We may be remote from each other at present but we are all in this together, collectively stepping through this unfolding change from one week to the next. We can all draw inspiration from one another and over the next few weeks, I will be sharing video conversations with some of the key people across our campus network.
My first call is with Mushtak Al Atabi, our Provost in Malaysia, who tells me about the cohort of Foundation students they are welcoming next week to their new ‘digital first’ programme which is being delivered entirely online. I’d like to congratulate our colleagues in Malaysia who have made this happen. Watch our video here
Our next steps are looking forward to exam season and the further challenges which lie ahead. Normally, we would be setting over 1,000 exams, but this has been reduced by almost 90% to just 117 assessments which are going ahead. These have been judged vital in order to protect the integrity of our degree award or essential to meet the standards of the associated professional accreditation. I know we are doing our very best for our students and I am confident the right measures are in place to ensure every candidate will be treated fairly in arriving at a final mark which recognises their level of achievement. This is particularly important for our final year students who will be our graduating class of 2020. We will not be holding summer graduations this year but I am still looking forward to celebrating their successes and the University will be offering them all the support we can provide following graduation.
This week, I was delighted to be invited to a virtual School lunch with colleagues in EGIS. Inevitably, it was a bring-your-own affair! It was uplifting to see more than 100 colleagues participating in the online session, which confirmed to me you don’t always have to be face-to-face to find value in a meeting, even in larger groups. We were introduced to three new colleagues who have joined the University in recent days and are being welcomed to our University community. I was also able to take part in the discussion and answer some questions. I will be pleased to attend more of these School and Department meetings and we will also be setting up some virtual staff sessions on major topics in the coming weeks. I also want to continue to make myself available to speak with people individually through my ‘Let’s Talk’ meetings. New slots are available so please book on to these now.
I have been highlighting examples of the many positive stories and achievements I am encouraged to see across our campus network, and I want to keep talking about these at every opportunity. It’s particularly heartening to see the efforts of our terrific SafeGuarding colleagues in responding to the COVID-19 outbreak being recognised with the Award for Major Incident Management from the Higher Education Business Continuity Network. We can all take comfort from seeing how we are overcoming the current challenges by putting our values into action. However, this challenge comes with unprecedented uncertainty.
I want to be realistic about the strain this is placing on our finances and the potential consequences we face. I have written to all staff about the deficit we are now facing in our budget for this financial year. Inevitably, this financial strain is likely to increase next year. We all have a part to play in responding to this, to be as efficient as possible, to grow our revenue and to leverage the undoubted potential of our unique global network.
I will continue to keep you updated, and I want to assure you that to weather this storm I will be ensuring we are true to our values, fair to our colleagues and myself and senior colleagues intend to display leadership by example.
Richard A. Williams
Principal and Vice-Chancellor