Archive for category: FD Bulletin

Facilities Directorate Support Services Update, July 2021

Sustainability Services Update, July 2021

9th July 2021/by Abbie McGurk

Sustainability Awards

The winners have been announced for this year’s Sustainability Awards! Each year we celebrate the sustainability achievements of students and staff at the University of Leeds with the Annual Sustainability Awards. This year we reached a record number of nominations, so we want to give a huge, heartfelt thank you to everyone who submitted and to those of you who were nominated.

Congratulations to all of our deserved winners, you can read about them all on the Sustainability website as well as the shortlisted nominations.

Positive Impact Partners Program (PIP)

The Covid-19 pandemic has disproportionately impacted the health, wellbeing, and prosperity of our local communities. We invited University, third sector and civic colleagues to join us in a Positive Impact Partners workshop, to explore the main challenges communities face post-Covid, discuss the existing examples of effective partnerships, and identify the ways in which we can work together to support communities in the future.

The workshop was well received with group discussions that followed these themes:

Better collaborative working
Addressing community needs and challenges post-covid
Addressing social and economic divides

The workshop was well attended, with excellent plans for future collaboration including the formation of new partnerships through PIP. If you’d like to find out more about PIP and how to get involved, please visit this page here.

ISCN Awards

At the International Sustainable Campus Network (ISCN) Awards 2021, the Urban Biodiversity Monitoring Programme, part of the Leeds Living Lab, received the Partnerships for Progress Award. The award recognises how the programme brings together an interdisciplinary group of staff and students from our University community to collaborate in addressing global issues at a local scale.
The ISCN is an association of more than 80 colleges and universities from over 30 countries, which aims to support the global higher education sector as a leader in sustainability.

Student Sustainability Research Conference 2021

The annual University of Leeds Student Sustainability Research Conference took place earlier this month and allows students at all levels and across all disciplines to showcase their sustainability-themed research, projects, performances and installations. It is a great way to share ideas and creates opportunities to develop innovative solutions to sustainability challenges.

The theme of this year’s conference was Leaving No One Behind, one of the guiding principles behind the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Four live sessions took place in addition to a selection of pre-recorded content.

New arrivals and a fond farewell

Last month we welcomed Nicole Walker to our team as a Sustainability Project Officer. Nicole obtained a Bachelor of Science (Hons.) in Biology from Queen’s University, and a master’s degree in Environmental Sciences with a specialisation in Conservation and Biodiversity from the University of Toronto. After this, Nicole worked at the Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks in Toronto where her work involved assessing applications for environmental approvals for projects across the province. She worked in this role for nearly three years until deciding to make the move to the UK. In her spare time, she enjoys hiking, scuba diving and travelling as much as possible.

We also welcome Lyndsay Dale to the Service as Project Assistant and Personal Assistant to Louise Ellis, the Director of Sustainability. Lyndsay obtained her degree in Popular Music at the Leeds Conservatoire focusing on song writing and journalism. After this, she worked at the National Institute of Health Research supporting the Clinical Research Network across Yorkshire and Humber. She worked within health research for three years before moving to the University of Leeds. Outside of work, she enjoys reading, going to the pub and playing music with her band.

Lastly, we wanted to say a huge congratulations to Kelly Forster, our Sustainability Projects Coordinator who will be leaving the University in June after five years of committed service, to move on to an exciting new role at the Leeds Art University. Thank you, Kelly for bringing creativity and dedication to your roles at the University in the Service, you will be greatly missed!

Read July updates from across the Facilities Directorate:

Facilities Directorate Support Services Update, July 2021

Great Food at Leeds Update, July 2021

9th July 2021/by Abbie McGurk

A brand-new café is set to welcome new customers from the end of August.

Based in the Sir William Henry Bragg Building on Woodhouse Lane, the 1915 café takes its name and inspiration from the year University of Leeds alumni Sir William Henry Bragg was awarded a Nobel Prize.

The 1915’s relaxed and informal menu has been carefully created to offer a mix of both classic and on-trend options. Using locally and ethically sourced ingredients alongside seasonal produce throughout the year, customers will enjoy regularly updated specials as well as gluten-free and vegan options with regionally sourced coffee and locally handmade cakes sitting alongside more contemporary wraps and flatbreads.

Julie Tong, Head of Retail at Great Food at Leeds said: “We are delighted to add 1915 to our portfolio on campus. The café space has been designed with the University community in mind, working with the schools of Engineering, Physics and Astronomy, and Computing.

The 1915 café offers a wonderful place for staff and students to enjoy light meals throughout the day or catch up on work accompanied by a barista coffee

As with our other outlets, the cafe will be opened in line with appropriate government covid regulations.”

Read July updates from across the Facilities Directorate:

Facilities Directorate Support Services Update, July 2021

Residential Services Update, July 2021

9th July 2021/by Abbie McGurk

The team in Residential Services are busy preparing for the end of the academic year and the small summer intake of students studying with the Language Centre. This involves working closely with the International Office to ensure that those students arriving are properly supported and able to move into their halls comfortably. The Accommodation Office also supported the undergraduate virtual open days in June, with the team again running virtual talks and providing Q&A support for prospective students.

The Residence Life team worked hard to organise the Halls Heroes event – celebrating those students who helped made halls a special place for everyone this year. The event ran virtually on the Residence Life team’s social media channels during the week commencing Monday 14 June, replacing the usual in-person Halls Awards.

Rebecca O’Hare, Assistant Director – Residence Life and Accommodation Office, and Josh Huck, Residence Life Manager, were also invited to deliver a keynote presentation on the role of Residence Life in student accommodation to the Norwegian Student Communications Council in May. There was an audience of 150 for the talk including Norway’s Minister for Education. Sadly the pandemic meant the event was virtual, but fingers crossed for next year in Oslo!

Read July updates from across the Facilities Directorate:

Facilities Directorate Support Services Update, July 2021

Facilities Directorate Staff Bulletin – July 2021

9th July 2021/by Abbie McGurk

Work to realise the ambitions laid out in the University Strategy continues at pace and over the summer and into the autumn, the University will be articulating how all the strategic plans will fit together, be prioritised and financed. The FD will be heavily involved in the planning, prioritisation and delivery of some of the key enabling projects, for example, supporting our Net Zero ambitions; developing the infrastructure for digital transformation, and reshaping the campus to respond to Future Ways of Working.

With my appointment as Interim Chief Operating Officer, I am starting to look at shaping a post to assume leadership of the Facilities Directorate. This role would report directly to myself and I will of course retain a close interest in the activity happening across the FD and work very closely with the new person to ensure a smooth transition. I anticipate this may take 6-8 months, but I will update colleagues when appropriate.

I can now update on the appointment of Rob Wadsworth as Interim Commercial Director. Colleagues may remember Rob who worked for the University of Leeds previously as Head of Sport and Physical Activity, and has been working in Dubai for the last 5 years. We look forward to Rob starting in his role and I will let you know the full details of a start date in due course.

I would like to draw colleagues’ attention to the communications about managing the transition of some of our activity back to campus and the enabling of staff to move to a hybrid way of working. The Transitional Ways of Working (TWOW) group is working with executive deans, heads of schools and services to understand what types of activities need to be delivered on campus and what activity is best being delivered on campus and line managers have been tasked with developing a shared understanding of this need with their teams. This information will be used to agree the activities that can take place on campus and the space that can be provided for this activity. During this time, we are also assessing what buildings, and spaces in those buildings, can reopen. More details around the TWOW project are due out in mid-July.

I hope that you are all able to take some time to relax over the summer and would just like to thank everyone again for their commitment and hard-work during what has been a really difficult year for everyone. It is very much appreciated.

Finally, I will be asking other members of the FD Senior Management Team to take a turn at writing the foreword for future issues of FD Matters, so watch this space!

Dennis Hopper

Read July updates from across the Facilities Directorate:

Facilities Directorate Support Services Update, July 2021

Sport and Physical Activity update, July 2021

9th July 2021/by Abbie McGurk

Annual Leeds Sports Awards

This year’s Leeds Sports Awards were again a big success for the University with three University sports teams listed as finalists and the Women’s Rugby Union team announced winners of the Student Sport: Participation award! Runners up in their categories included The Volleyball club which was a finalist in the Student Sport: Performance category and Joy Cummings and the Women’s Rugby Club were both shortlisted as finalists in the Student Sport: Participation category. Congratulations to the winning team and runners-up!

As part of our work using the power of sport to strengthen local communities, the University sponsored the Inspirational Community Champions award, with Head of Sport Suzanne Glavin presenting the award at this year’s Leeds Sport Awards.

Supporting elite student athletes

Thanks to the support of colleagues from across SPA we have been able to support our elite student-athletes with National Governing Body elite exemptions, to train during the last two lockdown periods in the Edge on campus. This has been a huge support for these students enabling them to balance their studies and train effectively, a number of whom are now preparing to represent GB international events.

We have also recently been accredited by the Talented Athlete Scholarship Scheme (TASS) initiative. This enables us to provide further support to our elite athletes ensuring they can pursue both their academic and sporting careers simultaneously. All Dual Career Accredited Sites receive training and a toolkit of resources to equip them with practical dual career support and bring together all parties who work with the athlete.

Women’s Rugby League

In the season of 2020- 2021 we have seen our partnership strengthen not only with Leeds Rhinos Women’s Rugby League but also with the governing body England Rugby League.

We have played host to numerous England Senior Women’s training sessions as part of their preparation for the upcoming 2021 Rugby League World Cup. Our prestigious rugby facilities at Sports Park Weetwood have also drawn the attention of the wider professional rugby community with the facility being chosen as one of two central COVID Safe venues to host Women’s Super League (WSL) matches.

In the coming months, we look forward to welcoming the England Senior Men’s Rugby League 1st team to Weetwood as they too prepare for the Rugby League World Cup, as well as welcoming back the Leeds Rhinos Women’s Super League team in August for their home WSL matches.

Great success at Bodington Cycle Track

The hard work to ensure our facilities are safe and accessible has allowed us to welcome back over 75% of our community customers to the Bodington Cycle Circuit, within the first week following of the lifting of restrictions on 29 March. The University community has re-engaged with the facility, taking advantage of free access to the circuit for “pay and pedal”. Staff and students are using the facility in greater numbers than pre lockdown, whether this is during the “pay and pedal” sessions, which have seen a fivefold increase compared with 2019 or LUU club training session. Our pay and pedal sessions have seen nearly 100% increase of the number of participants, during the months of April and May compared to the same time, two years ago. It’s been so popular that one community user described the circuit as “the best thing since sliced bread!”

Mental Health Awareness Week

As part of Mental Health Awareness Week, we hosted the University’s participation in this year’s BRIT challenge. 138 staff members took part in the inclusive virtual distance challenge to raise awareness and funds to support young adult mental health. Staff members tallied up an impressive 3,876.4 miles via walking, running, cycling and even roller skating and raised over £1000! Thank you to all who took part and donated in support of this great cause.

Summer camps for children

We have launched brand-new Gryphons Go Kids Camps. The first one will run in August and will be held at The Edge. Children can be booked onto either a one week or two-week camp. Children will have the opportunity to use our amazing facilities to swim, climb, explore the outdoors, as well as develop their physical skills and make use of our superb educational facilities. Read more information or make a booking here.

Read July updates from across the Facilities Directorate:

Facilities Directorate Support Services Update, July 2021

Facilities Directorate Update, July 2021

9th July 2021/by Abbie McGurk

Your part in The Big Leeds Conversation

How do we change the world? How do we reduce inequalities and establish a supportive and diverse community? It starts with our shared values – brought together through The Big Leeds Conversation.

As a place of education, research and societal impact, and as an employer, the University of Leeds plays a huge role in our region and in the lives of millions around the world, either directly or indirectly. Yet, shifts in attitudes, changes to policy and the development of new technologies have fundamentally changed the context for universities over recent years.

These changes have been radically intensified by the global pandemic and climate crisis. And, as our sector contemplates its role in the world – not just in education and research, but within industry and the arts, social justice, equality and inclusion – more of us are coming to terms with the fact that the higher education sector sometimes appears like it has slightly lost its sense of purpose, swept up in a sea of competition, rankings and external expectations and demands.

Our University published a new academic strategy, Universal Values, Global Change, which charts our course for the next 10 years. Within it are three overarching elements: community, culture and impact. We can only have a positive impact on the world and truly make a difference if our University community is strong. We can only achieve our ambitions if we foster a culture of collaboration, both internally and externally.

That’s why we must listen intently to our people to collectively explore, discuss and agree the values that will guide our University and the behaviours of our community in the future.

As we face into the next decade, my fellow senior leaders and I believe culture change cannot be undertaken by bright minds in isolation, we must join together to reimagine what kind of university we want to be.

We all share a duty to ask ourselves: are we truly clear what our values are, how we will behave and how we treat others on our journey ahead?
We’re stepping up to this challenge, and we want all of you to be involved.

Your voice in The Big Leeds Conversation

Over the next few months, through a series of online discussion forums, all staff, students and postgraduates will be invited to contribute to the co-creation of our core values and to define the behaviours we want everyone to uphold.

This series of online discussions is The Big Leeds Conversation.

The first conversation takes place in July and we will discuss the behaviours we should expect of each other, as well as those we should not tolerate; what we enjoy about working or studying here at Leeds; and how we can become a values-led University.

We’ll use this discussion to build a draft framework of values and behavioural expectations – and we’ll invite everyone to check and challenge this framework in a second online conversation. Between all of us, by saying what we feel is strong, wrong or missing, we’ll be able to refine the draft into an agreed shared framework.

This process will be delivered by an independent organisation called Clever Together. It will provide us with anonymous, protected digital spaces to share and nurture our ideas. Together, we will co-create a bold new framework to take us into the future, with renewed ambition and purpose.

Our shared values will change lives

With new and clear values, we can re-imagine:

our employee offer – from how we hire to how we inspire – to help create a collaborative and supportive place to work;
our student experience and how we offer education; and
who we collaborate with and how we deliver world-class research.

By co-creating and upholding new shared values in everything we do, we can shape our next decade to realise our full potential, and to build a positive, fairer future for all in our University and beyond.

There will be challenges, but the opportunities for our community are enormous.

Together, let’s establish our values. By being values-led, we can truly change the world. I hope you will join us in this fundamental endeavour.

The Big Leeds Conversation will begin in July. Further details – including how to access the anonymous discussion forum – will be announced soon.

Transitional Ways of Working

Work has been taking place to consider how we return to working on campus. Whilst our Future Ways of Working group will be planning for the longer term, a Transitional Ways of Working group has been established to focus on our immediate next steps and how we transition some University activity back to campus, enabling people to move to a hybrid way of working over the coming months.

To guide planning for return to campus we are working to several assumptions that are University wide and some that are specific to professional service spaces and spaces in schools and faculties:

Return to campus will take several months and it is not expected all activities will return on 19 July. This date signifies the moment that, if the roadmap continues as planned, clear guidance will exist from the Government on the management of risk in workspaces.
Not all buildings will reopen immediately; we’re looking at which buildings we are able to open in the short term.
Social distancing and ventilation requirements mean that fewer colleagues will be able to use office space and meeting rooms.
Limited space will mean that desks and office space will need to be used flexibly and shared between colleagues. You may need to remove personal items from workspaces and individual offices may need to be used by different people over the course of a week.
It is likely that large team meetings will continue to be held on MS Teams.
We will continue to support individuals who need to work on campus because home working is not feasible.
The opportunity to return to your previous office space will be the norm but it is not guaranteed. You may be required to share space with colleagues from other services.
We are not expecting to reopen E C Stoner level 11 and 12 for professional services. We will be looking at alternative accommodation for colleagues in affected spaces.
We will seek to use all the available space effectively. Any unallocated or unused space within an area will be available to other services/staff.

The Transitional Ways of Working group is working with executive deans, heads of schools, institutes and services to understand what types of activities need to be delivered on campus and what activity is best being delivered on campus. During this time, we are assessing what buildings, and spaces in those buildings, can reopen. Once we have a shared understanding of available space and demand, we’ll work with executive deans, heads of schools, institutes and services to agree the activities that can take place on campus and the space that can be provided for this activity.

Our return to campus will take several months and it is not expected that all activity or colleagues will return on Monday 19 July. We’re currently assessing buildings and workspace on campus that can reopen and we will be matching space to activity that needs to be delivered on campus or is best delivered on campus.

OD&PL update

SRDS training for reviewers and reviewees – Further training dates are available for staff who are new to the Staff Review and Development Scheme (SRDS) or would like some refresher training. The online sessions will take place in June and July and are available for both reviewers and reviewees.

Practical leadership workshops and surgeries – There are still spaces available to book on an open programme of practical leadership workshops and surgeries throughout June and July – the sessions provide development for leaders and managers to support them to address some of the practical challenges faced daily. The sessions include: support for new managers, how to coach performance in others, supporting staff wellbeing and resilience, and how to build high performing teams.

Access digital essentials training anytime, anywhere – The digital essentials for staff collection on LinkedIn Learning can support you in building digital skills for personal and career development. It’s available to watch anytime and can be viewed on a desktop or mobile phone with the LinkedIn Learning app. If you missed the virtual roadshow sessions earlier this year, you can watch the short video explaining how to access and use the collection.

Read July updates from across the Facilities Directorate:

Facilities Directorate Support Services Update, July 2021