Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Committee Minutes 3 October 2019

Minutes of the meeting of the Cardiff University Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Committee held on Thursday 3 October 2019 in Council Chamber, Main Building

Present: Professor Karen Holford (Chair), Michelle Alexis, Professor Gary Baxter,
Dr Sam Hibbitts, Cadi Thomas and James Wareham.

In attendance: Hayley Beckett, Karen Harvey-Cooke, Cindy Ikie, Andrew Lane, Ben Lewis, Sue Midha, Catrin Morgan, Shekina Ortom, Rhian Roberts (on behalf of Matthew Williamson), Tracey Stanley [to minute 680], Gail Thomas and Geoff Turnbull.

Apologies for absence were received from Michelle Aldridge-Waddon, Professor Rudolf Allemann, Professor Amanda Coffey, Deborah Collins, Professor Kim Graham, Carol Merryman-Rees, Professor Tim Phillips, Jude Pickett, Abyd Quinn-Aziz, Clare Skidmore, Professor Damian Walford Davies and Matthew Williamson.

672 Welcome

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

673 Minutes

Received paper 18/658, ‘Minutes of the Meeting of the Cardiff University Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Committee’ held on 12 June 2019.

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

674 Membership and Terms of Reference

Received and considered paper 19/25, ‘Terms of Reference 2019-20’.

Noted

674.1 that a proposal was received to include the Chair of the Gender Equality Steering Group as a member.

Resolved to recommend to Governance Committee

674.2 that the Chair of the Gender Equality Steering Group and the Chair of the Race Equality Steering Group to the Composition and Membership;

Resolved

674.3 to co-opt the VP Heath Park, Students’ Union to the Committee for a period of one year.

675 Matters arising

Received paper 19/26, ‘Matters Arising’.

Noted

675.1 Portraits in key rooms of University buildings [minute 661.5]

.1 that enquiries had been made on alternative venues however there were limited options and there were currently no suitable alternatives available, either through being already booked or inaccessible.  The situation would be reviewed nearer to the next meeting;

.2  that the matter had been discussed at Council and Director of Development and Alumni Relations was still in the process of finalising the next steps.

675.2  Gender Equality Steering Group: Unconscious Bias training [Minute 666.4]

.1 that the Dean for EDI updated the Committee and enquiries had shown an inconsistency in approach to this training across the sector. It was therefore recommended that the training be mandatory and undertaken every three years;

.2 a discussion was held on frequency.  Three years had been proposed as this will allow scope for an appropriate period to elapse before content is refreshed and reviewed;

.3  that completion rates would be monitored by line managers through the PDR process and reported to senior staff through management reports.

Resolved

.4 to endorse the Unconscious Bias training as mandatory, to be undertaken every three years.

675.3 Gender Equality Steering Group: Women’s Higher Education Network [Minute 666.5]

that a business case was being prepared, using information from the Business Disability Forum, to look at the gaps in support and give direction on achieving value from funds expended.  The Gender Equality Steering Group will report back to the Committee.

676 Items from the Chair

Noted

that the Chair marked the opening Committee meeting of the year with a reflection of the achievements over the past year and the key priorities for the coming year.

.1 Notable successes over the past year included:

• Key appointments of Dean of EDI and Senior Assurance Advisor – Race, Religion and Belief.
• Establishment of Race Equality Steering Group and Working Groups and appointment of chairs.
• Cardiff University announced as top University in Stonewall’s Workplace Equality Index.
• Institutional Bronze Athena SWAN award retained and a number of School level successes had been achieved.

.2 Key EDI priorities for the year ahead include:

• The publication of a new Strategic Equality Plan.
• Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic Attainment Gap Group and the work it is doing on this.  This has been recognised as a UEB priority and the issue will be explored at the upcoming senior staff conference.
• Embedding the Race Equality Resource guide within the University.
• Supporting Race and Gender Equality Steering Groups.
• Building on the success of Student Support and Wellbeing with regard to identity based violence.
• Further work is being undertaken on the Accessibility Audit and the development of an Inclusive Curriculum.

677 College/Professional Services Update

Professor Gary Baxter, PVC for the College of Biomedical and Life Sciences provided an update on EDI initiatives and activities within the College.

Noted

677.1 the contribution of the College HR Business Partner and the College HR team to the success of the activities;

677.2 the Returner Programme, co-developed with the College of Physical Science and Engineering, would be launched at the end of October. The programme would establish a college approach to support returners and offer additional support and flexibility if needed;

677.3 the 2018/19 College EDI action plan sought to improve representation at College and School Board meetings taking consideration of composition relating to gender, age etc.. It was noted that the work undertaken to date had achieved a certain amount of success and that further activity would support the gradual process;

677.4 the College was in the process of preparing the College EDI Action plan for 2019/20;

677.5 the College Board Operations Management Group had held a development session in June at which the Head of Student Services and Head of Health and Wellbeing had raised awareness of student mental health and the Organisational Staff Development Manager had spoken about resilience, both personal and others, around change management.  Linbert Spencer of The Centre for Inclusive Leadership had also delivered a valuable session on equality diversity and inclusion;

678 Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic Staff Network

Received an oral presentation from Michelle Alexis, Chair of the Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic Staff Network.

Noted

678.1 that the aim of the network is to provide a voice for BME staff, safe space, promote achievements of BME staff and to develop and deliver initiatives;

678.2 that the membership of the network was around 40 and this contrasted with the staff composition (8.1% of staff identified as being from a BME background);

678.3 that past and future events and activities of the network include:

• Co-Chair Hannah Hamad had stepped down as chair and an action plan was being developed and implemented
• Following a vote the network name had changed from BME+ to Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic
• A lunch would be held on 14 October to reframe the group, identify network member needs and implement change
• Jenni Kampf in the Internal Comms team had attended a network meeting to advise on promoting the network and increasing its online presence
• The Chair was finalising arrangements alongside HR for the work experience package for 6 students from Cathays High School.

678.4 a discussion was held on the importance of the work experience package and how it was hoped that this would be integrated within the recruitment strategy.  It was noted that the Chair of the Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic Staff Network had made a significant contribution to the work of the network over the months of her tenure.

679 Students’ Union update

Received an oral update from on the activities of the Students’ Union.

Noted

679.1 that that the new team was now in place and recruitment of volunteers had been successful;

679.2 that key priorities and activities for the coming year included:

• Awareness raising of unconscious bias, intersectionality and effective allyship;
• A partnership was being established with the Students’ Union, Cardiff University and Networking for World Awareness of Multicultural Integration (NWAMI);
• Working collaboratively in partnership with the EDI Officer around events;
• Black History Month events included Black-out the Stigma, to explore mental health for Black and Ethnic Minority identifying students and Viva Blackademia: Black and Brilliant, an event to encourage BME students to stay in academia;

679.3 a discussion was held regarding supporting students around mental health issues, potential barriers to accessing support and the importance of students identifying with those providing support.

680 Race Equality Steering Group

Received and noted paper 19/27, ‘Race Equality Steering Group update’.

Resolved

that the terms of reference and membership be circulated to members of the Steering Group and working group and reviewed by the Committee at its next meeting.

681 Strategic Equality Plan 2020-24

Received and considered paper 19/28, ‘Strategic Equality Plan Update’.

Noted

681.1 that the report closing the current Strategic Equality Plan 2016-20 and the new Strategic Equality Plan 2020-24 would be considered at the next meeting of the Committee in January and members were therefore requested to engage in providing feedback on these documents;

681.2 that the paper contained information on the direction of the draft Strategic Equality Plan, which built on lessons learned from the current SEP and set out the principles on which it will be based, namely:

• Strategic vision
• Outcome based objectives
• SMART actions;

681.3 that the next steps would be to take suggestions from the Committee and thereafter to build key themes and meet with relevant parties;

681.4 proposed amendments and comments included:

.1       Outcome 1

• to include work around the attainment gap

.2       Outcome 2

• suggested wording: “Creating a positive environment where we improve the diversity of our staff profile and enable our staff to progress and develop in an inclusive and supportive environment”;
• important to include closing the pay gap

.3       Outcome 3

• to include specific reference to mental health

.4       Outcome 4

• further discussion needed around reasonable adjustments, flexible working and study

.5       Reporting

• to include VP Welfare and Campaigns in the reporting group - in addition to SU President.
• to include a representative from Student Support and Wellbeing in the working group

681.5  that members were free to discuss the proposals in their areas to help inform their feedback into the SEP.

682 Estates update

Received and considered paper 19/29, ‘Estates Update’.

Noted

682.1 that the paper provided an update on the current Accessibility Audit and set out the scope of work. A further update was provided in that gaps had been identified and costings were currently in the process of being worked out;

682.2 that the reps identified within Schools and departments had provided support to the audit process;

682.3 that the visit of Rosie Moriarty-Simmonds had provided useful information and future actions would not solely focus on compliance but would consider the user experience;

682.4 a discussion was held on the quiet rooms policy and procedure. Queries had arisen around the implementation of the policy:

• The Chaplains had advised they did not have the capacity to manage the rooms as stated in the policy
• Access issues had been reported in some rooms, this had affected cleaners
• That as per the Policy, notice boards should be installed outside every quiet room providing information about the time that the rooms will be used for Muslim prayer
• Some areas of the University had made local arrangements
• The University’s duty under Prevent needed to be considered