President's weekly update
2 December 2021
Medal of Honour
We awarded our Medal of Honour, the highest award besides an honorary doctorate, to three people who have made remarkable contributions to our University and/or the city region. Gillian Easson spent many years on our Board of Governors and was one of our pro-Chancellors; she has also chaired one of the major NHS trusts and has a long career in the legal system. Paul Martin is a notable leader of the Manchester and national LGBTQ+ communities. Jonathan Schofield is a presenter, writer and tour guide who is a real expert on Greater Manchester, which he promotes extensively. Congratulations to all our amazing recipients.
COVID update
We do not yet know how serious the Omicron variant of COVID is for public health, but in line with the changes in government requirements, we are mandating the use of face masks in multiple occupancy indoor settings unless there is distancing of two metres.
Industrial action
UCU members have begun industrial action. We fully understand the great importance of pay, pensions and working contracts but are very concerned by the impact this will have on all our community and particularly on our students. We hope that continued disruption can be avoided. We will hold a further open meeting on USS pension on 8 December which you can attend, watch online or view later.
Horizon Europe
The government has announced a guarantee to provide a financial safety net for successful UK applicants to Horizon Europe whilst continuing to push for association. If association proves impossible a potential ‘plan B’ is in development.
Civic engagement
I attended an amazing event to celebrate Sir Richard Leese’s retirement after 25 years as Leader of Manchester City Council (MCC). About 500 attended from all walks of life across the city, many of whom have worked with Richard. There were lots of tributes and fantastic music and dance from local people, including many children.
I gave evidence to a team that is conducting an external review of MCC about our many partnerships and joint working with the City Council, my membership of the LEP and the multiple engagements of our staff and students with local schools, charities, health services, companies and much more.
Internal meetings
In the School of Health Sciences (SHS), students asked about the impact of the new COVID variant, which of course is difficult to assess as yet, but we felt that major disruption is unlikely. They wanted more in-person teaching next semester but found recorded lectures to be very valuable. They raised the fact that a very small number of students are currently unwilling to be vaccinated and that will mean that they cannot do essential training in the NHS.
Staff in SHS asked about our plans for environmental sustainability, particularly for heating given that we are now keeping more windows open due to COVID. They raised concerns about our internal processes, particularly systems. They recognised the great investment of time and money that we are putting in to these systems but noted the disruptions in the interim as staff are seconded to change projects.
At an in-person meeting with our new President’s Doctoral Scholars they asked about careers, mental health and wellbeing, extensions due to the impact of the pandemic, teaching, skills needed for future employment and my own experiences as a postgraduate researcher.
Innovation
I hosted a dinner for Professor Diane Coyle, an eminent economist. Diane is the co-director of the Bennett Institute in Cambridge, was a member of staff here and still has very strong links with us, particularly through our national Productivity Institute which is hosted by our Alliance Manchester Business School (AMBS).
Luke Georghiou, Deputy President and Deputy Vice-Chancellor, and I met Saul Klein, a major investor in start-up and scale-up companies, who had spent two days with our staff and is keen to work more closely with us in the future.
Nancy Rothwell, President and Vice-Chancellor