Volunteers Member News July 2019 22 Well done to our winning volunteers! Selecting three category winners from the wealth of high-quality nominations we received was a tough task. Thank you to everyone who submitted a nomination for the second round of our IET Volunteer Core Values Awards programme. It’s great to see so many IET volunteers being recognised by their peers for their invaluable contribution. Integrity Erik Dagless CEng FIET, IET Academic Accreditation volunteer You can always count on Erik Dagless to do the right thing. He has been actively involved in IET academic accreditations since 1997 and a member of the IET’s Academic Accreditation Committee since 2003. “As an accreditor, I genuinely want the universities to succeed,” said Erik. “The whole point of accreditation is to pass around really good practice. The intention and expectation are that, as an accreditation panel, we do as much as we can to help the university improve and to present them in the best light we possibly can. That’s why we always give them the opportunity to put right anything that might result in an unsatisfactory outcome.” This approach is exemplified by Erik’s positive and proactive response to a last-minute addition of a new programme to a UK university’s submission, despite knowing that it would create a lot of additional post- visit assessment work. Erik never shies away from difficult conversations either. Last year, as Chair of an international accreditation panel, he had to break the news to a university that its course wasn’t deep or open-ended enough to merit the Chartered Engineer accreditation. He delivered this feedback in a calm, sensitive, constructive and professional way, then laid out a path for the university to follow. Along with fellow panel members, he continues to guide the institution towards its accreditation goal. Erik continues to provide an authoritative influence on the development of academic accreditation and many universities and students have benefitted from his help. His professionalism, methodical approach and willingness to ensure the right result is achieved are greatly appreciated by the whole Academic Accreditation Team.” Katherine Bunting, IET Academic Accreditation Manager Do you know an extraordinary IET volunteer? Why not recognise their contribution and nominate them for a Core Values Award? Nominations close by 30 June and can be made online at theiet.org/volunteer-values-awards