Mirela Oliver

An adaptive and versatile professional with extensive experience having worked within the HE sectors over the past 9 years. Mirela is widely regarded as an expert in using a number of standard sectors timetabling software, including CELCAT, CMIS and EVENTMAP as well as a number of student records systems. During her career Mirela has gained experience and knowledge in managing a variety of course portfolios which has ranged from Computing & Technology, Law, Criminology, History, Creative & Professional Writing, English & Drama, Business Courses, Healthcare, Business, Communication, Philosophy, Politics, Sociology, International Sports Journalism constructing academic timetables for several prestigious universities.

Is known as a proficient Timetabling Manager as well as a team player and is also able to work on her own initiative in meeting key objectives in a timely manner. A highly customer focused timetabling professional with attention to details who has built a broad and varied experience in building and maintaining strong working relationships with key stakeholders in resolving complex timetabling issues.

Using EventMap (timetabling software), Can create Courses/ Groups, Modules as well as Importing and exporting all sorts of data from a timetabling system or timetabling software successfully by prioritising the main information. Create user accounts, arrange training for Academic staff/, monitor student attendance, Import-export reports as needed, analyse and manipulate data, import students in the system manually or as a bulk mass import and ensure they fit in to their designated Campuses/ Courses and Modules.
Working with various student records and with the experience of 3 timetables software’s, (CELCAT, CMIS, EVENTMAP) at various Universities has enabled me to gain vast experience in scheduling complex timetables to allow student friendly experience throughout their university journey.
Create/ Courses by Module/ by Course by Partner/by Campus- for each student. In addition to this, I have remained involved in monitoring student attendance and extracting reports daily.
During this fast-changing situation with COVID-19 crisis, I have liaised with Faculties, Student Support, online learning to ensure students have received full support in continuing their studies with as little interruption as possible.

My current role is academic Programme Coordinator at London Film school looking after all MA courses.  Before this role, my substantive experience has been in timetabling, working across several prestigious universities in London since 2012.  Since the beginning of the year, I have worked in interim roles, as COVID interrupted my full-time, permanent career. I am keen to return to full-time, permanent employment, where I can demonstrate my commitment to the student experience and the knowledge and experience that I have built up in higher education.   I am delighted to set out below my response to the person specification. 

I have worked in higher education since 2012. For example, in all my timetabling roles, I prioritised the needs of students above academics. For example, I was mindful that students received their timetables in good time so that they were able to plan for employment, childcare, and other responsibilities. On occasion, this meant that I had to chase academic managers to provide basic details for me to create a timetable that would provide students with advance information for their forthcoming studies.

I have been privileged to work with students from a broad range of backgrounds, including international students, and students from a range of cultural, religious, ethnic, and individual requirements.  For example, when I worked at the Global Banking School, I scheduled classes into 3 days per week to accommodate mature working students, many of whom came from widening participation areas in London.

One of my key strengths is my interpersonal skills with stakeholders from across the university at various levels.  For example, during my various timetabling roles, I regularly worked with colleagues from Facilities, Academic Managers, Marketing and Events, as well as Registry and IT.   

At an operational level, I regularly assist with problem solving during last-minute timetable changes by working with academics to re-allocate rooms by providing them with a workable solution.  At the planning stages of creating timetables, I work closely with resourcing colleagues to balance space utilisation, staffing allocation, but always prioritise the needs of students.

As I have worked in large universities, my ability to work together with colleagues to solve problems and share ideas has strengthened my knowledge and skills.  I often contribute to team meetings and value the contribution of all colleagues.

For example, during my experience at Imperial Business School, part of my role was to liaise with senior academics from the Harvard Business School, all of whom were working from home in various locations throughout the world. My role was to assist them with creating reading lists and course information.

Since the early stages of my career, when I worked at the London Olympics to co-ordinate visitors from all walks of life, and all nationalities, I have continuously honed my verbal communication skills to the extent that I am now highly confident with speaking to stakeholders at all levels.  As an example of my written skills, during my current role at King’s College, I edited the Student Handbook, and the module calendars, paying careful attention to assessment dates.

I am highly confident with using the entire suite of Office 365, including Teams, Outlook, Word, Excel and PowerPoint. During my timetabling roles, time management, self-organisation, and the ability to cope with tough deadlines was critical for my success. For example, at peak times during the year, I worked additional hours to ensure that students received the most up to date timetables and fully expect to be flexible during the busy times of the year. 

For example, during my timetabling roles, I have worked tactfully with academics who have requested changes such as room changes or changes in time.  Such changes may meet the academic’s needs but have a knock-on, negative impact on other classrooms or the student experience.  I always work with colleagues to present a workable solution. 

I listen carefully and respectfully to the views of my colleagues and avoid interrupting them so that they feel heard and valued. At this point, I offer my professional opinion and provide a full rationale why my suggestion should be given consideration. For example, I worked with the conferencing team and Programme Leaders at the University of West London to clear a regular set of rooms for external courses, which resulted in additional income for the university, with no impact on students.

I am a highly experienced professional administrator in higher education, having worked in the sector since 2012, using various student record systems, learning management, e-portfolio and timetabling systems.

I ensure that I adhere to the appropriate document control and version control techniques so that colleagues are always using the most up to date version. Regarding project management, I have been involved with several rollouts including leading the introduction of a new timetabling system at the Global Banking School, to smaller projects such as adding further modules to the system.

I have created guidance documentation for students and staff with using the timetabling system, together with contributing towards the establishment of processes between the student record system, the VLE, and the timetabling system.

I am always eager to find more effective ways of administering a process. For example, at the Global Banking School, I helped to simplify the coding of programmes between campuses which had hitherto been duplicated and led to confusion for both staff and students. The result was a reduced range of codes used which made data processing more accurate and consistent, especially when exporting reports.

For example, in 2017 at Imperial College, I was responsible for the intranet for various programmes of study.  This helped to strengthen my experience of HTML and optimising the use of internal web pages.

For example, Senior Programme Officer roles and timetabling roles.  I have direct experience working with students at various stages of the student lifecycle, including exams, enrolment, student enquiries, and graduation.

Most of my career has been spent within Higher Education, where I have experienced various business systems and processes which support the student experience. This includes student record systems, timetabling, registration, and exams systems.

I have an honours degree in Events Management from the University of West London.

An expert in timetabling software including CELCAT, CMIS & EventMap

•    Experienced user of various Higher Education administrative systems 

•    Exceptional team working and collaboration skills

•    Solid experience of working across various prestigious London universities

•    Results-driven and customer-focused with strong interpersonal skills

•    Highly flexible and adept at learning new skills

•    Strong user of Microsoft Excel and Office 365

• Moodle and SITS