Meet Linda Mulvey
12 Mar 2025
Linda Mulvey is the Student Success and Development Administrator within the Faculty Office’s Teaching, Learning and Student Experience department. Here she tells us more about her role and her love for travelling and crumpets!
Can you tell me more about your role?
My team works directly with Jo Cartwright who's the Associate Dean for Student Experience and Graduate Outcomes. Our role is all about working with students as partners to create an inclusive student experience that leads to strong graduate outcomes. A lot of our work focuses on amplifying the student voice via engagement and feedback. For example, we recently worked with the Students’ Union to deliver the the Faculty Forum. We do this twice a year, and it's a really nice way to engage with students in a meaningful but light-touch way.
We work closely with our student partners who have recently delivered an event for the Black Heritage Student Network, which is now in its second year, and are also working on our neurodiversity project.
Another major area of our work is linked to the Access and Participation Plan (APP). We're reaching the .end of the current APP and will be starting a new one later this year. Last year, we ran a lot of focus groups with students from different backgrounds which was really insightful.
Alongside all of this, we’re involved with NSS-related action plans and mid-term action plans. I’ve mostly been engaged at Faculty level rather than directly with students as a lot of the NSS work is happening within the Schools. We are also involved in the coordination of mid-semester surveys and Unit Evaluation Questionnaires, ensuring that student feedback is heard and acted upon.
What do you enjoy the most about your role?
Definitely the touchpoints with students. I’m really passionate about improving the student experience, so when I can see positive changes happening as a result of the work we do, that’s incredibly rewarding.
It also makes me reflect on my own journey. Talking to students and even some of our younger team members really puts things into perspective. I’ll catch myself saying things like, ‘back in my day, we didn’t even have Wi-Fi,’ and they look at me like I’m from another planet! Those moments remind me how much things have changed, but also how important it is to keep evolving and making sure the student experience is the best it can be.
How long have you worked at the University?
Seven and half years.
What roles have you held previously?
Before my current role, I was an administrator in TLSE. Before that, I worked in television for about three years, first in production and then in post-production. It was an exciting but intense environment with tight deadlines, last-minute crises and no such thing as switching off. It was fun, but it completely took over my life and I eventually realised I wanted something different. That’s when I made the conscious decision to move into higher education because I’ve always liked being around learning. I started at the University as a temp for a couple of months before becoming permanent.
Before TV, I worked in business and professional services, including a European-funded project helping SMEs trade overseas and a China-based initiative to foster investment between Manchester and China. I also worked for Trafford Council and in construction, and earlier in my career, I worked in recruitment.
However, my favourite job has to be working at a bingo hall in Stretford when I was a student. I wasn’t the caller, but I ran around checking numbers and chatting with the regulars. It was great fun, and I absolutely loved it.
What do you like to do outside of work?
Outside of work, my biggest passion is travelling – I think about it all the time! In 2023, I took a six-month career break to backpack through Southeast Asia, Japan, and Central America. It was an incredible experience and I’d love to do another big trip in a few years, hopefully through Central and South America before backpacking gets too tough! If I could do anything, I think I’d run group tours and help people experience the world.
I also love live music and going to gigs. Theatre is another big interest and recently I watched Macbeth with David Tennant and Prima Facie with Jodie Comer – she was phenomenal.
Finally, what’s your favourite book, film and food?
I don’t have a favourite book because I’ve never been great at reading. I struggle with the attention span but this year I made a resolution to start reading more, and I’m on my third book in The Thursday Murder Club series by Richard Osman. My favourite film is The Sound of Music. This summer I’m going interrailing (a Christmas gift from my son), and I’m planning to visit Austria to do The Sound of Music tour. I’ve also seen Wicked multiple times.
As for food, I’m a proper Northerner. My ultimate comfort meal is sugar-free Vimto (still, not sparkling) and Warburtons crumpets. I missed them so much while travelling that my sister and best friend actually brought me Vimto and crumpets when they visited me in Vietnam and Mexico!