cpd25 Task Group Member Job Description

The role of the task groups is to plan programmes and organise events and visits. Task group members are normally from a cross-section of institutions and job roles and levels. Each of the five task groups is chaired by a member of the Steering Group, and the cpd25 administrator acts as secretary. Meetings take place approximately 3 or 4 times per year, between which groups normally communicate by email. The broad remit of each task group is outlined on the website www.cpd25.ac.uk and there is an annual cpd25 review day when potential topics are brainstormed to inform the following academic year’s programme planning.

The main responsibilities of members are to:

• Attend meetings at which the group’s events and visits are planned and reviewed

• Contribute to discussions at and between meetings

• Organise or co-organise events and/or visits as agreed by the group, with reference to the Guidelines distributed to new task group members, including:

-    Determine purpose, audience, approach and potential numbers

-    Find and brief speaker(s); establish their needs, e.g. equipment, travel expenses, fee if appropriate and date availability

-    Liaise with the administrator who will find a suitable venue

-    Draft publicity text including audience and aims, programme with timings and short speaker biographies; ensure that this reaches the administrator by 6 weeks before the event

• Collaborate with the administrator in the organisation of events and visits, in accordance with the Guidelines

• Keep the task group chair informed of the general progress of event planning between meetings as appropriate and contact them for suggestions in case of difficulty

• Attend events and/or visits organised, to observe their effectiveness and to support the administrator as necessary; deputise on occasions when the organising member or administrator is unable to attend

• Review the feedback gathered and summarised by the administrator

• Attend and contribute to the review day and other events for task group members as far as possible.

Note on workload:

The number of events organised by each task group varies. For example, some events may run regularly from year to year, some may involve the hiring of one consultant for the day, while others may require the original planning of a coherent programme consisting of several speakers. If a conference is organised, it is likely to take up a larger share of the group’s capacity.

As a rough guideline, the expectation of each member might be that they organise one or two events per year, according to the effort involved, and in some cases a visit in addition. Members are encouraged to work in pairs, so that the event is covered in the case that one of the organisers is ill or unavailable. It is often helpful for a less experienced member to work with someone with more experience. A possible pattern might be for the more experienced to make contact with speakers and the less experienced to follow up the detail and attend the event.

Task group members do not necessarily require direct expertise or a large number of contacts in the fields covered by the group. Colleagues and task group members can often advise on potential speakers.

The time commitment will typically include:

• Attendance at meetings

• Event organisation. Investigating and approaching potential speakers may involve several attempts until the final line-up is established.

• Visit organisation and attendance

• Occasional email discussion/suggestions to colleagues as requested between meetings.

If you are interested in joining one of the cpd25 Task Groups please contact This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it , providing a few lines of information about yourself, ie current position and interests, skills and experience you could bring to the group.   

Mary Nixon
Chair, cpd25

25 February 2009