University of Strathclyde Update

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Please check this page regularly for updates on the University's central services. We will also update our Facebook page and Twitter when new announcements are made.

James Weir Building Closure

We have made significant progress since the James Weir building fire and efforts continue to get us back to business as usual as quickly as possible. Please click on the links below for more information.

Timetabling of classes

The University's timetabling team has rescheduled activities which were due to take place in the James Weir building over the coming months. Students in affected departments – Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering, Chemical & Process Engineering and Design, Manufacture & Engineering Management (DMEM) - will continue to receive information about when and where classes will be held from their home department. Estates Services are continuing to make available temporary shared and social spaces for students to use.

We have taken the first step towards reoccupation of the building by allowing limited access to a number of staff and students from the departments of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering and Design, Manufacture and Engineering Management. This access is currently restricted to areas on the east and north sides of the ground, mezzanine and level one floors. We are keen that staff and students have an early indication of timescales for further reoccupation, to ensure that they have an understanding of how long they may be out of the building. Your patience while this process is worked through is greatly appreciated.

Recovery of essential items

Staff and students have been able to access the building to remove their critical and essential items. All of the areas of research have been assessed by key staff members and through the Heads of Department critical equipment has been identified and moved to suitable locations both on and off campus. Staff and students have been very patient with the process of retrieving critical and essential items from the James Weir building.

Departmental IT staff are continuing the process of cleaning and checking essential equipment and have started to distribute items back to staff. Material from James Weir offices is now in the process of being decanted to a suitable storage facility. This facility is being set up to allow staff and students space and time to sort through their own belongings. Clearly, staff and students will want full information on how to manage items that are damaged due to smoke or water and also where their materials will be stored as they await a return to the building and this will be provided in due course, along with the access arrangements for the storage facility. We want to ensure that this facility is set up appropriately, therefore we ask staff and students to understand that this is a priority, but may take a few weeks before it is open for general access.

Safety Services are responsible for the arrangements for safe access and have prepared briefings for any staff authorised to enter the building.

Departmental contacts for the recovery of items are :

If you are looking for an item to be returned, please give the departmental contact the following information :

  • Floor
  • Room number
  • Potential access difficulties - locked drawer, coded locks, security cables.
  • Type of item type - personal item, personal IT, University IT, University equipment.
  • Whether you wish to have personal items cleaned or not

Please remember that smoke or water damage to equipment is often not visible, and data can be lost if the hardware is not handled appropriately. The majority of electronic equipment in the building will require to go through a decontamination process to ensure that as much equipment and data is preserved as possible. A reclamation and decontamination firm has been appointed to clean and decontaminate all electronic equipment recovered. This process has to happen in a controlled manner and the decontamination process is likely to take a considerable time, so please be patient when awaiting the return of items. This may take several weeks.

Please also bear in mind that there will be a large number of items going through the decontamination process, which will impact on when items are returned.

Any damaged Library stock retrieved from the James Weir Building should be returned to the Library. Library staff can then assess the damage and make a decision on whether the item can be repaired or will have to be replaced. Damaged items will be removed from staff and students' Library records and we will pursue replacement costs via the University's insurance.

Affected departments: temporary accommodation

James Weir departmental staff, Estates Services, Safety Services and staff in host departments have worked hard to ensure that the health, safety and welfare of those moved to new locations is considered. Many departments have been running safety briefings and making sure staff and students are familiar with the arrangements in their new area. If there are any issues or suggestions that would improve the temporary working arrangements, these should be raised with your departmental safety convener.

The affected departments are based in the following locations :

  • Chemical and Process Engineering, Royal College Room 413, 204 George Street, Glasgow, G1 1XW.
  • Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, 347 Cathedral Street (the Staff Club by the CSR), Glasgow, G1 2TB.
  • DMEM, Secretarial Office is AR 306, 131 Rottenrow, Glasgow, G4 0NG
  • Scottish Universities Insight Institute, Royal College Room 4.01, 204 George Street, Glasgow, G1 1XW.

Additional computer labs

New computer labs have been set up across the campus with the specialist engineering software which was previously only available in the centrally-managed James Weir IT labs. The software has already been installed on over 100 computers in level three of the library. These are available during normal library opening hours. An additional 40 computers have been placed in rooms 801b/c in the Colville building.

A further 56 PCs have been installed in the Lord Todd restaurant, in the middle of the student village, and these are now available for use. This PC area – adjacent to the restaurant and bar – is open from 9am-11pm weekdays. Much of the Weir specialist software has been installed in the Livingstone Tower computer labs (301a/b, 412, 901). Some is also being installed in the Architecture and Colville labs. These areas are available during normal building opening hours. For students who had 'red card' access to the James Weir computer labs on the first floor, these cards will also be valid for the Livingstone Tower PC labs, enabling weekend and overnight access. If you have any questions about accessing software previously available in the James Weir IT labs, please email the IT helpdesk on helpdesk@strath.ac.uk or phone ext 4000 option 1, between 9am and 7.15pm, Monday to Friday, or visit the helpdesk in the Main Library. More information and updates on PC provision.

Social learning spaces

Staff and students are reminded that a number of social learning spaces are available to them across the campus. These are :

  • McCance Conservatory
  • Colville Level 4, packed lunch area
  • Orbit Café
  • Todd's Diner
  • Todd's Bar
  • Venue Café
  • Java Café
  • Ark Café within the Chaplaincy Centre

Questions and Answers

What will happen about my lectures, seminars and tutorials?
The majority of the James Weir Building is closed until further notice. Alterations have been made to the timetable. Please contact your department if you have any queries about the new timetable or location of classes.
How will this incident affect my studies? Will I be penalised because of it?
The University is committed to minimising the impact on students. Alternative arrangements are being put in place to ensure teaching is resumed. Your Head of Department/Supervisor will be able to deal with specific academic issues. The University will ensure that you suffer no academic disadvantage because of the fire.
How do I keep in touch with developments?
The University will provide up-to-date information on its Facebook page, Twitter and the University website. This page contains the latest available information.
How long will be building be closed for?
We have been able to partially open areas of the ground, mezzanine and level one floors. This is the first step of the phased re-occupation and a programme to bring other areas of the building back into use at the earliest opportunity is being prepared. Safety is a priority, and access will be controlled by the University's security team, working with relevant departments.
Where can staff from the James Weir building collect their mail?
Staff can collect their mail from the Security Box at the front entrance to the Royal College building between 9am and 10am. For urgent mail collections outwith this time, please contact Security Control on JA x3333.
Will the Royal College opening hours be affected?
The Royal College has resumed normal opening hours.

Contacts

Students

Any questions you might have should be directed at your home Department. The University is posting up-to-date information on its Facebook page, Twitter and the University website. It is also communicating to staff and students through email and SMS text messaging, where appropriate. The latest information can be found on this page.

If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to raise these with your Head of Department, your USSA representative or you can emailinfoandadvice@strath.ac.uk. More detailed information will be provided by the Faculty of Engineering and departments to students directly affected.

Staff

If you are in an affected department, you should contact your line manager or Head of Department. Your Head of Department / supervisor will be able to provide information about your working arrangements.

General information will also be posted on this web page and the University's Facebook page and Twitter. The University is also communicating to staff and students through email and SMS text messaging, where appropriate.

Updated 16 Mar 2012