Remote Birthday Celebration

UDOTS has been holding twice-weekly staff meetings via Microsoft Teams for the duration of the COVID-19 lockdown. These have been an enormous success in maintaining teaching support for students and continuing with the daily activities of the department.

These meetings have pulled staff closer together, so much so that Sheila MacDonald, the MCh (Orth) Course Administrator, proposed a weekly UDOTS tea-break each Friday at 11:00 am. These ‘tea-breaks’ have become a vital part of working life at this time, giving staff the chance to forget about the pressures of work for a brief period, meet socially, and generally talk nonsense and share a laugh.

On Friday 26th June, it was Dr Graham Arnold’s birthday, so unbeknown to him the staff appeared wearing silly party hats, sporting balloons and letting off party poppers, much to Graham’s surprise.

Mr Arpit Jariwala, Director of UDOTS, stated:

“It’s great for Team UDOTS to let off steam and talk about something other than work at this time. We’ve all worked exceptionally hard at maintaining University life, running exams and supporting our students remotely and I greatly appreciate everyone’s efforts during the last hundred or so days. Throughout this challenging time, we have met more frequently, remained extremely productive, communicated more openly and become more like friends than colleagues. Besides, it’s good to have a nosey inside everybody’s homes. Happy Birthday Graham!”