A message to all staff

Dear colleague,

At the end of April, more than 3,500 of you kindly completed the survey we sent out to better understand how we can offer you extra advice and assistance during the covid-19 lockdown.

As lockdown eases and we commence a controlled return to campus, we’re running a short follow-up survey to find out more about how you are managing and how we can support you further.

Open until 5pm on Friday 26 June, the survey is anonymous and should take no more than five minutes to complete.

We have already acted on your feedback from the first survey by providing information, guidance and support on the main issues you identified, including:

• updating you on coronavirus-related information, such as the University’s financial situation, our plans for teaching in the next academic year and the approach to planning a return to campus
• sharing further IT information, such as remote access to teaching software, how to request a laptop and more general advice and updates
• developing the health and wellbeing resources on the dedicated coronavirus website, alongside initiatives such as the virtual Staff Healthy Week and our support for Mental Health Awareness Week; and
• giving you advance notice of student communications, so you’re in a better position to answer any questions that may arise from these.

We have also extended the timescale of our second survey to enable more of you to respond, and we aim to provide you with a summary on the key themes you raise as soon as possible after the survey closes.

Your continuing commitment and flexibility in the current situation is hugely appreciated.

Please do continue to focus on getting the balance between home life and work right for you, and do talk to your line manager about any challenges you are facing to agree ways forward, where necessary. Resources to support your health and wellbeing continue to be available on the coronavirus website, along with general information and advice, so please keep checking back for updates.

Please contact the Wellbeing, Safety and Health team should you have any questions about this survey.

Best wishes,

Francesca Fowler

Director of Human Resources