Submitted by Carmyn de Jonge on Mon, 28/06/2021 - 12:14
Even when Covid first hit, it was clear that its impact would be long lasting, and that the University needed to adopt a strategic, long-term response. The University’s Covid Recovery Programme, which consists of 13 projects, developed so far with input from the Council, the General Board, Heads of Schools and Heads of Departments, responds to that challenge.
Many of the programme’s initial areas of focus relate to staff and how we can make the experience of working at Cambridge better – from exploring new ways of working, to exploiting new technological opportunities, and creating a more positive culture for researchers. Other projects include transformation programmes to improve organisational efficiency (in financial transparency and procurement, for example) as well as outward-facing projects focusing on international student recruitment and online education for professional audiences.
You might wonder how the Recovery Programme will affect you. What does wellbeing mean after a year of lockdowns, school closures and – for some – remote working? How has our year of using Zoom and Teams altered the way we work? Will the way we work in the future look different to how it did before the pandemic?
Open meeting
We are planning to hold an open meeting next month for all staff where you will be able to hear more about the Recovery Programme projects, and particularly those relating to staff. The programme is being led by the academic University and for its directly employed staff. However, college employees may find many of the themes of interest and they are welcome to join the event.
Before the meeting, we want to hear your questions about how the University will adapt to the next phase of living with – and recovering from – the effects of the pandemic. We are also asking that questions are submitted in the form of a short video message. You can use your smartphone to do this and it is surprisingly easy. Click here for instructions on how to film and send in videos, and please do not worry about sending in something really polished. Any other queries can be submitted to internalcomms@admin.cam.ac.uk.
The deadline for video submissions is Monday, 28 June. We intend to select submissions to feature in a short internal film about the Recovery Programme and at the open meeting. We will let you know the date of the meeting shortly.
