President's weekly update
28 April 2022
I hope you all managed to enjoy a little time for rest and relaxation over the Easter break as we start the final part of the academic year. I appreciate this continues to be a busy time across the University for staff and students alike.
Medal of Honour
We presented our Medal of Honour to two outstanding individuals, Shalni Arora for her charitable and philanthropic contributions and Duncan Craig, one of our alumni for his support for male survivors of abuse and exploitation.
Innovation and industry engagement
Legal and General (L&G) held their Board meeting in Manchester. They are key partners in Innovation District Manchester. They had a tour of the GEIC and ID-M. Later, we held a dinner in our John Rylands Library. I gave a formal welcome and spoke about our vision and aims of the University and the importance of the partnership with L&G, and our shared interest in health inequalities. Councillor Bev Craig, leader of Manchester City Council, also spoke about how important ID-M is for our city region.
Senate
Senate members attended an informal briefing on University Timetabling Policy and Flexible Learning Strategy. This and the main Senate meeting were held in person for the first time in over two years! At the Senate meeting we had a lengthy discussion on teaching expectations and also talked about European research funding, support for staff and students affected by Ukraine and teaching hubs.
School visits and internal meetings
At the School of Biological Sciences visit, students asked about financial support and we discussed online versus in-person teaching. Staff asked about how we manage the pressures of rising costs due to high inflation but with fixed incomes, what the levelling-up agenda will mean for us and how we enhance staff contributions and performance.
Students in the School of Social Sciences asked about cross-school degrees, recent industrial action, transparency of assessment and feedback and the notice given for exam timetabling. With staff we discussed our support for students and staff affected by the situation in Ukraine, concerns about mental health issues for students, IT support and strengths in health inequalities.
At an online meeting with leaders from across the University we presented the draft programme for our Board Strategy day next month and had presentations on how we are supporting students and staff in crisis by Richard Cotton and Melissa Westwood, and our research on health inequalities by Nicky Cullum.
Our regular meeting with officers from the Students’ Union included general updates and discussions of the government’s criticisms of NUS, EDI strategy, and research on slavery. We also talked about the incoming Public Spaces Protection order, which means that drinking alcohol in any public spaces will be illegal from mid-May.
International engagement
The Chinese Ambassador to the UK visited us with the Chinese Consul General. Our visitors learnt about the work of our Manchester China Institute, Confucius Institute, support we provide for our many Chinese students and our partnerships with China.
I attended an online Russell Group meeting with the principals of Swedish universities, where our discussion focussed on our responses to the crisis in Ukraine, the impact on our staff and students and the longer-term implications for collaborations with Ukraine, Russia and neighbouring countries.
Cheering on our ‘Purple Wave’ runners and volunteers
On 22 May, staff, students and alumni will take part in this year’s Purple Wave - our University entry into the Great Manchester Run. I am grateful to everyone taking part, and particularly to those who are using this opportunity to fundraise for our Re-write Cancer campaign. Instructions on how to sign up for a free fundraising place for the 10k or half marathon if you are fundraising for Re-write Cancer are available on our UoM Sport website. I look forward to cheering you on!
Staff Survey
The Staff Survey is now open. It only takes about 15 minutes to complete, and we strongly encourage all staff to give feedback, so that we understand what actions we can take to ensure that our University becomes an even better place to work and study.
Nancy Rothwell, President and Vice-Chancellor