President's weekly update

17 December 2020

This will be my last message before the Christmas break and for most staff there will be three extra days’ holiday on 21, 22 and 23 December - though many will still have to work for at least some part of this period. In all of the many meetings I’ve held over recent weeks I have said that this has been the most difficult period the majority of us can remember - for staff and students. Yet we can be proud of many successes, some remarkable achievements, incredible commitment and amazing teamwork.

Senior colleagues and I held an open meeting to answer questions from staff, both pre-submitted and in person. You can watch the recording and if you have further questions write to uninews@manchester.ac.uk. The topics included our current and future financial position, local COVID-19 infection rates, prospects for an increase in in-person teaching, student behaviour and recent events in our residences, testing and arrangements for the return of students after Christmas.

Student behaviours, rent rebates and the staggered start of teaching after Christmas were also topics at our meeting with Officers of the Students’ Union. They have been very helpful in our discussions with student representatives in residences. The rent rebates that we have awarded (30% of the whole of rents for semester one) were delivered because early in the academic year we were unable to provide the full service that students might have expected due to COVID-19. Students’ Union Officers told us about their many activities to support students, including over Christmas, and made helpful suggestions for further support that students would welcome.

We covered similar topics at our meeting with about 60 senior staff from across the University and considered the likelihood of a further increase in infections after the Christmas period but a hopeful decline thereafter and an eventual reduction in the Tier level of our region.

We know it has been a very tough year for students, but some behaviours have been unacceptable. Regrettably, we have now taken forward nearly 500 student disciplinary cases for serious breaches of health and safety and COVID regulations, and Greater Manchester Police have issued a number of fixed penalty fines. While these represent a minority of our students, their behaviour is highly disruptive and puts the safety of other students, staff and local residents at risk. We are working with elected students and our Students’ Union on further ways to limit such behaviours.

Patrick Hackett, Registrar, Secretary and Chief Operating Officer, and I had video meetings with staff in our ResLife team and separately with our security staff. They have operated under exceptionally challenging conditions this year, with many of them working through each period of national lockdown and many will be working through Christmas and New Year to support those students, likely over 1,000, who will be staying in our residences. We assured them of our strong support for all the work they are doing. We heard about the challenges these staff, like their counterparts at other universities, have faced with COVID, including support for students with infections and in self-isolation, managing the many restrictions due to COVID-19 and sadly the ongoing poor behaviours amongst a significant, but highly disruptive minority. It is these staff who are on the front-line supporting students every day as well as when they face a problem or a crisis, all too often late at night, yet their very important work isn’t always obvious, especially as much of what they do is not on our main campus.

I chaired our Digital Futures Strategic Advisory Board. In addition to updates on many active projects, we heard about the fascinating work theme Digital Creative and Heritage, from Dr Kostas Arvantis from the School of Arts, Languages and Cultures. Professor Tom Rodden, the Chief Scientific Advisor to the Department of Culture Media and Sport, is a member of our Board and suggested some important follow up to the work of Kostas and his colleagues.

I met the Chair of our Board, Edward Astle, to update him on recent events then we were joined by the chairs of our Board sub-committees and senior colleagues to discuss our future plans and finances. We considered the five-year financial projections which present significant challenges that we are addressing.

We are waiting to hear the outcome of ongoing Brexit negotiations and hence exactly what it will mean for our University. Whatever the outcome, it’s really important that we make sure that our European staff, students and partners know how much we value them as members of our community and how much we value our European collaborations.

At last, we can see some light at the end of the tunnel as COVID vaccines are being deployed. We should recognise the fact that these remarkable breakthroughs in developing effective and safe vaccines in record time are based on extensive fundamental research, some of which has been conducted at our University.

I recognise the incredibly hard work of our staff to deliver teaching and learning and wider support to our students, maintain research as much as has been possible and still deliver a huge range of activities under social responsibility, including extensive volunteering to support the most vulnerable people in our communities. Many staff have worked hard to maintain our essential services and key operations. So, a huge thank you to all of you - and please do thank your own colleagues who have worked so hard. Christmas and New Year will not be quite the same as usual, but I hope that you all manage to get a break and a well-deserved rest.

Nancy Rothwell, President and Vice-Chancellor

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