Author: Philip Greenish, Chair of Council
Please note: information in this blog was accurate at the time of the meeting – 25 November 2020 – and may now have been superseded.
Council met on 25 November via Microsoft Teams. Before the meeting, and instead of our usual faculty tour, we had meetings with two groups from the university community. The first was with a group of technicians who have been involved with implementing the Technician Commitment. We were briefed on the aims of the Commitment ahead of the university launch event which was due to take place that afternoon. This has been in preparation since 2018 and represents a significant step in providing visibility and recognition of the work of our technicians, who are all crucially important to the functioning of the university. It also seeks to improve their career development. We were most impressed and gave the initiative our unqualified support.
We then met a diverse group of students from across the university to hear from them how they feel about the way teaching is being conducted under COVID-19 restrictions this term and on the implementation of the COVID-secure campus. They recognised and were grateful for the efforts made by university staff in creating and delivering new ways of teaching and were full of praise for the work done to provide safe access to campus spaces. They described this as exemplary. They pulled no punches in explaining some of the challenges that students are facing as a result of essential COVID measures and described the very high stress levels which many students are reporting. It was an illuminating and important session.
We started the Council meeting itself by welcoming Dr Valentina Cardo as a new member appointed from Senate. We then reviewed actions from our last meeting on 29 September and the informal meeting on 23 October, held to review student recruitment data and its impact on the university finances.
The Vice-Chancellor, Mark E. Smith, reported on current issues including our Department for Education (DfE) Tier 1 status (not to be confused with the England Coronavirus Tiers), which allows us to keep our facilities open. Our COVID infection rate remains low with 25 active cases at the time of our meeting and a cumulative total of 281 over the period. Our comprehensive testing programme has been a factor but more important has been the exceptional way in which the whole university has responded. While there is no room for complacency, Council was particularly pleased to hear this. The VC updated us on the latest changes to national policy and the likely impacts.
Olivia Reed, SUSU President, reported that the welcome provided to arriving students had been very well received despite the constraints of COVID. She was pleased that a feasibility study on improvements to the Students’ Union building has been authorised and reported that their budget is in a good position, albeit that it is in a previously approved deficit. The key issue we then discussed was lecture recording and the challenge of deciding when it might be appropriate to record other teaching such as labs, seminars and tutorial groups. Council asked to put on record its admiration and thanks for the way our students have responded to COVID measures.
The Chief Operating Officer, Richard Middleton, updated us on the “active campus” project and on student and staff wellbeing. The work done to enable access to a safe campus and on blended learning has been exemplary and Council wants to pass its congratulations and thanks to the many members of staff who have worked tirelessly to make this happen.
This is the time of year when Council approves the Financial Statements for the previous financial/academic year. This substantial document had already been considered by both the Finance and Audit Committees and was approved by Council. Readers of the Financial Statements, when published next month, will note the massively distorting effect of the USS pension deficit which changed dramatically from the previous year (and will do so in the other direction this year). The Audit Committee then presented its annual report which is the culmination of its focused work over the year. We reviewed the KPIs for the last academic year, which were originally set in 2016 and have now been superseded, and we approved the final budget for 2020/21 which is subject to review once final international PGT numbers are known in January.
Our next major item was the new ED&I strategy which takes a very different approach to EDI and aims to embed cultural change through the whole university. In a lively discussion, Council members made many points which need to be considered in implementing the strategy. We concluded that the change in approach is right from every perspective and that it must be implemented with the highest priority. We offered Council’s fullest support in taking it forward and endorsed the strategy. It is an outstanding piece of work and should be embraced wholeheartedly to ensure our that university becomes and remains a truly inclusive community.
The remaining items we discussed in a very full agenda included the Bridging Strategy KPIs, the annual Academic Assurance report, a pension report, the annual report from the Remuneration Committee, the annual report on PREVENT and a number of HR matters which required Council’s approval.