Today, 19 March, the Vice-Chancellor wrote to all staff. You can read his email in full:
The horrific news of the last couple of weeks has shone a bleak spotlight upon our society’s fundamental issue with violence against women. Sadly, this includes at universities up and down the country. We cannot accept this and must continue to do more.
We have taken some important steps in the past few years, including defining what we mean by violence and setting out how we will prevent and address instances within our community. We are absolutely committed to these and to backing them up with action. We will continue listening to our students and staff, as we take this work forward.
We have seen encouraging take up of our online consent course, which we ask students to complete when they register. Since we launched it in 2019, more than 5,000 new students have completed the course. From now, new students will be required to take this course - with an important opt out for students who may be triggered by completing the course, due to their previous experience.
Much of our work in this area has been driven by our Consent Awareness & Abuse Prevention Steering Group, which we set up in 2018. This includes heavy student involvement, with representatives from the Students’ Union, as well as a number of excellent student-led groups, such as Students Against Sexual Harassment and Under The Sheets. This group will be chaired by our new PVC for Diversity, Culture and Inclusion, once in post.
One of the biggest barriers to putting in place evidence-based interventions is under-reporting and we are directing our energies into improving this. In August this year, the University will launch its 'Report and Support' tool, which will allow students to report an incident of sexual misconduct, domestic violence or hate crime and receive the support that they need. The tool will enable us to promote and advise students of the proactive support and education around this area, which we will continue to grow in partnership with students.
While I know it is not a long-term solution, we do also provide students with comprehensive advice about keeping safe on campus and off campus and highlight the many services provided by the SU and the University, including classes about healthy relationships, covering issues such as coercive control.
I fully appreciate that this is an issue that does not exclusively affect students and that there will be some staff who feel uneasy or uncomfortable at the moment. It is important to reaffirm that the University is absolutely committed to identifying and addressing any issues that may be contributing to this. We have already carried out a lot of work on improving lighting around campus, to make people feel more comfortable moving around when it is dark and every year we carry out a lighting tour to make sure our campus is well lit. We also have a lone working policy, to ensure that colleagues feel secure when they are on campus early in the morning or late in the evening. Please do not hesitate to get in touch with your line manager if you have an experience you would be comfortable sharing. I can assure you we will look carefully at anything that is shared.
I would like to encourage you to update your equality information in MyView, which is the online HR portal, where you access your payslips. By doing so, you will be helping us to appreciate and respond to differences in experience between groups with certain protected characteristics. Any personal data you share will be used anonymously.
I wrote last week about the way that UKRI are going to be dealing with cuts to the aid budget. Since then, I’m afraid, we have had more bad news. First, we have learned that we will no longer receive a block grant associated with development research. Second, the press are reporting that the very welcome commitment to maintain membership of the EU’s Horizon research programme is not being funded by the Treasury and will have to come from existing research budgets. This will put a lot of additional pressure on UKRI if the reports are correct. And third, the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council wrote to inform us that UKRI is pausing awarding grants in a small number of specific calls and programmes. Unfortunately, we don’t yet know what these calls and programmes are but will let you know as soon as possible.
More positively, however, the Business School published it’s hugely impressive research review this week. Whatever your interests, it really is worth reading. The School is in the top 20 business schools worldwide for research citations and attracted more research funding last year than any other business school in the UK. Beyond the numbers, though, the richness and breadth of the research and scholarship is truly inspiring.
Finally, if you would like to have more influence over the way in which the University is run, I invite you to take part in the governance effectiveness review that is currently taking place. This is being conducted by an independent, external body and covers all aspects of governance, from how we take decisions, to how we involve staff and students. We are committed to leading the University in an open, transparent and inclusive way and this is your opportunity to tell us how we are doing.
With best wishes
Adam