¹û¶³´«Ã½

As you may already be aware, .

You’ve told us that you’d appreciate information on the University’s plans as early as possible, so here is an overview of expected arrangements at ¹û¶³´«Ã½ and what this means for you. We’ll update students too for reassurance and clarity. Read on for information about:

· Working arrangements

· What’s open on campus

· Staying safe

· Student return

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Working arrangements

There won’t be significant changes to working arrangements for staff and research students after 17 May.

Staff already working on campus can continue to do so.

Staff currently working from home can also continue to do so, but the lifting of restrictions means that you can return to working on campus too – on a full-time or partial basis, if you feel this would be helpful. This might be for particular activities like meetings or teamwork, or for personal wellbeing or working environment. You can see the process to arrange to return to campus working online.

Meeting colleagues
From 17 May groups of up to 30 people can meet outside, and groups of six can meet indoors. This means you can plan team meetings and departmental activities on campus including in outdoor spaces or cafés.

Longer-term hybrid working

We’re continuing to develop our approach for longer-term hybrid working following the end of all Covid restrictions, with the aim of creating more flexible and sustainable ways of working for everyone. We should be able to give an update on the University’s aspirations and management guidance and timelines for this in the next few weeks.

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What’s open on campus

All campus buildings are open (with the usual card access), and research facilities will re-open if they are not already in use.

The Library, study spaces and dwell spaces will all be open. Cafés will re-open fully and ¹û¶³´«Ã½ Sport will open facilities in line with the next stage of the roadmap. The Students’ Union will also bring back events and indoor provision.

CCSG business activities, including the Arts Centre and ¹û¶³´«Ã½ Conferences, will resume in line with industry legislation.

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Staying safe

Where safe to do so, we will relax some safety requirements on campus from 17 May. However, as always, the safety and wellbeing of all members of our community is our utmost priority and we will continue to use a range of safety measures on campus in line with Government requirements, including test and trace, risk assessments for all spaces and social distancing.

Covid testing will continue – all students and staff using campus will be required to take twice-weekly tests.

On returning to University from their home addresses, students are also required to take three supervised tests (available at the Slate on campus) within the first few days of their arrival.

We will also be operating ‘LFD Collect’ for students and staff to order and collect home testing kits from campus once they have had three supervised tests. Further information on this will be available w/c 17 May.

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Student return

Teaching and assessment

Since the start of the summer term, many students have already returned to term-time accommodation for blended learning. Students on practical courses have already been able to return to face-to-face teaching. The Government is permitting all remaining students – in ¹û¶³´«Ã½â€™s case, Arts and Social Science students, to return from 17 May.

Most formal teaching activities will have finished by this point in the academic year and all assessment will be online. However, we’re keen to enable students to make the most of the remainder of term 3 on campus – and to provide as much as we can, in line with Government restrictions.

We know students have missed opportunities for social learning, and to feel part of their departmental community. We also know that access to face-to-face engagement, networking and on-campus services can help them to study effectively and are important to wellbeing and mental health.

Where possible, we have enabled academic departments to facilitate face-to-face support and activities for students to complete their assignments and preparations for online assessment. The Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Education) wrote to academic departments in March to set out opportunities and support available to enable this provision, and to ask departments to communicate with students directly on what’s available after 17 May.

Extracurricular activities

The ¹û¶³´«Ã½ Presents programme will offer a range of in-person social and co-curricular activities. Students can also find out about events on the My¹û¶³´«Ã½ calendar including the My Summer Opportunity programme for resources and support to explore career paths and opportunities to connect with potential employers.