Author: Shaun Williams, Executive Director Engagement and Advancement
Operating in Gold Command mode, UEB discussed several operational and campus issues:
- We continue to monitor very closely developments with the COVID Omicron variant, to ensure we are prepared for any potential scenarios ahead in a further period of uncertainty. The Government is very clear that it wants all educational institutions to continue with in person teaching, supported by regular testing and other precautionary measures. The next review of the Government’s current guidelines is expected on 18 December. UEB also heard about the support that will be put in place to help those students who will be remaining with us, and in our residences, over the winter break.
- Our student and staff COVID case numbers remain relatively low, and compliance with our COVID guidelines continues to be widely observed. One point made at the meeting was the importance of staff continuing to adhere strictly to the guidelines in the more social periods of the working day, including meal breaks.
The meeting then reverted to normal UEB mode to discuss a number of other issues:
- As we have done for the previous two UEB meetings, we reviewed and discussed drafts of two more of the ten strategic plans which will underpin and ensure delivery of our new University Strategy, to be launched early next year. This week it was the turn of our Enterprise and Civic strategic plans to be in the spotlight. Both are areas of enormous, but at times disparate activity and opportunity for the University, and there was huge support by UEB Members to strengthen and champion all we are doing in these key areas. These, like the other strategic plans, will continue to be refined over the coming months, including through detailed consultation with the wider community, to ensure readiness and alignment with the overall Strategy, and to help inform the decisions and prioritisations needed during the next period of business planning. We’re very conscious of the feedback from the consultation that colleagues want to understand clearly how the Strategy directly relates to their role. (The ten strategic plans will comprise: People; Equality, Diversity & Inclusion; Sustainability; Student Experience; Education; Research; Enterprise; International; Civic; and Infrastructure.)
- Next, UEB reviewed a detailed analysis of this year’s NSS results to assess the extent to which universities have felt the impact of COVID on their NSS results. The conclusion was that Southampton fared fairly well compared to our counterparts, for a number of reasons including our pre-existing 24/7 support for students, and very regular communication throughout the pandemic to students and staff. The analysis will be used as background context when producing future student experience plans.
- Finally, UEB were briefed on discussions at a recent Universities UK Board meeting, at which Southampton’s trial of the effectiveness of vaccine boosters, which received global media coverage last week, was highlighted as being the ‘gold standard’ internationally; and there was the regular review of the University Risk Register.