Dear colleagues,
I hope this finds you safe and well as we move deeper into Autumn.
As COVID-19 cases in Scotland continue to fall, I would like to thank you all for your ongoing efforts in keeping the Strathclyde community as safe as possible.
Your collective hard work means that I can announce a significant and positive milestone on our COVID recovery journey.
I am delighted to confirm that in-person graduations will make a return to campus next month with our Autumn ceremonies taking place in The Barony from 15 to 26 November.
Graduations are one of the major highlights of the Strathclyde academic calendar and I am pleased that we will once again get together to celebrate our students’ dedication, hard work and success at the ceremonies next month.
The last 18 months have been very difficult for everyone and it will be a wonderful opportunity for Strathclyders to formally recognise student achievement on campus along with classmates and family members.
The graduations team is currently working on arrangements to ensure that the ceremonies will be delivered in a COVID-19 safe and secure way, and we will be contacting our graduands shortly.
We are also working on plans for rescheduled Summer and Autumn 2020 and Summer 2021 ceremonies, which were postponed because of COVID-19 restrictions. I am determined to give everyone the opportunity to come back to campus to celebrate, so please look out for more information which will be updated and posted on our website over the coming weeks.
Departments and schools are continuing to deliver successful blended learning activities to students as we progress through the Semester. To provide further support for staff, our Learning Spaces Team is running hands-on familiarisation sessions for the Remote Teaching facilities that have been installed in the Learning and Teaching Building and other locations across the campus.
Sessions take place on Tuesdays from 9am to 4pm, in room TL434 in the Learning and Teaching Building.
These sessions allow teaching staff to see facilities demonstrated, to get set up for use of the facilities and to try them out. Colleagues from Education Enhancement are present during the Tuesday familiarisation sessions to give one-to-one advice on the use of the facilities in different teaching scenarios. No booking is required. Please attend a session if you can.
Earlier this week, I sent you an email inviting you to participate in this year’s Values Survey.
There is no doubt that our values played a critical role in how we have continued to respond to the pandemic, as well as driving our continued progress towards Vision 2025.
If you haven’t done so already, I would like to encourage you to engage in the survey which will help the Leadership Team reflect on your feedback and focus on further improving your experience as a member of Strathclyde staff.
The survey should take no more than five minutes and will close on 31 October 2021. Look out for the link to the survey which will have been sent to you via email from the survey company Medallia.
Finally, I am pleased to tell you that Strathclyde has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST).
UNIST, located in the heart of South Korea’s largest industrial city, Ulsan, is one of the world’s leading science and technology universities and is an ideal fit with the research priorities of Strathclyde.
The agreement will see our two institutions work together on the research and development of new innovative technologies to support the manufacturing sectors in our respective countries.
Strong partnership working remains key to how we make a global impact and I would like to thank Professor Keith Ridgway for his leading role in the development of our relationship with UNIST.
I know that many of you are taking leave this week to spend with your families and to enjoy a break to coincide with school holidays. Please enjoy the rest and recreation and for those of you who have not taken time off this week, please enjoy the weekend when it comes.
Best wishes,
Jim