Author: Shaun Williams, Executive Director of Engagement and Advancement
The Vice-Chancellor started the meeting by welcoming Professor Philip Nelson to his first UEB meeting as the interim Dean of the Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences.
Almost the whole of this week’s meeting was devoted to discussions about the COVID-19 (coronavirus) outbreak and the implications for the University. By the time this blog is published, some elements of the discussion will have been superseded by developments and will have been covered in our daily emails to staff and students, and so would be unhelpful to detail here. But in brief:
- The Chief Operating Officer (Interim) updated UEB on the extensive work of the Business Continuity Group and the COVID-19 Action Team, including measures to support and protect those colleagues who may potentially be more vulnerable to the virus, and preparations for a significant increase in remote-working and home-working to build resilience within our teams, which will be critical to ensure the University remains operational.
- The Vice-President (Education) updated UEB on the detailed planning underway – in particular to support our final year students successfully to graduate – recognising that alternative methods of assessment will be required. Additional work is focusing on a significant medium-term transition to online learning.
- In light of the global coronavirus outbreak, UEB agreed changes to make the business planning process more light touch this year, to allow greater focus on our responses to the situation. A budget is still required for the start of the new financial year on 1 August 2020, and this will be set in line with the faculty and professional services business planning targets, with a focus on ensuring expenditure budgets can be met.
Finally, there was an update on national and local developments relating to the current period of industrial action, and the monthly Health, Safety & Risk report was noted.