What is your role and what does it involve?
I am the first-ever ResLife Manager at UCL, working within Campus Experience & Infrastructure to oversee and enhance the student experience across UCL Accommodation. In my role, I am dedicated to providing students with the best possible experience during their time with us - starting before they move in and continuing until they move out. A key part of this is managing and delivering our Flourish ResLife programme.This programme enhances students’ experiences by offering events and activities both inside and outside their homes. Within the Halls, I work with SSWS team, who manage our Student Residence Advisers (SRAs), to deliver a wide range of events, and with the Students’ Union UCL (SU), who deliver
Beyond the Halls, we organise day trips to UK cities, visits to London’s West End, and ad hoc events like pumpkin carving and our upcoming Festive Lunch on Boxing Day.
How long have you been at UCL and what was your previous role?
I joined UCL in April coming from London & Partners, London’s growth agency. My experience has been centred in events operations across various industries, all connected by a common thread: community. Previously I’ve worked with startups in the HE space, a learned royal society, and as a music tour booker and promoter for Students’ Unions.I’ve also been part of several universities, delivering hundreds of events and activities to tens of thousands of students-domestically and internationally, both virtually and in person.
What working achievement or initiative are you most proud of?
At a different university in a similar role, like most universities, during COVID and lockdown we struggled to support students in halls who were isolated from their communities.With a lot of hard work, creativity, and trial and error, our staff and student ambassadors built an award-winning virtual programme. Running daily, it kept our university community connected with everything from meditation and twerking dance classes to one-on-one chats over a cuppa.
Tell us about a project you are working on now which is top of your to-do list
After a very successful first term trailing new initiatives, events, and activities in halls, on campus, and beyond, I’m now working on a paper for a sustained ResLife provision across UCL Accommodation - illustrating UCL’s commitment to providing a fantastic living experience for students, not just for now but for years to come.What is your favourite album, film and novel?
A tough question with an ever-changing answer, but here are my most consistent picks:- Album: Fontaines D.C. - Live At Kilmainham Gaol
- Book: Ken Follet’s The Pillars of the Earth series
- Film: Love Rosie, if I’m feeling poorly/sorry for myself, or Pulp Fiction
What is your favourite joke (pre-watershed)?
Why did the scare crow get a promotion?He was outstanding in his field.
Who would be your dream dinner guests?
Trevor Noah - I’ve been a big fan of his comedy and political wit for years. His autobiography Born A Crime gives a fantastic insight into what it was like growing up as a mixed-race person in South Africa under the laws of apartheid.What advice would you give your younger self?
Take a breath - perspective is always useful, but it’s something that only comes with experience.What would it surprise people to know about you?
That Carney, which is my forename, is a common Irish surname.What is your favourite place?
St Alfege Park in Greenwich (where I studied History and Politics), hidden behind the church of the same name. It’s a bit of peace in a congested area and the perfect spot to enjoy lunch from the market.- University College London, Gower Street, London, WC1E 6BT (0) 20 7679 2000
