Author: Shaun Williams, Executive Director, Engagement and Advancement
Operating in Gold Command mode, UEB considered a number of issues relating to the COVID pandemic and its implications for the operation of the University:
- UEB were updated on discussions at the Silver Command meeting which had taken place earlier that morning. Following last week’s publication of the Government’s lockdown exit plan for England, and a subsequent letter from the Universities’ Minister, we continue to work at pace planning for carefully phased waves of return for students and staff as Government guidelines allow, starting from 8 March with certain permitted practical or practice-based courses. Many of our students will be continuing with fully online learning until Easter at least, and the Government has said it will issue further guidance for classroom-based teaching by the end of the Easter holidays. A safe, gradual return will make for a much better student experience, all underpinned by our COVID-secure campuses and the Hampshire and Isle of Wight saliva testing programme.
- The latest student and staff COVID cases dashboard was reviewed, which includes those students who are currently still living at home. Incidences in our own community remain extremely low – as of Monday morning there was one active staff case and two active student cases, but we remain vigilant.
- UEB considered a paper from SUSU, in part informed by a recent survey of students, highlighting a number of issues, including financial, relating to the impact of the pandemic on UK and international students. There was an explicit request to consider refunds. A formal response will be provided by the University after further consideration of the complex issues the paper raised has taken place.
The meeting then reverted to normal UEB mode for the rest of the meeting:
- UEB expressed its grave dismay and concern at reports that a member of our staff had been subject to a racially-motivated attack in the city. The University has branded the incident “appalling and unprovoked” and is offering its support to the member of staff involved. We continue to liaise closely with Hampshire police. All our students and staff are encouraged to come forward and report any incident they witness or personally experience.
- There was a further discussion about the Government’s publication of a White Paper with new proposals around free speech and academic freedom in higher education. Since last week’s UEB discussion we have as requested reviewed our existing internal practices against the Government’s ‘examples of best practice’. Our policies and systems in place are considered to deliver the good practice described, with some minor modifications identified which could be made at an appropriate time alongside other governance updates to make alignment even closer.
- The remainder of the meeting was spent on our monthly review of our Strategic Major Projects. This included a major update on our Education Programme, in particular on the Enhancing Academic Support and Delivery, and Curriculum Planning projects. These are critical to continually improving our academic endeavour, and have been given a new impetus by the lessons learned, and opportunities created, by our experiences of our blended education offering to students during the last twelve months. There is a determination that as the immediate and long-term restrictions of the pandemic ease, we ensure we clearly define and move towards a “new normal” rather than simply revert to previous ways of doing things.
- There was also an update on the major Student Experience Programme, a large programme of work designed to deliver rapid improvement to the student experience leading to improved satisfaction scores through a co-ordinated set of sub-programmes, projects and work-streams, particularly focused on improvements to sports, library and technology provisions.