Author: Shaun Williams, Executive Director, Engagement and Advancement
A number of strategic and operational issues on the agenda for this week’s UEB meeting:
- This week is obviously a hugely important and busy week for the University in respect of student recruitment, as we enter a period of Confirmation and Clearing following the publication of A Level results. UEB heard we are in a very strong and buoyant position compared with previous years, and our approach to Clearing will be one of looking for quality not quantity, and maintaining high tariff. UEB thanked all those in our Schools and Professional Services who have worked extremely hard on this year’s recruitment and admissions activity, which has put us in this much stronger position.
- The Vice-President (Operations) advised UEB of two senior leadership changes in Professional Services, to be announced later that day. Kieron Broadhead, our Executive Director, Student Experience, is taking on additional leadership responsibilities to become Senior Executive Director, Students and Infrastructure, & Deputy Vice-President (Operations). He will be the formal standing deputy to the Vice-President (Operations) in her absence. Yvonne Hawkins, who played a key role in the development and implementation of our new University Strategy and its underpinning Strategic Plans, will from 1 September assume the extended role of Executive Director, Governance, Legal and Strategy Implementation.
- The Vice-Chancellor updated UEB on two separate letters from University and College Union (UCU) nationally, relating to the on-going pensions and pay issues in the sector. UEB considered the contents of both letters and noted the implication that, on the basis of the conditions laid out in them, we are likely to be in formal dispute later in the year.
- UEB were advised on our latest allocation of Higher Education Quality-related Research (QR) funding, of £49M, which is based on the quality of research and the number of full-time equivalent research active staff as assessed by the most recent Research Excellence Framework (REF) assessment. In absolute terms our core recurrent QR grant has risen, but our overall sector share has dropped slightly, as has our relative position against competitors, who have grown headcount through the REF period. We are now 11th in terms of size of the QR grant compared to 8th previously. Looking at the total recurrent grant announced by Research England, which also included the Higher Education Innovation Funding (HEIF) , it showed an overall increase of £3.8M for Southampton. This is a very strong position, as one of the UK’s biggest research institutions, but we aspire to more, and our new triple-helix University Strategy with its growth imperative will help ensure we do so, and move back into the top 10 in terms of the scale of research and innovation.
- There was an update from the newly-established Website Oversight Board, chaired by the Vice-President (Operations), on the on-going transition of academic content to a new website structure. A number of concerns have been raised about some errors, omissions and decisions, and the WOB will help ensure concerns are understood, prioritised appropriately, and that the teams dealing with them are adequately resourced and supported. Good progress is being made dealing with issues, but UEB was reminded that during the run-up to and throughout Clearing we are temporarily suspending the daily updates to the corporate website from Pure and Identity Management (IDM) to minimise any risk or disruption to the website during a critical period. Updates will resume from 22 August. UEB also heard that although issues need to be addressed at pace, it’s also important that short-term workarounds aren’t put in place that could undermine our drive to creating a single source of data truth, the lack of which was one of the many reasons OneWeb was set up as a project in the first place.
- UEB received an update on progress with our draft Civic University Agreement, to be launched this autumn, aligned with our broader Civic Strategic Plan, a core element of our new University Strategy. The Civic University Agreement has been developed as an externally-facing document which articulates our intent to collaborate with civic partners and external stakeholders, underpinned by the four civic pillars of People, Place, Partnership and Impact. The vision is to work together to improve the lives and environment of people across diverse communities in a just and responsible way by developing co-designed civic partnerships and agreements to drive the social, environmental, and economic benefits that are most vital to those regional partners and communities.
- UEB noted the outcomes from the most recent round of Level 4-6 Appraisals, which has seen a drop in overall completion numbers during the period of the COVID pandemic. Our goal should always be 100% completion, and UEB underlined the importance of senior leaders and managers in demonstrating the importance of appraisal discussions, and ensuring that managers complete appraisals within the required timeframe, having agreed a fair and honest rating commensurate with performance.
- Finally, there was the regular review of the University Risk Register.