This week, we meet Aimie Chapple, who leads a range of service areas across UCL. Here, she chats to us about opening a park at Walt Disney World, the novel she currently has on preorder and her work improving the way we do HR, Finance, Recruitment and Admissions.
What is your role and what does it involve’
I am the VP Operations - which is like a COO in many other organisations. I look after a number of our professional services areas: Estates Development and Campus Experience, IT, Student Registry, Recruiting and Admissions, Commercial and Procurement, Faculty Operations, Strategic Change, and Shared Services. I also interface into PS across the university to help ensure our operational practices are aligned to our strategic plan and delivering efficient services. This is a journey - but we are making progress on both our digital and our physical infrastructure after a long period where investing in them had not been a priority.
How long have you been at UCL and what was your previous role’
I joined in May 2023, and prior to this role I was the CEO of an outsourcing business and my longest role - 26 years - was a partner in a consulting firm - where I had many roles - but the last few were Chief Innovation Officer for UKI, Head of Consulting for UKI, Head of Healthcare for UK, Human Capital Strategy lead globally, Change Management community of practice lead globally and lead for Talent and Organisational Change in the UK.
What working achievement or initiative are you most proud of’
We are early in my time with UCL - but I am proud of the delivery work we are doing to help us better understand our campus ( myCampus ) and our services ( myServices ) as well as the work that leaders across the university come together to support our digital portfolios. Outside of UCL - the most fun was opening a park at Walt Disney World, the most impactful was stopping people trafficking at the border and the biggest was delivering NHSMail to the two million stakeholders in the NHS.
Tell us about a project you are working on now which is top of your to-do list’
As you can imagine my to-do list is made up of things to support others across our many PS functions. At the moment - improving the way we do HR and Finance and Recruitment and Admissions is top of my list. We call this "functions work" - but it is really about ensuring that we work well together across the university to deliver on our outcomes. We are also delivering a 2050 Vision for our future estate - so that we can start to invest in areas that will make the biggest difference to achieving our academic ambitions and our student life strategy.
What is your favourite album, film and novel’
I have become obsessed with Coldplay since I arrived at UCL - so they often make the top of my playlist at the moment... We Pray is a nice newer one on the streaming app.
Film - I am a sucker for most of the Harry Potters - and the sound engineer on the first two-to-three is a good friend of ours.
Novel - I read a lot of fiction to unwind... my latest series starts with the Pale Dreamer by Samanthan Shannon. The last in the series comes out in February and I have it on order!
What is your favourite joke (pre-watershed)’
I am not very good at jokes....
Who would be your dream dinner guests’
I often have this dream of a dinner with all my friends from over the decades and all’over the world - it would have to be a really long dinner to get all the conversations in that I want to - but boy it be fun!
What advice would you give your younger self’
Relax and exercise more! Give yourself a break and learn to be nice to yourself every day. It’s not a luxury, it is part of being your best self.
What would it surprise people to know about you’ I studied nutrition over the past 6 years because I was curious. Not sure if I will ever do anything with it - but I really enjoyed learning and becoming qualified to practice.
What is your favourite place’
Way up in the foothills of Colorado - not yet the big ones, but high enough that you can find snow in June.
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