Robert Green is Professor of Chemistry and Forensic Science at Kent.
My alarm goes off… at 6am, being an early riser helps me to be at my desk by 07.00/07.15 most days and get a little quieter time to catch up on anything urgent. My drive from home is around 28 minutes, having beaten some of the early morning traffic.
I’m responsible for… a variety of things, to ensure that our students in forensic science have the best ever experience that I can provide. Accepting that my style doesn’t suit all, my main focus is our students, responding quickly to their emails, forum posts and other various means of communication. I am the divisional representative for internationalisation and so get involved with a number of international visits and communications. So, most days I interact with international friends/partners, many of these I’ve known throughout my career. Nowadays, of course making full use of these connections.
I got my job… I guess, a little through the ‘back door’, beginning in 2002 I was first approached to advise and help set up the forensics science programme. Prior to this, I’ve never given a thought to working anywhere other than in the forensic science profession. At this time, I was employed by the Forensic Science Service and latterly at the Home Office, so I had quite a collection of experiences and professional materials to call upon. I have taught (part-time) on the programme since 2010 and then, full-time in 2012. After I left government service in 2010, I initially joined the University of Greenwich and spent two very happy years at Medway.
My typical day… begins with me being at the desk by 7am.
Firstly – I review all of the online news alerts I have set up. I share these via a dedicated (open) social media page, Facebook. These often contain job adverts, professional practice news and things we at Kent are engaged with. I prepare for teaching, spending about an hour going through the previous series of lecture recordings and then often put together a little formative quiz (often crossword puzzle) going over the previous lectures. I print off this puzzle, taking it with me to the lecture and sharing this with students while I’m setting up the lecture recording, etc.
Next up, I post a link in the Moodle forum to remind the class of our session in an effort to maximise attendance. I’m currently delivering three modules (at time of writing) across both the School of Chemistry and Forensic Science and also to friends in Biosciences. I’m also writing materials to share with students studying criminology as well as writing materials for professional conferences, a little later in the year. After the lectures all delivered, I follow up on any feedback that has been shared during the session and will often post this to the Moodle forum to keep oh students up to speed with things. Another (rather depressing) part of my job is to chair the misconduct panels which, nowadays we rarely but sometimes see.
My most memorable moment at Kent… I don’t think that I have just one most memorable moment. I guess it might be receiving invitations to a number of our students’ wedding ceremonies, over the years. But without any doubt, the highlight of every year is graduations and seeing all the students succeed, many of them going onto work opportunities straightaway, meeting their families and sharing their success with an immense sense of pride of their achievements.
The best and worst part of my job… Best part – by far, helping students to succeed.
Worst part… There aren’t too many negative aspects but I guess it can be a little frustrating sometimes getting a little swamped by conflicting and overburdening demands, which aren’t always value adding.
My favourite spot on campus… no real favourite but I do like meeting people in the library and café area.
After work… I’ll often catch up on last minute emails and always try to respond to these as quickly as possible. I like spending time with my wife and family and our newest two-year-old grandson, George.
My plan B… I don’t really have one but I’ll finish by saying that I’ll continue teaching until I get too old to carry on. Then, with a sense of fulfilment, I’ll pass on the baton to our younger and very able members of staff and friends. Safe in the feeling of accomplishment, having played a tiny part in the success of our students and graduates over the years.