Author: Shaun Williams, Executive Director Engagement and Advancement
- The main discussion at today’s UEB was rightly focused on our Active Campus preparations for the return of students and staff to a COVID-secure environment ready for the new academic year. With the smooth return of more than 4,000 of our students to our residences over last weekend, we are now moving from the planning phase of Active Campus to its active daily operation.
- The return of students to universities in Scotland and England has inevitably led to media coverage of student COVID cases and requirements for self-isolation. We’ve been able to learn some lessons ourselves from some of those experiences. UEB heard that it is inevitable that we will also see positive COVID cases ahead within our student community – we currently know of four confirmed cases – indeed we and our regional public health bodies are expecting potentially pretty significant numbers in line with general community transmission trends. That should not be the cause of panic – we are expecting it, and we are prepared for it, as are our local public health bodies and the City Council. UEB heard that our own positive case numbers may at times seem higher than other institutions, because unlike some we are offering asymptomatic testing to students, which will identify positive cases who aren’t showing any COVID symptoms. This means of course we can isolate them and trace their contacts – something those who are only testing students with COVID symptoms can’t do, which long-term puts us in a far better position to manage the situation.
- UEB also reviewed the University’s continually updated Outbreak Control and Response Plan, setting out our own outbreak control and response plans aligned to the Outbreak Plans for Southampton City Council, Hampshire County Council, and Public Health England processes and practices. One important element of our plan is the 4 RAG-rated tiers setting out how our teaching, research, student services, campus services, accommodation and travel and events activity will operate in increasing levels of restrictions, in line with Government guidelines. Movement between tiers will be agreed by the University in discussion with local public health authorities, and communicated to staff and students. It will be reviewed as a matter of course every Monday morning by the University’s Gold Command (a slightly extended UEB), and if required, emergency meetings of Gold will be called at any point.
- UEB also heard that more students have been signing up to our Southampton Testing Programme, which forms a key element of our COVID-secure campus arrangements. Testing of staff members with regular face-to-face interaction and campus presence will start from next week.
- Just a reminder that full information about our COVID-secure arrangements can be found here and continues to be regularly updated, and a TEAMS Q&A video with the Vice-Chancellor, Chief Operating Officer and Executive Director Student Services was published on Friday. You can also view the weekly figures for COVID-19 in Southampton by visiting the City Council’s COVID-19 dashboard.
- In other matters: UEB approved a new process for allocating computers to PGR students, and also discussed the very difficult decisions and prioritisations we will need to make ahead in the context of the very significant savings required that will impact on every area of the University, and need to be kept under active review as the year evolves. It’s difficult to know what ISN’T business critical right now, and we will increasingly need to prioritise difficult decisions against each other. UEB again underlined the importance for all colleagues to show understanding of the acute pressures everyone is under at the moment, and the at times difficult home-working conditions that some are experiencing.
- Finally, UEB reviewed a report setting out the key findings of our 2018/19 Transparent Approach to Costing (TRAC) return to the Office for Students (OfS), and there was the regular review of the University Risk Register.