We are halfway through Semester 1 and in Consolidation Week. This is a time for both colleagues and students to stop and reflect on the early weeks, catch up or recap and prepare for the remaining teaching and assessment weeks of the year. It seems to be passing very quickly – and we are demonstrating we are able to adapt to the varying requirements of the changing COVID restrictions across all our Schools and campuses. This is testament to the work put into Responsive Blended Learning approaches right from the outset of the pandemic, and continuous work since in futureproofing how we deliver it. We know this is hard work and the prospect of it continuing into the next semester is a reality. Across the University, in every location, colleagues are drawing on their stamina to do everything possible to ensure continuity of student learning and progression of research. Thank you for your part in this.

Earlier this week the University Executive were also reflecting to consider carefully our next steps with regards to our Change Programme, as I discussed at our All Staff Executive Briefing this morning (Thursday 22 October, 9am UK time). This is an important time for our University as we work through some difficult decisions that will place us in a more resilient and sustainable position for the future. I remain committed to achieving the savings required through voluntary means wherever possible, and the recommendations arising from our current position have and will be made with careful thought and consideration. Across all our campuses and departments, there will be changes coming that will affect us all. We are currently completing the reviewing of all the applications for voluntary redundancy and we will be seeing colleagues leave in the months ahead. We are also seeing restructuring across some areas that will change the way we work, for example, in the reshaping of Professional Services and movement between reporting lines and teams over the next few months. Thank you to those of you who were able to join the Executive Briefing this morning. For those not able to attend, the slides and a recording of the session will be available on the Our Financial Challenge SharePoint site. The BSL interpretation will be added and posted as soon as possible.

This morning, we also touched on examples of important strategic projects, one of these being the development of a pioneering access and inclusion policy for the whole University. I talked with some of the team who have been developing ideas for this and you can check in with their thoughts and progress through listening to my conversation with Professor Gill Thomson from EPS, Prathna Singh from the Student Success team and Emma Coutts, Director of the Maths Gym. I am grateful for their great ideas as we move to present the goals and ambition to the Court next month.

Two weeks ago I had a hearty conversation with Sir Geoff Palmer, Professor Emeritus and human rights activist, the first part of which was made available in my blog on 8 October. I warmly recommend you watch the second part of our discussion, in which we speak about the Black Lives Matter campaign and why it has struck such a powerful chord around the world, and take a look back in history to the Slavery Abolition Act of 1833, a time when the statistics behind slavery were (and still are) both shocking and mind-boggling. We also explore the nuanced relationship between James Watt and slavery. Through his family connections, James Watt, in common with many prominent Scots of this period, benefitted from the proceeds of trade in goods produced by slavery. At the same time, his role in transforming the world from one based on agriculture to one based on engineering and technology may have helped to end a dependence on it economically. Finally, we debate why de-colonialising the curriculum isn’t as straightforward as it sounds. I’d like to thank Sir Geoffrey for his time and his invaluable insight into this important conversation, one which I hope will continue across the University and involve us all.

Our next Executive Briefing is on 26 November at 9am UK time. However, there will be updates before then on the decisions made regarding our Change Programme and redundancies following the Court meeting on 6 November.

Professor Richard A. Williams
Principal and Vice-Chancellor