Excellence through Inclusion Week
"Being inclusive is absolutely crucial to our future success. It is not only ethically the right thing to do: it also makes good business sense. By making sure we include people in all aspects of the University, we will enhance our reputation and attract both the best staff and the best students."
These were the words from Pro-Vice-Chancellor Professor Tony Crook at the opening event for the University's Excellence Through Inclusion Week. Over 80 staff from across the University came together on Tuesday 1 May to discuss what inclusion means and how it affects them and others working and studying at the University.
Awareness-raising events
Further events, including a drama workshop with Accommodation and Campus Service Staff and the myBenefits Information Fair on Thursday 3 May helped staff discuss and understand the many dimensions of diversity including age, ethnicity, gender, physical and mental abilities, race, sexual orientation, faith, educational background and much, much more.
For more information about the myBenefits Information Day, please use the link on the right.
What is Excellence Through Inclusion?
Excellence Through Inclusion is the University's equality and diversity strategy. A major part of the strategy is to bring people together to share positive stories, and to identify and explore together what the main challenges are.
On Tuesday, guest speaker Zulfi Hussain, CEO of Global Synergy Solutions, led delegates to discuss these ideas in groups, and some of the discussions dealt with difficult issues while also highlighting pockets of good practice. These will be shared more widely with you in forthcoming publications including the next edition of Overview at the end of May.
There were also a number of meetings that took place during the week to really focus on some key areas of inclusion, such as the important role Heads of Department, members of the Admin Team and departmental Recruitment and Selection Co-ordinators can play in making the University more inclusive.
Julie Campbell of Human Resources was delighted with the level of participations in the week´s events and the excellent suggestions from staff for moving the University forward in this area: "This week was the beginning of a journey to reach our goal of a fully inclusive university. We will now look at everything people have shared with us, make sure we share the good practice and examples, and try to find ways of addressing some of the challenges," she said.
Further information
For more information on Excellence Through Inclusion, including a link to the DVD showing views from staff across the University, please use the links on the right.