Author: Shaun Williams, Executive Director Engagement and Advancement
- UEB warmly welcomed news that our University had won a Gold Award with Commendation at last week’s UK Social Mobility Awards, and were pleased that our commitment to this very important area for the University has been recognised nationally, and not just in the sector.
- UEB reviewed an options paper for Summer 2023 Graduations, recognising that planned redevelopment of Highfield Campus means there are no options for on-campus graduations next year. It was agreed we should progress planning for ceremonies to take place in Southampton’s Guildhall – which will also allow us to take advantage of our growing presence in the City’s Cultural Quarter – and in Winchester Cathedral. Further information will be provided over the coming months.
- UEB reviewed a concerning report about compliance with our mandatory cyber security training, which suggested extremely low levels of uptake. The risk of a cyber incident is ever-increasing, as a number of other universities have already discovered. Although we have put in place extensive toughening of our cyber security defences, vigilance by everyone in our community – informed by training – is critical. There will be a renewed drive to ensure everyone engages with the current two cyber courses, which take less than 15 minutes each to complete. Separately, UEB heard that a detailed scenario planning exercise is taking place very shortly to test our planning and resilience against a hypothetical cyber attack.
- UEB received an update on the work of a Cost of Living Taskforce which has been looking at ways we can ensure support to our students and staff during an economically challenging period. Further details will be provided shortly, but the measures will include strengthening the financial hardship support options available to students and staff, self-management advice to students to encourage financial resilience, and potential reduced-cost catering options on campus.
- UEB considered a letter and report jointly sent to a number of universities by five non-governmental organisations concerned about dual use technology research relating to autonomous weapons systems. We made clear in our Freedom of Information response to this report that we have consistently, and without exception, refused to undertake work on the design or development of weapons or weapons systems, including autonomous weapons systems, and we have never received funding to work on lethal autonomous weapons systems.
- UEB received a further update on our next Staff Engagement Survey which opens on 7 November. Following feedback after the last pulse survey, we have now been able to ensure the option to leave verbatim comments as well.
- UEB discussed a business case for Continuing Professional Development and Continuing Education Transformation. There was strong support for the initiative, and also a recognition that we need with this and other major initiatives coming out of strategic plans to ensure careful strategic sequencing mapped against internal resource capacity, recognising that it is often the same individuals and the same teams which are asked to support every project.
- Finally, there was the regular review of the University Risk Register.