1. Introduction

Claire Elliott was employed by the Register of Support Providers Northern Ireland as an IT Training and Development Officer on 1st June 2007. The Register, located at the University of Ulster Jordanstown, is a unique service which, provides one to one personal support through Support Providers to disabled students studying Higher Education courses at any of the colleges or universities in Northern Ireland, including long distance and e-learning courses. The Register exists primarily to meet the needs of students, while supporting and providing guidance to those who deliver support.

Some of her responsibilities involved assisting in the development and maintenance of a comprehensive database system and a creative, interactive website. On-line questionnaires were developed and administered to survey those who use the Register of Support Providers and various paper-based media was designed for the project. She also assisted in the delivery of training to Support Providers at training evenings and contributed with general office administration.

This placement was considered not only as a learning experience in industry but a stepping-stone in her personal development. This report will evaluate Claire’s time spent at the Register over this past year, including company structures, the role played within the company, training received and the various skills she has developed as a result of her placement.

1.1 History and Development of The Register of Support Providers

The Register of Support Providers was initiated single handedly by a member of staff employed by the University of Ulster as a dyslexia support tutor. Such job entailed supporting all of the dyslexic students within the University of Ulster. However, as student numbers increased it became impossible for one person to manage. Therefore one years funding was granted in 1998 from the University to allow recruitment and selection of freelance Dyslexia Coaches to help out with the increasing work load. In 1999 funding was applied for from the 'Higher Education Coucil for England and Wales' as part of the movement 'Improving Provision for Disabaled Students', Collaboration with other Universities and Higher Education Colleges had to be evident therefore the project was expanded and Queens University and Belfast Institution for Further and Higher Education (BIFHE) became partners. The Register of Support Providers was then launched in Stormount parliment in 2000 where it became an official project for all universities and colleges in Northern Ireland.

1.2 An organisational chart of the people in the project

Project Manager- Ms Emma Jackson

Project Co-Ordinator- Mr Colin McAlistar

Project Administrator- Ms Ciara Slevin

Finance Development Officer- Ms Rosanna Donnelly

IT Training and Development Officer- Ms Claire Elliott

1.3 An understanding of the company management and department structures

Project Manager: Emma is the line manager of all project staff and spends a lot of time either training or organising training for staff. She deals with any complex queries and is in charge of the financial management of the project. She plays a leading role in all team meetings in order to develop work plans and strategies. She also lisase directly with DEL (Department of Education and Learning) ELB's (Education and Library Boards) and HEIs (Higher Education Institutions).

Project Co-Ordinator: Colin deals mainly with allocation of support for all students. He also is in charge for the recruitment and selection of support providers for the Register.

Project Administrator:

Finance Officer:

IT Training and Development Officer:

2.0 Your role within the company

Claire was employed by the Register to assist in the development and maintenance of a comprehensive database and a creative, interactive website for the Register of Support Providers, to assist in the development and delivery of an innovative computer based learning programme for support providers and to provide IT support to Register staff as and when required. Claire's duties are:

•    Design, develop and maintain the Register of Support Providers Website http://supportregister.ulster.ac.uk. This website provides all of the information and material Support Providers need in order to carry out their support roles.

•    Develop promotional material i.e Viral emails and postcards to promote the Register website .

•    Develop and maintain the Register of Support Providers Database.    

•    Develop and administer on-line questionaires to be used to survey those who access the Register of Support Providers.

•    Design and create online based training programmes for support providers on topic such as disability awareness.

•    Develop manuals for other staff to train them how to use the database and update the website.

2.1 Skills required to carry out placement with the Register

Before being able to qualify for shortlisting there where certain criteria set out, that had to be met in order to receive an interview. Such Criteria involved:

•    Experience of webpage design (HTML/XHTML/CSS/PHP)

•    Experience of database development and maintainance.

•    Experience of delivering presentations with visual aids i.e MS Powerpoint

•    Experience of using Adobe Dreamweaver / Adobe Flash

•    Awareness of disability issues

•    Imaginative responce to potential challenges of the role

•    Good written and verbal communication skills, excellent organisational skills, good time management and ability to work independantly and as part of a team.

2.2 Skills learnt on placement with the Register