Author: Shaun Williams, Executive Director Engagement and Advancement
Operating in Gold Command mode for the first part of today’s meeting, UEB – chaired this week by the Senior Vice-President (Academic) – discussed several operational and campus issues:
- The Chief Operating Officer provided a further update to UEB on the outbreak of student COVID-19 cases believed to be of the more-transmissible Delta variant, linked to off-campus social activity. Active cases have dropped significantly since last week, and we continue to liaise very closely with Public Health England and the City Council. COVID rates in the wider Southampton area remain relatively high.
- UEB heard that more than 600 students took advantage of the walk-in drop-in vaccination service offered at the campus health centre last week. All adults aged over 18 are now eligible to book their vaccinations and we are aware that many students are doing so, in Southampton or in their home town. We continue to work with our international students to support their vaccine journey.
- UEB heard we are continuing to operate in a COVID-compliant way, with physical distancing measures in place and those staff who are able to work from home continuing to do so. A further Government update is expected on 12 July ahead of the new checkpoint date of 19 July, after which we will provide a further update on implications to our community.
The meeting then reverted to normal UEB mode to discuss several other issues:
- UEB formally ratified the final REF 2021 Equality Impact Assessment, a mandatory component of the University’s REF 2021 submission. The report must be submitted to Research England by 30 July 2021 and will then be made publicly available, including on the University’s website.
- UEB welcomed and approved a proposal to develop a future Low Emissions Car Scheme, as an important contribution to our University’s ambitious Sustainability Strategy, and to support staff in their transition to electric ahead of the Government’s ban on the sale of new petrol and diesel cars by 2030. The intention would be to make the scheme as inclusive as we can, and to explore non-salary sacrifice options with potential suppliers. Staff can expect to hear more about this in the autumn.
- UEB received its final update on the University of Southampton Students’ Union (SUSU) activities from Olivia Reed, the outgoing elected President of SUSU, and thanked her for her leadership of SUSU over the last year. We also welcomed incoming SUSU President Ben Dolbear to his first meeting of UEB.
- Finally, there was the regular review of the University Risk Register.