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President's weekly update

13 April 2022

UCU ballots

The results of the two recent UCU ballots on pay and conditions, and on the USS pension have been announced. The turnout for our University in the first of these was 47.9% of those eligible to vote (ie 951 voted out of about 2,000 UCU members). Of those voting, 79.3% voted in favour of strike action and 85.9% in favour of action short of a strike. For the ballot on USS pension, the turnout was 49.0%, (ie 974 UCU members voted). Of this, 81.6% voted in favour of strike action and 87% voted for action short of a strike.

As fewer than 50% of members voted in each ballot this means there is no mandate for further industrial action at our University at the present time.

Open meeting

We held another open meeting for any staff who wished to join (or watch online, or access later) with senior colleagues. We answered questions on equality, diversity and inclusion, hybrid working, recycling items from student residences, artworks on North Campus, the Whitworth Gallery, our bond (which we used to build MECD), ID Manchester and early career researchers. You can watch the recording. We welcome suggestions for topics for future meetings: uninews@manchester.ac.uk.

Recruiting more academics

It is good to hear that the Faculty of Humanities are seeking 45-50 new permanent academic staff and will be converting a number of the staff recruited into fixed term roles into permanent positions.

Please complete your Staff Survey

The all-staff survey will run from 26 April – 17 May. Your voice is really important - please share your views when the survey email arrives. It will take just 20 minutes of your time but will help us to understand how colleagues feel about their work experience here, what’s good that we need to keep, and what needs to change. All responses are anonymous and confidential and for every completed survey we will make a donation to plant a tree. More information is on StaffNet, and we will be sharing key messages from colleagues and the action we intend to take. 

International activities

I took part in several international events online. Meeting virtually means I’ve been able to have discussions with colleagues and alumni in America, South-East Asia and Sweden without travel.

I joined a meeting of our North American Foundation to give an update on the University and fundraising. Professor Angie Wilson, Associate Dean for internationalisation in the Faculty of Humanities, talked about University links with North America and recruitment of students, which we aim to increase significantly.

I hosted an online meeting for alumni in South-East Asia with over 100 participants. It was also live-streamed on WeChat in China, where more than 750 further participants were able to join us. We had a great presentation from Yanna Zhu, a psychology graduate, who had spent a week in Singapore on our Global Graduates programme.

I also took part in the closing session of a joint meeting with partner universities in Sweden. A group of staff travelled to Stockholm to build our research links across areas in all three faculties. The presidents of Stockholm University, KTH in Stockholm and I all urged momentum in cementing partnerships and collaboration.

Regional issues

At a Board meeting of Oxford Road Corridor we considered our future strategy and agreed that Professor Malcom Press, Vice-Chancellor of Manchester Metropolitan University, would succeed me as chair. The chair appointment is normally for five years and I have done seven years!

Health equity

Last week I reported on the launch in AMBS of Professor Sir Michael Marmot’s latest report on health equity. We followed up this week in a meeting with him and some of his colleagues, together with our own staff who are working in this area. We talked about a partnership with Michael’s Institute of Health Equity at UCL, and how we can share data.

Planning

Our Strategic Planning Group this week reviewed budgets and priorities for investment in light of a big increase in inflation, where our ambitions already outstripped our available resources. We also considered the programme for our Board strategy day in May when we will be considering our plans over the next five years and beyond.

Chancellor

We have received many positive messages about the appointment of our next Chancellor, Nazir Afzal and huge coverage on social media. We are starting to work on the arrangements for Foundation Day in October when Nazir will be formally installed, and further details will be made available nearer the time.

Easter

I hope that you all manage to take a well-earned break over Easter and hope that the weather is kind to us. There will be no message next week, as I will be taking a short break.

Nancy Rothwell, President and Vice-Chancellor

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