We have now all officially started Semester 1! The Academic Year 20/21 has begun, and we are seeing our Responsive Blended Learning programme in practice spanning across campuses and connecting up the University community. It feels like our students are ready. And we are all ready to help them achieve their goals. This is a wonderful achievement thanks to everyone’s hard work
I was back in my Edinburgh office last week, for the first time in many months. It was good, if a little strange, to be back in familiar surroundings, and to feel some sense of former normality. Across the senior team we have set up a simple rota for office occupancy, so as to comply with the Scottish Government guidelines, and we continue to work in a flexible manner. The priority remains with everyone’s health and wellbeing.
The Edinburgh campus was, of course, quieter than usual but still as beautiful and as welcoming. I visited the Watt Welcome Fair we hosted in Edinburgh on Friday last week and was encouraged and inspired by the way everyone had worked together in providing our students with a strong sense of belonging, even under strict social distancing conditions. I know this sense of belonging is a common theme across all our campuses. Delivering the Fair in a safe and welcoming environment gave everyone sense of positivity for the semester ahead and it was great to see so many happy faces.
In Malaysia, we had nearly one thousand students on campus on Monday, ready and eager to learn, as well as those working from home online. In Scotland, I’m hearing the same positivity coming from our students in Dubai, Malaysia and our Borders campus. In Dubai, there is an additional buzz around the fact that students and colleagues can see our new home from the current interim campus in Knowledge Park. Moving there early in 2021 is anticipated with much excitement and Professor Bryn Jones has created a video to show what the new campus will look like – please, do watch. I am confident that both staff and students will thrive in such an environment and that these future-facing facilities will provide us with the opportunity to attract many more students in the future.
I look forward to having as many of you as possible join the All Staff Executive Briefing on Monday 21st September at 9am (UK), midday (Dubai) and 4pm (Malaysia). Our previous sessions have been well attended and I hope we can continue with that level of engagement. As always, you can ask questions in advance via the suggestion4principal@hw.ac.uk mailbox, or on the day by submitting a question through Teams Live, and we will try to get through as many questions as we can, from a cross-section of topics. All the questions will be posted on the Financial Challenge SharePoint site as soon as possible after the meeting. And we will post a recording of the meeting there also. Your suggestions, questions and comments are incredibly important.
Professor Richard A. Williams
Principal and Vice-Chancellor