FD Bulletin Archives - Page 2 of 5 - Facilities Directorate

Facilities Directorate Support Services Update, July 2021

Conferencing Update, July 2021

9th July 2021/by Abbie McGurk

The Conferencing team continue to work hard to support the asymptomatic test centre on campus as well as international student arrival. They also have exciting virtual conferences coming up over the summer and have been shortlisted for awards recognition.

Virtual conference activity continues

The Conferencing team are continuing to work really hard to deliver great virtual events for their clients. Coming up this summer there is:

International Medieval Congress

International Medieval Congress (IMC) 2021 is taking place online from 5-9 July. Despite the pandemic, the popularity of the congress continues and the team has welcomed 2,000 attendees. The academic programme stretches over 5 days with over 500 sessions scheduled in 26 parallel strands. Once again, the congress is also hosting a vibrant ‘fringe event programme’ offering a further 43 events including discussion groups, networking events, book launches, publisher Q&A sessions, workshops, virtual excursions and the ever popular IMC Disco!

The long-standing publishers bookfair is featuring as a virtual exhibition hall with over 30 international publishing houses taking part alongside a market where delegates can find craft and second-hand and antiquarian book sellers.

The IMC team has been working hard to translate the IMC experience to a virtual format and ensure delegates get the best possible value from their attendance. All sessions will be recorded and available to delegates on the platform until the end of August, as will a range of tools to help delegates to network and exchange ideas.

European Association of Financial Management

This event will be held online using the Pathable Virtual Conferencing platform. Along with hosting the conference sessions, Pathable also allows attendees to make use of a customisable agenda, browse speaker profiles, engage with other delegates and catch up on missed sessions “on-demand”. EFMA has attracted over 300 international delegates to discuss a variety of financial management topics. The conference team are working with the Leeds University Business School on delivering this virtual activity.

Association for Radiation Research Conference

This Association for Radiation Research Conference is planned to take place as a hybrid event subject to Government and University restrictions. The meeting will include sessions covering the whole spectrum of radiation research from basic physics and chemistry through to clinical studies. Registration is now open for the three day event. The conference team are working with Cancer Research UK Clinical Centre on delivering this event.

MEETinLEEDS wins award recognition

The MEETinLEEDS team have won the Culture of Collaboration Award at the Annual Sustainability Awards 2021 for their collaborative work with services and departments across the University. Over the past 12 months, MEETinLEEDS, the International Student Office, the Student Education Service and Great Food at Leeds have formed a truly collaborative partnership to support the university in meeting the needs of its international students, whilst also supporting the institution’s wider inclusivity strategy; the delivery of an intercultural student experience ensuring whole cohort integration, belonging and community-building.

The teams have had to re-evaluate their working processes and explore unknown territory, resulting in the formation of a fully collaborative, flexible approach. They were able to draw on each other’s expertise and resource and work towards a common goal, maintain clear communications, create an inclusive and diverse student community, whilst offering transparency and empathy to international students.

The team have instilled flexible approaches throughout each stage of lockdown, adapting to suit different needs of students, departments and Government restrictions; ensured services integrate with other teams, whilst gaining an understanding of other departments’ aims and processes and implemented virtual socials with Links to Leeds ambassadors to create an inclusive society and culture amongst the students.

Through this collaborative, flexible and forward-thinking approach, team members have ensured that international students are still able to experience the best of Leeds and the university within the existing restrictions.

Harriet Boatwright, Sales & Marketing Manager, MEETinLEEDS, said:

“Working in a truly collaborative way, traversing departmental and service boundaries we have ensured that the experience of our international students remains in sharp focus during some very challenging times for us all, globally. We feel privileged to have worked with our colleagues in Great Food at Leeds, the International Student Office and the Student Education Services. In supporting the community-building intention across our student body, we have built our own community with colleagues, something that we will continue well beyond the pandemic.”

Colleagues who worked on the International Arrivals Welcome team were also nominated for a Leeds Partnership Award, celebrating the exceptional work of students, postgraduate researchers, and staff at the University of Leeds.

Jenna Isherwood, Project Manager in the Global Community team said:

“Working in partnership with the International Student Office and International Office, MEETinLEEDS and Great Food at Leeds teams have played an absolutely critical role in ensuring the University warmly welcomes and supports students arriving from outside the UK in very challenging circumstances. They have organised airport pick-up and self-isolation food/essentials services continually from August 2020 including throughout the University closed periods and even Christmas Day! The services have been incredibly complex to organise but have been hugely appreciated by students.”

Read July updates from across the Facilities Directorate:

Facilities Directorate Support Services Update, July 2021

Campus Support Services Update, July 2021

9th July 2021/by Abbie McGurk

Cleaning Services update

Cleaning Services are currently working on a gateway review of all aspects of the service. The team’s vision is to implement changes that will improve service delivery and support the University in providing a safe, clean and hygienic environment conducive to studying and working for the new academic year.

A key part of this is reviewing the Service Level Agreement (SLA) to provide daytime housekeeping teams in high footfall areas across the University to promote a sense that cleaning is enhanced. The review has taken the service back to basics with the cleaning requirements, hours and staffing resources for every building re-examined. The changes will come in place for the new academic year.

To successfully implement these changes a new training and development programme has started including re-induction, health and safety, safe operating procedures and information on the SLA for every member of the team.

Read July updates from across the Facilities Directorate:

Facilities Directorate Support Services Update, July 2021

Facilities Directorate Support Services Update, July 2021

9th July 2021/by Abbie McGurk

Finance Team

Since April, the team have successfully submitted the new five-year integrated plan which is the FD’s financial forecast for 2021/2022. Reflected in the plan are new requirements arising from the University strategy such as net zero carbon, the seven climate principles which address the University’s sustainability commitment along with Estates ambition to become a digital driven service. As we come out of the pandemic, the team have produced a prudent plan that will also see the credible recovery of our commercial businesses post Covid.

The team have also been working on finalising the corporation tax returns for our commercial areas. They continue to support the business and are preparing for year end.

A big thank you goes to all the team, who continue to manage the finances in a prudent way that enables the FD to meet day to day objectives and unexpected risks.

FD Marketing, Sales and Communications

Sprout Social

The Marketing and Communications team have purchased a new social media management tool to support the 20+ social channels our teams manage across the Facilities Directorate. Sprout Social will replace our current management system and is also used by the University’s Central Comunications team which will allow for greater collaboration across the teams, supporting and amplifying all University social channels.

Digital transformation underpins the University’s strategy and it’s important that we continue to use digital technologies to manage our social communications effectively across the FD. Sprout Social will play a key role in streamlining communications across our many social channels and the teams controlling them, allowing the Marketing and Communications team to manage content much more effectively.

The team will also benefit from more detailed analytical reporting, allowing for a more effective social content strategy to support our business needs.

The software will be rolled out in the next few weeks, followed by detailed training to help fully utilise Sprout Social.

Supporting the opening of the 1915 café on campus

With a new café set to open in the Sir William Henry Bragg Building members of the team have been heavily involved in the process from start to finish. They have been involved in generating ideas for the café name, hosting various online workshops that brought together key people across the University to collaborate and agree a name and associated brand identity for the café as well as devising and delivering the marketing activity that will promote the new café to staff and students.

Bidding fond farewells

Last month the team bid a fond farewell to Liz Chadwick and Jack Slater. Liz has been the Sales and Marketing Manager for Great Food at Leeds and over the last few years has successfully raised awareness of our cafes on campus, devised innovative marketing and promotions activities and contributed to the successful opening of three cafes.

Jack Slater has been a fantastic member of the Sales and Marketing team at The Edge. He has played a key role in promoting The Edge to new customers and recruiting them as members.

We wish both Liz and Jack much success in their new roles at Energise Energy Solutions and the NHS.

Additionally, at the end of August, we will say farewell to University student interns Abbie McGurk and Howe-Yee Law. They have both shown amazing resilience and commitment throughout the year, and made a significant contributions to the work of the team. Thank you both and we wish you all the best in your final year at University!

Our new interns will join us in September. Olivia Brooks, who is currently studying Graphic and Communications Design will join the FD Creative Design team. Kirstin Thomas who is currently studying Film, Photography and Media will join the FD Digital Team.

Joining the team in July will also be Thomas Pickering who will take up his role as Sales, Marketing and Retention Manager on 19 July. Thomas joins us from Oxford Brookes University where he currently has a similar role..

Read July updates from across the Facilities Directorate:

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