President's weekly update
6 February 2020
We have launched a consultation on a new proposal for how we manage the University’s investments under our socially responsible investment policy. Rather than just divesting in oil and gas companies, we are proposing to ‘decarbonise’ all of our investments over a period of time. This will have a greater impact than simply disinvesting in fossil fuels reserves and extraction and we believe is going further than other universities in the UK have done, aligning with our University’s values which feature in Our future.
The University and College Union (UCU) has informed us that a further 14 days of strike action will take place in February and March over pay and conditions and the Universities Superannuation Scheme. We are surprised and very disappointed by this decision, particularly in light of positive feedback on discussions that are ongoing. You may also wish to look at the UCEA comparator of pay in higher education compared to other sectors. Our priority remains to minimise the impact of strike action on our students.
Professor April McMahon, Vice-President for Teaching, Learning and Students, and I continued our visits to Schools. Students in the School of Environment, Education and Development packed the room and asked many questions about diversity of students and teachers, work experience, staff contact, field trips, support for PhD students and concerns about their mental health. With staff we discussed industrial action, investment in renewable energy sources, staff wellbeing and concerns about the coronavirus in China. You will have seen my messages to staff and to students about coronavirus. The situation is changing quite quickly so please keep looking for updates.
Only a handful of students came to meet us in the School of Medical Sciences and one said he came because he wanted a selfie with me! They all seemed very happy with their facilities and their staff. The staff meeting was much better attended and issues were raised about fair distribution of workloads, support for students who have to travel for their work placements (notably in medicine), and improving student satisfaction (as measured by National Student Survey outcomes) in medicine and dentistry.
In the School of Engineering, students praised our environmental sustainability team, our careers service, the Students’ Union and podcasting but expressed concerns about the teaching skills of some staff. In the open meeting with staff we discuss IT support for online and blended learning, the challenges of export controls (updated information on this issue will be available on StaffNet soon), workload and fixed term contracts especially in Professional Services as we work through the Student Experience Programme (SEP).
The international advisory board to our Biomedical Research Centre (BRC) visited to assess our progress. Our BRC, the only one outside the south-east, is led by Professor Ian Bruce. I met the members of the advisory board and they said that they were extremely impressed by all aspects of our progress.
I visited the new Data Visualisation Observatory and Behavioural Research Laboratory in our Alliance Manchester Business School. Both are amazing facilities. I particularly enjoyed the virtual reality journey through a spaceship and the 3D view of historic Manchester. Each has many applications for teaching and research.
Our Board Finance Committee met and considered our financial position, future projections and many challenges to our budgets, SEP, our current capital programme, investment policy and commercialisation of graphene and related two-dimensional materials.
I chaired the Board of the Oxford Road Corridor where we considered how the partners on the Corridor can work together to achieve zero carbon emissions. We agreed to put in a proposal to Transport for Greater Manchester for further cycling and walking routes and we committed to developing the Corridor’s social media presence. Members then had a tour of our Graphene Engineering Innovation Centre.
There will be no message next week because I am making a short trip to India to meet alumni, partner research institutes and companies and government agencies.
Nancy Rothwell, President and Vice-Chancellor