VC financial response update - video available

Dear colleagues,

Thank you to those who attended last week’s all-staff session.

I apologise again for the sound problems we faced, which made a good deal of my update on where we are in our thinking on dealing with the impact of inflation on the University’s finances difficult to understand.

I have re-recorded my update, with the same content, about our response to the financial challenges, which you can watch in this article.

As you know I, and my UEB colleagues, remain committed to being as open as possible, sharing information early and continuously as plans progress, rather than create a culture of secrecy in our community.

I am very conscious, though, that openness and transparency around challenges at an early stage, before we have concrete answers, can give rise to uncertainty and worry. So I am equally committed to ensuring that colleague wellbeing is a critical part of our decision making as we progress.

We are currently preparing Staff Portal pages with information about these issues, that we will update as new information becomes available.

We already have many resources for all staff via the Staff Portal and UoR Learn, with more than 30 new resources added in the past few days - , including e-learning modules on managing and dealing with the impacts of change, active listening, and reducing pressure and stress. HR colleagues are currently reviewing our change management and wellbeing resources to see where we can add further resources.

We held a very constructive and helpful workshop with Leadership Group colleagues on Monday, the start of what will be an ongoing process of engagement through the coming months. So your Head of School or Function will now have more detail to share with their teams and respond to any questions you have, where we know the answers at this time.

The next significant milestone is a meeting of our governing Council on 3 July, at which we will discuss UEB’s proposals for addressing our deficit. UEB will also be working on developing a fuller timetable for these various projects, and I will next be able to update you in July following Council.

I do not underestimate the huge commitment and dedication that colleagues continue to demonstrate, day in and day out. I remain hugely grateful for that, and proud of the institution that our collective effort supports.

Kind regards,
Robert