Author: Shaun Williams, Executive Director of Engagement and Advancement
A number of issues were discussed under the Vice-Chancellor’s Business section at the start of this week’s meeting:
- There was a discussion about the industrial action due to start at Southampton and 73 other universities on Thursday 20 February and the measures being put in place to minimise the impact of this action on our community. There was also an update on developments at national level in respect of the pay and pensions issues which form part of the dispute.
- There was an update on the global coronavirus outbreak. The University continues closely to monitor the situation and to liaise with national and local health bodies, and our Business Continuity group continues to ensure we are well prepared to deal with any further developments. By the end of last week, there had been more than 21,500 unique views of our regularly-updated coronavirus webpage, the main source of information and advice for students and staff.
UEB also heard that meetings have taken place with Chinese student associations, amid concern at some instances in the city of anti-Chinese behaviour and misconceptions around risk. There have not been any reports of incidents on our campuses, but the University is clear that it will not tolerate any form of racist behaviour. The University encourages students and staff to come forward immediately if they are aware of any racist incidents taking place, which will be fully investigated and appropriate actions taken. Discussions are taking place with other organisations across the city to ensure there is a supportive, community response to any such incidents.
UEB also discussed the wider sector response through Universities UK (UUK) to the outbreak, including potentially having to move online the English-language testing required for prospective students to obtain the necessary visas, while physical testing centres in China remain closed as a precaution. - There was an update on the planned phased roll-out of multi-factor authentication (MFA) across the University. Recent attempted cyber-attacks on Southampton and other universities have highlighted the need for us to introduce measures commonly used by financial and public organisations, to ensure greater security against identity theft and fraud. This is being piloted with key staff, with lessons being learned from the process before being rolled out more widely across the University over the coming weeks. Cyber security is posing an increasing challenge on both a personal and institutional level, and use of MFA has been deemed mandatory by UEB to protect the University community.
- UEB was advised that the Office for Students (OfS) has formally approved our Student Protection Plan, a document that every university is required to have which sets out the measures the University has in place to protect students’ continuation of studies in a range of scenarios. It will be published on our website by the end of this month.
On the rest of the agenda today:
- There was a wide-ranging discussion about the University’s Risk Register, which UEB regularly reviews to ensure it continues fully to capture the recurring and emerging risks the University faces, and to ensure it is taking all necessary measures to mitigate those risks. Brexit remains on the risk register, as the implications remain unclear while a future trade agreement is negotiated, while coronavirus and its varying implications has been added as a new risk.
- Finally, there was a regular update on progress with the University’s Athena SWAN charter action plans, a review of the monthly Health, Safety & Risk incident report, and UEB noted the proposed agenda for the March Council meeting.