Very much for making way to this.

School forum and I think it's really important for us all just to keep connected and just touch base now and again. Obviously we can do an awful lot by by email and teams and all the rest of it, but I think seems to be quite a valuable way of just keeping connected. Having having these so it's about it's about a month ago we had the last one and my goodness how quickly that has flown by doesn't seem very long ago, but there we go. We're four weeks on and.

We're on the verge of starting the new academic undergraduate year, so this I think was an opportune time to just regroup and gather.



We just put an hour in the schedule today, partly becausw that although there are huge in my things for as I'm sure that many of us have gotten our minds.

Perhaps you know? Well, she will have an opportunity for some Q&A and a bit of discussion.

It's also important to think that that we don't clog up your calendars when so many have got so many things to do so trying to get the balance between keeping in touch, covering lots of topics but, but not taking up too much of your time in this in this way. So maybe when it gets to the some of the questions and discussion.

Some of it we might be able to handle right here and now, but in some issues it will be. You know, questions for us to go away and and they get back to you on or.

Hard wider consultation on so I don't want to don't want to overrun.

This afternoon, so I'll just go to share my screen and and talk through the agenda. 1st and.

So just that.

Give me a moment.

OK can can people see my screen?

Yeah, Lorraine's, nodding? I'll take that as a good sign. Thank you.

Right, so we are recording this so we will circulate the slides and the recording of this shortly afterwards.

So on the agenda today, first of all.

You remember at the law school forum there was a whole.

Suite of changes in leadership roles that were either taking place or were being advertised. So just give you a quick update on where we're at with those and then research topics. Don't want to say? Great deal myself on this, but we've got a couple of contributions from Rick and Kate who hopefully will be able to to speak to a couple of topics there to do it. The ref and knew.

Research survey that's coming our way.

Very briefly, give a a quick look at some of the admissions, particularly in PDT admissions. Last time we had a bit of an update on the undergraduate situation, which was very current, so let's have a quick recap on where we're at with the GT.

And then obviously there's a sort of changing.

Operations kicks in next week and so there will be issues to do with return to campus and.

Access to buildings and offices and such like that Vicki will give us an update on the salient points.

And.

Then we'll do the same with field work protocols, so hopefully you have seen a document that came around.

Earlier this morning, which was our?

Attempt to try and succinctly bring together advice on on how best to run field days in the coming semester.

Obviously there's 1001 issues flying around on education at the moment. We won't be able to cover them all, but I think Mark and Leone are kind of on hand to try and.

Sort of a quick Q&A session on some of the pressing issues.

That that people might want to raise.

And then any other business. If anyone's wanting to to join in that course, use the chat facility if you can. As well, fairly hard to keep up to date with doing presentation and chat at the same time. So so if you feel like something that you really want to be raised.

Then stick your hand up and we can. We can just hear from you in.

Not quite in the flesh, but you know I mean.

OK, so let's move on school leadership roles. So quick update. So first of all.

Congratulations to Claire Mahaffey, who we have delighted to say is going to move into the role of the new discipline lead for oceans and Marine.

Now obviously this position has become vacant with Andrew Hurst. Is is moving on to other adventures and he's been in that role for the last three years, and so we're.

Great please that Claire came forward and.

Made a compelling case for her vision to be the discipline lead for oceans and marine and really looking forward to to clear playing.

Really.

Strong Roland in both in and understanding the challenges that face that that area of the school and getting to know the people in that area and providing oversight and strategic advice on developments in oceans and marine. So really looking forward to working.

Done and I, on the other hand, some discipline working with Claire.

We've had a chat about the sort of transfer and that will that will happen over the next few weeks as clear transitions into that new role, but we've decided that kind of officially she will be the new discipline lead as of Monday, but there will obviously be a kind of overlap period.

With her cell phone and Andrew for for a few weeks so well done and great to see Claire moving into that role.



The other role we had we flagged up at the last Forum was that a new chair of the diversity and Equality Committee she, with Kate, moving into the research lead role. This became vacant. So we have a process to fill. That role is underway and hopefully will be completed by this time next week, so we'll be able to update you further on that. But that's all progressing in A.

Good way.

Obviously, with Claire going this sort of Domino effects of roles.

Filters down through the school and so we will be advertising for a new school director of PR.

Which we will endeavour to get out next week to try and not have too much of a.

Sort of hiatus there so.

It's always a tricky time handing over major roles like this, but actually start of term is probably as good a time as any to see these major rules change hands. So there's an opportunity here. Obviously, for people that feel like they want to be able to contribute to leadership in the school and postgraduate student realm to make their expression of interest node and fill in short statement of what their vision would be.

And not rule. So we very much encourage people to consider.

Looking looking out for that advert when it comes out and then considering their position there. So that will be next week.

Have to just admit that I haven't followed up on getting a new member of the school management team in place to represent postdocs yet, so again, I will be moving on that quickly to try and rectify that so that we have a full cohort of.

In interest stuff from research staff through to faculty SMT.

So.

I'll move on quickly onto research and.

I think I saw Rick. I can see a little icon of Rick. Anyway, I wonder whether without any further ado and maybe ask Rick just to talk for a few minutes on this issue of unit reductions, which you may or may not know about. But Rick, can you want to just talk to this slide? Or have you got one?

Absolutely find out so welcome everyone, but just more broadly Rep well. We're moving to the end game.

So output selection is being finalized, probably by the end of November. Impact cases have been his work on rewriting them and ensuring compliance is followed, and they're looking pretty pretty positive about them. And there's ongoing work on the environment statement for UA7 UA for teens is.

Very good job was being done.

So an extra issue is come up about the opportunity to put in individual circumstances and then for the unit.

That's returned to have some output reductions.

Now, originally as a University, we felt that we should follow the guidelines, which was those a recommendation that most units being returned should just accommodate any of those individual requests.

But then there was a call to the Kualiti.

Etap equality and diversity I forget what the other two words are. Edap there were calls from a whole across the sector about where universes could appeal to return a fewer number of Outputs.

An basically 88% of them were approved so there is an opportunity.

Is Rick frozen or revive frozen?

Researchers.

Over over 15% and so that.

Are you is this getting through Doug yeah my I think it might be me.

No, he he was clear like he. I think he paused for everyone. Yeah, OK, OK, I know.

I have had a few connection problems recently, but I think you're OK now. So to keep going OK, sorry I've turned my video so that might help a bit, so there's an opportunity for us to put in individual requests.

It and then if that amounts to a large enough proportion for the unit to them, seek an output reduction.

If we did that, then the unit almost certainly will end up with a higher score.

So.

And what's the purpose of this? The purpose is to reflect the extra time and support that we provide, set particularly to the early career researchers. So I want to emphasize, this isn't about asking early career researchers to only return one output. It's not about under acknowledging their input, it's trying to acknowledge the extra load that is carried through.

A large proportion of staff are having a lower teaching load at the start their career in those early career, researchers can still end up being returned on several outputs.

And so a call has gone out from the University to all staff. And so if you've got any individual circumstances in terms of health reasons or in terms of being an early career researcher, then we're asking you to apply. So in terms of the early career researcher that is defined by you having your first academic post on the 1st of August 2016.

That isn't necessarily your first to post here, so if you held a first academic independent post elsewhere after that date before that date, then you won't be eligible. But if you are, then we could.

In return, you an and then collectively submit for an output reduction, which would be advantageous for.

The units.

OK Doug.

Thanks, Rick, did you want to give us a sense of scale of that potential right? Yes, so according to our records and you know, it's up to for UA seven. We according to our records, there are five early career researchers so we would want them to fill. It's a simple one. Page statement. Just really talking about the timing of that first appointment.

You away 14. I think it's 16 early career researchers that we'd like to put in this statement. So as I said, there's no kind of judgments calls it would just be advantageous to the unit if there were any health applications. That's completely separate thing.

It won't be looked at by us that will be looked at Centrally and then appropriate allowances can be made.

OK, thanks Rick.

And we've done that. Just arrest, right? You know that we've done a little bit of kind of envisaging what impact that might have on our profile. And we've come to conclusion that it would be very beneficial. Wear that to go through and so really. Hopefully it's a. It's everyone benefits from this. There's a message came round, wasn't there? From Anthony Hollander earlier this week, I think. Did that go to everybody, just.

Yeah yeah, yeah.

They should have gone to everyone for that. Yeah, yeah, and that's the form that you're talking about that we're in encouraging our EC ours to fill in. It doesn't take much does, it's just basically put your name in and.

Start date and meant it exactly, but it would be helpful to the units if we were able to do this. So computer science had already done that, and they've actually have a similar proportion of VCRS to geography and planning, and but that has led to them.

Returning maybe 30 outputs less and almost inevitably they will have a higher four star score, and so at some other universities have played this very aggressively.

Maybe as this is recorded, I won't name them.

But happy to pass their own offline.

Yeah OK great. Thanks Rick and it's it's we want to be. We want to be competitive here and well, we don't want to be.

You know, if the rationale behind this is all is all well justified, it's to do with. Obviously, when early career academics.

That the more are the crew academics you have within your cohort brings a huge huge advantages to you, and it looks very vibrant on them. Environment statement shows real strength and recruitment, and I suppose this this mechanism is recognizing that.

There is an element of trying to shelter early career academics from some of the more.

Some some of the administrative rules, perhaps, and so that that's why they have this built into the functioning of ref. So we should take advantage of that. If it's clearly going to benefit us which our modeling suggests it will. So yeah, so please just look out for those those those emails, and I think the panel chairs will be following this up. I think rich and.

Probably following this up with the respective panels.

OK, so I think we'll leave that there.

No is Kate with us? Yes, I'm here.

Past data that Macbeth another question in the chat, but no sorry I'm struggling to see the chat here.

Secure.

So I think.

Richard is so thanks, Beth and I doubt.

I doubt that the covid impact will be.

I will be an extra allowance, but Richard says this is covered in Anthony's email.

Great thanks.

Thanks for alerting me to like Dan. OK, great so we'll move on to.

Next topic there we go, so Kate's just going to tell us a few words about interesting new survey that's coming our way.

For my share screen. Yep, go for it. I'll need to stop sharing.

IK.

Right, tell me when you can see that slide.

Should say rise on it is it? Can you see that I can see the PowerPoint? Yeah, OK, great.

Right, so let's make that full screen, right? So yeah, I'm talking bout this NYU University initiative called rise, which stands for research in an inclusive and sustainable environment. Some of you may have heard about this. It was launched last week on Monday and then it's been on University websites and sort of advertise a little bit. But I thought I would introduce what this is because James Lee and I are members of the steering steering group involved with this.

So this is really about is trying to deal with covid essentially, so the appearance of Kovid has meant that there's been a huge impact on our research activities across the University and across all different levels, and these changes are deep and unprecedented and affect individuals and research groups and sort of whole fields of research.

And because this is happened so quickly and it's happening to such a deep extent, the This steering group is formed with this new initiative to initiate the conversation across the University and basically what we're trying to do is gain a better understanding of and plan for the effects of the pandemic on research activity. So what effect has kovid had on our research now, and what effect it will have in the future and?

Given this, can we start thinking about ways that we can actually deal with the situation we currently in?

So the these are the objectives that rise has. So first of all, the objective is to listen. And this is to try and better understand the diverse effects of Covid on research and researchers.

And then so this is gathering information from people across the University.

Trying to understand the effects of Covid. Then the second objective is to consider and that's to try and collectively identify a range of new approaches and ways of working to consider adding to our existing best practice, and this is trying to say, OK, we've listened. We kind of gathered information to understand how Cove is affected. Everyone's research then collectively, and this is really across the wider University community, all of us to try and think about how we might work to improve and deal with the situation we're currently in.

And then the final objective of Rise will be to develop a report with recommendations on new ways of working. So this is based on what will come out of the consider objective to try and help all of our researchers across the University. And I know we've had heaps of initiatives over the last few years. Every few months there seems to be a new one. And of course, there's seem to be all kinds of surveys as well, but I do think this.

Has the potential to be genuinely useful.

So why are we doing it now? Well, it's probably seems like the worst possible time 'cause everyones super busy but people are at the same time feeling extremely anxious about workloads and expectations in terms of how their balancing research and teaching for instance, and so we want to be able to provide feedback that can help us address some of those concerns and potentially even start acting really on those quite quickly. We also want to be able to respond with speed and Gilletti to changes that are likely to be introduced by UKRI and a whole host of other funders.

As we sort of get into, hopefully this post curved environment and we have a better understanding of what that entails.

And then finally the idea of doing rise now is is that it will align with the 12 month welcome, trust funded project led by the faculty of Health and life Sciences. And this is exploring the equality and diversity impact implications of COVID-19.

So what how will this work? This listening and these kind of considering objectives? These different stages? Well, the first thing is that we know that everyone has really busy. So what we propose to do is use existing meeting commitments. So for instance like This is why I'm introducing it now, potentially using early career research meetings. It could be departmental meetings, those kinds of things to Jenn start generating these conversations.

And gather this information in these views from across the University. But we recognize that there are constraints and people we want people to be able to speak freely and openly about things.

So we've also got an online form and that is the link to the online form, which is really quite horrible link. But if you go to the website at the bottom the live.ac.uk rise you will be able to. There's a link to the online survey from there. There are essentially three main questions they were asking as part of that survey, so.

Could be relatively quick, although we do want you to see have a considered response, but basically the survey.

It shouldn't take you too long and many of the questions are option as well. Do you want to emphasize that that we do respect anonymity because we do want people to come forward with the issues that they're having, but also to think about the solutions to the problem.

So the form will focus principally. The main questions are relating to the kinds of issues that people are facing in terms of their research and how covers affecting, has affected it, and it's currently affecting it. Thinking ahead longer term what they think the implications might because that might be different and then how we might collectively try and address some of these issues. And we're after all kinds of ideas that people will have.

So we really want to think about can we change the way we work and Co develop these approaches that support or colleagues?

So it really requires on people's involvement on this very widely. We were obviously it's academic staff, but the professional services included two and we are interested also in postdocs and pH D. Students were hoping to get.

Their involvement essentially 1st through the PG, are Contacts PR director's and that kind of thing. So please do have a look at the website. We would really value input and I'm hoping that there will be opportunity at some point through the school meetings to have sort of a mini workshop. Essentially where we can get feedback from you and collect this information from you to put together with everyone else is feedback across the University.

So I'll leave it there. I just don't know if James is around and whether he's got anything that he wants to add.

So otherwise thank you.

Yeah, I'm here. I just started from arcade said other than that the people involved in this it's goes right across the University. So it's there's representation information faculties is representation of each of the staff met network. So the LG BT network represents disability network.

Network and recent stuff Association as well. So it really is looking to get as wide as possible range of voices in terms of what who can actually then contributes to the recommendations that will actually made it past the project. So if you do have time please to fill in.

Yep, thanks very much, James.

OK, thank you very much, Kate and James, and fantastic that we've got two of our colleagues involved so closely involved in this this initiative. This is. This is really fantastic thing to be doing. We had talked about trying to do something at the school level earlier in the summer trying to see what the impact on research was, but actually, you know this is great that it's been this proper kind of University level resource going into doing this properly and getting the picture across the whole.

Institution and there may well be the ability to, you know, look the drill down into the data a little bit, see how it how it varies across different parts of the institution. So some of that might be that might be sort of local lessons to be learned from this, so please, yeah, please do engage in this. The more people that get involved in it, the more meaningful the outcome of it will be. And hopefully we'll all benefit great.

I shall and thanks Steven for your supportive comments there.

Appreciated, I'll go back to sharing my screen.

Right, I won't see that.

Yeah, OK.

So that's a couple of research topics, so once it's covered, next thing.

Yeah, just a quick update on admissions, so obviously last time we talked a bit about the undergraduate story.

And we generally, in a relatively healthy position across across the school on our admissions this year, and that's that. Puts us in a good position for the next three years, of course.

Vectors it's useful though, just to reflect on the.

Fact that the than you recruitment for next year is already started and actually mark sent me some figures for how our applications are looking already for next year. So it never. It never stops this activity and so there are already some early indicators. I think it's probably still too early to say what the impact that might look like next year, but it's amazing that come the end of this year. We usually have a fairly accurate idea of what's what's coming.

Different with kovid, but we'll see so but PDT we do have a much clearer idea, though again, of course PDT, you never really know what's going to happen until the.

Kind of through the door or the virtual door or whatever analogy is this year, but this is what it's This is what the overall P GT picture has looked like in recent years.

With the kind of confirmed.

People have confirmed that they're going to register on this. These courses, showing there in the final column there. The 2021 dot on the graph there, so you can see that we're holding our position pretty well despite all the difficulties of recruitment quickly for international students.

The other areas which perhaps rely less on international students, have performed quite strongly, and I think.

So will you know these numbers may may drop a little bit as soon as we see who actually does turn up, but on the face of it, things are looking fairly strong, particularly in the NFC and environmental assessment and management which is strong upturn there, so it would be good to see that materialize.

There's a.

Continuing strong.

Recruitment into the MSC and Environmental Science and see the Brown line. There is a steady increase over the last five years.

And also we were seeing.

The.

It was the other one, the data science one is is had a significant upturn in in this year, so hopefully these numbers will materialize it and put it in quite a strong position. Also worth pointing out that the new housing and community planning Masters just got special at Pi accreditation. I think earlier this month and that we think will really boost the.

The recruitment of that as we look into the coming year. So thanks to our Miller for providing me with these statistics that very short notice. Appreciate that.

And of course, for your oversight of our of our PDT situation.

Sits on a faculty kind of strategic PDT panel as well, so it's really valuable to have that connection see what's going on across the faculty.

OK, I show.

Move on now 'cause we're already wasn't halfway through our time and the next thing we're going to have a quick word from the key on is about the latest updates on our.

Activities around the start of the academic teaching as of Monday, so.

Becky, do you want to speak to this? Any salient points that we should be particularly focusing on?

Yeah, I'll just give people a couple of updates on a few things and then I'll put it all into an email like like and send it around him. He was not here and also add a little bit more detail to some bits and file. Trying to keep this as quick as possible close. We still need to be one sets with the teaching things.

So essentially we may see in my email recently the old buildings are now will have been open for dropping sessions. I don't know if anybody is taking up the opportunity to go in and see what the teaching facilities or anything like that or.

And obviously, if you do require sort of any further information or reassurance on that, please do Contacts and happy to talk you through any of those concerns on the buildings now because they are open. So from Monday ascentia Lee staff will be able to access the buildings, however, until at least January of 2021 it is still advised that all staff should continue to work from home where possible.

So when you are on campus and you are carrying out your teaching.

And obviously we would not prevent you accessing your offices, as that is probably one of the safer places to be on campus during your your teaching breaks. I'm aware a couple people have emailed me about this and apologies for not being able to respond yet, but I will formally respond to you all.

Essentially, you will be able to actually share office when you are teaching on site.

And also where staff are still struggling to work from home for whatever reason. Please again, as you have been doing, communicate with myself for dog and we will look into the building's occupancy. Can allow for a couple of days on site. Aside from all the teaching commitments.

What we will be asking all stuff to do not circulate this later on today is when you are coming into any of our buildings to complete essentially a track and trace form. For our purposes this isn't an essential on a University scale. This is something that we are asking to do for the safety of all of our all those stuff, both academic and professional services, but this will allow us to do something overview on a daily basis of who is coming in so we can keep an eye on the occupancy of the buildings and ensure that they aren't over occupied and therefore.

In anybody at risk and also there is an outbreak at all with any of our buildings.

Then we will be able to notify you as soon as possible. This is very much for your own safety and our ability to to monitor that safety for you in the building's occupancy. It's a very, very quick form. It doesn't require my approval to enter as such, but what it does mean is that we will be able to ensure that you can be contacted. We do have an outbreak, and there's a say just to be sure that we would prefer people where possible at this time to continue to work from home.

As of Monday, the suit eksperyans team will be back on site.

And they will be operating a drop in said. Well, it's written appointments only for students from the hours of 10 till four. This will be in the rocks rebuilding only and this is purely due to the ability to make the rocks beach student support office covid safe and concerns that the Jane Herman one we can't. We can't make it is coded safe as I would like. So at the moment would just leave it to the rocks we've been open.

In times of that, academic colleagues will obviously still be able to drop into the shoe next variance office. I'll provide further information on that later on. Wanna circulate the email?

Regarding face coverings, which enables him review won't have yet I would like branded face coverings because you haven't been on site yet. We're organizing them to be dropped off in your offices, so you'll be able to collect them as of next week. I'll be able to put more on order for the building so the technical team or kindly will be putting those into your offices should you want a visor instead of face coverings, can you please contact the management services team just to notify you would like one just so we can ensure we have.

Enough, we should have enough for next week for members of staff that do require a visor for teaching.

On that who please ask that when you're wearing them, so the advice is that you are a face covering as they are farther that their premiums be far safer than visors. However, we appreciate during teaching that when they may be uncomfortable may also be a struggle for shoes to here and there. Also, potentially students which will have disabilities which will mean actually advise, would be preferable for those students so.

What we will do if you would like one of those who will always have me the drops off in your office or collected from the post room in the Jane Herman building, or the student experience office in the Roxbury building.

And we ask that you wear those when teaching only when you are walking around in circulation routes in the buildings, and please wear a face covering. That is obviously unless you have any other reason why you are not able to wear a face covering.

We all we are a little bit concerned. Obviously a lot of students that may have issues with this. This won't be covered in their support plan and things like that, so there will also be an element that things may come for like that we weren't aware of. Once we do start to teach.



The research finance team in the management services team will mostly continue to stay working from home with the technical team. Was shooting experience team on site. She next wearing scene will be running into two bubbles.

So one on one week and one off one week. If there is a reason why they need to, they need to self isolate, which obviously we hope there isn't. But just in case, it does mean 'cause you next bearings office may have to be closed at quite short notice. So we would ask that you ensure that.

If you do have anything to collect from them or anything that, then it is all done sorting in reasonable advance. Following my email earlier on field class protocols I've had a few queries but that already and obviously do feel free to continue to send any further queries on that one.

Sorry, Becky, just probably will come on Spielberg. Protocols are saying, but so are sharded. Raised his hands. I don't know if that's something to do with what Vicky's just been talking about.

Yeah it is, yeah.

Couple of things. I mean it was mentioned, perhaps correctly, that our offices will be safer places to be in between teaching, but that obviously recognizes that teaching spaces and other spaces are more risky, so that's the first thing and Secondly, in relation to mass and visors once more.

With Holden and we're getting information from relevant public health bodies that face coverings are of course much more safer and much more effective than visors. But then we're told that sort of near maybe we can't. Do you know they're not particularly good, but when you've got students with disabilities, so wear visor instead in a teaching environment where we could contract covid because we know that Covid is being transmitted, transmitted through aerosol transmission primarily.

So there's a real contradiction here. So what we're asking, you know, and I think this goes back to once again, this sort of not entirely rational thing that we need to give 4 hours of face to face, because pedagogically it makes no sense, especially in things like computer labs, to have distance learning where you have to be a couple of meters away wearing masks. But then we have to make make ourselves more vulnerable by taking masks off so people can actually see our faces and speaking.

So this makes absolutely no pedagogical sense. It makes no sense in relation to health and safety as well, and we've still got as of next week, computer labs going ahead in a distance on campus way, which is going to put people at risk, which is not as effective as if it could be done over zoom over teams on electronic systems where teachers and tutors and postgrads can help people and show them what to do on their computer screens and so.

I think that I think that's A and I wanna know because obviously it's getting to a point now where we don't have time to mess around. Like basically things are starting next week, we're going to have field trips in a couple of weeks time and want to know the extent to which those concerns the fact that these plans are not pedagogically orientated. Arguments have been made about specific modules where designs have been submitted saying that the most important thing is make sure the pedagogies right. Make sure health and safety is right and instead.

Other people who might be might be heads of departments that might be heads of modules that might be heads of disciplines are getting information back at them, saying no, make sure that there's four hours so effectively there kind of heads Department sort of people in the middle. Here are sort of being thrown under the bus, little bit here and ask to take responsibility, but we can see from the information that Vicki is given that there are health risks and there are things that don't.

They don't add up pedagogically and I wanna know if those concerns at school level are being transmitted upwards towards faculty and so forth. There's lots of there are shared, so it's trying we're not gonna have time to go through all of that, but you've made points about mask versus Advisors in different and the different health and safety pros and cons of each of those different teaching scenarios and in different cohorts of students who are dealing with so.

Already there, there's a. There's a a complex kind of array of factors that that we would take quite a long time to sort of distant angle that, but then you've gone from their own sort of face to face in four hours teaching and pedagogy quite a lot in there. I was going to come back to face to face in a minute just to recognize some of the issues that you're talking about there.

And on Mars versus visors, I think, well, Vicki, do you wanna come in quickly on reassuring our show?

Are very much thinking.

Yeah, so so I should just just to confirm when I said the offices are safer, but I was referring to was that between your teaching schedule, if you have three hours off that using your office is an individual. Occupancy is safer than you going to sit in a coffee shop, but there was number of hours not actually referring to any other area on campus that we have ensured his code with safe. So just to clarify, I wasn't compared with a teaching facility being unsaved. Europe is being safer. So just like to clarify that now.

Also.

In times of saying about the visors.

You will be at the member teachers. I should be at all time extremely to distance whatsoever in face to face from other students. We are. We have a duty to advise you, but a Pfizer is deemed as not as safe as a face covering and in terms of student support plans and the fact that obviously by does mean that center people may need to lip read what I have done and it is actually me that has done this has gone to inquire about if we can have a number of face coverings ordered.

They have the transparent areas in so actually they can then be distributed their required.

So all those things. But we are trying to do what we can regarding at the other sort of pedagogical aspects. That's not for me to comment on that side of things, however, from a health and safety point of view, I can stand. There has been a significant amount of work which has been done on campus to ensure that staff will be safe.

In times of.

Your concern but face to face teaching. Not saying I don't appreciate that at all. I do. However, I can assure you the universe and has been incredibly careful in putting these measures in place. If anything they have gone for a significantly reduced occupancy on the rooms.

On if you've been into visits all this week, I don't know if you would have been able to see that.

So regarding the face brings in visors, I will be circulating the the face problem procedure and policy for University later today. It is after that stuff. Do you wear them during during teaching sessions? If for some reason they do need a comfort break into by staff and students with their own session for long page, it's time they comes home. Prolly take them off for a small breather. This is all included in the procedure. Should you have any feedback on that. I'm more than happy to take those things for Health and safety advice. Officer buckles on your behalf.

Right, thanks for that Vicki. I'm going to have to move his on 'cause I really don't want us to go on much beyond three 'cause I know everyone's got stuff to do.

I said thanks for raising that. Or you know, just back up what Vicki saying and there's some people have really been focusing on anything else. But all these issues that you're signed up, and I did want to have as a moment to talk about some of these, or just to make people aware of. I'm sure you already have some of the kind of lemmas that we're facing.

So Vicki mentioned the the.

How should your hands go up again? Is that an old one?

That's an old one I think OK.

The field work protocol document that went round earlier today. Please have a try and have a look at that. I don't know if this is probably not going to do anything specifically in this context, so really this is just an opportunity to. I got that some of you being in touch with trying to field individual questions on coming activities before this point, but we did want to put together a document which.

Sits.

It's not instead of risk assessment. It's part of the process of risk assessment and the two documents should be looked at together. This field work protocols thing is is designed to be short enough that it's clearance distinct on our recommended.

Courses of actions to take when you're running a fuel class.

The reason it's taken as longer than we had hoped to get it all together is because we don't do these things lightly, and we certainly don't want to be in a situation where we're issuing some issuing summer document, which then has to be revised and revised provide. There may be some revision required, but we wanted to get something which.

Is kind of.

In one fell swoop and also that was consistent with University safety and both from the normal health and safety point of view and also from the point of view of the campus shield project. So it's been reviewed and.

And that kind of approved by by those groups as well so that so it's quite short. Short enough that you should be able to read it in detail. Those of you who are going to be involved in those services.

Nick is running more York state flag up on that document.

In in.

I've been approached, they tell us where people would pick up some of the field class cleaning kits that we said would provide and there being put together by the technical team at the moment, it's likely that the South campus will probably collect from Luke for North campus for me to act from Richie Carmel and I are just mapping those things out and say in hopes it communicate that with me later today or tomorrow. Obviously we are aware that there are quite a few things that probably do still need to be included within field pass protocols, but not necessarily for within that document because there will be.

Certain things, but it's independent. Social classes or disciplines and carmelize working separately to look at exactly how we manage, but the different bits of Field Kit and things like that for different disciplines and how those things will be distributed so so that will sort of be an addition. If you like, that won't necessarily relevant to its its warfield buses.

That is not that there's been worked on, and we know that we've got. Also got the draft of the sort of been more specific field risk assessment, where some people have already started to carry out risk assessments for sort of more on campus field work then please. You continue with what you have that over not asking you to redo that again, if their fit for purpose, then we can obviously keep those as they are.

OK, great thanks and one thing which actually.

Which we've also been sort of looking into his destination of field days as well, so we're keeping an eye on that. Obviously that might changes.

Local restrictions and things change. Had been some questions earlier about going to North Wales as as it happens is very few or virtually no plans in place to go to North Wales, at least in the first semester. So we'll obviously just sort of review that as we as the year goes on.

As with all these things, it's probably going to be out of date by the time we fill in a document, the situation will have moved.

Right?

2 minutes left. I just wanted to flag up the On on the education side.

B it's worth just letting you know that.

Tremendous range of views on on face to face teaching on campus, which you'll see.

Just raising some of the issues and concerns of some stuff and we have seen the the correspondence between colleagues in the union and a response that sent last give us last week. I've been awake before now I'm spying by.

So there's obviously a lot of different viewpoints on this, so we are trying to.

Charter of course through this, which is pretty difficult. Also, given the changing external environment as well.

It's worth just you being aware everybody. I'm sure many of you are already that the student view and all this is obviously quite a major factor in some of the decision making. And just as we as a staff of a range of views on it, so to the students, and I've been completely diverse, strongly worded messages coming from different student cohorts on one side the moaning, the.

The low numbers of hours that we appear to be putting putting on for our students in terms of face to face delivery and getting quite exercised about that and then, on the other hand, people with serious anxieties about having any face to face teaching on campus, and that in the current situation.

And so all of these responses have been these. These views have been made known to us, and indeed to the highest leadership within the University, and then come back down to us. So you know, colleagues are dealing with these issues, which of course are changing on a daily basis.

The line that we've taken in the school, you know, is actually trying to sort of striker pragmatic approach to this.

And I've communicated a week or so back on some of the changes that we made quite early on. Our approach to some of our activities that we were going to do face to face.

And we, for pedagogic reasons, is as stated earlier, we decided to let it probably wasn't the best thing to necessarily have a default situation of online tutorials. And recognizing that the story of a face, face tutorial and the online might be more pedagogically defendable position to take. So we've done that, which is which is not.

A position which is perhaps universally held, and I understand that many, many people in some stuff think that's maybe not the right thing to do, but that's a position we've taken.

It is, it is flexible and the whole situation is very flexible and we're going to be keeping stuff up to date with what the decisions that are taken at a higher level. How those manifest themselves in our activities. 'cause we've got a pretty complicated arrange array of teaching for on the field to the lab too.

You just kind of.

Online activities with us. Quantitative or qualitative activities. So we've got the full gamut of activities in this school, so all of the different complex these are being discussed that the higher level pretty much all come down and impact on us. But there will be an awful lot of online activity as we're aware an etiquette is going to be an important factor in how.

We deal with students and how the students engage with us, and I know that some of you are a little bit concerned that the University should be paying due attention to ensuring that students are aware of their responsibilities in how they conduct themselves in the online environment, and that they realize that soon as they join an online forum that they are in effect in the public forum. And they're not just in there.

The bedroom or the living room.

Date they are in a public space and so that should be behaving accordingly. So there are draft documents we put together by the Center for innovation, education for staff and how we approach this. And obviously there's lots of information for students that have been put across to them. And it's this week and will carry on some of the documents there on that on the slide you'll see our existing policies which cover. There's been a review of those and it's agreed that there's no point in rewriting everything in the light of covered where the.

Existing policy is perfectly adequate, so lots of those documents there are relevant to how we conduct online.

Work.

Now I think on education I know mark and Leonie had put themselves willing to take take any particular questions, but I think we did probably most helpful those questions.

Don't know if they've had a chance to look at chat or whether people have emailed them any particular issues in advance.

So I will just quickly go to Markham, Union, see if there's if there's anything they particularly wanted to flag up, not necessarily being able to address an entire question node, but making people aware that they are dealing with particular issues is ramming that you wanted to flag up.

Hello Hi Leonie I.

No, no ones emailed anything but then I don't think they were asked to. So if people do have questions, they can raise them but.

The main there are some updates from Clara Moran. She's so busy that she hasn't got time to raise them herself, so I think the best thing would be that I put them in an email or in the chat here because they're quite important information, but it's going to take me probably a good five minutes to go through them so.

And so I put it in the chat. So should I put them in an email?

Equipment and email is probably going to be easier for folks to access once they come off the call. OK, so please do read them, and in particular the ones that tell you not to resend emails about issues that they are currently working on. They have a huge backlog of issues to deal with and if we keep sending more emails asking for the same things, it's not going to help. So it's it's. It's just documenting what they're doing and the process that they're prioritizing those requests, OK?

But for me, nothing in particular mean the stuff that's coming in the chat. Quite frankly, I don't see that I can respond to because it's about health and safety.

I'd say that in terms of any concerns about how important the pedagogical aspects are of the changes we're making, yes they are important, very important, and that's one of the reasons why we moved to having tutorials online.

But I don't know if there are specific cases where people are uncomfortable with the decisions made. Then they need to raise those, but I think as far as I'm concerned, the approvers of changes have definitely been thinking about the pedagogy and in the teaching.

OK, thanks for any chance concerned. What will do is we will have to just kind of download the tracking code through it afterwards.

Wants to go through that right now. Mark was there anything more you wanted to add?

No, I don't think there's anything I want us at this point in time. OK, great. I mean, I just take this opportunity again to sort of just publicly say huge thank you to all the people that are working in the background on this particular student experience team.

Who?

I mean, it's just some of the level of.

Issues in traffic that they're dealing with at the moment. As you can imagine, I hope. Or maybe you can is really quite overwhelming, so please give them your support.

Over there over the coming weeks, 'cause I imagine it's not necessarily going to let up a great deal.

And that goes for, you know, the only and markers as well, and their roles fielding a huge array of complex issues for which I think we all need to acknowledge there is no.

Settled view OK, there's there's a huge range and spectrum of opinions on what should be done here, and I think we almost need to take a moment to the respect to respect that.

Um?

OK, where are we?

Max size and up a little while a few people have just said that he's added his hand up for little while, so could we just wanted to go to some some reason? I can't see the hands going up, so I thought that so yeah I can see it. I think it's when I'm screen sharing account I can't see that Matt when you go.

Thank you yeah, I just wanted to give you.

And a union view on where we are at the moment. So company unions have rejected the risk assessments associated with teaching is not being suitable and sufficient. Nevertheless, there is risk assessments do include that everyone has the right to walk away from a situation that they feel is not safe, and we know that some stuff.

Cleaners, for example, have already made use of that right? And unions will back staff to the full if they feel they need to do that.

Campus unions and local MP's had meetings with senior management yesterday were all calling for an end test.

To face to face work that can be done remotely and we are expecting an announcement about that today. And obviously we don't know what the content of that will be.

But we continue to be concerned that.

The plans, as they are at the moment and not safe, and that the continuing uncertainty about what stuff being asked to do is causing a great deal of stress, and it's going to lead to a lot of extra work that will turn out to be unnecessary if our plans change, is there likely to do.

On field work specifically, I've seen many people concerned about coach travel and there's growing evidence that aerosol transmission is really important.

And it's seems to me unlikely that.

In cold weather, coach Windows will remain open sufficiently to provide good enough ventilation.

So.

This is one of those situations in which we think that stuff might reasonably.

Reasonably feel things are not safe.

It's something that we've had a lot of feedback on from across the University, not just this Department.

Yeah OK, thanks Matt.

Well, I think you are quite right, but they think it's one of the final lines and that health and safety document is that stuff of the of the right. If they feel unsafe to walk away from the workplace, and you know, that's that's that's written there and it's it's it's part of the policy. And the thing that's always been the case.

As far as the.

Particular thing about the field work and travel? Yeah, I think we we. We absolutely recognize that some of the concerns there, the document that we put round is actually we are insisting that the ventilation on the code does is maintain no matter what. Be outside conditions are.

So that is, that is, it's written in there. Some of the coaches, I think bending on the on the type of coach will have different ways of ventilating, but that is absolutely part of the protocol. There is also in the protocol is that.

If stuff.

Cannot and do not wish to travel on the coach.

Then we will make allowances for that and independent travel to the sites is possible for staff members in that situation.

We do though, need to have at least one sort of representative of the staff on each coach.

As I said, a duty of care to the students as well and to keep an eye on making sure that students are, you know, all understand what the protocols are when they're on on the coach and traveling.

But that does not necessarily need to be the you know the module leader.

It could be a member of staff who's happy to do that, or it could be.

GTR's are included and stuff in that context or other demonstrators, but if staff are feeling very anxious about traveling on a coach in that situation, then best and I try and engineer the situation such that they don't have to do that. The unfair and probably go against what you quite rightly point out in the health and safety policy.

Right, I think we are nearly 10 minutes overtime. We do have an AOB.

Slide, but I think I think we might have to drop ceilings to an end and I was trying to get the balance between having an opportunity for everybody to sort of transfer information and air air views, whether it's in cat or in in person, but not keep you all off your busy duties for too long. So apologies if the balance is not the way you wanted it to be, but this has been a useful session.

In the interest available, just pause there in case there's any glaring things I've missed that someone is feeling like.

We need to address.

Although I can't see the chat at the moment so long on someone else to.

Like that up, OK?

This is nothing glaringly, obviously we've missed them. Will leave it there, but before we do, I just want to remind everyone that has been to alluded to by a few people. Situation is changing dramatically as we speak, and that is it is of course creating huge amount of anxiety and difficulty for people trying to respond to that. But you know, that's.

We've been in this situation now for six months and it's quite.

It is quite wearing on people and some people are.

You know?

Coping better than others, and I think we need to be mindful of that and thinking about our going to etiquette with each other. We are doing it mainly in an online world where things can kind of be.

That kind of exacerbated and Echo Chambers can really kind of sometimes get the wrong signals across the people, so we really have to be kind of mindful about that. Think so far I think have been tremendously impressed with the way everybody's kind of pulled together to get us to this point, but it's certainly things are going to hold up as we move into the actual academic teaching this year, so I really wanted to say first of all, how proud I am to have been working with.

With you all in on this so far, it's a huge effort by everybody and I can see that that everything that's going on and I hope that you also have managed to bear up well in the weeks ahead.

Some people have been feeling a bit poorly under the circumstances, so people get well those of you.

But

better time than others, and otherwise I hope you all stay well and keep keep engaged as we send out to our students. But towards as well, we all keep engaged and keep supporting each other and.

Yeah, and then pull up.

Each other proud, so I'll just sign off there.

And thank you very much.