Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Committee Minutes 12 May 2020

Minutes of the meeting of the Cardiff University Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Committee held on Tuesday 12 May 2020 via Zoom.

Present: Professor Karen Holford (Chair), Michelle Aldridge-Waddon, Michelle Alexis, Dr Sam Hibbitts, Claire Morgan, Shekina Ortom, Professor Tim Phillips, Jude Pickett, Abyd Quinn-Aziz, Helen Obee Reardon, Clare Skidmore, Cadi Thomas, Professor Damian Walford Davies and James Wareham.

In attendance: Hayley Beckett, Professor Gill Bristow, Karen Harvey-Cooke, Susan Cousins, Wyn Davies, Tracey Evans, Gareth Hughes, Rashi Jain, Michelle Jones, Andrew Lane, Sue Midha, Rhian Roberts, Charlotte Shand, Gail Thomas and Christine Werrell

Apologies for absence were received from Professor Rudolf Allemann, Professor Gary Baxter, Kathryn Davies, Professor Kim Graham, Carol Merryman-Rees, Claire Sanders and Matthew Williamson.

706 Welcome

Noted that the Chair opened the meeting and welcomed new members to the Committee.

707 Minutes

Received paper 19/364, ‘Minutes of the Meeting of the Cardiff University Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Committee’ held on
14 January 2020.

Noted that the minutes were confirmed to be an accurate record and would be signed by the Chair.

708 Matters arising

Received paper 19/587, ‘Matters Arising’.

Noted

Chair’s action – Vice-Chancellor’s EDI Advisory Board [minute 690.2]

.1 that the chair of the board, Rosaleen Moriarty-Simmonds, confirmed that she is happy to continue as chair.  Other members of the board have been contacted to provide some background information so that we can raise the profile of the Board online. A half-day workshop is being arranged for the new academic year although the practicalities of that will need to be reconsidered in light of the COVID-19 crisis;

Disability Staff Network – committee meeting venue [minute 692.6]

.2 that before remote working was brought in, the ground floor room of the Sir Martin Evans Building had been booked for this meeting. Steps will be taken to use this room for any future meetings;

Disability Staff Network – Disability Confident Employer scheme [minute 692.7]

.3 that a paper was being prepared to recommend the University joins the Business Disability Forum and the Disability Staff Network would be asked to feed into this paper. This organisation can assess the University’s current practices and provide resources and support. This would be an initial step towards the Disability Confident Employer scheme;

Strategic Equality Plan 202-24 [minute 696]

.4 that the Plan had been published in March 2020, following Council approval. Positive comments had been received from Governance Committee, Council and other universities and the team were thanked for their contribution;

Religion and Belief Policy [minute 697]

.5 that feedback from PVC Head of College AHSS had been incorporated into the policy and further comments would be considered for inclusion on the intranet.

709 Items from the Chair

Noted

Staff Survey

.1 that the Staff Survey Action Group was preparing to make recommendations to UEB, for further consideration by Policy and Resource Committee and Council on UEB priority areas arising out of the recent staff survey;

.2 that engagement events for staff are planned and different groups consulted, including the Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic staff network. These would not solely focus on the staff survey but take in other topics such as the University’s response to COVID-19;

.3 that a report was being prepared using data on gender, sexual orientation, ethnicity and disability. It would be focusing on 10 key areas e.g. line manager induction, career pathway. Further considerations would be leadership and workload;

.4 that the committee recommended drawing on the results of previous staff surveys to establish continuing or emerging themes;

Strategic Equality Plan 2020-24

.5 that the remote wording in response to COVID-19 had impacted on EDI priorities for this year and raised other matters, such as accessibility of working from home.

Resolved

.6 that an extraordinary meeting would be planned to discuss the progression or status of EDI activity as set out in the SEP and to agree priorities.

710 College/Professional Services update

Professor Damian Walford Davies, PVC for the College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences provided an update on EDI initiatives and activities within the College.

Noted

710.1 that the AHSS College EDI Committee, chaired by the College Registrar, had held its first meeting on 9 March and was scheduled to meet again on 10 June. At its meeting in March the Committee had considered priorities for individual schools and intended to undertake further activity on:

• Athena SWAN submissions
• Accuracy of data available
• Sharing best practice within the College
• How to embed EDI within curriculum
• How to fit College specific issues with the University’s overarching SEP

710.2 that in the current remote working circumstances all Schools are actively checking in on colleagues and making arrangements for necessary adjustments. Heads of School are keeping in touch and giving information on wellbeing. Staff are in touch with students. Professional service staff and academic networks are continuing online. Concerns have been raised at College Board and College Ops Board about workload issues for staff with caring responsibilities;

710.3 that the report of the review undertaken by Professor Julia Buckingham on the Athena Swan scheme had been recently published and Schools were encouraged to take time to consider the outcomes of the review and reapply within the new context;

710.4 that the Welsh Language Strategy had been positively endorsed by UEB before lockdown in February. The principles behind the strategy were for it to be ambitious, connected and holistic, using language as a means of belonging and connecting us as part of wider EDI and internationalist agendas. There had been good engagement in consultative events and the Dean for Welsh Language was thanked and commended for his work. The strategy outlined a map of how to achieve Campws Cymraeg. The next steps would be to look at how to launch the strategy virtually;

710.5 a discussion took place on how the strategy would be implemented and its place in governance structures. The Strategy proposes a Welsh language academy featuring a hub, an operational centre coordinating educational requirements and working more broadly. Need to have a conversation with CM. It is envisaged as a central operational hub working with the Centre for Education Support and Innovation and the Pro Vice-Chancellor Education and Students;

710.6 a further discussion was held on sharing good practice among Heads of Schools on how they are addressing issues. Key points of note were:

• anxiety around the uncertainty of the duration
• staff needed clarity on what their priorities were, particularly with new tasks to undertake in addition
• tasks were taking longer and it was suggested this be built into workload modelling
• university deadlines needed to be communicated to staff effectively
• the University needed to be aware of the impact of those deadlines on staff already working in challenging circumstances
• the Vice-Chancellor’s message had set clear expectations of understanding the impact of different circumstances on staff’s ability to carry out their role
• Line managers had been provided with substantial information and guidance and any challenges or opportunities to work flexibly should be discussed with them

It was noted that both AHSS and PSE were communicating this to staff and that the Chair would discuss this following the meeting with the PVC BLS.

711 Students’ Union update

Received an oral update from James Wareham, Jude Pickett and Shekina Ortom on the activities of the Students’ Union.

Noted

711.1 that COVID-19 had an impact on the SU’s ability to hold many of the events as planned but that alternatives were being adapted where possible:

• LGBT+ History Month had been supported and an event had taken place every week with a focus on mental health
• activities had been scheduled for the University Mental Health day
• It’s not on – there had been plans for a campaign around Varsity
• Varsity had taken place in a virtual setting. Sports challenges had been set, filmed and posted every 15 minutes for voting. Engagement had been good, with over 10,000 views for some films. It had been important to mark the day and celebrate;

2. Work was continuing with the Dean for EDI and the Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic Attainment Gap Group adapting activities to progress the actions of this group;

711.3 VP-Heath Park reported on the support provided to students on the Heath Park campus. The regulatory bodies and Schools had supported students with different challenges to enable them to progress their studies in line with their situation. Some students were still able to attend their placement but the regulatory bodies developed an opt-in/opt-out scheme which provided appropriate support. Feedback had been positive and staff had communicated well with students;

711.4 the March intake of student nurses had received an online induction which had gone well.

712 Quiet Rooms Policy

Received and considered paper 19/588, ‘Quiet Rooms Policy’.

Noted

.1 that the policy had originally been submitted to the EDI Committee in October and that further undertakings had been requested, which had now been addressed.

Resolved

.2 to approve the policy for publication.

713 Accessibility Audit

Received and considered paper 19/589, ‘Accessibility Audit Report’.

Noted

713.1 that the Access Audit Plan was considered a live document and clarification was provided that it would be reviewed annually;

713.2 that the Maintenance Lifecycle proposal, of which accessibility is a part, had been considered and approved by UEB as a 5 year plan with an annual cycle. Although the project is approved it is currently on hold whilst the University reviews its financial situation. The work is seen as essential and recommendations will be that accessibility will be prioritised;

713.3 that no timescales could be set yet however legal requirements were being monitored and that the accessibility report grades actions in order of priority;

713.4 that Committee members were asked to submit any comments for sharing with the Deputy Director of Estates (Operations). Initial comments were:

• the report could be shared with the Disability Staff Network for their comment
• a request that a timeframe for progress on other buildings be considered.

714 Gender Equality Steering Group Update

Received and considered paper 19/590, ‘Gender Equality Steering Group update’.

Noted

714.1 that the group has elected to look at a broad range of gender issues, not just in terms of Athena SWAN;

714.2 that the group would be reviewing its terms of reference and membership to ensure a balanced representation;

714.3 that the University’s network Cardiff Women in Science has fallen into abeyance and alternatives were being explored;

714.4 that the group had resolved at this stage not to pursue membership of When to allow funding to be allocated to other under resourced areas.

715 Race Equality Steering Group

Received and considered paper 19/591, ‘Race Equality Steering Group – Working Groups terms of reference’.

Noted

.1 that the staff membership listed an external member (a former member of staff) but that this individual was no longer a member of the group.

Resolved

.2 to confirm the terms of reference for the Staff and Student Working Groups subject to the removal of the former member of staff from the Staff Working Group membership.

716 Annual Report from LGBT+ Working Group

Received and noted paper 19/592, ‘LGBT+ Working Group update’.

Further noted that thanks were owed to the Campaign Officers of the Students’ Union for working so positively with the group.

717 Annual Report from Race Equality Steering Panel

Received and Noted paper 19/593, ‘Race Equality Supervisory Panel - update’.

Noted

.1 that there had been an uptake in people accessing the RESP to report and for guidance from students, staff and members of the public and further details on emerging themes would be reported at a future EDI Committee;

.2 that the RESP had advised the University Communications team on issues of bullying and harassment around COVID-19 and that Universities UK had expressed interest and requested further information.

718 Gender Pay Gap Report

Received and Noted paper 19/594, ‘Gender Pay Gap Report’.

719 Staff Equality Networks Update

Received and Noted paper 19/595, ‘Staff Equality Networks update’.

720 Any other business

Noted

720.1 that there had been some delays in staff obtaining equipment via the home working help system and communication had been poor. It was