President's weekly update

4 March 2021

We know how valuable the Universities Superannuation Scheme (USS) is to our colleagues, over 6,000 of whom are members, and how important it is that the scheme is attractive and affordable to all members. USS has now published its 2020 valuation, which is used as the basis for negotiations on how much employees and employers will pay in contributions and/or how benefits to members may have to change.

This latest valuation is significantly worse than the previous one in 2018. The upper end of the pricing range is now around 56% of salary and the lower end circa 42%. The current rate is 30.7% (21.1% paid by employers and 9.6% paid by employees). Universities UK (UUK), representing the 340 employers in the scheme, has called for “a stronger and clearer justification from the USS Trustee for the very high pricing decisions. Without this justification, employers and scheme members will be concerned that the scheme is facing an unnecessary level of reform”. The Russell Group has also released a statement.

In due course, the Joint Negotiating Committee, with members from UCU and UUK, will consider the valuation and the options.  Pensions are very complicated so we will keep staff updated and will be arranging a briefing by a pensions expert who is completely independent of UUK, USS and UCU.

At Senate, I gave a general update, with particular focus on welcome return of students whose degrees require practical and practise based teaching on 8 March. Robert Fraser, our Chief Finance Officer, reported on the financial outturn for the last academic year and future forecasts, including the challenges faced across the sector, the critical importance of financial sustainability and the opportunities we have to deliver this.

In the School of Arts, Languages and Cultures (SALC) we heard that applications for study next year are very strong, including for the liberal arts degree, and the student unit evaluation scores for Semester 1 were very positive. Students in SALC asked about when we would be able to provide more in-person teaching, which they are clearly looking forward to, the importance of delivering learning outcomes in the context of the fees we charge and our assessment pledge. Staff raised concerns about workload and mental health and wellbeing, the impact of COVID on research time and government announcements on freedom of speech.

Students in the School of Health Sciences spoke to us about the significant workload they face whilst on placements, sometimes on COVID wards, at the same time doing academic assessments, but they were also incredibly positive about the support they receive from staff. They also asked about how we recruit more BAME staff and close the gap in attainment between different ethnic groups which is a feature of most universities. With staff we discussed the huge opportunities of digital and public health. They raised the work-life balance for many staff, particularly those with children at home and asked about flexible working when we return back to a new normal way of working. This is something which is being looked at with the aim of having a new policy in place soon.

Student course reps in the Faculty of Biology, Medicine and Health were very positive about the assessment pledge which they said had been very helpful. They also appreciated the hard work of staff but wanted more advice on careers in some areas, more teaching on digital and programming and were concerned about the costs of quarantining as they return to Manchester from overseas - though in this case we did manage to find a direct flight into Manchester which avoids one of the ‘red-listed countries’ so that they can quarantine in their normal accommodation.

The student course reps in the Faculty of Humanities wanted to discuss our assessment pledge and mitigating actions, the return of extra-curricular activities, access to University facilities after graduation and the duration of PhDs.

We held our General Assembly this week. I gave a general update on performance over the past year and our successes and challenges. Robert Fraser reported on our financial position, Professor Graham Lord talked about our research on COVID and Professor Nalin Thakkar spoke about equality, diversity and inclusion.

I attended a Board meeting of the Industrial Strategy Council (ISC), chaired by Andy Haldane, Chief Economist at the Bank of England, a joint meeting of ISC and the Council for Science and Technology on ‘levelling up’, and gave evidence with Andy and other ISC members to the Business Energy and Industrial Strategy parliamentary committee on industrial strategy which covered research and innovation, achieving net zero and ‘levelling up’.

I met Mehrunnisa Lalani, our interim head of equality, diversity and inclusion to discuss the importance of listening to the concerns and experiences of staff and students and then jointly designing actions to minimise any discrimination, harassment and bullying.

At our weekly meeting with the five vice-chancellors across Greater Manchester, we met two local MPs, Chris Green and James Daly to talk about the work we are doing on the Greater Manchester Civic University Agreement and Innovation Greater Manchester.

Please take a few minutes to complete a short online staff survey which asks a range of questions focused on your wellbeing and how our University has responded to COVID-19.  The survey is open until 12 March and you should have received an email invitation to take part on Monday, 1 March.  You can find out more on StaffNet. 

Nancy Rothwell, President and Vice-Chancellor

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