5 minutes with... Rachel Meyrick, Interim Head of the DGU
Earlier this month we welcomed Rachel Meyrick back to the University as the Interim Head of the Digital Governance Unit (DGU). We sat down with Rachel to hear more about her background and how her new role is going.
Welcome back to Oxford. We hear you’ve worked here before. Tell us more.
I’ve had a range of roles at the University including departmental Head of Administration & Finance, Head of Research Accounts in the Finance Division, and Divisional Registrar. I also worked in the central planning team for a year.
After five years as Divisional Registrar in Social Sciences, I decided that it was time to try something different, so I left and started short term-project work instead. Since then, I have worked for all four academic divisions and UAS, undertaking service reviews, operational reviews, and change projects, and providing interim cover. I have really enjoyed the variety.
What do you enjoy about working at the University?
I have worked at the University (with a few gaps) since 2000, so there is obviously something that keeps drawing me back!
I have worked with some great people. For example, I was a project lead on the departmental Return to Onsite Working Programme during the pandemic, and it was so impressive how everyone pulled together.
What are you looking forward to in your new role?
I am looking forward to learning more about an area that underpins just about everything that we do at the University. As someone steeped in professional services, I enjoy finding out how people get things done.
A lot of colleagues might be feeling a bit uncertain about the DGU, what would you like to say to them?
The new Unit has been heralded for a good while now, but colleagues will be (understandably) keen to have more detailed information about the ‘how’, and the ‘when’. I have had a full first few days, and I need some time to develop an understanding of the local context from colleagues here in IT Services. However, I will be in touch about timescales and next steps as soon as I reasonably can.
What are your immediate priorities?
I have already started to meet with IT Services colleagues and key customers and will continue to do so over the coming days. I will then be in a better position to firm up medium-term planning.
How do you relax?
Visiting art galleries and museums, growing loads of things from seed, tussling with the cryptic crossword, and walking.
