Staff Open Meeting 21 July 2020 Introduction Todays agenda News - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Staff Open Meeting

21 July 2020

Introduction

Today’s agenda

• News update
• Flexible learning
• Safe campus/return to campus
• Growing our research
• Summary and questions

News update: local

• Around 98% engagement by students in online assessment
• Results published Tuesday 14 July
• Graduation celebration after results published
• National student survey results published 15 July
• Senior management presence on campus
• Recognition of colleagues working on campus.

News update: external

• Student number cap and controls on student recruitment

‘incentives’

• Research funding package announced
• Universities UK and London Higher promotional campaigns.

Professor James Knowles

Senior Vice-Principal (Education)

• TEL = using technology but also best practice and

models to make online experience effective learning experience for students – not an emergency replacement or substitute

• Resources and materials platform: Moodle, library

+Moodle will continue functions for assessment

• Collaboration and communication tool: MS Teams +

collaboration, small group work, communication via chat, discussion, etc. + integrated single-entry point, stable, secure.

Technology enhanced learning

The page will be a single access point for colleagues with all of the key information on the first page This will include:

• How to use Microsoft Teams for teaching
• Case studies and videos from other universities

Aims:

• Flexible education > balance of on campus,

face-to face and online

• Resilience > potential for further disruption.

Flexible education hub

Implementation

• Training and support: Mixture of Moodle courses and Teams meetings for training
• Development of role of e-learning group, peer-buddying systems, good practice sharing
• Technical standard update + policy guidance = end July
• Netiquette and good practice guides = end August
• Student-facing policies including attendance and engagement = September
• ‘September sprint’ = rapid upskilling courses
• Room based technology induction = pre-teaching
• Urgent help clinics/drop-ins = start of term (+ in-room AV support).

Professor Ken Badcock, Senior Vice-Principal (Academic Strategy, Partnerships and Resources)

Reduced classroom capacities

Options Rooms Hours Weeks Additional Slots % Increase

• n 19-20

Recommendation One additional hour (6–7pm) Mon/Tues/Thurs/Fri) 83 1 10 3,320 10% Back-up 2 (6-7) Wednesday afternoon 83 4 10 3,320 10% Action Saturday Teaching x four hours 83 4 10 3,320 10% Rule Out One additional week of teaching 83 40 1 3,320 10% Action for reading weeks Moving additional rooms onto timetable 8 40 10 3,200 9.6% Already Done Herringham Room 1 40 10 400 1.2% Rule out Herringham Room (if split into two seminar rooms) 2 40 10 800 2.4% Action Founder’s SE Ground void space 1 40 10 400 1.2% Rule out (Cost) NOH Theatre (£119,500 inc VAT) 1 40 10 400 1.2% Action Founder’s E/W 2nd Floor rooms 8 40 10 3,200 9.6% Rule out (accommodation) McCrea Fractional Rooms 2 40 10 800 2.4% Action Renting - Per 25 capacity room 1 40 10 400 1.2% Rule out (cost)

Options for additional timetable capacity

Defining and approving the details

• Executive Board approval for the plan was given on 17 June
• Based on considering balance of “on-campus education” – staff workload – estate limits
• “For classroom based teaching, we will attempt to timetable the same number of hours in the presence of

a staff member, with half of these hours in person if Health and Safety conditions allow this.”

• Lighter touch validation based on information collected at module and programme level on changes to

learning objectives and assessment methods

• Constructive discussions with departments on the general pattern of teaching - many exciting ideas and

workable patterns of classes defined in every department

• Discussions continue to finalise plans for laboratories, performance, field work and PC Labs
• Information collected through schools to allow timetabling and validation
• Room setup and IT environment being configured to allow classes in the general teaching pattern, along

with recording (more communications on this by the end of July)

• Ongoing collection of special hardware and software requirements.

Dr David Ashton,

Deputy Principal (Operations)

• Health, safety and wellbeing of staff is our number one priority
• Work is progressing across the College to ensure that all

practicable safety measures are in place for a return to campus for some activity

• Our goal is that each individual staff member feels

as comfortable and confident as possible about any return to campus

• We also need to ensure those who remain working from home

are supported to do so.

Staff wellbeing and safety

Your wellbeing: Working Well Hub

On the hub, accessible from the home page of the intranet, you can find information about

Working Well Hub

Support available to all colleagues

• Employee Assistance Program (EAP) – free to use, anonymous, and can be used by

partners / children in some cases

• Staff wellbeing activities are still available online
• Managing Stress eLearning is available for all managers through the Health and

Safety Office

• Coping with Change workshops will be bookable through links on the Working Well

Hub

• Other resources are available through the Working Well Hub including ways to stay

connected to our diversity networks or through the line managers’ forum.

• A Stress and Mental Health Policy is being created to be published in term one

What is the journey to reopening the campus

June July August September Opening of key science research laboratories. Provide access to study space for students most in need Open buildings to enable Campus Visits in support

• f student

recruitment. Initial opening

• f EWD for Click

and Collect Open key academic buildings and set up for Confirmation and Clearing Opening remaining buildings for start of session

• Colleagues who support the physical, educational and emotional needs of students

living and/or studying on campus for services which cannot be delivered remotely

• Academics undertaking research on campus
• Colleagues who deliver essential services for staff working on or off campus

including colleagues who support the safety and security of campus users and provide campus maintenance

• Colleagues and contractors delivering work which requires access to equipment and

facilities on site which can be delivered in a safe and socially distanced manner

Who might return to campus by the start of session

• Colleagues whose roles do not require them to work on campus
• Plans for those colleagues will be developed and agreed with the Deputy Principal

(Operations) following consultation with the Directors of Health and Safety and Estates and in line with the easing of social distancing.

Who might not return to campus for the start of session

• The measures being put in place which are designed to help

keep our whole campus community as safe as possible divide into two broad groups

• Hygiene
• Social distancing
• Everyone has a part to play in helping to keep everyone safe on

campus

Health and safety on campus

• When on campus, regularly wash your hand, or use hand sanitiser when that’s not

possible

• Hand sanitiser stations will be available in high-traffic locations.
• Wear a face covering where you feel it’s appropriate. Two face coverings will be

made available to all members of staff and students

• Each teaching space will be cleaned daily with a record in each room to give

confidence that it was completed

• Wipes will be provided in teaching spaces so that you can wipe down areas

and gloves will be provided in PC labs to protect yourself. If requested, visors can be provided.

Hygiene

• Teaching spaces and offices will have maximum occupancies and the number of staff

working on campus will be reduced

• Clear signage will be in place across campus to encourage social distancing
• We are planning to increase car parking by circa 25% to allow for more students and

staff to travel to campus by car if they wish

• Teaching spaces are being configured with a minimum of 1m social distancing for

students and 2m for the lecturer

• Face shields / visors can be provided to lecturers on request
• Work completed for Drama and Media Arts is based on a planned 2m separation and

a minimum of 1m during sessions. A 3m separation is being used for Music.

Social distancing

Some of the signs you will see on campus

Additional measures being investigated

• Extending the use of Piggery Gate to support socially distanced access to the campus
• Reviewing options for external canopies/coverings to enhance the social distancing

enabled use of external spaces

• Considering targeted landscape improvements and new outside furniture to support

enhanced wellbeing and socially distancing enabled use of external spaces

• Reviewing options, including College vehicles, to flex the Hallmark bus service to

match demand as it emerges for the start of session

• Working with the cleaning contractor Haywards to provide enhanced room specific

cleaning notices confirming daily room cleaning of all teaching spaces.

• If you work in one of the areas which has been identified as one which will

require colleagues to be on campus, your manager will be thinking about the resourcing plans for their area, and should start to discuss what this means for the group as a whole

• If you do not work in one of these services, your manager should be talking

to you about working from home for a longer period, initially perhaps for this term

What does a return to campus mean for me

• Colleagues may feel very differently about coming back to Campus.
• Some may welcome the opportunity and may be others worried at the prospect.
• Circumstances will vary according to individuals and we encourage colleagues to

discuss concerns with their manager so that issues can be raised, discussed and addressed.

• We will be providing training and support to managers.
• Staff with clinical vulnerabilities will be prioritised to remain working from home.
• Staff may also have non-clinical concerns or anxieties and it is important that these

can be discussed too.

Individual circumstances and returning to campus

Continuing to work from home

• For colleagues working from home long term:
• DSE training and assessment is available through the Health and Safety Office
• IT can provide loan laptops and facilitate the collection of peripherals
• The Coronavirus access to campus form is available on the website under Your

employment

• For colleagues who are asked to work in a mixed way – sometimes home,

sometimes on-campus, we might ask you to forego your usual office space and make use of other allocated offices. This will allow us to free-up as much space as possible for students and/or the delivery of the curriculum.

• Ultimate responsibility for re-opening buildings sits with the Deputy Principal

(Operations) supported by the Heads of Professions

• To create a Covid-19 Secure campus requires input from those operating the spaces

and they will responsible for ensuring risk assessments are completed

• In most cases the responsibility will sit with those managers it would have done

under “Business As Usual”

• Risk assessments will be completed by suitably trained people, such as Health and

Safety Coordinators supported by guidance and assisted by the Health and Safety Office

Roles and Responsibilities

Professor Katie Normington,

Deputy Principal (Academic)

• At present QR (REF monies) account for around 6% of our annual income, while our

annual research grants bring in 6-10% of annual income.

• We devote 40% of academic time to research and thus need to substantially

increase our research-related income in order for research to become more sustainable

• The opportunity provided by the government’s commitment to invest a further

£22bn by 2024 in research and development as outlined in the UK Research and Development Roadmap

• We have many disciplines, particularly in science, which are small-scale and to build

these in the short-term we will need to consider key partnerships as a way to create capacity.

Growing our research: Covid-19 as a catalyst

• Make Royal Holloway an exciting and invigorating place to do research
• Maintain a world leading reputation for our research, demonstrated by continued presence in

the top 25% for REF exercises

• Respond to specific research and knowledge exchange challenges set out by UKRI and other

funding bodies, and achieve a substantial increase of 50% in research income by the end of the three year operation period (2024) to enable the sustainability of research

• Enable regional relevance and economic regrowth by ensuring that we hold key partnerships

within the region, and increase our co-funding through the local LEPs and knowledge exchange with industry.

• Set clear research expectations and career progression for staff and, in particular, ECRs,

including relevant promotion and sabbatical criteria through reviewing the policies.

Aims

• Researcher-led research and impact forms the bedrock of our research activity. This is

discipline-led, allows for blue-skies and developmental research in order to produce excellent

• utputs which attract the highest REF ranking
• There will be four interdisciplinary ‘catalyst research and knowledge exchange’

hubs operating at College level which are internationally leading. These catalysts are in areas where Royal Holloway is already hold significant funding and where significant further funding is likely to be available.

• There will be a number of research clusters where we have significant capacity and
• success. These will be led by Schools and arise from their research strategies. Significant

external strategic partnerships will be used to grow capacity.

Approaches

Selection of catalysts/clusters

Previous track record in large scale grant success and knowledge exchange Size of pool of potential researchers and specialist facilities Strategic mapping of funder priorities and thus future funding calls Existence of strong partnerships Coherence of focus of activity

Growing our research: catalysts

Catalyst 1: Digital futures in the creative and cultural sectors Catalyst 2: Sustainable Places, thriving societies Catalyst 3: Advanced Quantum Science and Technologies Catalyst 4:Cybersecurity, AI and their Socioeconomic Dimension

Suggested partnering clusters

• Seeds and food security
• Health (what aspect?)
• Neuroscience (language cognition)
• Particle Physics
• Democracy and Elections
• Crime and Violence
• Hi(stories) of Conflict and Trauma
• Connecting Communities through Heritage.

Questions and discussion