Author: Shaun Williams, Executive Director, Engagement and Advancement
Operating in Gold Command mode, UEB discussed several operational and campus issues:
- There was a detailed update on the student assessment period which started this week, an issue which led to a number of initial concerns about in-person exams being raised with UEB last week by SUSU. These concerns, together with three Open Letters to the Vice-Chancellor from SUSU President Ben Dolbear, who attends UEB meetings, have now been the subject of very extensive discussions at four formal and informal UEB meetings since the start of the New Year, and at several meetings of Education Silver.
- UEB’s agreed position, which has also been discussed with our local public health partners, is that we are confident that the risk assessments that are in place for the in-person exam venues are robust and ensure alignment with University and Government COVID guidance, and that the roughly 40 per cent of assessments that will take place in-person have been carefully planned and determined to be in the best interests of those students’ education. UEB of course recognises that exams are a time of heightened anxiety for some students at the best of times, even more so with COVID still prevalent, and the support available to students has been extensively highlighted.
- The Vice-Chancellor reported to UEB that he had personally visited a number of exam venues over the preceding 24 hours, including queuing up with students, who he commended for the very responsible behaviour he witnessed. Additional staff have been deployed including from our Health, Safety and Risk team to ensure any issues can be dealt with swiftly. SUSU President Ben Dolbear, who attends UEB, cited some specific examples of concern which will be investigated further.
- UEB also discussed two further issues raised through SUSU, about the process of self-reporting in relation to Special Considerations, and the ability of anyone unable to take an exam still to complete their degree and graduate with their cohort. Further communication to students was planned imminently to address both issues.
The meeting then reverted to normal UEB mode to discuss a number of other issues:
- The Vice-Chancellor reported that over the last week he, the Senior Vice-President (Academic) and the Vice-President (Operations) had taken part in several Town Halls with academic and Professional Services colleagues, the first of more than 40 such events planned following the launch of the new University Strategy. He said initial engagement appeared very positive, and there was a clear appetite for engaging in the development of the ten strategic plans that will underpin and ensure delivery of the strategy.
- UEB approved a paper to be discussed by our Governing Council which set out potential growth areas for the University in its UK student recruitment and in its Trans-National Education student numbers as we deliver on our new University Strategy, along with growth in our Research and Enterprise activity and income, all of which will have implications for our longer-term estates strategy planning.
- UEB discussed the latest USS pension scheme consultation, including a draft Equality Impact Assessment on proposed changes to the scheme, and a summary of the responses to the recent consultation. There will be a further meeting of our governing Council’s Pensions Committee to consider the consultation response later this month.
- UEB considered some potential changes to the University Maternity Policy to support staff on fixed-term contracts. With full support from UEB, these will now be consulted on with our campus trades unions. Finally, there was the regular review of the University Risk Register.