Bursar’s Report

Richard Scanlon

I wrote in last year’s Bursar’s Report that I hoped by the time of this year’s report we would be able to view Coronavirus as a historical footnote. Unfortunately, it won’t come as any surprise that the College continued to feel the impact of the pandemic throughout the academic year, and as we have been unable to welcome our international conference guests during the summer vacation it is still affecting us at the time of writing.

College life has necessarily been rather restricted for most of the year. We welcomed students back at the start of Michaelmas with many Covid precautions in place. Catering arrangements for academics, students and staff had to be amended and unfortunately most student extracurricular activities had to be suspended.

We initially thought we could relax some restrictions as term progressed, but our hopes were dashed when the Government announced the second national lockdown in November. Most UK-based students managed to get home at the end of term, and we were looking forward to welcoming them back at the start of Hilary when, with only minimal notice, the Government abruptly announced changes to the rules for students returning to universities. Most Mansfield students were not allowed to return until at least late January and this date was subsequently extended well into February. The University understandably waived the usual residency requirements for students, a waiver that remained for the rest of the academic year.

The disruption caused and the impact on normal College life has been particularly hard on our students, especially if they had to self-isolate in their College accommodation at any time. I would like to thank them for their forbearance in living under the stringent restrictions, and for their understanding that the measures had to be implemented to keep them and other members of the College community safe.

It has also been a difficult time for my team, who have stood up wonderfully well to the additional challenges. Our Covid response team met at least weekly throughout the year to agree, communicate and implement suitable operational arrangements and contingency plans, often at very short notice. Accommodation issues, catering arrangements and use of College facilities, such as the Library, were frequent topics. Lynne Quiggin, Mansfield’s Domestic Bursar, chaired this weekly meeting throughout the pandemic and deserves special mention. Lynne and I reflected at the end of the academic year that most of her time over the past 18 months had been spent working on topics that didn’t even exist before the pandemic: preparing and reviewing Covid risk assessments, liaising with colleagues in other colleges on appropriate and consistent responses to Covid issues, and ensuring quarantining and self-isolating students were adequately provided for, to name a few.

Unsurprisingly, the pandemic has had a significant financial effect on Mansfield, particularly on income from accommodation and conferences. In total, the impact has been more than £1.5 million during 2020/21 alone. This loss is a real problem for a College with an annual income of around £7 million, limited reserves and a relatively small endowment. I’m pleased to report we have successfully navigated our way through these choppy waters, for example by minimising administrative costs, changing staff rotas, utilising the Government’s furlough scheme, and successfully applying for grants from the Colleges Contributions Scheme. Additional funds made available by the University to support our students’ own finances, to supplement the College’s hardship funds, were also much appreciated. These initiatives were interspersed with selective investment programmes, for example improving the College’s Wi-Fi network, which was urgently needed to support the massive increase in demand brought about by online learning. The donations we have received this year, both unrestricted and in support of our students through Covid, and for other priorities that are helping improve Mansfield’s future position, have been particularly important and are deeply appreciated.

As we move into the next academic year, the teamwork and resilience shown by everyone at Mansfield over 2020/21 gives me confidence the College is in good shape and will continue to flourish in the coming years. I just hope that the challenge of Covid-19 really can be viewed as a historical footnote by this time next year.

‘I’m pleased to report we have successfully navigated our way through these choppy waters’