The last ten days have been nothing short of incredible, in every sense of the word. We have all experienced a tumultuous period that has taken our country - and many others, including Malaysia - from an open society to a nation in near lockdown.
Everyone must stay at home except to obtain food or medical supplies, take daily exercise, or travel to and from essential work. It is crucial that we all follow these restrictions as individual citizens as well as members of a University community. When we reduce our contact, we reduce the spread of the infection and reduce the burden on the NHS.
Emotions around the country have been expressed in different ways: from selfish scenes of panic-buying to selfless acts of kindness where more than 600,000 people have volunteered to help the NHS or vulnerable and older people in their communities. I am acutely aware of how difficult this is for everyone, as we are all coming to grips with a national crisis, as well as worrying about our own health and that of our families, learning to work in a new way and experiencing new modes of daily life and caring responsibilities.
As Vice-Chancellor my overriding emotion during this period has been one of admiration for the professionalism, speed and flexibility of colleagues in moving our entire teaching operation online, supporting all our students and adjusting to the ‘new normal’ with creativity and agility. Change at this scale and pace would be unimaginable in any normal circumstances. This is remarkable and a testament to the commitment of our colleagues and the spirit and values of our University.
By way of thanks, all staff have an additional three days exceptional leave that will take the form of an extended Easter bank holiday from Thursday 9 April to Wednesday 15 April inclusive. I would strongly urge you to spend this time away from work and focus on your personal wellbeing, as well as that of your family and friends, while observing the new social distancing restrictions.
The vast majority of staff are now working from home, and we owe enormous gratitude to those colleagues in our critical research, estates, facilities and security teams who remain on campus to provide essential services, in particular for the students who are unable to return to their homes and will remain with us.
There are numerous examples nationwide of organisations and individuals contributing to the national effort to tackle the impact of coronavirus. I am proud that our University has been in the vanguard of this with a loan of £1 million worth of Polymerase Chain Reaction testing machines to support national testing for COVID-19, with the capacity to quadruple current testing capability overnight.
More than 600 finalists in medicine and other healthcare programmes have volunteered to support their colleagues in the NHS frontline to help patients and tackle the coronavirus. We are now preparing facilities to house NHS workers and are providing free car parking for them across our campuses.
There have been many more requests for support from both local and national government and charities, as well as ideas from colleagues across the institution to contribute to the national effort. We want to help in the best way we can, recognising that we cannot do everything we would like. We are logging, monitoring and advising on these efforts to ensure they are well coordinated to have the maximum impact. Please email politicalaffairs@nottingham.ac.uk if you have questions.
I know that many of you will have caring responsibilities at home and will be juggling those alongside work and family commitments under the same roof. That is why our homeworking guides place as much emphasis on supporting your mental and physical wellbeing as instructions to log into a VPN or to set up an MS Teams meeting.
Our campuses will be far quieter for the next few weeks, but they will remain at the cutting edge of our civic contribution in the battle against coronavirus. However, our online spaces will be lively and full of academic debate and discussion, and our academics and student support services will enable students to continue their work, progress and obtain their degrees.
Of course, things may not always run smoothly as we embrace teaching, examinations, research and meetings in the digital world. The initial adrenaline of getting everything in place will wear off, and I recognise that there will be a period when people may feel flat after a period of frantic activity. At a time like this, the best thing we can do is put our differences aside and support each other in every way we can. Small acts of kindness can have a big impact now and are what will ensure we remain a supportive and inclusive community.
Thank you for all that you are doing and will do in the weeks to come.
Professor Shearer West
Vice-Chancellor
27 March 2020