![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.southampton.ac.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/32\/2021\/06\/UEB-Blog-14.06.21.fw_.png\")
<\/p>\n
Operating in Gold Command mode for the first part of today\u2019s meeting, UEB discussed a number of operational and campus issues:<\/p>\n
- \n
- The Chief Operating Officer updated UEB on a recent and significant increase in the number of student COVID cases<\/strong><\/a>, including a number at our Mayflower and Glen Eyre residences and some who are in their home towns. These cases, many of which are asymptomatic, are believed to be of the more-transmissible Delta variant and are linked to off-campus social activity. UEB heard we are liaising extensively with Public Health England and the City Council, we are providing full support to those students affected, and we have put in place additional comprehensive testing for other students in particular residences blocks.<\/li>\n
- UEB heard that it is now universally expected that the Government would announce later that same day that current COVID rules will remain in place for a further four weeks beyond the original 21 June<\/strong> lockdown easing checkpoint. For us, this would mean that we continue to operate as we do currently, with physical distancing measures in place and those staff who are able to work from home to continue to do so.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
The meeting then reverted to normal UEB mode to discuss a number of other issues:<\/p>\n
- \n
- The Vice-Chancellor highlighted two very significant achievements for our University last week: news that Southampton has risen two places to be among the top 15 universities in the UK in the 2022 Complete University Guide<\/a><\/strong>; and a remarkable rise of 13 places in the QS World University Rankings 2022<\/a><\/strong> placing us 77th<\/sup> among the 1,300 universities ranked. The Vice-Chancellor thanked all those whose hard work helped contribute to those rankings\u2019 successes.<\/li>\n
- UEB were updated on the headline findings from phase one of the University\u2019s Strategy development<\/b> consultation. It\u2019s clear that a number of respondents would find it easier to engage with a draft Strategy once it sets out tangible priorities, and that will be at the core of the second phase of consultation, which will start in early September.<\/li>\n
- There was a discussion of proposed headline principles around our Future Ways of Working<\/strong>, which will be shared with colleagues this week as part of the work of the new Strategic Major Project; UEB were updated on the progress Student Minds have made in launching the Mental Health Charter Programme<\/strong> and Award framework; UEB reviewed a report summarising the key findings of portfolio efficiency research carried out into the University\u2019s taught programmes portfolio under the Curriculum Complexity Project<\/strong>; and UEB approved a new interim Visa Reimbursement Policy<\/strong> covering the switch-over to the new post-Brexit immigration system.<\/li>\n
- Finally, there was the regular review of the University Risk Register<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Author: Shaun Williams, Executive Director, Engagement and Advancement The Vice-Chancellor started the meeting by expressing UEB\u2019s congratulations to Professor Guy Poppy, who has been appointed Companion of the Order of the Bath in the Queen\u2019s Birthday Honours, for services to Food Safety and Security; and to Emeritus Professor Clifford Shearman, who was awarded an OBE […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":227,"featured_media":748,"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-749","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\/2021\/06\/UEB-Blog-14.06.21.fw_.png","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pfzuzw-c5","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.southampton.ac.uk\/blog\/ueb-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/749","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\/227"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.southampton.ac.uk\/blog\/ueb-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=749"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.southampton.ac.uk\/blog\/ueb-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/749\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":758,"href":"https:\/\/www.southampton.ac.uk\/blog\/ueb-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/749\/revisions\/758"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.southampton.ac.uk\/blog\/ueb-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/748"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.southampton.ac.uk\/blog\/ueb-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=749"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.southampton.ac.uk\/blog\/ueb-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=749"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.southampton.ac.uk\/blog\/ueb-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=749"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
- UEB were updated on the headline findings from phase one of the University\u2019s Strategy development<\/b> consultation. It\u2019s clear that a number of respondents would find it easier to engage with a draft Strategy once it sets out tangible priorities, and that will be at the core of the second phase of consultation, which will start in early September.<\/li>\n
- UEB heard that it is now universally expected that the Government would announce later that same day that current COVID rules will remain in place for a further four weeks beyond the original 21 June<\/strong> lockdown easing checkpoint. For us, this would mean that we continue to operate as we do currently, with physical distancing measures in place and those staff who are able to work from home to continue to do so.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n