eNews 15 March
eNews: Employee engagement survey, Digital Universities UK, new IT website features, Our Future Health, Student Success and RAG week, free childcare and more.
Have your say
Employee engagement survey | Last chance to have your say
Time is running out to have your say about what matters most to you in your role at Leeds.
More than 4,300 colleagues have already taken part in our employee engagement survey.
There’s still time to ensure your voice is heard. The survey will remain open until 20 March and will only take about 15 minutes to complete. The higher the response rate the better we can reflect your views in future action plans.
Those yet to complete the survey will have received reminder emails this week from Culture Amp – the software platform we’re using to deliver the survey – with your invitation to take part and further instructions.
You will be asked for some personal details but the survey is anonymous and secure. Any information provided will only be collected to demonstrate the diversity of voices taking part and won’t be used for any other purpose. See the survey FAQs for details of how feedback is anonymised.
Please don’t miss out on this opportunity to help make working at the University more enjoyable and fulfilling.
Creating a more equitable and inclusive University
Fiona McClement, Director of Equity, Diversity and Inclusion, explains how feedback from the current employee engagement survey will help collectively enhance the workplace culture for everyone at Leeds.
Fantastic opportunity to give us your honest thoughts
Chief Information Officer Dan Simms explains how survey insights will play a ‘vitally important’ role in the IT Service’s ongoing transformation.
Collaborating to put action plans into place
Organisational Learning Partner Sam Crossley outlines the available support to ensure survey feedback really counts by translating results into localised action plans.
Digital developments
One month to go until Digital Universities UK hits campus
We’re co-hosting The Times Higher Education (THE) Digital Universities UK 2023 event from 17-20 April.
The University has an ambitious Digital Transformation strategy, which includes improving our research IT and libraries. We will be showcasing our academic innovation and technology expertise at this event, which brings together higher education, industry and policy leaders.
The full DUUK programme features Vice-Chancellor and President Professor Simone Buitendijk; Deputy Vice-Chancellor: Student Education, Professor Jeff Grabill; and Professor Arunangsu Chatterjee, Dean of Digital Transformation, alongside numerous other University colleagues.
Explore new IT website features
The new-look IT website is live. An overview of how to navigate the site and its new features, including logging a ticket, is now available. We also have a separate guide outlining how to check your existing tickets and approvals. We want the site to work for you, so please give us your feedback.
Celebrate
Final call | University of Leeds Teaching Awards
Applications for the University of Leeds Teaching Awards 2023 close at 5pm on 24 March. The prestigious awards scheme recognises excellent practice in student education.
Industrial action
Strike action update
Strike action is scheduled to take place this week and next at universities across the country, including Leeds. Please read our FAQs for staff for further information, including the reporting dates for notifying the University of participation in strike action. You can find out more about why industrial action is taking place, the full list of strike days and what’s happening in response to the disputes on our Industrial Action In depth page.
Campus Life
Celebrating our global community
The Leeds University Union (LUU) annual celebration of global community returns from 15-22 March. The World Unite Festival 2023 programme offers events, activities and themed food menus celebrating the diversity of culture represented by our staff and students.
Making campus a great place to be
We want to hear your thoughts about bringing campus to life. A focus group is being held from 1-2pm on 29 March to listen to your ideas. Free tea and cake will be served! Complete the focus group form by 21 March to register your interest.
Take part in the UK’s largest health research programme on campus
Our Future Health – the UK’s largest health research programme – has opened a clinic at Beech Grove House on campus. The goal is to create one of the most detailed pictures ever of people’s health to support the prevention, detection and treatment of dementia, cancer, diabetes, heart disease and stroke.
Staff and students can book an appointment on the Our Future Health website. A blood sample and physical measurements will be taken and you will receive blood pressure and cholesterol level results.
New home for hundreds of abandoned bikes
More than 300 bicycles left unclaimed on campus have been donated to Yorkshire-based charity the Margaret Carey Foundation. Rounded up by the security team following the COVID-19 lockdowns, the bikes will be repaired before being sold in the charity’s Shipley shop or given to those living in transport poverty in the UK and overseas.
Closures warning
Footpath and lane closures will be in place near the Chemical and Process Engineering building all day on 19 March while works are undertaken on a high-level sign. Diversions and traffic controls will be in place.
Climate change
Meet the researchers | Tackling global water challenges
The urgency to tackle water-related challenges facing the world features in the latest webinar series from the Advancement team with researchers from water@leeds. Sessions are being held on Zoom from 6.30-7.30pm every Wednesday until 29 March.
Students
Student Education: ‘Human library’ to bring colleagues together
Fancy borrowing the brains of University experts to help shape your student education projects? A new series of events with the concept of bringing people together in a ‘human library’ – including the Leeds Educator Community Coffee Morning – will let you do just that. Read more, sign up for events and subscribe to news and resources on student education from the Student Education microsite.
Call for papers | Exploring student success in higher education
Submit proposals by 1 June to present papers or best practice on the Student Success Conference (SSC) 2023 themes, including co-creation, student voice, belonging and more. You can join the free SSC 2023 on 7 November to explore and reflect on the meaning of student success.
Survey | Help shape digital teaching and learning
Colleagues in student-facing roles are asked to encourage students to complete the Jisc Digital Experience survey before 31 March. Participants will be entered into a draw to win an iPad. The survey is an important way to understand how digital tools and technology are helping students to learn, both on and off campus. Two separate surveys for teaching and professional services colleagues will also be shared in the coming weeks.
Laidlaw Leadership and Research Programme 2023
There’s still time for students to apply for the Laidlaw Leadership and Research Programme 2023. If you have teaching responsibilities, please share details of this paid opportunity with first year undergraduates or students on the second year of a four-year course. Eligible students can submit applications through MyCareer until midnight on 26 March.
Undergraduate Research Conference | Call for abstracts
We’re hosting our first ever Undergraduate Research Conference on 15 June to showcase the incredible variety of projects undertaken by our students. Please encourage your students to apply by the deadline of 24 March. Further information about the event and guidance on how to apply is available on the undergraduate research webpage.
Student podcasting workshop
Attend a workshop to explore the ethical, educational and social benefits of student podcasting for teaching and assessment. Learn how to design assessed podcasting tasks for a variety of undergraduate modules, and support students to research and script their podcasts. Examples of assessment criteria and rubrics will also be provided. The workshop takes place from 10am-1pm on 29 March.
RAG Week
Featuring karaoke contests, art stalls and abseiling down the Michael Sadler building, RAG Week is taking place across the University from 20-26 March. Four charities will receive the money raised, and colleagues can donate and take part in the activities. The Parkinson Building will also be lit up green next week.
Research
Helping researchers achieve real-world impact
The Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP) team is holding engagement events for researchers who want to see their work achieve real-world impact. Events include a session for early career researchers on 20 March and a showcase event in Nexus on 24 March.
Join | Data science communities and programmes
Leeds Institute for Data Analytics (LIDA) has launched its data science communities and programmes – the only groups of their kind at the University for staff and students to join. Visit the LIDA website to sign up.
Researchers benefitting from new medical fellowship
The Summerhayes Fellowship programme gives brilliant post-doctoral researchers the opportunity to take a fresh approach to age-old medical questions. Discover how two doctors are examining life at the molecular level, using the armoury of research tools in our Faculties of Medicine and Health and Biological Sciences to gain an understanding of the cellular processes driving medical conditions.
Learning and development
Sign up | Personal and work development course
Register your interest for the autumn cohort of the Organisational Development and Professional Learning (OD&PL) Fresh Steps Development Programme. The programme is for colleagues working in roles graded two to five who want to reassess where they are in their lives and careers, review their priorities, explore new possibilities and set new goals. Sign up for a virtual information and taster session – running from 9.30-10.30am on 20 March – for further information.
Register | The Conversation training
Register for a training session with The Conversation, the news analysis and opinion website featuring content written collaboratively by academics and professional journalists and read by 5.5 million people in the UK each month. Taking place on Zoom from 10.30-11.30am on 23 May, the training will provide an introduction to writing for the site. Contact the External Communications and Campaigns team for further information.
Book | Pedagogical Power of PebblePad workshop
Book your place on the next Pedagogical Power of PebblePad workshop, taking place from 11-11.30am tomorrow (16 March) on Microsoft Teams. The workshop reviews how PebblePad is being used in the School of Medicine to provide a consistent approach to the recording of assessments and evidence of student achievement and performance.
Register | UKCGE Research Supervision Recognition Programme
The next deadline for the UKCGE Research Supervision Recognition Programme is 2pm on 22 March. This provides professional recognition for research supervisors, with funding available for up to 100 colleagues at Leeds this academic year. Applicants are recommended to have supervised at least two doctoral candidates to completion.
Wellbeing and support
Sign up | Free World Sleep Day 2023 activities
Dreaming of a good night’s sleep? It’s World Sleep Day 2023 on 17 March and we’re hosting a range of free activities and support sessions to improve your sleep quality and habits. Join us for sleep well seminars, yoga and mindfulness. View the full World Sleep Day 2023 programme.
Undergraduate open days and offer holder days | Free childcare
Staff working upcoming Saturday events for Open Days and Offer Holder Days can register their interest in childcare offered by Bright Beginnings. The next deadline, for those working the Saturday 15 April event, is this Friday, 17 March. To register interest, complete and submit the childcare booking form. The centre requires a minimum of 6 children signed up in order to open.
Events
Contemporary Artist’s Book Fair
17-18 March
The Contemporary Artist’s Book Fair will take place in the Parkinson Building. Run by Professor Chris Taylor (School of Fine Art, History of Art and Cultural Studies), the fair features multiple events and keynote speakers.
Register | Inaugural Tex Talks lecture
2-3pm, 22 March
Leeds Institute of Textiles and Colour (LITAC) presents the first lecture in its bi-monthly Tex Talks series. Taking place in Clothworkers’ Building South, Professor Karen De Clerck, from Ghent University, will introduce the technique of electrospinning and applications of nanofibrous materials it produces.
Book | Gryphons Go Kids Camps
3-14 April
Want to get ahead and plan some entertainment for your kids this Easter? There’s still time to book them onto Sport and Physical Activity’s Gryphons Go Kids Camp at The Edge. Children can swim, climb and explore the outdoors, as well as develop their physical skills and make use of our superb educational facilities.
International concert series
Various dates
The University of Leeds International Concert Series continues with five more performances. The Project take to the Clothworkers Centenary Concert Hall stage from 1.05-1.55pm on 17 March. Then come four events as part of the Leeds Emerging Artist Festival 2023. First up is the jazz night at 7pm on 17 March, percussionist Steven Moore at 1pm on 18 March and Nocturne at 7pm, with the Sunday Gala at 3pm on 19 March. Entry to all these events is free and no booking is required.
Tell us your story
We’d like to hear about the great work you’re doing. Contact the Internal Communications and Engagement team to share your stories.
Keeping up to date
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