Dialogue 47

News for Durham University Staff & Students

Sept | Oct 2016

BRINGING RESEARCH TO LIFE Professor Barbara Ravelhofer from the Department of English Studies explains how staging a theatrical festival has benefited the work of the Records of Early English Drama North-East project.

ONE YEAR ON One year ago Professor Stuart Corbridge joined us as the University's 24th Vice-Chancellor. Here he tells us how his first 12 months in Durham have been.

MEET OUR NEW CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER

Contribute to your magazine.

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welcome

Welcome to the start of the new academic year and a particular welcome to all of our new staff and students. You are joining a wonderful University in a truly beautiful setting that has inspired scholars for generations.

This is an exciting time to be at Durham University. The University’s Senate and Council have agreed our core goals over the next few years. They are to produce world-leading and world-changing research across all our core academic units; education that is challenging, difficult, enabling and transformative; and a wider student experience to rival the best in the world. We are working hard to develop a full University Strategy by December 2016 and I am committed to working with staff and students both to shape the Strategy as it nears completion and to ensure its effective delivery.

In this edition of Dialogue we have an interview with Jane Robinson, our new Chief Operating Officer. Jane was a hugely successful Chief Executive Officer at

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Gateshead Council and I’m delighted that she is joining us in this important role.

We start the year with good news: the National Student Survey 2016 showed that Durham students are among the most satisfied in the UK. Meanwhile, over the summer we hosted residential schools for bright young people from diverse backgrounds to experience something of Durham student life. Many of you helped out with this important work and I am hugely grateful to all those who did. The new University Strategy makes clear our commitment to ensuring that the brightest students, whatever their background, can attend Durham University.

I hope you will join me in welcoming our new students over the matriculation period and I wish you all a successful year.

Professor Stuart Corbridge Vice-Chancellor and Warden

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Tell your story.

Please continue to send your contributions and feedback to dialogue@durham.ac.uk News for Durham University Staff & Students

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Editor Ulrike Klaerig-Jackson Communications Coordinator Assistant Editor Mark Tallentire Communications Coordinator Contributors Hilary Meehan, HR&OD; Sharon Battersby, CIS; Steph Dawson, Library; Tara Duncan, Greenspace; Daryl Dowding, Event Durham; Melinda Polidario-Maddock, Karen Frost & Nicky Sawicki, Marketing & Communications; Linda Martin, Procurement; Alyson Bird, Academic Support; Claire BaileyRoss, Digital Humanities Group; Maria Towes, Ceremonies Unit; Laura Haswell, Business School Cover image © Michael Baker CUR/09/16/018

Sept | Oct 2016

4 GET SOCIAL 5 MEET OUR NEW CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER 6 OUR VICE-CHANCELLOR ‘ONE YEAR ON’ 8 UNIVERSITY STRATEGY DEVELOPMENT UPDATE 9

LIBRARY NEWS

10 RESEARCH INSIGHTS – BRINGING RESEARCH TO LIFE 12 NATIONAL STUDENT SURVEY 13 COURSE REPRESENTATION 2016/17

14 EVENT DURHAM, RETAIL AND CATERING 15 HR & OD NEWS 16 CIS NEWS 18 GREENSPACE 19 CREDIT UNION 20 SPOTLIGHT ON… DIGITAL HUMANITIES 21 PROCUREMENT – BUY IN 22 CEREMONIES AND SERVICES 23 AN INSIGHT INTO 24 WHAT’S ON

Durham University and Durham University logo are registered Trade Marks of the University of Durham. Unless otherwise stated, all material in this publication is copyright of the University of Durham. The University makes every effort to ensure that the information contained here is accurate. Please note that the University’s website is the most up to date source of information and we strongly recommend that you always visit the website before making any commitments.

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social

YOUR VIEW

Our favourite posts, tweets and videos over the past 2 months to show you what has been happening around the University!

TOP

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@ArcDurham & @TheDigVenturers announce evidence of possibly the earliest monastery on #Lindisfarne http://bit.ly/29euQgW #archaeology

Which? University Student Survey 2016 names Durham as one of the UKs Top Sport Universities http://bit.ly/29DPDvk

Durham University Psychology department launch TV and advertising viewing PhD with Channel 4 http://bit.ly/2a2gfqg

Congratulations to George Garlick awarded an honorary degree Doctor of Letters @durham_uni today #DUCongregation

Over 4,500 international students from 156 countries choose to make Durham their home. #WeAreInternational

CONGRATULATIONS

VIDEO OF THE MONTH

Our video of the month is the highlights from Summer Congregation 2016. Watch the video here https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=K9QbhPxXGjg and relive the celebrations. Congratulations to all our graduates!

PHOTO OF THE MONTH

SAY HELLO TO: Our favourite image this month is of Rocky, an orangutan who could provide the key to understanding how speech in humans evolved from the time of the ancestral great apes, according to a study led by Dr Adriano Lameira of Department of Anthropology. Image Š Mike Crowther.

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News for Durham University Staff & Students

INTERVIEW

Meet our new Chief Operating Officer Tell us a bit about yourself.

I’ve joined Durham University from Gateshead Council, where I was Chief Executive. Prior to that I worked for the Arts Council and was involved in some big projects including the music venue Sage Gateshead. I have degrees in English Literature from Sheffield and Leeds Universities and an MBA from Durham. I live in Northumberland with my husband and three sons and love getting out into the countryside to run and cycle whenever possible. I recently ran the Durham 10k - a great event!

You’ve joined us from Gateshead Council, what was your role there?

As Chief Executive of Gateshead Council I was responsible for overseeing all council activities from social care to bin collection to large scale regeneration projects. We had 5,000 employees and a turnover of around £500m. I was involved in establishing a number of strategic partnerships, including the development of student accommodation with Northumbria University.

What are your ambitions for the role here?

I think it is a really exciting time to be joining Durham University. There’s so much going on regionally, nationally and globally which will impact on Higher Education, bringing both challenges and opportunities. As a world-class institution, with clear ambitions for significant development, Durham University is in a really strong position and I hope to be able to work with the Vice-Chancellor and the whole team to support the delivery of those ambitions and the wider University Strategy. In my first few weeks, my priority will be to get out and about and to meet as many people as possible to learn more about the University, colleges and wider partnerships and how we can best work together.

Who has influenced and/or inspired you most in your life?

I have been fortunate to meet many truly inspirational people over the years, many of them unsung heroes who I have seen working incredibly hard, often in challenging circumstances, to enable others to fulfil their potential. I think, however, one of my biggest inspirations is not a person as such but, rather, an angel - the Angel of the North. For me, the Angel embodies vision and ambition in a way which recognises and celebrates its setting and heritage - that connection between ambition and local pride and identity is very powerful. Whenever I see it, the Angel lifts my spirits!

What place would you most like to visit?

I am writing this on my family holiday in Thailand. I’ve never been here before and it is a really beautiful country with fantastic food and fascinating culture. We have spent the last few days in Bangkok and we are travelling north to Chiang Mai, before heading south to the islands - I think this is where I’d most like to be ... for the moment at least!

One of my biggest inspirations is not a person as such but, rather, an angel - the Angel of the North.

Sept | Oct 2016

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One year on 6

News for Durham University Staff & Students

INTERVIEW

One year ago Professor Stuart Corbridge joined us as the University's 24th Vice-Chancellor. Here he tells us how his first 12 months in Durham have been.

What have been particular highlights for you in your first year in the role?

Very few universities are outstanding in research and education while also offering a world class wider student experience.

Durham does this.

It has been one long collection of highlights. I love the job and the people I work with. I have enjoyed meeting our students, our alumni and all the people in the region and beyond who have affection for Durham. Most of all, it has been the daily realisation that a University really can be great in three domains. That might sound trite, but very few universities are outstanding in research and education while also offering a world class wider student experience. Durham does this.

What have been the challenges?

The University Executive Committee (UEC), Senate and Council are all stewards of Durham University. Our job is to make sure we safeguard the future of the University and its global reputation for excellence. The particular job of UEC is to propose a strategy for the University that will deliver this goal and which people believe in. I think UEC and the slightly wider leadership team that I have called UEC Plus embraced this challenge last year. The team did its best to build strong evidence sets and to test its proposals in public forums. And it didn’t shy away from difficult issues.

The University is fundamentally in good shape, but we need to do better in several areas. For example, we have a large estate repair backlog.

We can do much better in terms of access, equity and inclusion. We need to operate more efficiently. The job of management is to surface these issues and talk them through with the community. We then need to agree a process of change management to put the University on a firmer footing.

a sustainable business model. We operate in a beautiful part of the UK. And we are a research powerhouse. One of our core goals is for all of our academic units to be recognisably world class in research by 2027.

What do you think we need to build on?

All of the above. A key task for UEC over the next few months is to persuade Senate and Council that we have a coherent new Strategy for the University. We then need to invest sensibly in our future.

What do you hope to achieve in the coming 12 months and what are your priorities?

I hope we can start implementing an agreed University Strategy across the board, with an equal focus on education, research and engagement and the wider student experience.

The number one priority is a smooth ‘Queen’s Campus transition’. Thereafter (and here too), it is mainly about people. We need to make sure that we have the right people in the right posts and that we help them build productive careers. Two Senate Working Groups will report next year on academic recruitment and review.

We will then take forward their proposals.

Jane Robinson, our new Chief Operating Officer, and Tim Clark, will lead a parallel work stream on professional services. We also need to make progress on equality and diversity issues, access and internationalisation.

Finally, depending on how the University Strategy is received by Senate and Council, I hope we might see some early signs of new estate development.

One year on, what do you see as the strengths of the University?

Durham’s strengths are legion. We are distinctive. We are a Collegiate University. We are highly attractive to bright students from across the world. We are equally attractive as a place to build a career, whether in the academy or in professional services. We have

Sept | Oct 2016

Read more about our new Chief Operating Officer on page 5 and the University Strategy on page 8.

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STRATEGY UPDATE

UNIVERSITY S T R AT E G Y

U N I V E R S I T Y S T R AT E G Y D E V E L O P M E N T U P D AT E Academic Strategy Since the last edition of Dialogue, University Council has approvingly reviewed the Academic Strategy section of our overall University Strategy.

The goal of the University Strategy is to produce world-leading and world-changing research across all academic departments and research institutes, education that is challenging, difficult, enabling and transformative and a wider student experience to rival the best in the world.

The Academic Strategy covers our plans for Faculty, Education, Wider Student Experience, Research and Engagement and Internationalisation.

By the end of 2016 we will complete a supporting body of work on our enabling strategies: People, Operations, Finances and the Estate.

Council will consider the overall University Strategy in December, from which point too it will begin to receive the business cases that we hope will lead to some exciting new investments around the University.

School of Medicine, Pharmacy and Health Also in July, Council took the decision to transfer the School of Medicine, Pharmacy and Health (SMPH) to Newcastle University. Newcastle University has made a commitment to long-term investment in medical education and training in Teesside and the transfer will ensure a coherent and sustainable regional medical education provision for the future.

The earliest any changes to programmes will take effect will be for the

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start of the 2017/18 academic year. Full support will be given throughout the transition period to those involved.

Following discussions with the General Pharmaceutical Council, the MPharm programme will transfer to Newcastle University for the 2017/18 academic year. Current students on the MPharm programme and those who join the programme in October 2016 will continue to be eligible for the award of a Durham University degree, but teaching will be delivered at Newcastle University for all year groups from October 2017.

Queen’s Campus Work is progressing well on transition plans for the relocation of activities from Queen’s Campus to Durham.

A tender process is underway for the creation of an International Foundation College at Queen’s. Further updates will be provided in the autumn.

How to get involved A new round of Town Hall meetings for staff will be held at Durham and Queen’s Campus in September and there will be further opportunities for engagement throughout 2016/17; more details on this to follow.

To find out more, or if you have any comments or questions please visit www.durham.ac.uk/about/local/unistrategy

News for Durham University Staff & Students

LIBRARY NEWS

Open Access Week 24 – 30 October 2016

Wednesday 28 September 2016 Two of our Academic Liaison Librarians will be available to answer questions about the Library and its facilities at the next New Staff Induction Fair. Leaflets and freebies will also be available to take home. In the meantime, visit durham.ac.uk/library/services for links to essential and user-specific information; we look forward to seeing you in September!

Are you new to Open Access or want to remind yourself what it is all about? Check out the Research Office information pages at: www.durham.ac.uk/research.office/research-outputs/openaccess Not yet deposited your manuscript in Durham Research Online (DRO) the University’s open access repository? Take five minutes to increase the visibility of your research. dro.dur.ac.uk/depositors/dro_depositguide.pdf Already deposited in DRO? Share the news via Twitter with #oaweek2016 @drodurham

Deposit in DRO and comply with new REF Open Access requirements: www.durham.ac.uk/research.office/research-outputs/ openaccess/oafaq/ref In receipt of research funding? Check your funder’s Open Access requirements: they may pay any Open Access costs: www.sherpa.ac.uk/juliet/index.php Contact the Open Access Team for help and advice: openaccess.publishing@durham.ac.uk

Find out more about the Library’s services and facilities at the New Staff Induction Fair

Sept | Oct 2016

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RESEARCH INSIGHTS

The challenge of crafting a Renaissance stage dragon with pre-modern techniques could fill a research paper!

Bringing research to life Professor Barbara Ravelhofer from the Department of English Studies explains how staging a theatrical festival has benefited the work of the Records of Early English Drama North-East project.

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Tell us about the Records of Early English Drama North-East project and the theatre festival you have hosted.

Records of Early English Drama is an international scholarly initiative which charts the early theatre history of the British Isles. Our own project forms the latest chapter in this epic undertaking. Over five years, we will locate and study all historical documents that contain evidence of drama, secular music, communal entertainment, and ceremony in England’s North-East, from Anglo-Saxon times until the outbreak of the English Civil War in 1642. Our ultimate aim is to publish these records, of which there are an estimated 10,000.

News for Durham University Staff & Students

As part of our project we hosted Theatrum Mundi, a week-long festival of early drama in Durham in July 2016. The festival enabled us to stage some of the records we found in performances which were open to the public.

As researchers, we were keen to learn through practice how performances of earlier periods would have looked and sounded. We also wanted a modern audience to enjoy unusual forms of early drama.

What did the festival involve?

The festival brought 13 productions by groups from Canada, Italy, Germany, and the UK to Durham. My colleague, Professor John McKinnell, directed The Harrowing of Hell, the oldest surviving play in Britain, probably written on the Holy Island of Lindisfarne around the eighth century. He also directed Peregrini, a play about Christ’s disciples at Emmaus, written by a Durham monk around 1150.

I teamed up with a professional choreographer from Ghent for The Sacred and the Profane, a spectacle inspired by North-Eastern as well as wider European festive traditions. It included a singing ‘Boy Bishop’, as customary in medieval Durham, and a ‘Dance of Death’, which was inspired by a medieval danse macabre panel at Hexham Abbey. We specially created a 20-foot stage dragon, which harked back to 1569, when an Italian mountebank showed off a “monstrous serpent from Ethiopia” in Durham. Our dragon is proving very popular, and will next be sighted at a local festival to celebrate the legend of the Lambton Worm.

It took us a year to get the productions ready and rally over 60 committed volunteers. A local school became a partner and we cast some of their children as dancers.

Sept | Oct 2016

How has staging the festival helped to further your research?

The festival was about more than just performance, it was a form of experiential research. We worked with experts such as the London School of Historical Dress. We played on period instruments such as crumhorn, hurdy-gurdy, and crwth (a Welsh string instrument).

The challenge of crafting a Renaissance stage dragon with pre-modern techniques could fill a research paper! For our ‘Dance of Death’ we produced museum-standard replicas of seventeenth-century skeleton suits held at the Historical Museum Bern. The originals don’t look like much, but seeing the replicas in full action proved a real eye-opener, because nobody would have guessed how effective they actually were on stage.

Conducting our research in a practical way allowed us to gain an insight into dimensions of medieval and Renaissance drama that many scholars consider irrevocably lost.

Lastly, our research and festival have enabled us to engage the wider community of the region with their very earliest cultural heritage. We will return in 2018 and hope that many more people will enjoy Theatrum Mundi, or even better, become part of it.

Visit http://community.dur.ac.uk/reed.ne All images © Michael Baker

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STUDENT SURVEY

NSS

National Student Survey Durham students are among the most satisfied in the UK, according to the National Student Survey 2016.

Overall, 89 per cent of students said they were satisfied with the quality of their course; above the national average of 86 per cent. Durham students continue to be satisfied with the teaching they have received, with 90 per cent describing their course as intellectually stimulating. The availability of staff and their ability to explain things well to students also scored highly, both at 91 per cent.

We continue to score highly and meet expectations across all sections of the survey, exceeding the average satisfaction in teaching on programmes (89 per cent), the organisation and management of programmes (86 per cent) and learning resources (90 per cent).

Educational Studies maintained a satisfaction rating of 100 per cent for the fourth year in a row. Other subjects including Archaeology, Chemistry, Earth Sciences and Physical Geography (97 per cent), Classics and Computer Sciences (96 per cent), Sport Science, and Theology & Religion (95 per cent), and History (94 per cent) registered particularly high satisfaction ratings. Significant increases in satisfaction are to be celebrated in Marketing (18 per cent), Computer Sciences (11 per cent) and Accounting (9 per cent).

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A huge thanks to all colleagues for your continued commitment to enhancing the student learning experience here at Durham University.

Over the next few months, the University will be considering the results of the survey and developing action plans to respond to our students’ feedback in the NSS 2016. Preparations for NSS 2017 will start in Michaelmas Term 2016.

If you would like any further information on the National Student Survey, please contact Alyson Bird in the Academic Support Office: alyson.bird@durham.ac.uk

News for Durham University Staff & Students

Course Representation

NEWS

2016/17

Following a detailed consultation process with students, staff and course representatives during 2015/16, the Education Committee has approved a revised method for electing course representatives for undergraduate programmes from 2016/17.

What is a course representative?

How can you get involved?

Course representatives are elected students responsible for gathering student views on the academic experience at Durham University and representing these views to staff within their department or school, by regularly attending meetings known as Student-Staff Consultative Committees (SSCCs). Course representatives act as the first point of contact for any matters, positive or negative, that students wish to raise with their department. Course representatives also play an important role in feeding back to students information from the University and Students’ Union.

Elections for course representatives will be held at the start of the academic year and, from 2016/17, the nomination and election processes for undergraduate course representatives will take place online via departmental DUO pages. There will be a minimum of two course representatives for each department, each year. The exact number of positions available within each department will be published at the start of the academic year.

Each position will be held from November until the following October so that new course representatives will have the opportunity to shadow existing representatives in their department for the first SSCCs of the year.

Training will be provided by the Students’ Union, which all course representatives are expected to attend. The dates, times and locations of these training events are available on the Students’ Union website.

Being a course representative is a hugely rewarding experience.

Education involves every Durham University student and together the Students’ Union and the University want to ensure that we can make the academic experience at Durham the best that it can possibly be. Course representatives are vital to this and play a major role in driving educational change and ensuring that students are represented in the decisions that impact their education.

Key dates:

For more information, please visit the Students’ Union website, or the Learning and Teaching Handbook on the University website.

10 – 14 October Students will be able to self-nominate to stand in a course representative election via their departmental DUO page. Candidates are encouraged to include a short paragraph about why they would like to represent their fellow students, but this is not compulsory.

18 October Elections will open. Students are expected to engage with the election process and vote for their course representatives via their departmental DUO pages.

21 October Elections will close. The elected course representatives for 2016/17 will be announced on 24 October.

Sept | Oct 2016

Postgraduate representation will continue to be organised and managed by departments for 2016/17. There will be a review of postgraduate course representation undertaken in partnership with the Students’ Union and University during 2016/17. If you would like to provide your feedback, please contact Alyson Bird: alyson.bird@durham.ac.uk

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Retail

With the upcoming start of the new academic year the Retail team has been very busy preparing for the re-opening of the shop at Queen’s Campus on 3 October 2016.

The shop will be fully stocked with crisps, confectionery, drinks and stationery; as well as our usual selection of official Durham University merchandise.

We also have some new products for the 2016/17 academic year on our website including stationery and clothing. Keep an eye out for our new True Indigo hoodies and t-shirts and our new soft touch notebooks and multi-coloured exercise books, available both at the shop at Queen’s Campus and on our website www. durham.ac.uk/shop

Follow us on social media for news and offers.

Durham University Retail Office @DurhamUniRetail durham_uni_merchandise

Event Durham, Retail & Catering Catering

Durham World Heritage Site Anniversary The winners of a photographic competition to celebrate the 30th Anniversary of Durham’s inscription onto the UNESCO World Heritage Site (WHS) list were announced in July.

People were invited to submit photographs of what makes the Durham World Heritage Site so great.

The entries were judged by local TV celebrity John Grundy and two local professional photographers, Jonathan Bradley and Sarah Loveland. The quality of entries was exceptionally high and the winning entries will form the heart of our Anniversary exhibition at the Visitor Centre on Owengate, in November this year. www.durhamworldheritagesite.com @DurhamWHS Durham World Heritage Site

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Pumpkin Spiced Latte We are introducing a seasonal drink to our menus at the start of term - Pumpkin Spiced Latte. Our triple certified coffee (Organic, Fairtrade & Rainforest Alliance) is expertly blended with locally sourced steamed milk and a

sweet spice blend of pumpkin, cinnamon, nutmeg and clove – a drink that will carry you into the autumn!

Give it a try and let us know what you think via info@yumfood.org.uk or look us up on Durham University Catering

News for Durham University Staff & Students

Research staff training programme Working with the Research Staff Association, the Centre for Academic, Researcher and Organisation Development (CAROD) has developed an innovative training programme for Durham’s approximately 500 contracted research staff. This programme recognises the diverse training needs of the research staff community and provides a regular phased programme of workshops and training opportunities appreciating the different stages in the career of research staff allowing them to flourish in the supportive collegiate environment offered at Durham. Details of the 2016/17 courses provided are shown below: Month

Topic

Workshop

October

Induction

Departmental and University Induction

November

Research Integrity

Workshops/Online Training

Conferences

Organizing a Conference

December

Fellowship

Generic Fellowship Writing

January

Teaching

Durham University Learning and Teaching Award

February

Outreach

Communicating Your Research

Leading Research

Optional Courses

Career Planning

Developing a Career Plan

March

Leading Research

Optional Courses

April

Impact

Faculty Impact Workshops

May

Careers

Alumni Lunches

June

Careers

Focused Events

July

Grant/Paper Writing

Short Writing Retreats

August

Leadership

Introduction to Research Leaders Program

September

Grant Writing

Faculty Grant Writing Workshops

This programme will be advertised by monthly training emails received by all research staff. Courses may be booked via the training booking system www.durham.ac.uk/training.course

Nursery Graduation

In July, school leavers at our Nursery celebrated the end of their time at Nursery with a graduation ceremony in Hild & Bede Chapel.

Sept | Oct 2016

HR & OD NEWS

Staff Credit Union Scheme The University has entered into an agreement with NEFirst Credit Union, so that staff can benefit from flexible savings and loans, direct from their salary.

The scheme launched on Wednesday 20 July 2016. More information can be found on our website: www.durham.ac.uk/hr/ benefitsplus/creditunionforstaff This extends the University’s current collaboration with NEFirst, through which UK; self-financing students are able to apply for PostGraduate Tuition Fee Loans.

More information on this is available through the funding webpages: www.durham.ac.uk/postgraduate/finance/ funding/loans/creditunion Who are NEFirst?

• NEFirst offer straightforward and secure financial services. They are independent, not for profit and FSCS regulated.

• NEFirst Credit Union was formed by the merger of a number of smaller North East based Credit Unions who have been providing savings and loan accounts for their members for more than twenty years.

What do NEFirst offer?

• Easy ways to save • Competitive loan interest rates based on personal circumstances • No hidden charges or fees • Annual dividend paid on savings • Life Savings Protection included with all savings products.

Home Use Microsoft Software The Home Use Software Scheme, in partnership with CIS, launched on 23 December 2015.

The offer predominantly features Microsoft software, including Office (PC & Mac) and Windows products and is available to eligible staff for a download fee in the region of £11. The RRP for products included are in the region of £100 - £370.

To date over 250 members of staff have made significant savings by taking advantage of the offer. Find out more at: www.durham.ac.uk/hr/benefitsplus/ microsofthomeuse

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CIS NEWS

Definition: Business Continuity (BC) is defined as the capability of the organisation to continue delivery of products or services at acceptable predefined levels following a disruptive incident.

(Source: ISO 22301:2012)

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News for Durham University Staff & Students

CIS NEWS

Business continuity plans: keeping us going when things go wrong Business continuity plans ensure that an organisation’s key operational activities can be maintained ‘following a disruptive incident’, which could be building damage, power loss or IT disruption.

They identify critical activities, detail processes to maintain them and signpost alternative options if appropriate. Once in place, they are living documents that are reviewed and updated regularly as processes evolve to maintain their effectiveness. For the University, our plans would include maintaining teaching and research, keeping residential catering services (e.g. colleges) functioning, ensuring payments (e.g. bills, fees and salaries) are made and fulfilling any legal obligations.

Sept | Oct 2016

Why now?

The New World Programme’s (NWP) Core project will be moving University IT services into new, modern, resilient, purpose built locations. To move a service, it needs to be ‘turned off’ for a period of time to enable the physical relocation and, despite careful planning to minimise disruption, this will temporarily increase the risk of loss of IT availability. To support colleagues and mitigate the impacts of any potential disruption, NWP’s Business Readiness project team has been working closely with the University’s Head of Business Resilience, Adam Grant, to enhance existing business continuity plans to include IT elements to enable a more comprehensive response. We have also been working with colleagues in departments to help develop and document plans specific to them, to ensure they can maintain business critical activities.

Departments recognise the value of having these plans in place and responses have been

overwhelmingly positive as they have worked with us to develop and document their own.

Completed plans are passed to Business Resilience colleagues who will curate and maintain them in the future.

At the end of this activity, the University will be in a better position to respond quickly to maintain critical activities in the face of disruptive events and potentially reduce negative impacts on student experience, University income and reputation.

Delivering benefits already!

Colleagues in Event Durham have already implemented their business continuity plan during a city wide power outage in July, promptly deploying it and transferring calls to an alternative location. As a result, they were still able to respond to their users and ensure that important calls were handled in the necessary timeframe despite the disruption to their working environment.

If your team has successfully implemented your business continuity plan, tell us how it helped keep your department functioning at nwp@durham.ac.uk

Find out about the University’s New World Programme at www.durham.ac.uk/nwp and for more about the University’s Business Resilience team, take a look at www.durham.ac.uk/resilience or contact Neil Spurgeon neil.spurgeon@durham.ac.uk for specific advice.

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GREENSPACE

10k Step Challenge Environment Schedule The Environment Schedule for the academic year 2016/17 is now live on the Greenspace website.

This schedule is designed to address a wide range of environmental issues in order to support environmental sustainability at Durham University. These include annual awareness weeks for waste, water and energy as well as a promotion for National Walking month and Earth Hour.

Greenspace Fortnight runs from the 27 February to 12 March and will be a fortnight of activities to raise awareness of how and why to live, work and travel in a more environmentally sustainable way.

This incorporates our annual Environment Week, a celebration of the fantastic local produce available to us in the North East and the national Fairtrade Fortnight.

I n partnership with HR, a 10k step challenge is being run for staff and will begin at the end of September. The aim of the challenge is for teams of five to walk the amount of steps from Buckingham Palace to Durham Cathedral, taking a scenic route, over a four week period.

The challenge supports our wider University sustainability strategy and provides staff with the opportunity to see if they can record more steps than our Dean of Environmental Sustainability (Professor Tim Burt). There will be an opening walk, led by Experience Durham, a closing ceremony, and various prizes on offer throughout the challenge.

You can find out more information, and register, on the HR Internet pages www.durham.ac.uk/hr

Look out for further details of events and activities as part of these campaigns, as well as additional activities occurring throughout the year.

Personalised Travel Plans for Journeys to Work National Green Gown Awards - Finalist The University has been shortlisted as a finalist for two prizes in the National Green Gown Awards.

Professor Tim Burt, the Dean for Environmental Sustainability (or Green Dean), has been shortlisted in the Leadership category and the Green Move Out scheme has been shortlisted in the Continuous Improvement category. Established in 2004, the National Green Gown Awards recognise the exceptional sustainability initiatives being undertaken by universities, colleges and the learning and skills sectors across the UK and Ireland.

Go Smarter is working with Durham University to help staff save time and money on their journeys to work.

To receive a personalised travel plan and be entered into the quarterly Go Smarter to Work Prize Draw with the chance to win ÂŁ100 of shopping vouchers, staff are invited to complete a simple survey about how they travel to and from work.

Please note the survey will ask for name and address which will only be used to identify the activities for which staff are eligible and will not be used for any other purpose.

The survey will open on Monday 12 September 2016 for six weeks and can be found at www.gosmarter.co.uk/staffsurvey

The judging panel consists of over 80 representatives from the diversity of the education sector and experts in the various fields, including Universities UK, Department of Energy and Climate Change, PwC, WWF and the United Nations Environment Programme. Winners will be announced in November.

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News for Durham University Staff & Students

A benefit you can count on NEFirst Credit Union offer straightforward and secure financial services. They are independent, FSCS regulated and not for profit.

Durham University staff can benefit from flexible savings and loans, direct from salary: •

Easy ways to save

•

Competitive loan interest rates, based on personal circumstances

•

No hidden charges or fees

•

Annual dividend paid on savings

•

Life Savings Protection included with all savings products

To find out more, go to durham.ac.uk/hr/benefitsplus

Mar | Apr 2016

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SPOTLIGHT ON

Digital Humanities Durham

(DH2)

Describe your research group in one sentence.

What would you say is your main challenge?

Digital Humanities Durham (DH2) is a new interdisciplinary research group, bringing together a vibrant network of people who research the impact and application of technology in the Arts, Humanities and Cultural Heritage.

Keeping up with the continuously evolving pace of social, political, economic and cultural changes caused by the spread of networked, digital information and communications technologies. This digital transformation spans both methods of enquiry and dissemination of Arts and Humanities research, as the evolution of digital technologies opens up new fields of study and generates new research questions which cross traditional disciplinary boundaries. It is the place of Digital Humanities to critically reflect on these changes and to be able to understand what that means for wider society but also what that means for humanistic study.

What are the three main things people should know about DH2: Digital Humanities Durham?

Digital Humanities is an interdisciplinary field where research takes place at the intersection of digital technologies and the arts and humanities.

The work of Digital Humanities Durham involves the study of digital phenomena using humanities methods, and the application of digital, and computational methods to Humanities research areas.

We support researchers and students in exploring and exploiting the opportunities offered by the innovative use of technology in the Arts, Humanities and Cultural Heritage, and aim to critically engage with the use of digital technology to develop new research methods that will advance Humanities research into the future.

We are dedicated to furthering the possibilities of digital technologies for Arts and Humanities scholarship and, in collaboration with local, national and international research partners across the disciplines; we develop collaborative projects which explore these possibilities.

What three words do you most associate with Digital Humanities Durham?

Innovative, Interdisciplinary, Collaborative.

How can staff and/or students engage with you and your work?

They can actively participate in our growing programmes of events.

Starting in the Michaelmas Term 2016 we will be running a series of DH2 lunchtime seminars. A series of brief seminars designed to discuss current projects and future opportunities for collaboration with Digital Humanities research at Durham.

What does the future look like for Digital Humanities?

Our ambition for the future is to grow and develop our research agenda to be at the forefront of Digital Humanities research and to fully blur the boundaries between subjects and faculties. Due to our distinctive mixture of subjects and interdisciplinary work, not only internally but also working with strong regional partnerships our interdisciplinary research ethos makes the future of Digital Humanities at Durham a compelling and vibrant research environment.

“Did you know…?”

Creative Fuse North East is a major new research project to explore how the Creative, Digital and IT (CDIT) sector in the North East can be developed in order to play a leading role in the region’s economy. Funded by the AHRC, and delivered by the five North East universities, the project will bring businesses, artists and academics together to create new ways to unleash hidden economic and cultural value, both regionally and nationally. Durham University researchers will be part of the next evolution of digital creativity and technology, involving SMEs, think-tanks and Start-Ups spanning everything from interactive installations and design, to visual effects and gamification.

What is your main objective as a research group? What do you want to achieve?

Do you use social media? If so, how?

To act as a centre for excellence in using and understanding digital technologies and methods to formulate and answer new research questions and to be a catalyst for innovative collaborative Digital Humanities scholarship and research at Durham and beyond.

As we are a new research group we have just started developing our social platform and digital identity; our goal is to use social media to build an actively engaged community of colleagues, students, alumni to stimulate debate around the future of Digital Humanities research.

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News for Durham University Staff & Students

PROCUREMENT SERVICE

Buy in Charity

£315 Dress Down Fridays are a great fundraising opportunity.

Between August 2015 and June 2016 the Procurement Service team raised

Supplier Recognition Event The University’s annual Supplier Recognition Awards took place on 16 September and we would like to thank you for all your nominations. Keep an eye on Dialogue Signposts and the Procurement Service intranet pages in the coming days to see how your nominated suppliers have done www.durham.ac.uk/procurement/local/staff

Staff Changes Recently we said a sad goodbye to two of our Purchasing Officers – Amy Reece and Samantha Browne. Amy has only moved a short distance to the Department of Geography but Samantha has left the University to work within local government. Announcements on their replacements will be made in due course.

We are also pleased to announce the appointment of a new fixedterm Category Manager – Sarah Clark. Sarah will be working across all categories to free-up existing staff time for work on specific projects.

Dawson and Sanderson Drop In Clinics Our travel supplier recently conducted a series of drop-in clinics across the University sites. We hope you found it useful to meet your contacts and that you got answers to any queries you had.

Please let us know if you found this beneficial – procurement.office@durham.ac.uk

Did you know?

In the last financial year the Procurement Service assisted in the approval of 25,920 Purchase Orders with a combined value of

£67,183,141.67 excluding VAT

There are now 861 active acquire users working across 96 Departments.

Sept | Oct 2016

for a variety of charities nominated by members of our team – all just by paying £1 for the privilege of wearing jeans on a Friday once a month. In fact it has been so successful we now do it every week but are nominating a charity for six months so that each receives a bigger contribution.

acquire Punchout catalogues Sigma-Aldrich Company Ltd and VWR International Ltd join the ever increasing list of Punchouts available for ordering in acquire.

Both of these suppliers provide fully integrated Punchout catalogues.

The supplier’s website is accessed via acquire to build your shopping basket. Approved Purchase Orders are then sent electronically directly into the supplier’s ordering system without the need for any manual intervention, reducing the risk of errors or omissions and will speed up ordering and delivery of your goods.

The Category Teams are in talks with our other Punchout suppliers to promote the benefits of fully integrated Punchouts.

The full list of available Punchouts is: • Arco Ltd • Arden Winch and Co Ltd • Bunzl Cleaning & Hygiene Supplies • Fisher Scientific UK Ltd • Office Depot Limited • Onecall • RS Components Limited • Sigma-Aldrich Co Ltd • VWR International Ltd

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CEREMONIES AND SERVICES AT DURHAM CATHEDRAL

University Honorary Awards Staff are encouraged to submit nominations for candidates they would like to receive honorary awards from the University.

Nominations for Chancellor’s Medal should be submitted by 23 October 2016.

All staff are invited to attend the following Ceremonies and Services to be held in Durham Cathedral over the next few months:

Nominations for Honorary Degrees should be submitted by 6 February 2017.

Further information is available at: www.dur.ac.uk/ceremonies/honorary

• Remembrance Service Sunday 13 November 2016 • Founders and Benefactors Service Sunday 20 November 2016 • Winter Congregation Thursday 12 and Friday 13 January 2017 Staff are welcome to attend as a University guest at these events or if eligible can join the Staff Procession and can also get involved at Congregation by volunteering to marshal, an essential role in producing professional and celebratory occasions for our students and their guests, with lunch and cakes provided too!

See the comments from marshals at the recent Summer Congregation:

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Being a Marshal was a thoroughly enjoyable experience. Seeing all of the graduands and the proud guests who come to watch them graduate really does remind me why we all work at the University.

I’d recommend being a Marshal for anyone who hasn’t done it before as you meet staff from other parts of the University, it is a happy occasion for the guests and coffee and cake in the Cathedral café makes up for the early start.

Look out for notices on Dialogue Signposts to register for these ceremonies and services.

News for Durham University Staff & Students

Where will you be going for your next holiday?

New York, New York!

What skill or talent would you most like to acquire?

I would love to be able to ice-skate, but my balance is shocking.

Have you got any pets?

Yes, I have fish.

What are you reading at the moment?

Be Careful What You Wish For, by Alexandra Potter

NAME: Laura Haswell JOB TITLE: Postgraduate Admissions Co-ordinator DEPARTMENT: Durham University Business School

What would you like you epitaph to be?

She was a good’un.

Which historical figure would you most like to be?

I’d quite like to be Marilyn Monroe; she was smart and beautiful, and she had all the inside gossip. Oh, and she had great clothes.

What was the first record you bought?

‘All I wanna do is have some fun’ by Cheryl Crow.

On a scale of 1-10, how much do you care what other people think of you?

7.

What’s your greatest vice?

CHOCOLATE. What’s your favourite film?

The Wedding Singer.

Any nicknames?

Loz, Lozza, Lozzles.

What’s the worst job you’ve ever done?

Cleaning up mess after a poorly child…

What achievement are you most proud of?

Becoming the mother of an amazing child.

What’s your favourite place in the world?

Carvoeiro, Portugal.

What was your best subject?

Well the one I liked the best was Music, but not sure if I was best at it.

What luxury item would you take to a desert island?

My Younique products case.

When was the last time you laughed and why?

That’s hard to say, I laugh quite a lot.

Probably at myself, tripping over or saying something silly.

What’s your greatest indulgence?

Melt-in-the-middle chocolate pudding with clotted cream.

What did you want to be when you were a child?

A few things – an administrator (seriously), a hairdresser and a make-up artist.

/durhamuniversity

Give me a picture of your ideal day.

A little lie in with a cup of tea and a bacon sandwich, time spent with my family at the park, bowling and cinema, then a nice tea somewhere followed by drinks and dancing with friends.

@Durham_Uni

DurhamUniversity

Pass the buck: Finally, who would you like to see in the hot-seat?

Tim Broadwell, Immigration Advisor / Immigration Compliance Implementation Officer.

DurhamUniversity

Contribute to your magazine. Tell your story.

Please continue to send your contributions and feedback to dialogue@durham.ac.uk Sept | Oct 2016

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what’s on at the University

september

/durhamuniversity

@Durham_Uni

DurhamUniversity

DurhamUniversity

october

LITTLE BOOKWORMS DATE: Monday’s from 19 September TIME: 10.30am - 11.30am VENUE: Palace Green Library Our Monday morning group for under 5’s and their parents and carers returns with fun crafts, messy play, storytelling and singing.

SOMME 1916: TALKS PROGRAMME DATE: Wednesday 28 September TIME: 1pm VENUE: Palace Green Library John Sheen, Independent Military Historian will talk about the service battalions of the Durham Light Infantry, from formation in 1914 to the battle of the Somme in 1916

OPENING THE DOOR: ART TOURS OF THE PALATINE CENTRE DATE: Wednesday 5 & 12 October TIME: 2pm VENUE: Palatine Centre, Stockton Road, Durham Guided tours of some of the highlights of Durham University’s modern art collection and a chance to get behind the scenes at the University’s architecturally designed Palatine building.

OPENING THE DOOR: DISCOVERING DURHAM UNIVERSITY’S WESTERN ART COLLECTION DATE: 30 September - 6 November

ADVANCING SOCIAL MOBILITY THROUGH EDUCATION: A GUEST LECTURE BY DR LEE ELLIOT-MAJOR

TIME: 9am - 5pm,

DATE: Thursday 20 October

VENUE: Oriental Museum

TIME: 6pm

An exhibition of Durham University’s significant collection of 20th century and 21st century prints featuring works

by Andy Warhol, Eric Gill, Sandra Blow, Peter Blake and Barbara Hepworth.

VENUE: Collingwood College Eric Gill, Calvary, Five Stalks of Leaves, and Ship 1915, Wood engraving The Western art collection at Durham University

Dr Lee Elliot-Major, Chief Executive of the Sutton Trust, will deliver a guest lecture on the subject of improving social mobility through education. His expertise and experience in this field will no doubt be of interest to a wide audience.

For more information on University events go to www.durham.ac.uk/whatson