Staff Open Meeting 8 June 2020 Virtual meeting Professor Paul - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Staff Open Meeting

8 June 2020 Virtual meeting

Professor Paul Layzell - Principal

Introduction

Today’s agenda

• Priorities, response and focus and the national context
• Finance update
• The flexible offer to students
• Staff working practices and wellbeing
• Student experience 2020/2021
• Return to campus
• Student recruitment for 2021-22
• Summary and questions

Our priorities: last three and next six months

Our overall objective is to maintain a successful and viable university that survives the current crisis and is in a good position to benefit from the recovery phase of the crisis.

Timescale Students Staff Short term Complete current year and online assessments successfully Move to effective remote working Support our colleagues immediate wellbeing needs Medium term Support our graduating students Create a compelling offer for current and prospective students Overcome the challenges of the new academic year with different and difficult circumstances Support colleagues to work differently Longer term Ensure the College remains viable and sustainable Wellbeing and support in place, with attention being given to longer-term needs Use the new way of working as a springboard to bring further innovation and success in

• ur delivery of education and research

National context: partners and regulators

National context – QS Student Survey

International context Students from our largest markets: British Council survey

Surveys being conducted in various territories on student intentions

Likelihood to cancel or delay?

Mary White Chief Financial Officer

Finance update: recap for 2019-2020

• This year we have returned accommodation charges for student accommodation and lost out on

commercial activity that can no longer be held on campus

• The overall aim this academic year and next is to maximise cash balances through the extended

period of uncertainty to ensure the future sustainability of the College

• Mitigating actions for 2019-2020
• capital expenditure paused
• freeze on new recruitment
• non-permanent staff roles reviewed
• requests for expenditure > £5k reviewed
• Current actions are predicted to improve the year end cash balance for 2019-2020 by £16m to

around £45m

Finance update: 2020-2021 (without mitigation)

• We are expecting a drop in student fees,

accommodation and other income next year. In

• ur worst case scenario this is approximately £50m

(25% reduction).

• We are due to make a £22m surplus this year, next

year without reducing our expenditure levels this could change to as much as a £41m loss.

• In the worst case scenario we spend £27m of our

reserves in the year and our cash balances reduce from £47m to £20m.

Income reduced by £50m Loss of £41m Cash balances reduce by £27m

Finance update: mitigation actions to address risk

• Minimise lost income from students and associated business of up to £50m, through flexible
• ffering and giving international students the confidence to join us in September 2020 or

January 2021

• Maximise home student intake in September 2020
• Pay and non-pay cost reductions being planned across all spending areas
• Preparing plans to activate savings at critical milestones
• UCAS June deadline
• Confirmation and clearing
• September arrivals
• November student number count
• January arrivals

Finance update: budgeting for 2020-2021

Three scenarios in development Prolonged period of uncertainty Mitigating actions planning Range of impacts Scenario planning

Maximise cash balances Monitor scenarios, agree interim budget, agree final budget once student recruitment clearer Monitor delivery of mitigating actions, cash balances and covenants against final budget Monitor impacts and keep mitigating actions under review

Interim budget July 2020 Final budget November 2020 Monitor and assess student registration

Professor Ken Badcock Senior Vice Principal (Academic Strategy, Partnerships and Resources)

Flexible offer to students from September 2020

Context

• There are many uncertainties about student intake for Autumn 2020 and the physical, social and

economic environment in which we will be operating

• Any changes we may have to make to the way we operate have a lead time to deliver and

therefore we have to prepare now Assumptions

• Returning students have an investment in Royal Holloway, and will want to return
• We are trying to convert applicants for an on-campus degree
• Home students are keen to continue with their plans (UCAS data); overseas students are anxious

(British Council) and face travel barriers.

• The longer a delay in starting the programme, the lower the chances of students actually starting

Flexible offer to students from September 2020

Building Blocks

• Flexible Learning supported for every course; Redesign of some programmes to improve remote

experience

• September and January start in key overseas recruiting programme
• PGT approved/communicated for School of Business and Management, Engineering, Physical

and Mathematical Sciences and for International Media Management

• UG approved/communicated for selected management degrees and LLB Law.

Defining the Details

Request to Schools to define details of the modules and programmes for 20/21 coming our next week. Timetabling Considerations 1. Estate under social distancing restrictions is limited to between ¼ and 1/3 of normal room capacities 2. Our offer to students is a combination of face-to-face (where safe) and online tuition supported by online materials and resources. Students come to us for an on-campus education and we need to provide one as far as safely and practically possible. 3. Staff workload demands for education will increase, and the pandemic will provide ongoing disruption

Professor James Knowles Senior Vice-Principal (Education)

Flexible offer: what it will look like

Must be of high quality (good experience) Must have parity (equivalent experience) Must be resilient (reliable experience)

Factors shaping teaching pattern

• Estate under social distancing restrictions is limited to between ¼ and 1/3 of normal room

capacities.

• We will offer students face-to-face tuition supplemented by online materials and tuition.
• Staff workload demands for education will increase, and the pandemic will provide ongoing

disruption. Priorities

• Face-to-face (on campus) > key feature = personalised, contact-based, small group
• Flexible (face-to-face/remote) and resilient (COVID proof; technology proof; easily understood)
• Sustained contact hours (increased?) > learning outcomes, standard hours of study
• Engaged teaching (presence) and learning (active, challenging)

Complex choices

• High quality – but recognising the technological and physical constraints
• Parity – it will be equal to but not the same as previous years – and that there are
• pportunities for creativity and innovation we can seize
• Resilience – both F2F and remote, as flexible as we can be, but also careful to make

sure it is robust and as problem-free as we can make it.

• The aim is consistency in our approach and style – help and support the students

with clear design and well structured material – but not uniformity.

• Moodle ‘specification’
• Learning Design Model (‘Flexible Delivery Plan’)
• MS Teams

Digital realism

Beyond 2020

• The impact of the pandemic will likely extend beyond 2020-2021; it’s been an

acceleration factor for change and innovation.

• Some aspects of current alternatives (eg assignments) we will retain > we need to

review carefully and learn from what has worked and what has not (nb 97%+ engagement)

• Some of the new teaching methods will bring improved engagement, better student

responses and even (!) NSS scores

• Opportunity for experimentation – even in a difficult time there’s a chance to try new

things, be creative

• Opportunity to rewrite and redefine our e-learning strategy, the 2030 strategy, and

also our technological requirements

• Opens up new opportunities: online exams better integrated mark recording data

Professor Katie Normington Deputy Principal (Academic)

Flexible offer: staff working practices

• Alterations to educational delivery will require staff to work flexibly, particularly given the recruitment freeze
• Academic capacity has been increased for next year, for example by postponing research sabbaticals for around 90

staff

• With some January starts and a compressed academic year, we will need flexible approaches in order to deliver

teaching that extends throughout the year Teaching delivery needs to be resilient to mitigate for those who may fall ill or who are sheltering to work entirely

• nline from home
• Some staff may deliver two intensive teaching terms with additional examining and others lower level year round

teaching and examining

• Committee and meetings structure slimmed down and alongside the new ways of working we also need to work on

a cultural shift so that we focus on what is now necessary rather than looking back at past practices.

• The new ways of working with place new demands on our staff and resources like the Working Well Hub are focused
• n providing information and support for managers and staff.

The academic experience is only part of the story for next year:

• Greater focus on transition for students: preparing for online learning for all

students, further skills and content for freshers, creating a campus community

• Introduction of student app for new students
• Student support (CEDAS, Student Wellbeing, Careers etc) will continue to offer
• nline support and in person
• We’re working on a plan to open the Library but it’s currently against the govt

regulations

• College and SU are working on the social side of campus (enhanced online and

campus activity within government guidelines)

Student experience

• Focus this year on getting teaching online. Beyond that we need to ensure that

research activity recovers and grows

• REF submission date March 2021 (but other deadlines probably unchanged)
• Need to respond to a number of factors:
• Opportunity of new topics in post-Covid world
• Additional research funding (2.4% GDP)
• Making research sustainable without cross subsidy
• Work by Research Team to scope ‘catalyst hubs’ and ‘clusters’ in consultation with

hubs and to ensure bedrock of departmental 4* outputs.

Research

Dr David Ashton Deputy Principal (Operations)

Returning to campus

Preparing for Confirmation and Clearing

• A-level results day is always the most mission critical day of the year for us, as it is all universities.
• Confirmation and Clearing is technology driven. Risk is always high and very high this year and

detailed planning is underway to accommodate a number of different approaches we may need to take.

• Student number control has been introduced for this year’s domestic intake. Dept. for Education

informed us on Tuesday 2 June what our ‘cap’ will be

• With the anticipated loss of overseas numbers in mind, Council has agreed we should push hard

to secure numbers that are as close to the ‘cap’ as we can

• To achieve the required numbers, we will need to think liberally around quality on entry and tariff.

Student admissions 2020 - undergraduate

To note: UCAS offer response deadline was 2 May for 2019/20 entry and is 18 June for 2020/21 entry

• 2020/21 - 78% of offers made have received a response / 22% outstanding
• 2019/20 – 96% of offers made had received a response / 4% outstanding
• U/F & C/F combined represent 21% of responses, on par with previous cycles

3% 7% 8% 6% 18% 14% 13% 15% 1% 1% 1% 2% 17% 17% 18% 18% 5% 5% 6% 6% 57% 56% 55% 54%

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100% 201718 201819 201920 202021

% split of UG Responses to offers

U/F C/F U/I C/I U/D C/D

701 983 1022 360 1825 1709 1969 2110 202 95 103 76 2194 2237 2369 2052 750 708 635 560 6782 7027 7763 6828.62

2000 4000 6000 8000 10000 12000 14000 201718 201819 201920 202021

Number of UG Responses to offers

U/F C/F U/I C/I U/D C/D

Student admissions 2020 – postgraduate taught

Graph shows PGT applications

Student recruitment for 2021-2022

• Planned Open Days in June 2020 will be held online
• Developing campus visits programme for July
• 60% of Open Day attendees apply, so important to give opportunity for a visit
• Assumes possibilities of small groups being allowed to gather for tours and to meet academics and students
• For 2020 applicants, it is an opportunity to ‘see again’ if their applicant visit day was online
• For 2021 applicants, it is the opportunity to explore our campus in person
• Increase capacity of Autumn Open Days
• Adding Sunday 18 October to existing dates of Saturday 26 Sept and Saturday 17 October
• Accommodate either additional numbers or support social distancing
• Alongside our own digital media campaigns, we are working with schools partners, sector bodies

are preparing promotional material and campaigns to promote UK/London higher education, nationally and internationally

Professor Paul Layzell Principal

Summary messages: where are we going? (the aim)

Our purpose To advance knowledge so that every individual from Royal Holloway has the confidence and sources of inspiration they need to make a sustained and meaningful contribution academically, personally and socially

The Covid-19 pandemic is a direct threat to how we deliver our purpose as a university and the potential long-term consequences of a fall in international recruitment, without any mitigation, is an existential threat Our actions for this year, and the work we are asking colleagues to do for next year, are focused on

• the need to remain sustainable
• to protect and deliver on our purpose for the next generation of students and beyond

Strategic direction and the Green Paper

• The Green Paper consultation taking place before the pandemic set out a strategic direction
• The need for us to respond to the hyperdiversity in the increasing number of 18 year olds
• The need to expand our international recruitment and partnership network
• The need to focus on the challenge-led research agenda
• What education will look like in the future

The pandemic has changed some of the context, accelerated some of the agendas, but the strategic direction identified remains valid.

Summary messages: how will we respond now

• Whilst remaining true to our purpose, the way we work and engage as a community has to be

reinvented and, in many cases, completely reinvented

• We will take the best of what we do and rework for the new environment
• It will mean change for all staff and all students
• None of this will be easy, but to protect our purpose, we have no choice
• We may not get it right all the time, for staff and for students, so we will need to monitor, review and react
• We are not working alone; every university faces the same challenges; the ones that survive will be the
• nes who are clear about their purpose and why we are doing what we are doing

Summary messages: the longer term

• These changes will not go away over the longer term
• Economic pressures and societal and political priorities will continue to drive change
• Our efficiency will need to be higher than at present
• We will need to develop academic priorities for working in a post-Covid environment, aligned to changed social and economic

priorities and needs

• We need to learn lessons from our teaching and learning experiences and build upon the successes
• We need to learn lessons from the changes in professional services and the support given to academic activities and build

upon the successes

Questions and discussion