{"id":1206,"date":"2023-03-02T11:00:40","date_gmt":"2023-03-02T11:00:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.southampton.ac.uk\/blog\/ueb-blog\/?p=1206"},"modified":"2023-03-01T16:09:58","modified_gmt":"2023-03-01T16:09:58","slug":"ueb-blog-28-02-23","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.southampton.ac.uk\/blog\/ueb-blog\/2023\/03\/02\/ueb-blog-28-02-23\/","title":{"rendered":"UEB Blog 28.02.23"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Author: Professor Jane Falkingham, Vice-President International &amp; Engagement<\/p>\n<p><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335559739&quot;:160,&quot;335559740&quot;:259}\"> <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"590\" height=\"280\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-1205\" src=\"https:\/\/www.southampton.ac.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/32\/2023\/03\/UEB-Blog-28.02.23.fw_.png\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.southampton.ac.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/32\/2023\/03\/UEB-Blog-28.02.23.fw_.png 590w, https:\/\/www.southampton.ac.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/32\/2023\/03\/UEB-Blog-28.02.23.fw_-300x142.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 590px) 100vw, 590px\" \/><\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li data-leveltext=\"\uf0b7\" data-font=\"Symbol\" data-listid=\"1\" data-list-defn-props=\"{&quot;335552541&quot;:1,&quot;335559684&quot;:-2,&quot;335559685&quot;:720,&quot;335559991&quot;:360,&quot;469769226&quot;:&quot;Symbol&quot;,&quot;469769242&quot;:[8226],&quot;469777803&quot;:&quot;left&quot;,&quot;469777804&quot;:&quot;\uf0b7&quot;,&quot;469777815&quot;:&quot;hybridMultilevel&quot;}\" data-aria-posinset=\"1\" data-aria-level=\"1\"><span data-contrast=\"auto\">As highlighted in a <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.southampton.ac.uk\/blog\/sussed-news\/2023\/02\/24\/industrial-action-pay-deductions\/\"><span data-contrast=\"none\">SUSSED post on 24 Feb<\/span><\/a><span data-contrast=\"auto\">, UEB was informed that an administrative error had affected how strike deductions had been calculated for February\u2019s pay, affecting around 200 members of staff who had taken part in <\/span><b><span data-contrast=\"auto\">industrial action<\/span><\/b><span data-contrast=\"auto\">. As soon as this error was identified, immediate action was taken to address this ensuring that no staff incurred a financial loss. All affected staff had received a personal email outlining the error and that a correcting payment would be made.<\/span><\/li>\n<li data-leveltext=\"\uf0b7\" data-font=\"Symbol\" data-listid=\"1\" data-list-defn-props=\"{&quot;335552541&quot;:1,&quot;335559684&quot;:-2,&quot;335559685&quot;:720,&quot;335559991&quot;:360,&quot;469769226&quot;:&quot;Symbol&quot;,&quot;469769242&quot;:[8226],&quot;469777803&quot;:&quot;left&quot;,&quot;469777804&quot;:&quot;\uf0b7&quot;,&quot;469777815&quot;:&quot;hybridMultilevel&quot;}\" data-aria-posinset=\"2\" data-aria-level=\"1\"><span data-contrast=\"auto\">It was noted that discussion at ACAS between UCU and UCEA are ongoing with a further meeting later on Tuesday. It was also noted that UCU had informed the sector that an additional strike day would take place on 15 March.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li data-leveltext=\"\uf0b7\" data-font=\"Symbol\" data-listid=\"1\" data-list-defn-props=\"{&quot;335552541&quot;:1,&quot;335559684&quot;:-2,&quot;335559685&quot;:720,&quot;335559991&quot;:360,&quot;469769226&quot;:&quot;Symbol&quot;,&quot;469769242&quot;:[8226],&quot;469777803&quot;:&quot;left&quot;,&quot;469777804&quot;:&quot;\uf0b7&quot;,&quot;469777815&quot;:&quot;hybridMultilevel&quot;}\" data-aria-posinset=\"1\" data-aria-level=\"1\"><span data-contrast=\"auto\">In response to a growing number of queries from international staff regarding assistance with the rising cost of accompanying dependants\u2019 <\/span><b><span data-contrast=\"auto\">visas<\/span><\/b><span data-contrast=\"auto\">, UEB had previously requested a review of the practice at our comparator universities.\u00a0 This reveals a mixed picture, with the most \u2018generous\u2019 institutions offering loans. In line with our commitment to recruiting exceptional talent from across the globe, UEB agreed to introduce an interest-free loan up to \u00a310k to support newly appointed staff in meeting these expenses, with payments spread over three years. This is the maximum allowable under current HMRC rules and brings the University in line with other leading global universities.<\/span><\/li>\n<li data-leveltext=\"\uf0b7\" data-font=\"Symbol\" data-listid=\"1\" data-list-defn-props=\"{&quot;335552541&quot;:1,&quot;335559684&quot;:-2,&quot;335559685&quot;:720,&quot;335559991&quot;:360,&quot;469769226&quot;:&quot;Symbol&quot;,&quot;469769242&quot;:[8226],&quot;469777803&quot;:&quot;left&quot;,&quot;469777804&quot;:&quot;\uf0b7&quot;,&quot;469777815&quot;:&quot;hybridMultilevel&quot;}\" data-aria-posinset=\"2\" data-aria-level=\"1\"><span data-contrast=\"auto\">UEB discussed the results from the new approach to building and measuring <\/span><b><span data-contrast=\"auto\">staff engagement <\/span><\/b><span data-contrast=\"auto\">that was used in 2022. In headline terms UEB was pleased to note that the response rate had increased and that the University had maintained its 74% engagement level. Whilst broadly positive, UEB also recognised that there are areas for improvement.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li data-leveltext=\"\uf0b7\" data-font=\"Symbol\" data-listid=\"1\" data-list-defn-props=\"{&quot;335552541&quot;:1,&quot;335559684&quot;:-2,&quot;335559685&quot;:720,&quot;335559991&quot;:360,&quot;469769226&quot;:&quot;Symbol&quot;,&quot;469769242&quot;:[8226],&quot;469777803&quot;:&quot;left&quot;,&quot;469777804&quot;:&quot;\uf0b7&quot;,&quot;469777815&quot;:&quot;hybridMultilevel&quot;}\" data-aria-posinset=\"3\" data-aria-level=\"1\"><span data-contrast=\"auto\">One innovation introduced as part of the recent survey was the introduction of an open comments box regarding what people would like to change. UEB was pleased to note that the majority of colleagues who responded to the staff engagement survey took the time to respond to the open question, with the most common themes being around University processes and systems, workload and reward and recognition. These are all areas where action planning is on-going. UEB noted the value of this innovation and agreed to explore expanding the qualitative element to other areas of inquiry, including the possibility of using the option of open text to better understand differences across our community in response to the question on \u2018belonging\u2019.<\/span><\/li>\n<li data-leveltext=\"\uf0b7\" data-font=\"Symbol\" data-listid=\"1\" data-list-defn-props=\"{&quot;335552541&quot;:1,&quot;335559684&quot;:-2,&quot;335559685&quot;:720,&quot;335559991&quot;:360,&quot;469769226&quot;:&quot;Symbol&quot;,&quot;469769242&quot;:[8226],&quot;469777803&quot;:&quot;left&quot;,&quot;469777804&quot;:&quot;\uf0b7&quot;,&quot;469777815&quot;:&quot;hybridMultilevel&quot;}\" data-aria-posinset=\"1\" data-aria-level=\"1\"><span data-contrast=\"auto\">UEB then reviewed the presentations from the five Deans and the Vice-President Operations on the Faculty and Professional Services plans that will be presented to <\/span><b><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Council <\/span><\/b><span data-contrast=\"auto\">next week. Professional Services and the Faculties outlined their achievements so far in implementing the strategy and the challenges, opportunities and barriers, for the next stages of development. This was followed by a good discussion around synergies across the Strategic Plans, especially in the important areas of wellbeing, inclusion and diversity. Common challenges were identified around growing PGR numbers and securing the talent pipeline. Estates was also a common constraining factor.<\/span><\/li>\n<li data-leveltext=\"\uf0b7\" data-font=\"Symbol\" data-listid=\"1\" data-list-defn-props=\"{&quot;335552541&quot;:1,&quot;335559684&quot;:-2,&quot;335559685&quot;:720,&quot;335559991&quot;:360,&quot;469769226&quot;:&quot;Symbol&quot;,&quot;469769242&quot;:[8226],&quot;469777803&quot;:&quot;left&quot;,&quot;469777804&quot;:&quot;\uf0b7&quot;,&quot;469777815&quot;:&quot;hybridMultilevel&quot;}\" data-aria-posinset=\"2\" data-aria-level=\"1\"><span data-contrast=\"auto\">UEB noted the exciting and very close match in <\/span><b><span data-contrast=\"auto\">University Challenge<\/span><\/b><span data-contrast=\"auto\"> on Monday night and is looking forward to cheering on the team in their second quarter final match.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335559739&quot;:160,&quot;335559740&quot;:259}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Author: Professor Jane Falkingham, Vice-President International &amp; Engagement As highlighted in a SUSSED post on 24 Feb, UEB was informed that an administrative error had affected how strike deductions had been calculated for February\u2019s pay, affecting around 200 members of staff who had taken part in industrial action. As soon as this error was identified, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":259,"featured_media":1205,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1206","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-ueb-blog"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.southampton.ac.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/32\/2023\/03\/UEB-Blog-28.02.23.fw_.png","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pfzuzw-js","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.southampton.ac.uk\/blog\/ueb-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1206","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.southampton.ac.uk\/blog\/ueb-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.southampton.ac.uk\/blog\/ueb-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.southampton.ac.uk\/blog\/ueb-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/259"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.southampton.ac.uk\/blog\/ueb-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1206"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.southampton.ac.uk\/blog\/ueb-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1206\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1208,"href":"https:\/\/www.southampton.ac.uk\/blog\/ueb-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1206\/revisions\/1208"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.southampton.ac.uk\/blog\/ueb-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1205"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.southampton.ac.uk\/blog\/ueb-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1206"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.southampton.ac.uk\/blog\/ueb-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1206"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.southampton.ac.uk\/blog\/ueb-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1206"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}