Author: Dr Giles Carden, Chief of Staff and Chief Strategy Officer
- The Vice-Chancellor and UEB offered a warm welcome to the new University of Southampton Students’ Union (SUSU) President Lawrence Coomber who was attending his first Executive Board meeting. Lawrence outlined some of the key things he wanted to achieve during his year as SUSU President.
- UEB reflected on an enjoyable Staff Party held last Wednesday on Highfield Campus and thanked the team for all the effort that they had put into making it a success.
- UEB also recorded its thanks to all colleagues involved with the open days held over the last weekend. Over 5,000 people attended over the two days. It was noted the events had evolved based on feedback received last year and that there had been positive feedback, especially from the student ambassadors.
- The Vice-Chancellor provided an update on the 2024-25 pay negotiations. Following the conclusion of the JNCHES (Joint Negotiating Committee for Higher Education Staff) meetings, a formal offer had been made by UCEA to the trade unions and the latter were currently considering their formal response.
- Following the general election held last week, the Vice-Chancellor noted the appointments made by the new Labour administration to key education, research, science and technology ministerial posts. The Vice-Chancellor informed UEB he had written to local MPs to congratulate them. He also noted that the Labour Party manifesto had acknowledged the issue with the Higher Education funding settlement and looked forward to the Government policies that would emerge to address the matter in the coming months.
- The University Mental Health Charter executive summary and action plan were presented by the Vice-President (Education). The documents outlined the University’s commitment to mental health in response to the first University Mental Health Charter submission and onsite visit in 2023 and the subsequent Award by Student Minds in March 2024. Currently, the University is one of only ten institutions that has been awarded the charter, showing we were ahead of the game. UEB noted there has been consultation across the University to ensure that the actions align to existing plans. The summary of the submission and recommendations will be published online as part of the University’s commitment to improving mental health and wellbeing.
- UEB endorsed the establishment of an International Partner Security and Export Control Review Group (IPSEC). The Group will oversee international partnerships, across the Triple Helix, to meet best practice for managing risks consistent with the requirements of National Security and Investment (NSI) Act, Export Control and other national security legislation, and as recommended by the National Protective Security Authority (NPSA) and National Cybersecurity Centre, therefore only being relevant to a small number of countries. IPSEC will report regularly to UEB and will publish an annual report to Senate. It was noted that government scrutiny had increased in recent years, bearing in mind geopolitical volatility.