President's weekly update
12 March 2020
Further cases of coronavirus (COVID-19) have been reported in the UK and globally. We continue to issue regularly updated advice to staff and students and we are being guided in our approach by the latest advice from Public Health England (PHE), the National Health Service and other Government agencies. This is coupled with well-established procedures of our own. Our Core Incident Group, with the support of a number of sub-groups, is meeting regularly and is both taking action and making plans for a range of scenarios depending on how the situation changes. Our first priority is the health and safety of students, staff and visitors to the University.
The outbreak is already impacting on international students studying at our University of Manchester Worldwide Global Centres and on those travelling to our executive education courses. Government advice is that these impacts will be temporary, but we have to consider the potential for a significant reduction in the number of international students who travel to Manchester and the UK more widely for the next academic year, as well as what extra help and support we can offer to those who do come. The impact of this would be very significant indeed as described in recent article in the Guardian. It is critical that we now prioritise online and blended learning for students who are unable or unwilling to travel, as well as for those who are on campus.
I had a very positive meeting with the Chinese Consul General and his colleagues about Chinese students’ worries. They were reassured by our actions and plans and are keen to work with us.
This week sees the end of 14 days of strike action by University and College Union (UCU) members over pay, working conditions and the Universities Superannuation Scheme (USS). This has been disappointing and surprising given that negotiations are ongoing nationally on pay and the USS pension, with reports from both sides of positive progress. We are also taking steps locally to address a number of concerns on working conditions, for example on wellbeing and workloads and have invited suggestions from staff. UCU is opening a new ballot on strike action next week which is disappointing in light of both ongoing negotiations and coronavirus.
Staff are required to report that they have taken strike action (and on how many days) by 25 March. It is only after that date that we will know the levels of disruption to students and their learning outcomes. While we recognise that UCU members are still engaged in ‘action short of a strike’ we very much hope that they will prioritise any lost learning outcomes for students.
The USS is now embarking on the next valuation of the scheme, which will be reported in March 2021, but is based on evaluations this month. The sharp decline in global markets due to coronavirus is likely to have a significant impact on the valuation and indeed USS has just sent a notice to say that the severe volatility of markets may trigger a more urgent valuation.
Our Global Leadership Board, which supports our efforts in philanthropy, met this week in Manchester. As usual I updated on recent events, activities and threats including those above. I also discussed our new vision and strategic plan. We recently published our draft theme plans and asked staff to give their views on these. Thank you to everyone who replied and we will update you on next steps shortly.
Professor April McMahon, Vice-President for Teaching, Learning and Students, and I met Kwame Kwarteng, General Secretary of the Students’ Union. Kwame has been re-elected for a second term and for the first time all members of the Students’ Union Executive are international students. We discussed current industrial action, coronavirus and how we mitigate against both.
I visited the Student Insight team to hear about their amazing analyses that are helping us to plan student recruitment, student choices and where we need to increase and improve our offers.
Professor Graham Lord, Vice-President and Dean of the Faculty of Biology, Medicine and Health, and I travelled to Alderley Park to meet staff and students who moved there following the fire at the Paterson Building in 2017. We are now part of a £20million joint fundraising appeal alongside Cancer Research UK and The Christie Charitable Fund, which aims to help meet the cost of a new £150million cancer research facility on the site of the destroyed building. There was great attendance and very good questions ranging from Brexit to Government support for research and much more.
At a meeting with our elected Mayor for Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham, we discussed the civic engagement theme of our strategic plan and shared activities around skills, wellbeing, inclusive growth; Innovation District Manchester, and external challenges. While I was with him we saw the announcements of major research fund increases in the Budget by the Chancellor of the Exchequer, though as yet there is little detail.
Nancy Rothwell, President and Vice-Chancellor