Campus News
Professional Services Hubs to be upgraded and expanded
October 31st, 2022
The Professional Services Hubs at University Park, Kings Meadow, Jubilee and Sutton Bonington campuses will be upgraded and expanded to accommodate growing numbers of colleagues who are now using them.
Since the removal of Covid-19 restrictions in late February 2022, use of the hubs has continued to increase as individuals and teams adapt to new ways of working and spend more time on campus whilst retaining the benefits of hybrid working patterns.
A number of improvements will be introduced over the coming months to support individual staff using the hubs and increase the amount of workspace available to different teams:
- a dedicated Workplace Manager has been recruited to oversee the development of the hubs and their day-to-day operation, providing support and maintaining supplies and services for each office location. The Workplace Manager will in in post from Monday 12 December;
- missing or faulty desktop equipment will be replaced, and staff who need them will be issued with essentials such as connectors to enable them to work at any location with ease;
- further shared spaces will be created at Kings Meadow Campus, and next year the Jubilee hub will be expanded to further floors of the Yang Fujia building;
- the size of team zones will then be increased for External Relations, Research & Innovation, Finance, Estates & Facilities and the Campaign and Alumni Relations Office; and spaces to support confidential, collaborative, and quiet working will also be significantly increased.
The long-term vision remains to co-locate all central professional service teams into a single location on University Park, which would also release Kings Meadow campus for sale or alternative use. However, there are no plans over the short to medium term to release Kings Meadow and professional service colleagues should continue to work at the hubs located at Kings Meadow, University Park and elsewhere as they do now.
A number of options for a single location for central professional services teams are being evaluated, including the refit of the Tower Building. The Tower is currently undergoing a full strip out of its existing services, internal walls and finishes to ensure the building is ready for refurbishment.
However, full refurbishment will be delayed by up to two years whilst the economic climate is leading to sharply rising costs in the construction sector and the need to prioritise projects across the university estate. Colleagues can be assured that it remains a strategically important project and we will restart works just as soon as the financial climate allows.
As the academic year progresses you may find that some of the hubs are busy on certain days, particularly Tuesday to Thursdays on University Park. Please respect bookings that have been made, but also release your booking where you no longer require it at the earliest opportunity. Peak attendance is also trending strongly in the middle of the week, so if you want to meet up and use the hubs as a large group you may find Mondays and Fridays are more convenient.
The hubs are shared spaces, so please treat them accordingly.
Should you spot anything that needs fixing in the hub you are using, please do raise it for resolution at the earliest possible opportunity by contacting PS Hubs mailbox, the Estates Help Desk or the DTS Service Desk as appropriate.
You can also raise issues and questions via your representative on the Hub Management Group.
There will be a quarterly update email summarising progress for colleagues who use the hubs. You will be able to find more regular updates on the Professional Service Hubs SharePoint.
Tags: Estates, Hubs, professional services hub, PS hubs
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New university senior tutor and deputy university senior tutor
October 26th, 2022
Following an internal recruitment process, Andy Fisher, Professor of Philosophy and former deputy senior tutor, has been appointed as the new university senior tutor. Andy is joined by Amanda Crompton, Associate Professor in the Business School, who has been appointed as the new deputy university senior tutor.
Andy succeeds Pam Hagan, who has held the position since 2015 and received a Vice-Chancellor’s Medal for her contributions during the Covid-19 pandemic.
In their new roles, Andy and Amanda will be working closely with the university’s Teaching and Learning Committee and colleagues in Student and Campus Life. They will lead the Senior Tutors’ Network and provide academic leadership for the development of the Student Engagement Dashboard and the pastoral and welfare support that underpins it.
Andy and Amanda have already introduced a Senior Tutor Steering Group, which will provide an agile way of informing university decisions around tutoring. They hope to introduce further reforms, including:
- Professionalising tutoring
- Better recognising tutorial work in promotion criteria
- Reviewing how the university rewards and recognises tutoring – including workload allocation
- Introducing external accreditation for tutoring
- Encouraging evidence-based decisions around tutoring
- Running a yearly research-led tutoring workshop
- Rethinking and standardising the way tutoring is understood and delivered across all three campuses
Alongside the delivery of personal tutoring and student support and development, Andy and Amanda will lead the Senior Tutor Network (STN), arranging the delivery of appropriate training, and ensuring that all schools and departments meet or exceed the requirements set out in the Quality Manual.
Their work will support the Education and Student Experience Strategic Delivery Plan and contribute to Educational Enhancement and Assurance Reviews, partnering with Professional Services units, the Students’ Union, and sabbatical officers, as well as with colleagues at UNM and UNNC.
Mark Bradley, Associate Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Teaching and Curriculum Leadership), said: “Tutoring, pastoral support and welfare are crucial areas of student life and we need to ensure we are delivering the best experience we can for our students. Andy and Amanda bring with them a wealth of knowledge and understanding about best practice in this area and, under their leadership, the university is well-equipped to make a step change in this space.”
Tags: amanda crompton, andy fisher, deputy senior tutor, pam hagan, personal tutor, senior tutor, tutoring
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Disability Recognition Month at the university
October 26th, 2022
Each year, the university celebrates Disability Recognition Month. This year, we’re celebrating between Wednesday 16 November and Friday 16 December.
For 2022, we have a variety of events and celebrations – everything from panel discussions, talks, and workshops for staff and students to get involved in.
Highlights of the month include:
What’s new in the Disability space?
Thursday 17 November 2022
This event showcases initiatives and the provision of service for disabled staff and students, allies, managers and anyone who wants to know more about the support available at UoN.
Attendees will be updated with the changes that are being made across the university to increase support. The event is being run in conjunction with the HealthyU Campaign.
The theme for Disability Recognition Month is ‘Disability, Health and Wellbeing’.
The event will feature several short presentations from a range of speakers from across the institution.
Poetry Reading and Q&A with Lisa Kelly
Tuesday 22 November 2022
The event will consist of a 20-minute reading from poet Lisa Kelly, then a 20-minite audience Q&A, and finally a closing 10-minute reading.
Lisa’s debut collection A Map Towards Fluency was published by Carcanet (2019) and was shortlisted for the Michael Murphy Memorial Poetry Prize. She is also the author of several poetry pamphlets, including Philip Levine’s Good Ear, which explores her single-sided deafness (Stonewood Press, 2018). Her poetry has been featured in multiple journals, magazines and anthologies, including in Carcanet’s New Poetries VII (2018) and the ground-breaking Stairs and Whispers: D/deaf and Disabled Poets Write Back (Nine Arches Press, 2017); she teaches creative writing and poetry in performance at the Torriano Meeting House in London, and is current co-Chair of Magma Poetry. Find out more about Lisa’s work.
Let’s Talk….Paralympic Sport
Thursday 1 December 2022
Open to students, staff and key external partners.
We will have a panel of speakers who have achieved at the highest level and will be talking about their own lived experiences and how it has helped them through all facets of life. We will hear from three speakers:
- Sophie Unwin, GB Paralympic Cycling silver medallist and World Championship gold medallist,
- Joe Bestwick, GB Paralympic Wheelchair Basketball Bronze medallist, European Championship gold medallist and current Wheelchair Basketball Development Officer at the University:
- Tim Jeffery, GB Paralympic shooting finalist, World Championship gold medallist and former University of Nottingham student.
Covid as a mass-disabling event: A pegagogy of kindness in pandemic times
Wednesday 14 December 2022
This webinar features Professor Cate Denial, Bright Distinguished Professor of American History at Knox College, University of Nottingham alumna, and PI on a $150,000 Mellon Foundation grant analysing practices of care in academia during Covid. Professor Denial will discuss the need to practice a “pedagogy of kindness” to create a more inclusive and just academy.
Drawing on her research and own experiences with disability, Professor Denial will prompt us to re-evaluate our ideas of educational “rigour” not only in response to the pandemic as a mass-disabling event, but also a part of larger efforts to make higher education more accessible for disabled students and instructors alike.
Find a full list of events to get involved with for this year’s Disability Recognition Month celebrations.
Tags: disability recognition month, Disability Recognition Month 2022
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Level 1-3 pay implementation – October salaries
October 26th, 2022
Colleagues at levels 1-3 will see their 22/23 pay award implemented in the October salary payment, including backpay from 1 August 2022.
The three-year pay offer developed earlier this year through extensive consultation with colleagues addresses key issues raised by university staff and the trade unions. This includes addressing pay differentials, consolidating the voluntary living wage, and further tackling our gender and ethnicity pay gaps.
The pay award of 8.2% in year 1 (an increase from 7.6% to now include the Living Wage Foundation uplift detailed below) and a 3-year total of 18.5% (increased from 16.5% now including the Living Wage Foundation uplift) exceeds any other offer we are aware of available in the higher education sector. These uplifts are additional to the costs of incremental progression that already applied for some groups.
Additionally, the offer guarantees that if the UCEA national offer exceeds the university offer over the three-year period – which will factor in the current period of high inflation – the university would match the national offer.
In implementing the offer, it is hoped that this will provide relief and certainty for colleagues, coupled with a guarantee that they will be no worse off should the national pay offer from UCEA exceed the university offer over the three-year period.
Full details of the pay award, including a modeller, can be found here.
Implementation of the 2022 Living Wage Foundation Rate
From 1 November 2022 the university is further supporting its lowest paid staff through continuing to meet or exceed the latest Living Wage Foundation Rate, this was announced on 22 September 2022 at £10.90p.h.
This means that any APM/TS/O&F colleague at spine point 8 or 9 will be moved to spine point 10 from 1 November 2022, while any CCS colleague at spine points 9 – 12 will move to spine point 13 from 1 November 2022.
This is significantly in advance of the 6-month window that the Living Wage Foundation allow accredited employers to implement the rate and means that the university will be exceeding the Living Wage Foundation Rate from Tuesday 1 November 2022.
Tags: cost of living, Cost of Living support, living wage, pay award, pay review, staff wages, Wages
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Welcoming students to Student Life and MyWellbeing
October 26th, 2022
The university is excited to announce that MyWellbeing will join MyCareer to offer an expanded online platform for our students.
Together, this will form our exciting new Student Life platform.
What is MyWellbeing?
MyWellbeing will be the university’s home for our Student Wellbeing services in one single location.
Students will be able to book appointments, sign-up to events, access resources offered by these services.
This will bring together our:
- University Counselling Service
- University Mental Health Advisory Service
- Disability Support Service
- Chaplaincy and Faith Support
- Support and Wellbeing Service
- HealthyU – University of Nottingham’s Health Improvement Campaigns
Tags: MyCareer, MyWellbeing
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Spotlight on…sessions to return
October 25th, 2022
The university’s extremely popular Spotlight on…… sessions are due to recommence in November.
This year the sessions place a spotlight on a range of hot topics and challenges faced by many staff in Higher Education.
The sessions aim to provide staff with practical insights, tools, tips and conversation around a variety of relevant topics.
Whether you have been at the university for some while, or are newly appointed/promoted, there are topics that are likely to be of interest.
The focus of the sessions will be on exchanging ideas with others attending, as well as bringing examples for discussion with the university experts leading the session. All sessions are planned to take place virtually using Microsoft Teams.
The upcoming sessions below are all part of the Spotlight on… series.
Coaching Conversation, December 2022, June 2023
This Spotlight session will help colleagues understand the principles and benefits of coaching conversations. We will identify and practice some key coaching techniques. We will discuss some of the everyday conversations that we can use them and the benefits these will bring.
Building trust and accountability in a team, December 2022
This Spotlight session will help colleagues build trust in their teams through greater accountability which is positive, principled and transparent.
Building confidence as a leader: Imposter Phenomenon, November 2022, May 2023
Recognising Imposter Phenomenon is a common issue experienced by many high achievers and leaders across all walks of life and career stages; this spotlight session starts by unravelling the effects and typical profiles of people experiencing Imposter Phenomenon, before moving on to consider effective management and support approaches which can help re-build confidence and effective leadership.
Supporting people through change and complexity, February 2022, April 2023
We face complex continuous change everyday; this spotlight session will open a discussion around effective change leadership which recognises the all-important human side of successful change.
Supporting the career development of your team, January 2023
This spotlight session will help colleagues to align a more holistic and balanced approach to supporting the career development of individuals and succession planning of the team.
Creating a cohesive team culture, January 2023, July 2023
Cohesive, high-performing teams have purpose and trust at their foundation. This spotlight session helps colleagues to build and shape a team culture that values and benefits from team cohesion.
You can book to attend all of the sessions, or just a few – it’s up to you.
Further information, dates and booking can be found on our Spotlight on …sessions webpages.
Tags: spotlight on...sessions, Staff training, training
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Industrial action latest: October 2022
October 25th, 2022
Following a national, aggregated ballot of all university branches, UCU has obtained a mandate for industrial action in respect of their disputes regarding pay, pensions and working conditions.
We are currently awaiting full details of what this means for the university. Our focus will now be on making sure any impact to student education is minimised.
There will be no immediate industrial action, as by law UCU has to give all relevant employers 14 days’ notice before any action can begin. UCU has also indicated that it will give employers time to respond to the ballot outcome before calling on members to take action.
We are aware that issues relating to pay, working conditions and pensions are very important to our staff. We have constructive relationships with all of our campus trade unions and will continue to work collaboratively with them in respect of these issues.
We will continue to keep our community updated.
Tags: Industrial Action, information for staff, UCU
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Student cost of living support
October 24th, 2022
The university has put together a programme of support for students facing financial challenges due to the cost-of-living crisis.
With students among the groups most likely to be affected by the cost-of-living crisis, the university has compiled a package of financial and wellbeing support.
The support package includes two support funds – the Student Hardship Fund and the Student Crisis Fund. The Student Hardship Fund provides financial assistance towards living costs while the Student Crisis Fund offers interest-free loans to any student who is experiencing financial difficulties because of an unexpected change in their circumstances.
The package also outlines initiatives and resources to help students keep costs down, including campus kitchen access, shower facilities, study spaces, and an increase in the number of free period products.
We’re asking for the help of student-facing staff in signposting these resources to students.
Tags: Cost of Living support, financial support, student support
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Learning spaces design guidelines launched
October 21st, 2022
A new set of guidelines describing standards for bookable teaching spaces has been launched by the Teaching and Learning Committee.
These guidelines have been co-created and designed with stakeholders from across the university. They will be used by Estates and Digital and Technology Services (DTS) to plan investment programmes, and to maintain and upgrade facilities.
The guidelines will begin to bring a consistency to standards for teaching and learning spaces, and give students a common experience across our campuses – regardless of where they are taught. The guidelines have been endorsed by Teaching and Learning Committee and should be applied to all facilities projects across UK campuses.
View the Learning Spaces Design Guidelines on Sharepoint
The guidelines will also complement the Timetabling and Teaching Infrastructure Improvement Project, which is reviewing current facilities across the estate – along with how we’re using them. These agreed guidelines for learning spaces will allow us to report accurately on how different types of spaces are used, as well as inform how we can better timetable the space.
This project will establish how existing timetabled spaces match against the design guidelines, develop and roll out space improvements – alongside a clear management and maintenance cycle process. This will create a step change in the way we use our circa 300 centrally-timetabled teaching and learning spaces.
Stavros Pourikas, Capital Projects Manager, said: “The guide and process has already proved useful in establishing the University’s priorities for demand of a new PC room required for September 2022.”
“Through a dedicated workshop we agreed on design guidelines for the computer lab C13 in the Engineering and Sciences Learning Centre. This was approved and funded, and the work was completed over the summer ahead of the start of 22/23. This is a signal that this work is already making a difference.”
Furniture selected for the refurbished computer lab offers flexibility. The layout is more accessible, flip-top monitors allow for the learning space to be used in various formats and there is power provision on desks for students who want to bring their own device.
Image above: Room C13 before and after refurbishment. Click to enhance image.
Mark Bradley, Associate Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Teaching and Curriculum Leadership, said: “Following in-depth consultations with students and academics, we developed a framework to better understand the purpose of different spaces and how they impact on user experience.
Our new hierarchy of needs will guide designers, estates teams and other consultants when determining how spaces should be upgraded.
The final set of guidelines, co-designed with key stakeholders, enables the university to identify and prioritise areas for development and to implement flexible design solutions with the needs of users at its heart.”
Tags: Learning spaces, teaching and learning
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Our commitment to sharing knowledge for the benefit of all
October 20th, 2022
Research update from Professor Neil Crout
Nottingham has been reaffirmed as one of England’s leading universities for working collaboratively with our partners for the benefit of society.
In results from the latest Knowledge Exchange Framework, we demonstrate ‘very high engagement’ with industry, the public sector and for commercialisation of our intellectual property.
KEF’s new interactive website includes a dashboard where our sector-leading performance can be viewed alongside those of other universities.
Electrification business unit is UK first
Our commitment to working with business – as evidenced in the latest Knowledge Exchange Framework – is underlined by news that Nottingham has become the first UK university to create an independent business unit for the industrialisation of electrical motors and drive systems.
Nottingham Drive Specialist Services is based at the recently opened Power Electronics and Machines Centre and underlines our commitment to making our world-leading facilities and knowledge available for the benefit of society.
Such support for industry is a key pillar of the university’s mission and here will accelerate the UK’s drive to a revolution in sustainable transport.
Our renewed research strategy includes research and innovation clusters in net zero technologies, as well as health, and digital, underlining our commitment to building partnerships to deepen our research’s impact in the world.
Funding to tackle challenges
I also share a snapshot of our funding successes, including support for the development of new treatments for common illnesses and tackling global challenges such as antimicrobial resistance and securing sustainable bio economies.
Best wishes
Neil
Professor Neil Crout
Interim Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Research and Knowledge Exchange
Read Professor Crout’s full update
Tags: Professor Neil Crout, Research and Knowledge Exchange, research update
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