Author: Shaun Williams, Executive Director of Engagement and Advancement
Starting this week we’re introducing a new weekly blog from the University Executive Board (known more usually as UEB).
It’s one of a number of steps we want to take to ensure that our staff and student community has a better understanding of the University’s strategic direction, as well as what goes on at UEB meetings and the decisions that are made there.
The purpose of the blog
Within this blog, we’ll try to give you a brief flavour of the issues that have been discussed each week at UEB. Some items will then need separate and more detailed communications, as we recognise the importance of multi-channel approaches (both digital and face-to-face) to ensure everyone feels informed and engaged.
It’s worth mentioning that some papers and business cases can of course be confidential, meaning they can’t be talked about at that particular time, because they may involve commercial contracts or named staff. Some papers will also need further discussion or approval at the Council-led Finance Committee, or at full Council itself, before they can be talked about in more detail.
What is UEB?
UEB meets every Monday morning for three hours, and is chaired by the Vice-Chancellor. From this week, Professor Mark Spearing took over as Chair in his new role as President and Vice-Chancellor (Interim).
UEB is attended by the Vice-Chancellor, the three Vice-Presidents, the five Deans, the Pro Vice-Chancellor (10-Year Plan), the Chief Operating Officer, the Executive Director of Finance and Planning, the Executive Director of Human Resources, and the Executive Director of Engagement and Advancement. Other colleagues attend to discuss individual issues or business cases.
One UEB meeting every month is a dedicated 10-Year Plan UEB, which is chaired by Professor Mandy Fader (Pro Vice-Chancellor, 10-Year Plan). These meetings are focused entirely on reviewing progress on our 10-Year Plan projects and considering concept papers and business cases for potential new projects.
The Vice-Chancellor, with the University Executive, has overall responsibility for the day-to-day management of and decision making at the University. The University Council, to whom the Vice-Chancellor reports, is responsible for approving our mission and strategy, monitoring our performance, scrutinising our finances, and directing our academic functions.
This week’s UEB
In his first week in the chair as our President and Vice-Chancellor (Interim), Professor Mark Spearing’s first act was to thank the organisers of the weekend’s hugely successful Science and Engineering Day – 7,000 attendees and a palpable multi-disciplinary buzz around our Highfield campus.
A huge 211-page agenda for today’s UEB, with a variety of issues discussed. Kieron Broadhead, our Executive Director of Student Experience, joined the meeting to ask UEB to support new initiatives to improve the experience at Southampton of our international students. For the 2019 intake, we want some immediate actions to improve their pre-arrival transition, their welcome and introduction, and their ongoing integration into campus life. This was strongly supported – there is a recognition, underpinned by recent research we’ve carried out, that the experience we provide for our international students still has a long way to go to be really world-class. Once our plans are more developed, we’ll share details more widely.
Professor Rebecca Taylor, Chief Executive Officer of University of Southampton Malaysia, joined the meeting to talk about options ahead for our Malaysia campus and the programme portfolio we offer. Rebecca’s talk highlighted a complex landscape and a number of options and opportunities to explore and develop further. More discussion to come ahead as we refresh our International Strategy.
Then, a paper asking if we want to support Southampton City Council as a Principal Partner in a possible future City of Culture bid. This gained unanimous approval for our conditional support – we’re looking to support development of the city’s reputation in every way as a great place to live, work, visit – and of course study, and this would align well with our own growing Arts and Culture Strategy.
Our usual detailed weekly look at the University’s finances, including a review of student application numbers – a variable picture across the University, with strong international applications in the Business School and at WSA meaning some PG programmes have stopped accepting applications already. Our financial challenges continue, like all universities, and Faculty and Professional Services budgets need very careful monitoring.
Finally, after a particularly full agenda, a review of Professional Services’ strategic objectives and activity, led by Ian Dunn, our Chief Operating Officer; a regular update from Cathy Day, our Director of Health, Safety and Risk, including a proposed new risk management framework and policy; and formal ratification of MSA Level 7 Moderated Appraisals, to ensure a consistent approach across the University.