{"id":90,"date":"2021-11-30T12:14:00","date_gmt":"2021-11-30T12:14:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.lboro.ac.uk\/vice-chancellor\/?p=90"},"modified":"2022-11-22T11:23:24","modified_gmt":"2022-11-22T11:23:24","slug":"from-the-vice-chancellor-november-2021","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.lboro.ac.uk\/vice-chancellor\/2021\/11\/30\/from-the-vice-chancellor-november-2021\/","title":{"rendered":"From the Vice-Chancellor \u2013 November 2021"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

In my newsletter this month: the importance of the SporkPark expansion, how we\u2019re marking Disability History Month and an update on the planned UCU industrial action.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Disability History Month<\/h2>\n\n\n
\n
\"Disability<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

The University and Students\u2019 Union are running a programme of events and initiatives to celebrate UK Disability History Month<\/strong><\/a>, which takes place from 18th November to 18th December.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our Staff Inclusivity Group<\/strong><\/a> is hosting sessions for staff members who wish to find out more about the network. The Group offers a safe and supportive place for staff across both campuses and from all job families who are affected by physical or hidden disabilities. Staff associated with the Inclusivity Group are also sharing their lived experiences on the University\u2019s Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) blog<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Hazlerigg and Rutland fountain will be lit purple throughout the month, as part of #PurpleLightUp \u2013 a global movement that recognises the economic contribution of the 386 million disabled employees around the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

All the events and initiatives taking place during the month are featured on a dedicated webpage<\/strong><\/a>. The page also includes a range of resources, including training on how to hold inclusive meetings and podcasts on neurodiversity, as well as staff and student profiles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Events such as Disability History Month are hugely important as they allow us to reflect on the progress we have made on our EDI agenda and consider the next steps we must take as we strive to make our University a community that is equitable, diverse and inclusive to all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

SportPark expansion<\/h2>\n\n\n
\n
\"SportPark\"<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Work has now begun on the construction of a fourth pavilion at SportPark, which is based on the Loughborough University Science and Enterprise Park (LUSEP) at the west end of campus. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The expansion is exciting for many reasons, but particularly because it will be the first development on campus to be built to Passivhaus Classic Accreditation \u2013 the world\u2019s leading low-energy building standard. The construction will utilise state-of-the-art heating and cooling mechanisms to enable us to minimise the building\u2019s carbon footprint. The project is a step towards our goal to decarbonise our estate to meet the Government\u2019s zero carbon target by 2050. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The fourth pavilion will also enable us to attract more sport-related organisations and businesses to LUSEP \u2013 we already have a host of prestigious groups, such as British Swimming, British Wheelchair Basketball and Sport England \u2013 and generate further job opportunities in the region. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

LUSEP, which is one of the largest science parks in the UK, is a tremendous asset to the University and the wider region. It provides businesses of all sizes with opportunities to collaborate with one another and enables them to access the University\u2019s extensive research base and its highly skilled graduate workforce. It is already home to more than 90 companies, ranging from graduate start-ups and University spinouts to global technology firms, and we are working to expand this still further.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

LUSEP is the embodiment of one of our key strategic priorities: to realise the commercial potential of our research and innovation and forge collaborative links with partner organisations. The establishment of our Science and Enterprise Park has put in place some strong foundations on which we must now continue to build to support local, national and international economic development. I look forward to further exciting developments in the future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pro Vice-Chancellor roles<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The development of the new University strategy provides us with an opportunity to reflect on the structures we have in place and to consider whether they are appropriately aligned to support the next phase of our development.

With this in mind, we will be making some changes to the titles and remits of our Pro Vice-Chancellor (PVC) posts. We will now have:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \n
  • PVC for Research and Innovation, bringing together research and significant parts of the enterprise agenda held by the former PVC for Enterprise. There are major synergies between these two areas; bringing them together will allow a more seamless integration of these two strategically important areas, enabling us to strengthen our performance, and particularly our global performance, across both.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • PVC for Education and Student Experience, to consolidate teaching and learning, student and graduate enterprise, and the wider student experience that Loughborough is renowned for.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • PVC for Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI), which is a new role to provide senior strategic leadership to our evolving EDI agenda.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n

    These changes will also be reflected in the Associate Dean roles within the academic Schools and the University\u2019s Committee structure. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    At Senate this month Professor Steve Rothberg, the Pro Vice-Chancellor for Research (PVCR), announced that he will be stepping down from his PVCR role at the end of this academic year. He had initially intended to step down last summer but agreed to continue for the 2021-22 year to provide continuity and support as we go through this period of change.

    Professor Rothberg has been PVCR for seven years, during which time he has overseen a significant expansion of the University\u2019s research income and led Loughborough\u2019s submission to the 2021 Research Excellence Framework (REF), the process by which UK universities\u2019 research is peer reviewed. I am sure you will join me in thanking Professor Rothberg for the outstanding contribution he has made to research development at Loughborough.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Industrial action <\/h2>\n\n\n\n

    The Universities and Colleges Union (UCU) has entered into dispute with the University over the proposed changes to the USS (Universities Superannuation Scheme) pension scheme and other issues. Earlier this month UCU announced the results of a ballot of its members for strike action and for action short of a strike. Although 31 of the 68 higher education institutions balloted on USS didn\u2019t reach the turnout threshold for strike action, at Loughborough they did with 59% of members voting in favour. The industrial action is scheduled to take place over three days, from 1st to 3rd December inclusive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    We are, of course, very disappointed that these disputes have arisen. We continue to work closely with our UCU colleagues at a local level to identify ways in which we can address the issues within our control. For instance, we have agreed new principles for casual employment with our local UCU \u2013 indeed, the proportion of staff on fixed term contracts has reduced from 27% to 21% since this work began; equity, diversity and inclusion is now a central part of our ongoing activity and is a key theme in our emerging University strategy; and we have committed to review the salary levels of our lowest paid staff in line with the Real Living Wage. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    I know that the decision to enter into industrial action has not been taken lightly. I also know that everyone is deeply concerned about the impact on our students and our colleagues (those taking action and those attempting to cover in their absence). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    We enjoy good relations with our local UCU branch and I very much hope that we will continue the constructive dialogue that we have around this and are able to find a way forwards.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    In my newsletter this month: the importance of the SporkPark expansion, how we\u2019re marking Disability History Month and an update on the planned UCU industrial action. Disability History Month The University and Students\u2019 Union are running a programme of events and initiatives to celebrate UK Disability History Month, which takes place from 18th November to 18th […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":727,"featured_media":93,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"lboro_blog_alternative_thumbnail_image":"","footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-90","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-email-newsletters"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.lboro.ac.uk\/vice-chancellor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/90","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.lboro.ac.uk\/vice-chancellor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.lboro.ac.uk\/vice-chancellor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lboro.ac.uk\/vice-chancellor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/727"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lboro.ac.uk\/vice-chancellor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=90"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lboro.ac.uk\/vice-chancellor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/90\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":94,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lboro.ac.uk\/vice-chancellor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/90\/revisions\/94"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lboro.ac.uk\/vice-chancellor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/93"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.lboro.ac.uk\/vice-chancellor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=90"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lboro.ac.uk\/vice-chancellor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=90"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lboro.ac.uk\/vice-chancellor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=90"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}