Issue No.1 ~ January 2019

For EDI news, Feedback or Suggestions please contact: kelechi.dibie@ncl.ac.uk Page 4 of 4

Learning & Personal Development Opportunities

Do you look after a relative or friend with Dementia?

A number of staff who engaged with ‘Carer Awareness Day’ organised by NU Women on 12th June 2018 admitted to having a caring role involving a family member diagnosed with dementia. One of these colleagues has expressed a need to gain more knowledge about the disease and coping strategies for what sounded like a very challenging caring role. Lack of free or targeted support for unpaid carers makes it very difficult for individuals caring for a relative or friend with dementia to gain timely knowledge in order to develop coping strategies required for each unique stage of the degenerative disease.

Juggling the care of somebody with dementia with paid employment requires better understanding of the stages of the illness if carers are to cope with the crucial adjustments associated with these. Without such knowledge, new challenges and stress from caring will likely impact on carers’ overall health, wellbeing and potentially work-life. Understanding what free support is available out there and planning for the future when caring at home becomes very difficult, challenging or unmanageable, is crucial to a carer’s peace of mind and general wellbeing. If you look after a relative/friend with dementia and think you could benefit from workshops to help you cope better with your caring role, please get in touch by completing this form so that we can, together, explore the possibility of pilot workshops to address initially, training needs within HaSS.

Only 20 places are available on a first-come-first-served basis. A waiting list will be held in anticipation of any potential last minute cancellations by delegates.

NU’s Carer Survey In February 2019 the University plans

to launch its first ever survey of unpaid

carers aimed at staff and students. It’s

an opportunity to have your say and

help build a carer-friendly institu-

tion. A carer is anyone who provides,

unpaid care, for a friend or family

member who, due to chronic illness,

disability, frailty from being older,

mental illness, or an addiction, cannot

cope without their support. All staff

are encouraged to complete the sur-

vey, as not everyone recognises that

they’re in a caring role. Research

shows that 6,000 people become car-

ers every day in the UK (Carers UK) and

numbers are predicted to rise from the

current 6.5 million (2011 Census) to 9

million by 2037 (Carers UK). It’s pot-

luck and could be any of us at anytime!

Parents and Carers A new HR intranet page dedicated to

parents, carers and unpaid carers has

been launched to direct employees to

information, resources and support

that can help them for various situa-

tions and needs. Please endeavour to

visit these pages which contain very

useful information and support! If you

have any query or require additional

information, please contact Renita Bar-

bour who looks after the project.

More Spirit to ‘The Spirit Level’

HaSS EDI Team would like to give everyone an opportunity to contribute to this

newsletter. For every issue (as space permits); we would like to encourage all

staff to come up with suggestions of EDI topics, commonly confused terminolo-

gy or phrases they would value some understanding on. This could be about

seeking clarification to meaning/usage; demystifying conceptions; or simply

exploring their correct application to different contexts. EDI is not scary in it-

self, it just requires the following if we are all to develop our individual

knowledge-base on the subject as well as become more confident in the way

they are applied or used in our day-to-day work roles and activities:

Being proactive about continuous learning

Willingness to engage and making it your business

Not being worried about getting it wrong

Openness to constructive feedback and a positive attitude to change.

We look forward to receiving your topic ideas!

SPIRIT LEVEL: A good place to share Faculty-level EDI news & achievements!

PARENTS & CARERS

INTRANET SITE

Issue No.1 ~ January 2019

For HaSS EDI news, feedback, comments or suggestions please contact: kelechi.dibie@ncl.ac.uk

An Equality, Diversity & Inclusion newsletter for HaSS Faculty

Introducing the first issue of ‘The Spirit Level’

EDI Funding Awards 2017 Successful funding applications to the EDI Funds for the 2017/18 academic year resulted in awards to the follow-ing HaSS colleagues:

Prof. Helen Berry: To map, report in order to develop NU-wide PGR Diversi-ty Data, which is currently sparse and not currently held in a coherent way.

Dr. Audrey Verma et al: To establish Black & Ethnic Minority Staff Network for all grades of staff. Resulted in a good number of staff signing up; and two scoping events in December 2018 and February 2019. The network was formally launched on 10 October 2018.

Prof. Peter Hopkins: To develop a 3-minute audio-visual aid which creates awareness on ‘Intersectionality.’

Kelechi Dibie: Received latter funds to deliver ‘Power-Up NU’ ~ A workshop that will provide all staff (both aca-demic & professional) whose roles in-volve organising events, conferences, meetings, field trips, lessons, public lectures, academic congregations or workshops, training etc. with practical knowledge on how to apply the uni-versal design of accessibility to pro-mote wider participation. The session, planned for Spring Semester will ena-ble event organisers to think about University-wide events and activities in a more inclusive way by addressing potential barriers to access and partici-pation when planning or designing them.

For more information on the awards

contact individual colleagues listed

above.

A Message from the HaSS Director of Diversity We are pleased to present you with the first issue of our HaSS Equality, Diversity & Inclusion (EDI) quarterly News-letter ~ The Spirit Level. Our aim is to update you through this newsletter on the progress, as well the increasing rel-evance, of EDI within HaSS. It will also be a regular chan-nel for sharing information on the following:

What EDI means for HaSS and its day-to-day ac-

tivities, operations and events

Various projects related to EDI & what the EDI team gets up to

EDI news, announcements, events, tips and legislation changes

How our Schools, Institutes and Units can engage with the EDI agenda

How EDI impacts on our day-to-day jobs, activities & events

News and ongoing developments on the EDI agenda

Promoting better understanding and demystifying EDI issues and topics

Subsequent issues of the Spirit Level will be published quarterly with the first arriving in September and the last in June. On behalf of HaSS EDI team, I wish you a happy reading and would like to request your regular feedback on this newsletter; as we would like to ensure a continuous content im-provement that adds value to HaSS and University-wide EDI work.

Prof. Kate Chedgzoy

Inside this issue...

What’s In a Name? .........................................................................................Page 2

EDI in HaSS .....................................................................................................Page 2

EDI Versus Health & Safety ............................................................................Page 2

In the Offing ...................................................................................................Page 3

Learning & Personal Development Opportunities .........................................Page 4

More Spirit to the Spirit Level / Did you know? .............................................Page 4

Issue No.1 ~ January 2019

For EDI news, Feedback or Suggestions please contact: kelechi.dibie@ncl.ac.uk Page 2 of 4

Sit-Stand Desk

Going forward, requesting one of these desks should not be a case of “fancying one of them”. They are now, only available based on an assessment by the Occupational Health Unit (OHU) only on health grounds or because of a disability that requires reasonable ad-justment to use one. Whilst NU’s Chair Policy states that you can now take your chair with you to a new location e.g. for a new post, this does not yet apply to sit-stand desks.

Evacu-Chair Training

The University now has five qualified ‘Evacu-Chair Trainers’ to provide Evacu-Chair Training at short notice to new users if needed. This is especially use-ful where you do not have an evacu-chair trained colleague in your team but plan to host an event at a venue that is above ground level; which will be attended by wheelchair users or individuals who cannot manage stairs. Consequently, if you’re a newly-trained staff in HaSS, you are advised to support and refresh your learning through proactive regular practice with other evacu-chair-trained colleagues. Training information and ‘Training Re-quest Form’ can be accessed on NU’s staff intranet.

Sit-stand desk in use

What’s In a Name?

If you are wondering why ‘The Spirit Level’ has been chosen as a name for our HaSS EDI Newsletter, the answer is not a mystery. As a construction device, it is a great essential for any tradesman’s toolkit! When putting up a shelf, installing joist hangers; putting up kitchen cupboards or simply laying bricks; this unique device helps to reveal better than the human eyes can perceive, whether or not a surface is perfectly level. Robust EDI policies and practice are expected to serve a similar purpose by emphasising the extra effort we must all make in our job roles and responsibilities to ensure that we promote fairness towards equi-table outcomes for all employees, students, external visitors and customers re-gardless of their race, marriage/civil partnership, disability, religion/belief, sexu-al orientation gender reassignment, sex, age, maternity, and pregnancy status. Like the Spirit Level, EDI should be at the forefront of all decision-making.

EDI in HaSS: What’s the story? Clean-SWAN Sweep: Following the recent Athena-SWAN bronze submissions by three HaSS Schools in May 2018; we are delighted to announce successful bronze awards to NUB, SACS and SML! Congratulations to everyone who contrib-uted to these successes especially the academic PSS leads who ensured the sub-missions were on track to reach ‘Advance-HE’ by the expected deadline. By the end of November 2018 we’ll see the Law School submit their Bronze Application followed by ECLS (April 2019); then HCA and APL in November 2019.

Conference Success: The recent EDI Conference hosted by Newcastle Univer-sity on 19 June, which showcased EDI-related academic research from all facul-ties featured 12 out of 17 presentations by academics and PGRs whose 250-word abstract submissions made it through the final selection process. Five of the successful abstracts selected from HaSS were submitted by: Sean Peacock (APL), Dr. Sue Abbott (NUBS), Dr. Nils Braakmann (NUBS), Dr. Tina Gharavi (SELLL) and Prof. Karen Ross (SACS).

Diversification in Curriculum Engagement (DiCE): Further to the May Facul-ty Fika event; three PGR/T interns Bethany Suggett, Jasmine Tendaupenyu (UG) & Jaya Urvi Bhoowabul were recruited and selected to work on the DiCE project. It’s a pilot project aimed at exploring how inclusivity could be enhanced in HaSS curricula to ensure that a wide range of voices are represented in the design of courses & programmes, whilst investigating the scope for increased diversifica-tion. Monthly blogs will be used to report the progress of the project.

NU’s Diversity Calendar: An NU Calendar funded from the first lot of EDI Funds was launched in September 2018. It has been synchronised with employ-ees’ MS-Outlook accounts. To view EDI events across the University via Outlook; you must subscribe through this link. You team or School’s diversity events open to the rest of HaSS or University can be included on the Diversity Calendar by contacting the HaSS EDI Officer, who has editing right to book or delete events on behalf of HaSS colleagues. Sharing EDI events helps us to connect dots with regards to EDI work and activities as well promote joint working where possible.

EDI vs Health & Safety

Issue No.1 ~ January 2019

For HaSS EDI news, feedback, comments or suggestions please contact: kelechi.dibie@ncl.ac.uk

Carers’ Packed Lunch

A formal employee network for unpaid carers is yet to be established. Howev-er, employees with unpaid caring roles for disabled/chronically ill individuals, who attended the ‘Carer Awareness Day’ organised by NU Women in June 2018 requested to have a temporary peer support platform to enable them to meet over lunch for peer support and information sharing. To be added to the virtual and private group: Email: karen.hendrix@ncl.ac.uk

Phone: Kelechi Dibie on Ext 84490

NOTE: Lunch is not provided, so bring your own lunch along.

Emerging NU Staff Networks

Alongside existing NU Women, three other staff networks have been launched recently. These include the Black, Asian & Minority Staff Network (BAME); Rainbow@Newcastle — a net-work representing and supporting the needs of LGBT+ Staff; and finally the ‘Disability Interest Group’ (DIS). The DIS membership is open to staff who are either affected by a chronic illness, physical /sensory impairment or men-tal illness, which has a substantial and long-term adverse effect on their abil-ity to carry out normal day-to-day ac-tivities. An impairment in this case, could be physical, sensory, or a combi-nation of both . To join, it is not neces-sary to establish the cause of your im-pairment and it does not have to be result of an illness. For example, alt-hough obesity is not a disability, it may cause an impairment such as mobility problems, depression or diabetes. awarded to two HaSS colleagues. To join any of the Staff Networks click on above hyperlinks or contact HaSS EDI Team on Ext. 84490

In the Offing…

Equality Analysis: Starting from June 2018 all functions, strategies, policies, decisions, and plans requiring approval from UEB would need to have under-gone Equality Analysis (EA); also known as ‘Equality Impact Assessment’. This should be duly carried out by their owner(s) using a university-approved tem-plate and guidance notes. EAs are designed to consider the effect of current and existing policy or decisions on different groups protected from discrimination by the Equality Act 2010. Simply put, it’s a bit like an Equality & Diversity risk-assessment that involves using our own diversity data; the knowledge we al-ready have; as well as results of consultation between protected groups and stakeholders. Utilising such information enables us to establish actual or poten-tial effects of functions, policies, procedures, plans, strategies or decisions on everyone who is involved or engages with HaSS for various activities. EAs will help us to identify practical steps to mitigate identified or potential adverse im-pact. An adverse impact could be direct/indirect discrimination; lost opportuni-ties to advance equality or foster good relations across HaSS; unforeseen barri-ers; underrepresentation etc. Training will be provided for individuals who will be leading on this. There will be more information about these arrangements in due course. In the meantime, if you wish to find out more about EAs, contact Kelechi Dibie for an informal discussion and you will find that the process isn’t really as scary as it sounds!

Parenting & Childcare Implementation Group: This was set up to progress key actions from NU’s Athena-SWAN Institutional Silver Award action plan and to look at how NU can begin to address the lack of childcare facilities for staff and students. After several months of hard work, a final report went to UEB in Autumn 2017. An implementation group set up to progress the recommenda-tions to UEB has since been split into two streams. One work stream to look at childcare provision for both employees and students; the other to explore cur-rent support and provisions for employees and students with unpaid caring re-sponsibilities at our University. HaSS EDI Officer (Kelechi Dibie) is providing ex-pertise on unpaid carers to assist Dr. Laura Delgaty (FMS) who leads the ‘Unpaid carers’ work stream.

PGR Mental Health Project: #Wellbeing4All is a Catalyst-funded project led by Kate Chedgzoy, Sally Ingram (Student Wellbeing), and a steering group with staff and student members from all Faculties. Drawing on early findings of Contested Spaces of Diversity (https://contestedspacesofdiversity.com/), led by Peter Hop-kins (GPS), and the PGR EDI data project, led by Kelechi Dibie, it addresses the intersection of mental health/wellbeing and EDI issues as they affect PGRs. #Wellbeing4All recognizes that challenges to psychological health and wellbeing common to research students may be exacerbated for PGRs who have caring responsibilities, or whose lived experience is shaped by factors including race, sexuality, everyday sexism, or disability. Its objectives are to gain a better under-standing of how those experiences may have a negative impact on postgraduate student mental health, and to identify and implement actions which will simulta-neously improve wellbeing, equality, and inclusion for all PGRs. With the Project Manager, Paul Britton, taking up his post in January, look out for more news about Wellbeing4all in the new year. Watch this space!