14 July 2021

eNews 14 July

Working arrangements, The Big Leeds Conversation, pay, Queen's Jubilee Holidays, print services, teaching awards, events and more.

eNews 14 July 2021

Coronavirus

Government announcement | Arrangements from Monday 19 July

Following the Prime Minister’s message on Monday 12 July about the lifting of restrictions from Monday 19 July, we would like to reiterate that the University’s previously announced arrangements remain in place until further notice.

The return of activities to campus will continue as planned, with colleagues returning gradually during the next few months. Arrangements will be communicated by heads of area in the next few weeks. Until then, please continue with your current working, teaching and research arrangements.

Current guidelines on face coverings and social distancing arrangements remain unchanged until further notice. We’re working through the implications of the Government’s latest announcement and will issue further communications in the next couple of weeks.

Feedback

The Big Leeds Conversation is open!

It’s time to take part in The Big Leeds Conversation – your opportunity to share your views, rate ideas and help establish the new core values and behaviours that will shape our future. More than 260 ideas, 480 comments and 8,500 votes have already been shared! Login details were emailed to all staff on Monday 12 July from thebigleedsconversation@clevertogether.com. Please check your clutter folder if it hasn’t reached your inbox. For login support, more information and to have your say, visit The Big Leeds Conversation website

Digital developments

VPN service being replaced

We will be moving to a new VPN service during the summer. If you’ve connected to the VPN this year, you’ll receive an email to let you know when, and how, you can start using the new service.  

Changes to Teams meeting recordings

Microsoft is changing where it stores Teams meeting recordings. To ensure this happens at the same time for all colleagues, from Monday 2 August, the University’s Teams meeting recordings will be stored in OneDrive or SharePoint rather than Stream. Find out what these changes mean for you

University print services

Unfortunately, all University print services – except those provided by the Print and Mail Service (formerly PCB) – are still disabled while Microsoft fixes a global security issue. Staff and students can continue to access free printing through the Print and Mail Service in the meantime. Latest updates are available via the IT website or by following the IT Service Desk Twitter account

Microsoft Class Teams requests

The ‘Create a new Microsoft Team’ IT form can be used from the start of August to request Microsoft Class Teams for 2021/22 modules. Please submit your request by the end of July if you still need a Class Team for your 2020/2021 modules – e.g. for January starters. After this date, 2020/21 requests must be submitted to the IT Service Desk

Celebrate

University of Leeds Teaching Awards 2021 winners

Congratulations to the winners of the University of Leeds Teaching Awards 2021, which celebrate excellent practice in student education and the work and innovation of colleagues to deliver high-quality teaching and learning. Profiles of the winners will be published in the coming months, taking a more detailed look at their practice and contribution to student education.

Apply now | Public Engagement with Research Awards 2021

Applications for the Public Engagement with Research Awards 2021 are now open. The awards aim to recognise excellent public engagement and patient involvement work, as well as raise awareness of innovative, high-quality practice. Submissions are open to all staff and postgraduate researchers, either as individuals or as part of a team. Closing date is 5pm on Monday 6 September.

Making a huge impact in students’ lives

‘Excellent’ colleagues and classmates have been recognised for their work guiding and inspiring our students. The latest in a series of profiles on the winners of this year’s Leeds Partnership Awards highlights the outstanding accomplishments of recipients of the Supervisor and Feedback accolades.

Healthy Week success

Join the organisers as they celebrate the achievements of this year’s Healthy Week, which saw more than 300 colleagues complete 37 hours of live activities and collectively rack up in excess of 1,900 miles in a virtual distance challenge. Thank you to everyone who took part in the jam-packed programme of events.

Staff reward and benefits

Pay 2021-22

In May we shared that the Universities and Colleges Employers Association (UCEA) had presented a final pay offer to the sector unions. Find out more about the final offer for pay 2021-22

UCEA has advised that the sector unions have not agreed to the final offer and have now lodged formal disputes with UCEA. As part of the collective negotiation process, dispute resolution meetings have been scheduled between the negotiating parties this month and we await an update following these meetings. As directed by UCEA, any annual pay award cannot be applied until the dispute resolution process has concluded.

Queen’s Jubilee Holidays 2022

The UK Government has announced an extra bank holiday to mark the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee in 2022, meaning that the May Bank Holiday weekend will be moved from Monday 30 May to Thursday 2 June with an additional bank holiday on Friday 3 June.

In order to accommodate this change to the statutory bank holidays and to retain the University closure days, a decision has been made to move the closure day from Tuesday 31 May 2022 to Monday 20 December 2021. This is in addition to the three days that were previously communicated for the Christmas 2021 closure period

MCard extension/cancellation

Following the national lockdown in March 2020, Metro launched an extension/cancellation scheme for annual MCard holders unable to travel on public transport due to Government restrictions. The deadline for requests is Monday 19 July.

Gryphons Go Kids Camps

Summer holidays approaching and not sure how to entertain the kids? Book them onto Sport & Physical Activity’s Gryphons Go Kids Camp for either single or multiple days at £40 per day. Children can swim, climb and explore the outdoors, as well as develop their physical skills and make use of our superb educational facilities. Camps will be hosted at The Edge from Monday 16 to Friday 27 August.

Research

Innovation fellowship programme | Deadline extended

Are you an early or mid-career researcher at Leeds? Do you want up to £7,500 to create economic and societal value from your research? The deadline for applications for the Michael Beverley Innovation Fellowship Programme has been extended until 6pm on Sunday 25 July. Contact Jo Howorth for further information or read about the benefits of the programme from one of this year’s Fellows and Professor Nick Plant, Deputy Vice-Chancellor: Research and Innovation.

Join | Engaged Research Microsoft Team

Join the Engaged Research Microsoft Team – a community of more than 800 colleagues united by an interest in engagement with research. The network offers channels dedicated to public engagement, policy engagement and patient involvement, as well as resources and training. New for this month is a third sector engagement channel. Use code fc84jre to sign up.

Learning and development

Apply | Aurora leadership development programme

Applications close on Monday 2 August for the 2021/22 Aurora programme – a women-only online leadership development programme, designed and facilitated by Advance HE for colleagues at or above lecturer level, or Grade 7 for technicians and those in professional services. Delegates will explore several leadership themes and skills through a mix of sessions involving guest speakers, mentoring, self-directed study and more. Colleagues can either apply themselves or be nominated by their faculty or service.

Careers Summer for Researchers 2021

As part of Careers Summer for Researchers 2021, OD&PL will host an online session from 2-3.30pm on Wednesday 4 August looking at how professional bodies can help your career. The interactive session for postgraduate researchers and research staff features Dr Rob Bowles, a Careers and Professional Development Advisor from the Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC), and Ruth Winden, a Careers with Research Consultant from OD&PL.

Book now | Top Hat support sessions

Remember you can book a slot at one of the regular support sessions for Top Hat – our institutional mobile voting solution. Colleagues from the Digital Education Systems team will guide you through how to incorporate this tool into your teaching or assessment activities. See For Staff for further information about Top Hat, including details about a unique concierge service, interactive guides and staff testimonials.

Leeds for Life Refresh | Essential training for academic personal tutors

As part of the Leeds for Life Refresh project, we’re providing essential training for academic personal tutors (APTs). Sessions provide an opportunity to find out more about our new digital tools (PebblePad, StREAM@Leeds, ATLAS and MS Bookings), signpost to additional sources of support and help you explore the refreshed approach to academic personal tutoring. Training is in addition to faculty briefings, with a variety of dates available until September.

Wellbeing and support

Rest, Reset and Resume sessions

Feeling unsettled, distracted or disorientated? Try one of the live, guided, virtual Rest, Reset and Resume sessions delivered on Zoom by University staff counsellors from 2-2.15pm every Thursday until 29 July. Catch up, settle and re-orientate yourself to improve your own mental health and wellbeing. You don’t need to book – just stop, show up and tune in.

Events

South Asian Heritage Month

Following the inaugural event last year, South Asian Heritage Month returns this summer. Running from Sunday 18 July to Tuesday 17 August, festivities aim to raise the profile of British South Asian heritage and history in the UK through education, arts, culture and commemoration. Full details are available on the Equality and Inclusion Unit website.

Don’t miss out on your final chance to Be Curious!

With four events still to go in this year’s bumper Be Curious schedule, there’s still time to join in the fun. For families, get talking about democracy with ‘Rhythms and Rhymes’ or learn what it’s like inside your joints with ‘The Rough and the Smooth’, today and tomorrow (Wednesday 14 and Thursday 15 July) at 4pm. Still coming up in the Be Curious LATES programme, tune in for ‘Our Amazing Bodies’ and ‘Inclusion and Identity’, also today and tomorrow at 8pm. Register for free tickets by visiting the Be Curious website.

Do you believe in fairies?

On campus this summer? Why not get your culture fix and discover how two young girls from Yorkshire fooled the world with photos of ‘fairies’. The new exhibition at the Treasures of the Brotherton Gallery in the Parkinson Building is free to visit – no need to book. Opening hours are 11am to 2pm, Tuesday to Friday.

Join the Events Network  

Join the Events Network on Microsoft Teams to connect with colleagues across the University who organise events as part of their role. The next meeting, being held tomorrow (Thursday 15 July), will feature an update about the live-streaming capabilities being introduced on campus, and how this technology could be used for events. Join the network for further information and to view recordings of previous meetings. Use code dnbub87 to sign up.

In case you missed it

Vice-Chancellor’s blog | Redefining the purpose of a university education

Inside Track | Improving our research culture

Mediasite upgrade

Sign up | Student Education Forum

Get ready to submit your reading lists

LIDA | Powering data analytics research, education and training

Sign up | Digital Education Summer Roadshow

Summer in Leeds programme | Submit your ideas

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