VC Bulletin March 2021

VC's Introduction

It is now a year since Covid-19 changed all our lives. I don’t think any of us predicted, or expected, that the disruption would be so significant and last so long. However, the Government has now provided its roadmap out of lockdown and it does feel that we have the opportunity to plan ahead with more confidence. Let us hope that the worst is finally behind us.

I’m particularly pleased that we can now look forward to welcoming more students back to campus in the coming weeks as a result of recent Government announcements. The process needs to be measured in order to support keeping everyone safe and our infections numbers low. The Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE) reporting has shown that university campuses have not been a significant source of transmission for the virus. This is supported by our own experience where infection rates within the University community have been low. I’m personally very much looking forward to seeing our campus come back to life and want all our staff and students to feel confident about being here. 

The predicted easing of restrictions also enables us to review our plans for graduation for the 2020 and 2021 graduates and consider what may now be possible. Graduations are large and complex events and there is much to work through. We recognise that these events are also a defining moment for our students and their families. We will be letting all those graduates affected and our staff know our plans as soon as possible.

While these are examples of our many current planning challenges, it does feel that we can now begin to raise our heads above the immediate issues and begin to look further ahead in our thinking. In my bulletin this month, I am pleased to  provide an update on our work on anonymising recruitment, and also to report on how we are building our global partnerships in technology research and education.

12 months since Lockdown 1.0 - looking back at what we've achieved

Reflecting on the 12 months since the first national lockdown, it seems hard to fathom how quickly our world turned upside down. On this day (2 March) a year ago there were just 37 known coronavirus cases in the UK, and yet within two weeks (13 March) we suspended all face-to-face teaching and by 23 March the Prime Minister delivered his stay at home message as the first lockdown began.

This has been the most challenging and difficult year for colleagues - including me. We cannot underestimate the strain of three national lockdowns, home schooling and caring responsibilities, the constant disruption and revision of plans. And the challenges still remain with blended and connected learning returning, as students come back to campus with a significant road to travel before we are back to some normality - but at least an end is potentially in sight.

I’m immensely proud and grateful to colleagues about what we’ve achieved together with great dedication and diligence. I can’t possibly list of all of our achievements, but I wanted to highlight a few which a year ago I wouldn’t have thought possible including:

• transforming our teaching with countless hours of high quality blended and connected learning
• providing staff with the equipment and systems to deliver virtual learning and meetings, which has reduced our carbon footprint and printed paper
• repatriating over 200 students and staff who were studying or working globally back home in a safe and efficient manner
• closing and then reopening 900 teaching rooms across campus in a Covid safe manner with sanitiser stations, temperature scanners, one-way systems, enhanced cleaning, protective screens and PPE packs for all staff
• testing over 21,000 staff and students through our own testing site, and becoming the first university in the UK to host a Department of Health and Social Care testing site on campus
• designing face-shields, training vaccination volunteers, increasing our research bidding rate and informing SAGE through our incredible work on RNA-sequencing
• loaning more than 800 laptops for students from lower income households
• providing food parcels and support for self-isolating students, 80% rent reduction for students in University-owned halls, as well as financial support for those who need it through the Rent Assistance Scheme and University Support Fund
• launching an online Study Buddy Club to support children of staff aged 7 to 11 years, and a Staff Chromebook loan scheme of around 200 Chromebooks to support home schooling.

It’s quite amazing what we’ve achieved together in 12 months, considering the challenge of the circumstances. You should be proud of what you have done and as colleagues I want to thank each one of you for working together and supporting each other through such impossibly difficult times!

Latest designs for new Victoria Park Building

Despite all of these challenges, the longer term planning and work has continued and I am particularly pleased to share the latest designs for our new landmark teaching building, The Victoria Park Building, which you can see in this virtual fly-through. Our new 11 storey teaching building has been designed for the future with flexible spaces for interaction, innovation and learning.  It will have some of the largest teaching spaces on campus, lecture theatres, a roof terrace and top floor restaurant. This project will soon be opened up for public consultation prior to a formal planning application being submitted.

Boosting biodiversity at Ravelin Sports Centre

Spring is nearly here for our Ravelin Sports Centre project with the creation of our new three tiered wildflower amphitheatre. This event space and the surrounding park has been sown with a vibrant mixture of wildflowers, herbs and perennials including daisies, cowslips, yarrow, thyme and chives. These species will produce a colourful spectacle from spring to autumn. We are also planting 140 new trees. These trees are native species and include Elm, Beech, Hazel and Oak. The installation of bat and bird boxes and possibly beehives are also planned to increase fauna and biodiversity in Ravelin Park. Both Estate Masterplan projects support our vision to become climate positive and create a vibrant experience for our communities.

Anonymised recruitment

In September 2020 we launched the anonymised application form for professional services and support roles, removing details such as names to avoid any unconscious bias through the recruitment process. We have been waiting for statistics to see if the form is having an impact on the number of black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) applications and appointments made within the University.

It is still early days but we are pleased to be already seeing a positive trend. Since the application form was launched, applications from BAME candidates have increased by 3.7% and the number of candidates shortlisted by 4%. Job offers to BAME candidates have also increased by 1.5%. Although there is still a long way to go, we hope these figures will continue to rise over the next year as the anonymous process embeds and other initiatives are introduced for academic and professional roles to increase the diversity of our staff community as part of our strategic ambitions.

Race Equality Charter Action Plan

I am pleased to confirm that we submitted our Race Equality Charter Action Plan to Advance HE on 18 February for consideration of a Bronze award. We await the outcome of the submission but I wanted to thank all those involved in contributing to this, particularly the members of the Self Assessment Team who spent the last year and a half bringing together and analysing the data and information which underpins the action plan. We are now working on agreeing the KPIs for the plan and to start the implementation. The first step is the BAME Staff conference which is scheduled for the end of this month to enable us to start to have the conversations with our BAME staff about how this issue has affected them and how we can work together as a University to deliver the wholesale change to our culture and approach that is needed. Further detailed communication to staff and students about the Race Equality Charter will be shared over the coming weeks.

Review of Academic Regulations

A major University-wide review is underway of our academic regulations. This review brings students and staff from across the University together to update our suite of regulations. This covers taught and research provision assessment regulations and special considerations including extenuating circumstances, student conduct, and appeals.  The reason we are looking at this all together is to ensure we are working to sector best practice and to ensure our academic regulations are fair and supportive, aligned with each other, easy to navigate and inclusive for all students and types of courses with clear use of language . There will be opportunities in the months ahead to learn more about the project through a dedicated All Staff Q&A session.  There will be a number of focus groups and other activities taking place where you and our students can share your experiences of operating existing regulations to identify ideas for improvement.  But you don't have to wait for those events, if you want to get involved straight away you can share your thoughts and feedback through the Google Form on the project webpage under Get Involved.

Building our global partnerships in technology research and education

It is exciting to share with you the news that the Faculty of Technology has recently won two major grants which will significantly enhance our engagement with global partners in research and education. Many congratulations to Professor Raymond Lee, Associate Dean (Global Engagement) who is leading these projects.

In partnership with Shanghai Jiao Tong University, which is part of the China 9 alliance of elite institutions, we are organising a workshop: “Advancing wearable technology: promoting physical activity and mobility among older adults in China”. This will be supported by the Newton Funds Researcher Links Grant. Thirty early career researchers from various universities in China and the UK will be invited to attend this event, and work with senior researchers to develop international research projects which will generate significant socioeconomic impacts.

The Faculty has further consolidated its links with Shanghai Jiao Tong University with another successful joint bid for the British Council Education Partnership Initiative Grant. The Hanoi University of Science and Technology, which is one of the most well-established universities in Vietnam, is also a partner in this five-year educational grant. The aim is to develop an open mobile learning platform to enhance research skill development in engineering and science through learning strategies which may be implemented anytime and anywhere. A common vision shared by all partners is to promote learning technologies which can be effectively implemented in low and middle-income countries.