Fashioning the Student Experience: A Day in the Life of a Business School Lecturer

Wednesday. I don’t need an alarm. I jump out of bed at 4.30, finding out my 6.52 train has been cancelled and I will need to get a cab in 20 minutes, for the 5.52 train, the earliest from Liverpool to Leeds. Not a problem because I am really excited about my fun day ahead and my cerise pink jumpsuit is hanging up ready with co-ordinating accessories.

Comfy in my seat on this near empty train, I glance at my Microsoft Teams calendar on my phone. Good – my day is packed with activities bringing business and teaching together, all designed to make a great learning experience, putting students in touch with employers, applying theory to real business problems and providing practical career experience. 

I will be chairing a live guest lecture on Teams with fashion retail Cos, assessing student pitches with tech company Retail 247, working with John Lewis to create a video for students, presenting certificates to winning students as a result of the business simulation assessment with FDM group, and planning a Retail Safari with the Retail Institute. The journey through the Pennines is a good chance to catch up with my emails.

I rush up the road from the station to ‘virtually’ meet the team from ‘Cos’, who today are delivering a guest lecture. Their Head of Sustainability and Head of Interiors speak about how environmental issues are changing the physical store, and how they are incorporating circularity into their designs. The students ask some great questions; it is good to know they are so driven to see environmental and social change in the way that retailers operate.

Next, I assess student poster presentations for our Business in Action module. The first years have designed innovative solutions to the issue of excessive fashion returns. This project was set by Retail 247, an agency specialising in retail technology. Once all 500 business and management students have pitched, we choose the best ones, and Retail 247 will announce their winning concepts on LinkedIn, with prizes on offer to those students.

There is enough time before the next seminar to print the certificates that FDM group, global recruitment and training business emailed across for the ‘superstar’ students who showed great problem-solving, communication and leadership in the recent Business Simulation assessment. These certificates are presented in class today, to the deserving students, with photos taken. 

Subsequently, John Lewis send me their video to share their own day in the life of a visual merchandiser, which we will share with the second year students to help them with their Visual Merchandising assignment. 

My final appointment of the day is with the Retail Institute and Steve Lister (alternative materials expert, and global retail sustainability strategist). Together we are collaborating on a ‘Retail Safari’ to Trinity Leeds, where level 5 Marketing and Fashion Marketing students will carry out research on how retailers communicate sustainability in their physical stores.

Right, off home now, back to the station to catch my train. As I glance at my emails, some great news! Together with the Research and Enterprise teams, and a dream team of academic colleagues, we have won a Knowledge Transfer Partnership bid, which means I will have the wonderful experience of working with a national greetings card company to develop management skills and help the business grow. What a lucky person I am, to have such a fun job. I go home buzzing, making notes for tomorrow and more collaborations. 

Now what shall I wear on Thursday?