BIOGRAPHY
demonstrate some of its functionality. We also used these events to excite colleagues about the possibilities available to them, as well as to outline the support in place. In advance of any session, the team is available to meet with faculty to talk through any concerns and there are always practice sessions programmed in advance to run through how they want to deliver their session. The team ensures slides are formatted, different functionality is enabled and that there are seamless transitions between slides, audience interaction, polls and guest presenters. It’s like a full dress rehearsal to ensure everyone is confident before we deliver in real time. “We also support colleagues more generally in delivering sessions with confidence – someone can easily be thrown on the day if they don’t know where to stand or where they can wander on stage, which cameras to look at and where different aspects of the presentation will appear. Feedback is excellent and the dedicated team is part of our success.” Do faculty members need to undergo training to use and get the most out of the SmartStage? And what about the students themselves? “As touched on, all users of the SmartStage are invited to engage with the team in advance of their session and everyone does. There’s a mutual respect for each other’s expertise and the team has learnt a lot since the facility’s initial introduction in terms of how to deliver a great session online, so there’s lots of information and knowledge to share. “The students don’t need to undertake any training in how to use the Stage; they access sessions through our dedicated, in‑house virtual learning environment (VLE), my.wbs and then join the session as they would with any other videocall.”
Dan Pearson is director of academic environment at Warwick Business School, where he leads a broad professional services team that focuses on teaching quality and enhancement, accreditations, research administration, data quality, infrastructure and culture. Previously, Pearson led postgraduate policy development at the University of Warwick and managed a number of its international partnerships, including the University of Warwick Venice Centre. He holds an executive MBA from Warwick Business School
The Stage is being used in the school’s global online MBA and newly launched blended, part‑time accelerator MBA. Are there any plans to widen its use to other programmes or forms of executive education? “Since we were shortlisted for the AMBA & BGA award, we’ve extended our use of the SmartStage considerably. It’s now used on most of our courses, encompassing taught modules from undergraduate level through to executive education, as well as co-curricular activities. “While it’s primarily used to support the delivery of engaging online modules, we’ve also used it to deliver everything from wellbeing briefings to start-of-year induction events. Careers
40 Ambition • ISSUE 4 • 2025
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