing Clerk (Grade 1), North Durham NHS Trust, Dryburn Hospital, Durham

In this position, I was part of a small team who maintained the medical records in a medium-sized hospital in the North East. My duties and responsibilities included: maintaining current medical records, both in paper form and on computer database; removing obsolete medical records from the system; finding and retrieving files for consultant clinics.

EDUCATION

September 1995 to July 1997 – Durham Sixth Form Centre, Providence Row, The Sands, Durham City, DH1 1SG

A-Levels (July 1997 – Grades in brackets): History (A), Sociology (A), English Language (B), General Studies (B)

GCSE (July 1996): Politics (A)

September 1990 to July 1995 – Belmont Comprehensive School, Buckinghamshire Road, Belmont, Durham, DH1 2QP

GCSE’s (July 1995): English Language (A), English Literature (B), History (B), Mathematics (B), Religious Studies (B), Biology (C), Design & Technology with Business Studies (C), Chemistry (D), German (D), Physics (D)

ADDITIONAL TRAINING

In addition to my secondary training I have undertaken additional training in customer services and telephone skills, the use of survey software and a three part course in Project Management.

PERSONAL SKILLS AND COMPENTENCIES

Social Skills and Competencies

High level of customer service skills and telephone skills; comfortable with interacting with staff at all levels; comfortable working on an individual basis, but thrives within a team environment; always work to the highest professional standards.

Organisational Skills and Competencies

Comfortable working to tight deadlines and excellent time management; maintaining efficient filing systems; small project management;

Computer Skills and Competencies

I am a proficient user of Microsoft Word, Access and Power Point, and an intermediate user of Microsoft Excel. In addition to the Microsoft Office suite of products, I have been a user of database packages such as BANNER (In my present job) and Campus Solutions (during my position at the University of Manchester). I also have experience of using Snap! Survey software.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

My main interests outside of work are watching sports, reading – I am a voracious reader and particularly enjoy non-fiction and crime fiction – attending the theatre and the cinema, and taking part in quizzes.

I also enjoy writing, and I was a member of the editorial team of the Bradford City fanzine, “The City Gent” between 1999 and 2004, and I was editor in chief of the City Gent website between 2002 and 2007. I have had my writing published in national football magazines such as When Saturday Comes and Four Four Two, and I have been used as a Bradford City “expert” by the Bradford Telegraph and Argus and BBC Radio Leeds.

References available upon request.