Strategic review incorporating the operational review

Business excellence and growth – COVID-19 preparedness

Since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, Winchester has been undertaking a cross-institutional project to prepare for the 2020/2021 academic year. Overseen by the Senior Management Team (SMT), its aim was to provide a safe, friendly and positive experience for students and staff as Winchester opened for its first semester of the 2020/2021 academic year. This project was designed to ensure Winchester could rapidly respond to the changing circumstances of a pandemic, even after implementation.

The outbreak of COVID-19 in the UK led to extraordinary challenges for Winchester, as it has done for society as a whole. We responded rapidly to the lockdown in March, moving our teaching online and supporting staff and students to work and study remotely with a new IT infrastructure in place. In a very short amount of time, students and staff had to learn how to work in a completely new way. The months that followed were dedicated to a cross-institutional project to prepare for the 2020/21 Academic Year.

This wide-ranging project sought to identify what adaptations would be needed to enable Winchester to continue to attract students and deliver high-quality higher education. The project’s scope included adapting, altering and augmenting:

• Pedagogical practice • Programme curricula • Student assessment • IT infrastructure • Estates infrastructure • Enrolment • Campus life (accommodation and catering) • Student welfare • Learning support • Library service • Graduation procedures

PROJECT METHOD

We broadly based the project’s structure on HM Government’s Functional Standard for Project Delivery, produced by the Infrastructure and Projects Authority as best practice for UK Government projects. The project structure was founded upon a process of linear stages, with each stage subject to a gateway sign-off process, adapted to suit the type and scope of the project. The five stages are: 1. Business justification 2. Appraise and select teams 3. Define 4. Deliver 5. Operate, review and adjust The gateway includes a review against project objectives at the end of each stage, as well as a review of project risks. The project board then decides whether to approve its move into the next stage. Workstreams made up the second major element of the project. In this project, there were 20 workstreams, including Accommodation and Learning Experience. Workstream leads were identified and all workstreams reported weekly into the project. A traffic light red, amber and green (RAG) rating system was implemented so that each workstream could report on key issues and RAG ratings. RAG ratings and required decisions were tabled to the project board’s weekly meetings to ensure timely decision making and continued momentum to meet programme scheduling objectives.

The project has been a success and highlights the collaborative and integrated approach now embedded at Winchester. It has overseen a considerable amount of preparatory work across the institution, has run on time and within budget.

Our strategic vision

In November 2019, Winchester launched Strategic Vision 2030, setting out how we plan to continue to grow and flourish as an institution and make a difference.

Strategic Vision 2030 – aligned with the United Nations’ Agenda 2030 and Sustainable Development Goals – was the culmination of 18-months of work with staff, students, Governors and other stakeholders. At its core sits a bold vision and clear mission, from which flows our strategic goals and framework. All of it is shaped, informed and inspired by our values and commitment to educational excellence, sustainability and social justice. Strategic Vision 2030 sets out how we will deliver transformative education, research and innovation; support people to flourish; and champion organisational excellence. It is our roadmap outlining how we will strive to have an impact, be the difference and make the world better. The following diagram outlines our strategic vision framework, linking our mission with our values of compassion, individuals matter and spirituality.

OUR MISSION

STRATEGIC VISION FRAMEWORK

OUR VALUES BEACON OF EXCELLENCE IN EDUCATION, SUSTAINABILITY AND SOCIAL JUSTICE

Flourishing people and communities Transformative education, research and innovation Organisational Excellence

COMPASSION INDIVIDUALS MATTER SPIRITUALITY

In delivering our strategic vision we have identified the following four strategic goals:

1. GROWTH

Controlled, sustainable growth in undergraduate student numbers and quality

2. FINANCIAL

Strong financial management

3. STUDENT AND GRADUATE SUCCESS

Major improvements to student satisfaction and attainment, graduate employability and graduate salaries

4. REPUTATION

A stronger national and international reputation

To achieve this, the University will deliver a programme of work outlined in our five-year rolling Business Plan, to improve performance across areas of particular importance to the delivery of our strategic goals, including: • Improving teaching and learning outcomes, to retain TEF Silver and aim for TEF Gold, in particular focusing on student satisfaction and graduate employability measures • Develop and strengthen our course portfolio, brand and national and global reach to support growth in student numbers • Deliver a step change in support for student wellbeing and graduate success • Build greater links with employers and the wider community • Diversify income streams • Deliver ongoing improvements to the estate and IT infrastructure to deliver an exceptional experience for students and staff

The actions Winchester is taking to address these strategic goals is evidenced throughout this integrated report, and specifically included within Faculties and Research (pages 18 and 19), Developments in graduate employability and higher study (page 22), Thriving individuals (page 30), Student engagement and quality of learning and teaching (page 33), Faculty highlights (page 37) and within our Financial review (page 50). Further details of our Strategic Vision 2030 can be found on our website at:

www.winchester.ac.uk/about-us/ our-future/our-strategy/

Faculties

We have a wide range of undergraduate and postgraduate courses delivered currently across five faculties, each led by a separate Dean and faculty admin support.

FACULTY OF ARTS

The Faculty of Arts comprises three academic departments: English, Creative Writing and American Studies, Performing Arts, and the School of Media and Film. Rigorous, creative programmes provide handson, fulfilling student experiences and an outstanding foundation for professional life after graduation.

FACULTY OF BUSINESS, LAW AND DIGITAL TECHNOLOGIES

The faculty spans a wide range of disciplines including Accounting, Business Management, Digital Media, Enterprise, Event Management, Fashion, Law, Logistics, Global Issues, Marketing, Politics, Retail, and Supply Chain Management. A number of courses can be combined into coherent study programmes. Our faculty are proud to support and share extensive links with the professional community, ensuring that what we teach is relevant and that graduates possess essential employability skills.

FACULTY OF EDUCATION

The faculty is home to two departments – Education Studies and Liberal Arts and the Institute of Education (formerly the Department of Teacher Development). Our faculty offers a wide range of dynamic courses specifically tailored to meet the needs of professions. These programmes are consistently rated highly in internal and national student satisfaction surveys. Teaching staff have both practical know-how and academic expertise, with many years of subject-area experience, with the faculty consistently receiving high ratings from students. We are driven by, and dedicated to, inspirational learning, combining teaching with work placements and impactful research.

FACULTY OF HUMANITIES AND SOCIAL SCIENCES

The faculty offers research-led teaching and outstanding support across numerous disciplines: Anthropology, Archaeology, Criminology, Forensic Studies, Geography, History, Politics, Psychology, Sociology, Theology and Religion, and Philosophy. The faculty is driven by passionate inquiry into what makes us human, and members are actively engaged in impactful research through our research centres, consultancies and public engagement.

FACULTY OF HEALTH AND WELLBEING

The Faculty of Health and Wellbeing was launched on 1 August 2019. It is home to students studying courses including BSc (Hons) Physiotherapy, BN (Hons) Nursing (Adult), BA (Hons) Animal Welfare and Society, BSc (Hons) Social Work and BSc (Hons) Sport and Exercise Science. This follows a pledge between the University and Hampshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust to work together to help address the growing demand for healthcare professionals in the region.

Flowing from this partnership, students will gain access to cuttingedge medical equipment, on-thejob training and teaching spaces within the Royal Hampshire County Hospital in Winchester, Andover and Basingstoke.

Research

Throughout the year, the Research and Knowledge Exchange Centre (RKE) led on developing a new RKE Strategy 2020-2030, in alignment with Winchester’s Strategic Vision 2030.

Preparations for entry into the Research Excellence Framework (REF) continued to progress. We confirmed entry of 13 Units of Assessment into REF 2021: an increase of five on entries into REF 2014. By 2021, we are planning to double 2014’s 72.6 FTE submissions, reflecting the successful recruitment, selection, development and retention of high-quality researchers. The internal funding policy was revised to ensure greater longer-term strategic outcomes. For example, priority was given to applications which benefitted impact, the research environment and the development of external grants, rather than those focussing on the production of outputs.

For a third consecutive year, we were awarded Higher Education Innovation Funding (HEIF). The award was used to develop high-quality, valuable knowledge exchange activities that benefit our communities and stakeholders. These far-ranging activities included support for student entrepreneurship, the health agenda, digital focused projects and SME partnerships. Funds were also strategically invested in our Knowledge Exchange (KE) infrastructure, the upskilling of staff and raising awareness, to strengthen our chances of retaining this vital HEIF, which in turn will impact our placing in the upcoming national Knowledge Exchange Framework (KEF).

Stakeholders

As a university, we work constantly and closely with a wide range of stakeholders and partners. Our primary stakeholders are the students, both undergraduate and postgraduate, whom we help to progress onto future thriving lives and careers. They are diverse in their backgrounds, interests, programmes of study and future aspirations. Our student stakeholders also include future students and potential higher education (HE) students in general. A key plank of our work is widening participation in HE among under-represented groups.

Our students and staff are integral to ensuring we continue to be a successful institution. We have various ways of engaging our internal stakeholders with our work and helping them shape what we do as an institution and how. An example of this is the Student Academic Council. It meets several times a year and is made up of student representatives who advices SMT on matters relating to the student experience.

Our External Board plays an important non-executive role in Winchester’s success. Our Governors, who reflect our core values, are dedicated to the development of staff, student learning experience, Winchesters growth and institutional value for money.

We have an extensive range of partners, which include the Diocese of Winchester, Winchester Cathedral, Winchester Action on Climate Change, Compassion in World Farming, ‘feeder’ schools and colleges in the UK and abroad. We also work in partnership with the City of Winchester, Hampshire County Council and local businesses, charities, other educational establishments and community organisations. We consider our suppliers and external customers as important stakeholders for our value for money and income generation respectively. We seek suppliers that align with our values and work with them to embed our environmental sustainability initiatives.

As with our partners, we have a broad and diverse range of community relationships with neighbours, including Hampshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (HHFT), the Police Force, Councillors and many others, both in the UK and further afield. We contribute over £266m a year to the regional business community, according to an external commissioned report in 2018. An externally commissioned Economic Value report of the University shows that more than £203m a year added income is created by its alumni – the impact of the skills acquired by students remaining in the region - £20m a year by student expenditure and £42m a year by university expenditure. We also contribute to nearly 10,000 jobs a year into the regional economy.

STUDENTS

SU P P L I ERS

PARTNERS

Our Community Impact Strategy aligns with ‘serving the common good’, as stated in our mission. As well as the local communities covered above, we stand by our responsibility to the wider UK economy and society in widening participation of students from backgrounds who would not normally enter Higher Education. Research is important to Winchester, particularly its dissemination to local community groups. We view research as being for the common good, not purely for academia, although topics and audiences vary. For example, our Arts faculty are now hosting weekly classes at the youth theatre group at the Theatre Royal in Winchester.

We also promote research and dissemination on specific topics, for example the Centre for Climate Change Education and Communication (CCEC) and the Centre for Responsible Management. This sound approach to research dissemination with the local community helps us to expand our connections, develop research partnerships and promote our impact agenda. The diagram below identifies our key partners.

FUNDING BODIES AND REGULATORS

P E O P L E

SOCIETY, COMMUNITY AND ENVIRONMENT

Developments in graduate employability and higher study

Winchester recently saw positive headlines in The Times highlighting their position as one of the

Top 10 universities in the UK for overall graduate outcomes.*

*Source: HESA Graduate Outcome Survey In January 2020, we launched a new department entitled Student Engagement and Employability, which unified four staffing subunits dedicated to employability and student enrichment (Careers, Winchester Scholars, Winchester Hub and Student Enterprise). A new Head was appointed to coordinate activities and structure the department to ensure their processes and practice are contributing to Winchester’s strategic goals. One of these goals was to establish specific work placement modules within different degree programmes. Work Placement Coordinators were appointed to encourage and assist students to take at least one taught employability module during their degree (either a Work Placement, Volunteering Placement or Get into Teaching module). The team are developing data resources to inform their decision making and working to proactively minimise local and national skills gaps. For example, Winchester is now employing data to highlight the value of new graduate employment courses, assess which areas of employability and student engagement require further development, and as a tool to compare employability and student engagement across the sector to enhance our graduate employability.

This department will continue to prioritise student outcomes and develop students to be partners in their future success.

Value creation model

We are committed to integrated thinking as part of our strategic plan and our drive for organisational excellence. We continue our journey to adopt the principles of integrated reporting in this year’s annual report.

Our value creation model (VCM) is a at the heart of our integrated thinking and reporting. Our model continuously evolves and our vignettes highlight our commitment to ensure we are sustaining and adding value for all our stakeholders. FINANCIAL Our VCM is at the centre of our strategic objectives, with sustainability, student and staff satisfaction and research and learning running through all the outputs. Over the last year, we have further embedded the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals within our strategic objectives and aligned them to our key outputs of our model.

HOW DO WE CREATE VALUE?

We deliver impact for society, and have a strategic target to foster stronger recruitment from groups currently under-represented in higher education, by working to raise aspirations and break down barriers to participate, such as those created by culture, geography, social and

economic factors. INTELLECTUAL

HUMAN

INPUTS

SOCIAL AND RELATIONSHIPS

NATURAL AND MANUFACTURED

VALUE C R E AT I ON

VALUES IN ACTION STUDENT-LED APPROACH OUTSTANDING CAMPUS

WE ARE A COMMUNITY COMMITTED TO MAKING A DIFFERENCE TO ALL LIFE AND THE PLANET.

BUSINESS EXCELLENCE

TEACHING AND RESEARCH EXCELLENCE

ETHICAL RESOURCE MANAGEMENT VALU E C R E AT I ON

BUSINESS EXCELLENCE AND GROWTH

4 8 9 12 15 17 13

OUTPUTS

GRADUATE SUCCESS AND RESEARCH IMPACT

4 5 13 17 15 16

FLOURISHING INDIVIDUALS

1 3 13 5 16 9 17 10

SOCIAL JUSTICE

1 3 11 4 13 9 16 10

ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINIBILITY

2 6 7 9 11 12 13 14 15

United Nations Sustainable Development Goals

The Sustainable Development Goals are the blueprint for achieving a better and more sustainable future for all life and the planet. They address the global challenges we face, including those related to poverty, inequality, climate change, environmental degradation, peace, and justice. The 17 Goals are all interconnected and have been defined by the United Nations as follows:

No Poverty: 55 percent of the world’s population have no access to social protection

Zero Hunger: A profound change of the global food and agriculture system is needed to nourish today’s 800 million hungry and the additional 2 billion increase in global population expected by 2050

Winchester became a founding member of the Winchester Food Partnership, whose vision is to create a healthy and sustainable food culture for people living and working in the Winchester district regardless of income (as part of the Sustainable Food Cities Network).

Good Health and Wellbeing: Spending $1 billion in immunization coverage can save the lives of one million children per year

Winchester’s West Downs development is one of the first university projects in the UK to be registered to receive WELL Certification. A new study led by Winchester academics investigates the impact of the UK lockdown strategy. This research is concentrating on physical activity levels and wellbeing during the pandemic.

Quality Education: 262 million children and adolescents remain out of school. 617 million lack minimum proficiency in reading and mathematics

Winchester joined other UK universities in pledging to increase access to HE for refugees & asylum seekers on World Access to Higher Education Day.

UNICEF Rights Respecting Education underpins all teacher education at Winchester and we offer a wide range of modules focusing on social mobility, including one on forced migration.

Gender Equality: In 2018, women only held 27 percent of managerial positions worldwide

Winchester has a Department for Equality and Diversity and Staff Development. We are in the progress of developing a new Gender Pay Gap Strategy.

Clean Water and Sanitation: Half of the world’s population is already experiencing severe water scarcity at least one month a year

Winchester has reduced water consumption by 41% per m2 of estate since 2006/07, with water saving initiatives including leak detection, automated meter reading and monitoring, waterless urinals, dual flush toilets, low volume cisterns and automatic taps.

Affordable and Clean Energy: Three billion people lack access to clean cooking fuels, resulting in nearly four million premature deaths each year

Students and staff take part in campus-wide energy saving initiatives throughout the year through the our JUMP staff engagement programme, the NUS Student Switch Off programme, and the Campus Blackout.

100% of the electricity we buy is sourced from renewables and we currently generate over 50,000 kWh from solar panels installed on four roof spaces across campus.

Winchester has also invested over £1.5m in carbon emissions reduction projects since 2010. These include Building Management Systems installation, automated metering reading equipment, LED lighting and controls, boiler replacements, motors replacements and upgrades, and insulation of buildings and pipework. Winchester is committed to building all new buildings to the BREEAM (Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method) Excellent standard. Past BREEAM buildings built on campus feature a number of sustainable design innovations such as natural ventilation, energy-efficient lighting and controls, air source heat pumps, solar photovoltaic panels, sub-metering and wildflower roofs.

Decent Work and Economic Growth: In 2018, 20 percent of the world’s youth were not engaged in either education, employment or training

Winchester’s Estates and Facilities department were awarded the Cabinet Office Customer Service Excellence accreditation for the high quality of its customer services.

Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure: 3.8 billion people do not have access to the internet representing 80 percent of the population in the least developed countries

Winchester’s Business School is one of the first in the UK to sign up to the UN Global Compact ‘PRME’ initiative, which aims to develop a new generation of business leaders capable of managing the complex economic, environmental and social challenges faced by business in the 21st century.

Reduced Inequalities: 16,000 children die each day from preventable diseases such as measles and tuberculosis

Winchester stands in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement. We are designing a new curriculum approval process centred on the principles of Universal Design for Learning, which is about ensuring inclusive learning for all. These principles argue that if we don’t cater for the culture, history and presence of under-represented groups, then we are denying people an education, increasing the corresponding social and economic disadvantages.

Sustainable Cities and Communities: 60 percent of the world’s population will live in cities by 2030

Winchester received a Silver Award from Green Tourism for its commitment to sustainability throughout its business operations.

ARCA Geoarchaeology (specialist Winchester team of archaeologists) are set to undertake borehole investigations across the Central Winchester Regeneration site, to inform future development proposals for the city centre project.

Winchester was awarded the NUS Responsible Futures accreditation in 2019 for its commitment to embedding sustainability and social responsibility in its teaching and other activities.

Responsible Consumption and Production: If the global population reaches 9.6 billion by 2050, the equivalent of almost three planets will be required to sustain current lifestyles

Winchester joins forces with Winchester Churches Nightshelter to ensure first year students’ unwanted household items, clothes and canned food are given a second life.

We tackled the use of single-use disposable cups on campus by introducing a bold new pricing structure (25p surcharge on all hot and cold drinks) on takeaway drinks, combined with a giveaway of reusable Gum-tec mugs to students and staff. This reduced the number of disposable cups by 60,000 while sales of drinks in reusable cups leapt to an average of 30%. It was so successful that it attracted global media attention, including being featured in the prestigious BBC World Service programme World Hacks.

Climate Action: To limit global warming to 1.5°C global carbon emissions will need to fall by a staggering 45 percent by 2030 from 2010 levels

Winchester teacher training students are set to be among the world’s first UN accredited Climate Change teachers, with the opportunity to undertake the Climate Change Teacher course as part of their Education degree. Winchester declares a climate emergency as 100 staff and students join the Global Climate strike in the city centre.

Our Vice-Chancellor was appointed as the Winchester representative for GuildHE & Climate Commission for UK HE & Further Education Leaders.

We have one of the lowest carbon campuses in the country, with a recycling rate of 64% in 2016/17. We plan to eliminate all unnecessary single-use plastics by December 2020, and become carbon neutral by 2025.

Life Below Water: Over three billion people depend on marine and coastal biodiversity for their livelihood

Life on Land: One million plant and animal species are at risk of extinction

Winchester plants trees in honour of graduating students as part of our pledge for a sustainable future, and joined the Hedgehog Friendly Campus campaign.

Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions: Today, 20 million people are considered refugees, over 41 million people have been internally displaced, and at least four million people are stateless

Winchester launched an Institute of Contemplative Education and Practice.

Partnerships: Strong international cooperation is needed now more than ever to ensure that countries have the means to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals

Winchester became a member of the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network, underlining its commitment to tackling the significant global challenges the world now faces, including climate change.

Winchester partners in an international research study called GreenCOVID initiative, which aims to assess the impact on people who are unable to enjoy being outdoors or have access to green spaces and countryside because of lockdown restrictions during the current pandemic.

Key performance indicators

Over the next 10 years, our Strategic Plan will drive our journey towards becoming a university that is internationally recognised for the way in which we, and our students and graduates, engage with and respond to the biggest and most urgent problems facing the planet and all life. We measure our progress on this journey through our key performance indicators (KPIs), which are linked to our capital inputs and outputs, with the following outcomes for 2019/20:

NSS OVERALL SATISFACTION % ALL IN EMPLOYMENT OR FURTHER STUDY, OF LEAVERS OBTAINING FULLTIME UG QUALIFICATIONS (TEF BENCHMARK) FULL-TIME UNDERGRADS (UG) AT CENSUS (MARKET SHARE)

81% 92% 0.53%

We continue to strive to improve Winchester’s NSS scores, and have implemented a new NSS Strategy, with accompanying actions. Within our overall NSS satisfaction score, over 84% of students are satisfied with their teaching, and 74% are satisfied with their assessment and feedback. The number of students finding graduate employment has increased to 66%, from 63.6% the previous year. We have introduced a new Graduate Employability and Higher Study Strategy, which sets out a step-change in Winchester’s approach to graduate employability through seven key areas to be addressed to improve these metrics. Graduate Employability is a key metric used in most national League Tables. The anticipated improvements in these results for Winchester are therefore likely to have a positive impact on future League Table rankings. Our full-time market share of UG students has remained consistent, and our market share of UG applications has increased to 0.37%

If you can’t measure it, you can’t improve it.” Peter Drucker (management consultant, educator, and author)

INCREASE IN PERCENTAGE OF ACADEMIC STAFF PRODUCING INTERNATIONALLY EXCELLENT AND WORLDLEADING RESEARCH CONTINUATION OF FULL-TIME UG ENTRANTS % SCOPE 1, 2 AND 3 CO2 EMISSIONS PER M2 (REDUCTION ON 2006/07)

17% 94.3%

The number of Winchester academics producing internationally excellent and world leading research continues to grow, and forms an integral part of our new Research and Knowledge Exchange Strategy. We continue to exceed the sector benchmark for continuation of full-time UG students. The percentage of UG students from low-participation neighbourhoods continues to grow, from 13.7% to 14.4%, which also exceeds the sector benchmark.

57.1%

We have shown a significant reduction last year, with emissions dropping by 12%, putting us on target of achieving a reduction target of 65% by 2025.

Thriving individuals

INDIVIDUALS MATTER

Building on the value ‘individuals matter’, Winchester has sought to create a working culture which enables us to deal successfully with the many challenges presented by a fast changing and evolving HE sector. Our culture encourages the open sharing of ideas, leading to change that ultimately enhances staff experience. The Coronavirus epidemic had a considerable impact on our staff from March 2020. We took all practicable steps to protect the health and safety of staff, including making a wealth of resources and materials accessible online to help mitigate against potential detrimental mental health consequences.

HIRING AND RETAINING THE BEST PEOPLE

In 2019 there were 13,332 applicants for 178 published adverts. Of those applicants, 54% were female and 19% were BAME. We remain focused on building a highly-inclusive workforce across the full demographic spectrum.

EQUALITY AND DIVERSITY

As proud Disability Confident employers, we have an action plan to join the Mindful Employer initiative by 2022. In the last 12 months, we have reduced the gap (between Winchester and the sector average) of the percentage of staff who are British, at 87.9%, compared to 79.5% for the sector (source: UCEA Higher Education Workforce Report 2019). Whilst we are pleased we had an increase in BAME applications, more work is needed to encourage a higher rate of BAME candidates. Currently, only 4.6% of staff are BAME, and the Director of Equalities and Staff Development has enacted an action plan to achieve a target of 6%.

The historical breakdown of gender statistics (see figure 1) shows that the proportion of male to female staff has continued at around 60% female over the last six years and remains largely static compared to last year (58.7% and stress/anxiety related made up

compared to 59.6%). This remains higher than the HE sector average of 54% female staff.

RETENTION

Overall turnover has increased to 13.1% from 10.6% in 2018-19. This year there has also been an increase in has the highest membership with

the number, but a reduction in the proportion, of leavers with less than one year's service, from eight staff (8.5% of all leavers) 2018 to ten staff (7.8% of all leavers).

WELLBEING AND PROGRESSION

2019 saw a total of 17 re-grading applications, a large decrease of 59.5% on the 42 from the previous year. Of those 17 applications this year, 88.2% (15) were successful. Staff sickness absence per employee slightly decreased – from 5.1 days to 4.9 days – in the last year, a number average of 6.2 days (UCEA Sickness Absence Report 2018). However, of those absence days, mental health 26.1% of total sickness absence days lost, an increase of four percentage points.

PENSIONS

The proportion of staff who enrolled in a pension scheme increased from 86.6% in 2018 to 89.9% this year. The TPS (Teachers' Pension Scheme) significantly lower than the HE sector

39%, closely followed by the LGPS (Local Government Superannuation Scheme) at 38.9%.

HISTORICAL BREAKDOWN OF STAFF BY GENDER AT THE UNIVERSITY

Female

Male

Non-binary

“Our people are key to ensuring staff satisfaction. For this reason, we strive to understand staff needs; we are aware we must evolve to keep attracting, retaining and growing talent.”.

Identifying capital inputs and outputs

We have used the International Integrated Reporting Council's (IIRC) generic ‘capitals’ (the inputs to our value creation model on page 23) to identify the resources and inputs we have with which to create value and ultimately make a difference. We are committed to using integrated thinking in all decision making.

FINANCIAL

FINANCIAL – BUSINESS EXCELLENCE AND GROWTH

We are acutely aware of the responsibility we have to those who choose to invest in us, in particular students. We are committed to demonstrating to students how tuition fees contribute to the delivery of an excellent student experience. How we use money also matters, for example ethical investment forms an integral part of our values. We are mindful of the need to avoid undermining our beliefs and ethos, by not providing capital to activities that are materially inconsistent with our values. Further analysis of how we strategically invest our financial capital is outlined within our Ethical Investment policy.

INTELLECTUAL

INTELLECTUAL – GRADUATE SUCCESS AND RESEARCH IMPACT

Everything we do is about building, sharing and creating knowledge through excellent teaching and research. Students are taught by staff active in research and the professions, who work with them to create a personal and transformative learning experience. Throughout this report, intellectual capital will include Winchester’s academic portfolio, academic quality awards, innovative learning and teaching opportunities, research and knowledge exchange.

SOCIAL AND RELATIONSHIPS

SOCIAL AND RELATIONSHIP – SOCIAL JUSTICE

We aim to achieve the highest levels of student satisfaction across all courses. We are proud of the positive impact Winchester students have in the community through the thousands of volunteering hours they put in and the businesses they support as consumers and employees. Ultimately, we aim to nurture students to thrive in their careers and further study, to become the conscience of their communities and places of work. This capital can be shown across Winchester in many ways, including student satisfaction, community engagement strategies, staff and students volunteering data, continuing alumni engagement and Research Excellence Framework (REF) impact statements.

HUMAN – THRIVING INDIVIDUALS

HUMAN

The dignity and wellbeing of individuals are important as are their opinions and views. We encourage a positive working environment in which both students and staff can reach their full potential.

NATURAL AND MANUFACTURED

NATURAL AND MANUFACTURED – ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY

We are widely recognised as one of the leading universities in the UK for environmental sustainability and carbon management. We aim to become the lowest-carbon UK university campus by 2030. This commitment extends into the curriculum, with climate change education being rolled out across all courses. Aligned to this capital are measures covering carbon emissions, water usage, and amount of waste produced by the institution.

Student engagement and quality of learning and teaching

We encourage innovation in learning and teaching through our Learning and Teaching Innovation Fund, which provides funding for a number of projects to develop and share innovative practice. Examples of projects completed in 2019-20 are the Gamification of Statistics and Virtual Reality Teaching Workshops.

In addition, innovation and excellence are recognised in diverse ways. Each year the Student Union hosts the Student & Staff Recognition Awards, and students can nominate lecturers in a range of categories including Lecturer of the Year, Student Life Champion and Student Experience Champion.

We have extensive experience and expertise in student engagement. Students can contribute formally to the academic life and operations at Winchester, as a Student Academic Representative or member of the Student Academic Council. Students can also contribute to the digital provision of teaching through the Technology Enhanced Learning (TEL) Champion scheme. In addition, students write for, and co-edit, the student journal Alfred, and have helped enhance the life of Winchester’s community through leading on projects funded by the Student Fellows scheme (a jointly run venture with the Student Union), or by assisting an academic with an aspect of their own research through Winchester Research Apprenticeship Programme (WRAP) partnerships. In 2019/20, we developed a postgraduate diploma module for staff to explore student-led/student opportunities as collaborators for teaching models and practices.

A Postgraduate Certificate is usually mandatory for new academic staff and can lead to Fellowship of the Higher Education Academy (HEA), However, staff can also continue onto a Postgraduate Diploma and MA in Learning and Teaching in Higher Education at Winchester, and we also run a highly successful masters course in Student Engagement in Higher Education.

We provide staff with experiential routes into obtaining Associate, Fellow or Senior Fellows of the HEA, which is mandatory for all fulltime teaching staff, as it promotes and ensures a shared, reflective understanding and language about teaching and learning within the institution. 66 staff obtained an HEA fellowship during 2019/20. We also support staff who wish to apply for a Principal Fellowship. In addition, we have recently redeveloped our Peer Observation of Teaching (POT) Policy, which ensures that we continually strive to improve teaching practice and the student experience.

In response to moving some teaching provision online in March 2020 due to COVID-19, we provided guidance for staff and have since developed a comprehensive course in online pedagogy to ensure staff are well trained to deliver teaching in either fully online or blended.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we transformed our traditional, one day face-to-face learning and teaching conference into a week-long celebration of learning and teaching at Winchester. We employed a series of lunchtime webinars on the topic of embedding employability in the curriculum. This new bite sized approach was well received by participants and will be adopted for future learning and teaching events.

WEST DOWNS

• Delivered on budget • Environmentally sustainable construction and operation • Ethically financed • Significant additional specialist and general teaching space and a wide range of other important extra facilities.

June 2020 witnessed the formal hand over of the West Downs Quarter building from construction partners, Osborne, and award-winning Winchester-based architects, Design Engine. The building, delivered on budget, showcases state-of-the-art facilities and an outstanding learning

environment for the next generation of students. It provides specialist teaching space for growing subjects in digital and computer related programmes as well as generalist teaching space and other facilities for all students to enjoy. Other highlights include:

• art gallery • 250-seat auditorium • café and food hall • serene contemplation space • beautiful courtyard garden • additional general teaching spaces • modern library with copious social learning space and wonderful light.

The building increases Winchester’s available teaching space by 20%. This has been significant in enabling the correct implementation of appropriate social distancing measures as part of Winchester’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The building is one of the first university projects in the UK to be registered for WELL Certification, an accreditation scheme recognising buildings that support and advance human health and wellbeing. Winchester is also the first UK university to secure Green finance for campus development, with a £30m loan from Triodos Bank, Europe's leading sustainable bank. With numerous sustainable features including rainwater recycling, solar photo voltaic panels, a combined heat and power system and smart building management, the West Downs Centre is also well placed to achieve the Excellent rating of the Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method (BREEAM).

Energy and environment

We see sustainability as fundamental to our culture and practice.

We are progressive and pioneering, ahead of our time. Our staff and students are engaged in the importance of sustainability and feel confident to engage with finding solutions to our world’s most significant challenges. Our strategic target is to be carbon neutral by 2025. The data below is two years comparable datasets and forms part of our annual Carbon Management Plan reporting.

METHODOLOGY

Our Environmental Performance data has a baseline year of 2006/7 academic year, the year of the start of our Carbon Management Journey. Energy and fuel data are collected from our billing information and reported for the relevant periods and verified using metering data from our Energy Management System (EMS). The University reports both marketbased and location-based emission factors in line with greenhouse gas reporting requirements. All carbon calculations have been made using the government carbon conversion data sets for the relevant year. We use both location-based carbon factors (grid factors) and market-based factors (to recognise the purchasing of renewable energy) in our carbon management programmes

2019-20 REVIEW

We have been purchasing 100% renewable electricity since 2008/9. In 2019/20 we also started to procure renewable gas; 47% of our gas consumption for 2019/20 was purchased from renewable sources (generated from biomethane). We have four renewable energy installations across our campuses, with our total energy generation increased by 149% compared to 2011/12, which was the first year the University generated electricity. On site generation accounted for 1.35% of electricity consumed in 2019/20 compared to 1.22% in 2018/19. Several building management system optimisations have occurred this year, which has resulted in improved control of heating systems thereby reducing gas consumption.

We have 13 fully electric vehicles in our growing fleet. Replacement of fossil fuelled vehicles has had a significant impact in the amount of diesel and petrol being bought to fuel campus vehicles, with volumes reducing by 45% and 74% respectively compared to the previous year. Electric vehicles make up 38% of the entire University fleet at the end of 2019/20.

SCOPE 1 & 2 EMISSIONS - TOTAL AND INTENSITY LOCATION AND MARKET BASED

T CO 2

 Total Scope 1 & 2 Emissions - Location Based (T CO2 )  Total Scope 1 & 2 Emissions per m2 - Location Based (Kg CO2 ) Kg CO 2

 Total Scope 1 & 2 Emissions - Market Based (T CO2 )  Total Scope 1 & 2 Emissions per m2 - Market Based (Kg CO2 )

UK GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS AND ENERGY USE DATA FOR THE PERIOD 1 AUGUST 2019 TO 31 JULY 2020

Energy consumption used to calculate emissions (kWh)

2019/20

10,015,268

2018/19

10,703,537

Energy Intensity Ratio (kWh/m2): Gas consumption Electricity consumption

Scope 1 emissions in metric tonnes CO2e Gas consumption Owned transport Total Scope 1

Scope 2 emissions in metric tonnes CO2e Purchased electricity

Total Scope 1 and 2 emissions in metric tonnes CO2e

Carbon Intensity Ratio (KgCO2e/m2) 80.56 61.52

1,038.42 13.73 1,052.15

1,018.28

2,070.44

29.16 84.42 68.25

1,088.15 25.45 1,113.60

1,223.28

2,362.06

33.33

Faculty highlights

BUSINESS EXCELLENCE AND GROWTH

Winchester has grown in the last year, with the creation of a new Faculty of Health and Wellbeing. This brings together three departments – Sport, Exercise and Health, Health and Care Professions, and Interprofessional Studies. The Faculty has developed a new partnership between Winchester and Hampshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, with a drive to improve student employability by enabling access to cutting-edge material, equipment and on-the-job training.

Winchester built a new state-ofthe-art forensic laboratory in 2019, which was opened by award-winning actor Sir David Suchet. The new laboratory equipment included a vital electrophoresis DNA kit and petrographic microscope, which will benefit students on various Humanities and Social Sciences courses such as BA Archaeology and BA Forensic Studies.

The BA (Hons) Music and Sound Production programme achieved Joint Audio Media Education Support (JAMES) accreditation in June 2020. JAMES is a group of industry organisations that promote excellence in education and employ industry professionals to assess the relevance and quality of programmes. This prestigious award reflects the strengths the programme has shown in recent years as it has grown in reputation and size, attracted high profile guest lecturers and offered superb new recording studios.

GRADUATE SUCCESS AND RESEARCH IMPACT

From the Faculty of Arts, MA Creative and Critical Writing graduate Clare Whitfield secured a publishing deal with Head of Zeus for her debut crime novel, People of Abandoned Character. Set for release in October 2020, it focuses on a female protagonist who suspects her husband is Jack the Ripper. In addition, for the second year running, two BA (Hons) Journalism students were shortlisted by the Broadcast Journalism Training Council (BJTC) for the Student Journalism Awards 2019. Student nominations were received within the Best Social Short and Best TV Documentary categories. BJTC is the UK's largest industry-backed higher education training body for multiplatform, broadcast, and mobile journalism and introduced the awards to recognise the country's newly qualified journalists.

Within the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, members of the Archaeology department successfully excavated the crash site of a Second World War Hurricane fighter plane in Hampshire in August 2019. In addition, ARCA Geoarchaeology, a specialist team of Winchester archaeologists, were appointed by Winchester City Council to undertake borehole investigations across the Central Winchester Regeneration site in August 2020. The data collected and analysed will inform future project proposals for development of the city centre.

A number of sport psychology studies developed by Matthew Smith and others within the Sport, Exercise and Health department have featured on The Conversation – an independent website that delivers news to the public from academic researchers.

THRIVING INDIVIDUALS

In June 2020, a new Dean, Professor Martin Broad, was appointed to lead the Faculty of Business, Law and Digital Technologies, and direct the Business school. Formerly head of Southampton University's School of Management, Professor Broad has nearly 30 years' higher education experience. His role will be instrumental in supporting the growth of the faculty's course offerings and research base. recognised expert in Anglo-Saxon Winchester and King Alfred, Professor Ryan Lavelle, helped weave historical accuracy into hit Netflix drama The Last Kingdom. Professor Lavelle has been a historical advisor on all four seasons of the Viking-based drama and also reviews each episode for the BBC History Magazine website History Extra.

Professor Neil Messer, from the Department of Theology, Religion and Philosophy, founded (and became co-convener) of a special interest group in Neuroethics and Theology, within the largest academic Christian ethics society in the world. In January 2020, Professor Messer convened the inaugural meeting of his interest group within the Society of Christian Ethics' annual meeting. He was also appointed to a new working group for the ethics of sexuality and gender by the Community of Protestant Churches in Europe.

SOCIAL JUSTICE

Within the Faculty of Education, the University of Winchester Academy Trust will be opening two primary schools at the heart of new housing developments in Winchester and Eastleigh in September 2020. Each school will open with a Reception class and then expand within their communities, helping form stronger community bonds. Both schools recognise Winchester’s commitment to promoting sustainability and social justice. For example, one of the new schools – Barton Farm Academy – has been designed as an ecoschool, using the latest sustainable technologies and enabling outdoor learning to take place.

Senior Lecturer in Human Geography, Dr. Jen Dickinson, led a Global Challenges Research Fund project that operated in London and Rwanda. It explored the role of the Rwandan diaspora in building up the skills of Rwandan youth. This is a significant contribution to Winchester’s commitment to the UN's SDGs.

From the Business, Law and Digital Technologies Faculty, Dr. Martina Hutton led research into the economic strains placed on those with criminal convictions after their release from prison. The respective project article was highlighted on the website of OffPloy – an organisation that aims to reduce criminal reoffending through employment. As a result of this project, Dr. Hutton joined the Food Poverty Working Group for the Winchester Food Partnership.

ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY

The Faculty of Arts 2019 stage production Climate 4 Change was nominated for a prestigious Green Gown Award in autumn 2019. Staged at Theatre Royal Winchester, this collaboration between Performing Arts and Creative Writing students featured four original short plays about climate change. This was followed in March 2020 by Climate 4 Change 2020, a new set of plays also staged at Theatre Royal Winchester. One of these plays was later recorded as an audio drama in Winchester’s music studios, and broadcast on BBC Radio Solent in summer 2020. Faculty of Education students will be among the world's first UN climate change teachers. In Spring 2020, Winchester became the first in the world to partner with the eduCCate Global Climate Change Teacher Academy and offer the UN accredited Climate Change Teacher Course to teacher training students. Learning about the climate emergency through a range of topics including climate change science and human health will enable students to develop knowledge and confidence to better teach climate change lessons to children. In addition, Winchester plans to host a series of climate change public lectures for students, teachers and the general public.

The Business School continues to be committed to the UN's PRME, a movement that helps establish a process of continuous improvement within management education, in order to develop a new generation of business leaders capable of managing the complex economic, environmental and social challenges faced by businesses in the 21st century. Winchester is one of a small handful of universities in the world to be a UN PRME Champion University. Professor Carol Parkes, in collaboration with the Schumacher Institute, organised PRME workshops on systems thinking and was also invited to become an Advisory Board member within the Prince's Responsible Management Business network.

As Winchester's Hedgehog Champion, Carol Cook, an MSc Animal Welfare Science, Ethics and Law student, led work which secured for Winchester Bronze HedgehogFriendly Campus status from the British Hedgehog Preservation Society. Staff and students were actively involved in completing the various requisite initiatives for this. For example, helping Winchester acquire My Green Labs status for the Archaeology and Forensics Laboratories, an international standard recognising excellence in sustainable lab practices. Winchester has also been awarded the Echo Church (Rocha UK) Gold Award, for its Chapel.

Social Justice

FLOURISHING COMMUNITIES

One of the three pillars of Winchester’s Strategic Vision 2030 is Flourishing People and Communities. This pillar captures the institution’s commitment to support students and staff to flourish and inspire them to use their energy and skills to contribute to flourishing local and global communities.

Working with our local community, we developed a shared vision with seven features of what a flourishing community looks like. After further community consultation, we also developed a Flourishing Communities Framework, in which we articulate three principles (start together, start by listening and start with values) and three actions (model change, support change and make change). Winchester will support this shared vision and work towards its achievement.

ACCESS AND OUTREACH

Winchester continues to hold widening access and participation at the heart of its mission. However, the impact of COVID-19 altered the landscape of our access and outreach work. Outreach is traditionally a social activity, with face-to-face interactions with practitioners and students oncampus or in the community. This year, we had to adapt and develop pre-recorded online sessions and

KEY MILESTONES

31 MARCH 2020

“We are the University for Sustainability and Social Justice. We are working for a world in which all lives and communities thrive sustainably. ”

Sarah-Louise Collins, Director of widening participation

competitions for schools to utilise within their own virtual learning environments. In addition, we provided a home-based reading programme that gifts learners with books and resources to encourage them to read with parents and carers to support guided reading practice. Prospective Winchester students were provided with university pen pals, or student buddies, to keep in14 MAY 2020 touch with over the summer months. Winchester colleagues have also collaborated with other UK institutions as part of the National Educational Opportunities Network's (NEON) Access Academy, enhancing online outreach provision and contributing to the new national Uni4Me website,

Flourishing Communities Framework launched.

which launched in July 2020.

Dr. Michael Hall launched the Service Children’s Progression (SCiP) Alliance’s Listening to Learn report.

30 JUNE 2020

Winchester and the Service Children’s Progression Alliance acknowledged in the Living in our Shoes. Understanding the needs of UK Armed Forces families independent report for government.

Risk register

Material risks

UNDERSTANDING WINCHESTER’S RISKS

We define risk as the potential effects of uncertainty on achieving objectives, which can take the form of averse consequences or unexpected opportunities. As with most institutions, risks are inherent in all activities, Winchester undertakes new risks in pursuit of it’s strategic objectives. Effective risk management is about ensuring all significant, relevant risks are understood and prioritised as part of standard management practice to increase the probability of successful outcomes, while protecting Winchester’s reputation and sustainability.

To create long-term value, we must anticipate the risks threatening our institution, customers and stakeholders, whilst still capitalising on new opportunities offered by an ever-changing world. We must maintain a dialogue with internal and external stakeholders to identify those risks and opportunities. These are illustrated in our Risk Register, which includes vital business and sector risks, as well as some specific to Winchester and key customers and stakeholders.

WINCHESTER’S PROCESS

Our Board of Governors has delegated authority to the Risk and Audit Committee to oversee risk management, including monitoring the Risk Register. This ongoing review enables Winchester to identify material issues that are most likely to affect value creation, strategic objectives, service delivery and assets.

We undertake a systematic and methodical identification of key risks and identify measures to mitigate them. Whilst risk cannot be eliminated completely, the approach of the Risk and Audit Committee is to be ‘risk aware’ rather than ‘risk adverse’, by taking intelligent risks to protect strategic objectives. Illustrated in this report is the most recent update of our Risk Register, presented to the Board of Governors on the 8 July 2020.

RISK AND RANKING

=1

Catastrophic event

=1

Financial sustainability

=1

Student recruitment

4

Student retention

5

IT, information & data security RISK DESCRIPTION

The risk that Winchester may be unable to respond to a catastrophic event.

The risk that Winchester’s income decreases, or costs increase, and not being able to service Winchester’s debts sufficiently, putting the financial sustainability of Winchester at risk.

The risk that Winchester fails to attract a sufficient number of students.

Failure to maintain high levels of retention in the context of the Teaching Excellence Framework and current recruitment uncertainties

Security of Winchester systems and network being compromised leading to loss of critical services and/or loss or exposure of sensitive data.

RISK MANAGEMENT

We have responded effectively to the current pandemic by identifying and suitably equipping those staff deemed essential whilst enabling remaining staff to work from home, moving teaching online and locking down unused buildings. In line with our Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery Plan, we have implemented procedures to protect our buildings from damage by IT, maintenance and contractors.

We have undertaken financial scenario planning in response to the current pandemic and identified several areas in which radical cost reductions must be made. We have utilised all available government support, and associated aids, such as the furlough and loan schemes, and we have had to undertake a voluntary severance scheme. We endeavour to maintain a culture of effective cost control, strategically investing in our new Health & Wellbeing courses (which have attracted additional OfS funding) and increasing the amount of other incoming-generating activities. We are developing a procurement function to ensure robust purchasing control and to maximise value for money. We are undertaking long-range (5 years) forecasting and scenario planning.

We have adapted recruitment activities in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, including replacing traditional open days with virtual experiences. We undertake regular monitoring of student application numbers at weekly senior management meetings and closely monitor the competitor activity and UCAS data to identify potential risks and react accordingly. We have appointed new creative agencies to support strong recruitment campaigns and promotions. We are piloting a refined approach to unconditional offers, to better understand the evidence that points towards the positives of unconditional offers.

Ensuring students are satisfied with their Winchester experience is vital. We have an Enrolment and Retention strategy currently in place which has led to the development of several retention initiatives including student listeners, attendance monitoring and extending our Peer Assisted Learning scheme to those programmes with low retention. We have provided mental health training for all staff and further customer service training to staff in student-facing roles. We have adopted a data-driven approach to student retention and recently established the TEF Working Group.

We created a pandemic action plan, implementing Microsoft Teams to enable staff to work from home. We have a close working relationship with JISC to help us mitigate any attacks. A robust internal process ensures that all software requests are instigated for security and data protection issues, and management of core infrastructure conforms to good practice, including moves to cloud provisioning with secure suppliers all certified to ISO 27001.

6

IT infrastructure

7

Student experience

8

Staff wellbeing and satisfaction

9

Graduate employability /higher study

10

Reputation

The failure to deliver adequate IT infrastructure and services of a kind and quality sufficient to meet the expectations of students and staff.

The failure to deliver continual improvement in student experience in the context of current financial constraints and uncertainties.

If there is a reduction in staff motivation and morale, this can have a seriously detrimental impact on Winchester’s performance as it will impact negatively on staff engagement, commitment and willingness to expend discretionary effort.

Reduced rates of graduate-level employability compared with sector/competitors.

A decline in external perceptions of Winchester. We have introduced several new schemes and systems to improve IT Infrastructure. We have increased the number of open access PCs at West Downs and set up new PC availability screens in the library, alongside a PC booking system. We have upgraded wireless provision and improved Winchester’s student mobile app to support attendance monitoring. We delivered on the initial phase of the new Intranet and deployed Office 365 provision, including Microsoft Teams, to support staff with collaborative and distance working throughout the pandemic.

The student experience is of the utmost importance to Winchester. In response to the pandemic, we have moved all teaching and student support services online and increased the amount of communication made with students during lockdown. We have introduced additional mental health resources and appointed a new Head of Operations responsible for improving customer service within Student Services. We continue having a strong focus on retention across the institution, with the Student Transition Group continuing to develop plans and communications for incoming and returning students.

Ensuring student satisfaction and wellbeing is incredibly important to us. We continue to provide a range of wellbeing activities for staff (on-campus and online) and have enhanced the employee wellbeing online platform, offering discounts. We continue to provide a 24/7 helpline. On some occasions, we restrict professional services vacancies to internal applicants only and ask all newly appointed staff to confirm that they support Winchester’s values. In response to the pandemic, we made the decision to top up furlough payments to 100% and have supported academics in the move to online teaching.

We have validated programmes offered to ensure they focus on students' employability and have high graduate employability. We have created a Winchester Employability Fund and developed a new Careers Centre which will open in September 2020. The Careers Connect programme, which enables students to search for vacant graduate jobs, book career advice appointments and attend career event, is working well, with over 2,500 students registered since September 2018. We will continue to offer this provision to students, for life. We have moved career advice sessions and webinars online due to the pandemic. Winchester’s Graduate Employability and Higher Study Strategy Groups published their long-term strategies in summer 2020.

We have continued to maintain a strong brand image. We were rated as Outstanding in our most recent Ofsted review and received the Social Enterprise Gold Mark. Throughout the pandemic, we have ensured effective crisis management and communication. We focus on positive news stories about Winchester and consider how we affect the local community and economy through our respective Community & Economic Impact strategies, holding regular meetings with Winchester City Council.

Challenges

COVID-19 Pandemic

COVID-19 continues to be the main challenge Winchester faces. Policies and procedures have been established to ensure the safety and wellbeing of students and staff. The Senior Management Team (SMT), together with colleagues from across the institution, have focused on managing the financial impact of the results of the pandemic and assuring the quality of the student experience in a time of pandemic. The Board of Governors received detailed papers on the financial implications and planned cost-savings as well as Winchester's response to the broader challenges presented by the pandemic.

FURLOUGH SCHEME

At the start of June 2020, 218 employees were on furlough, of whom 140 were salaried staff and 78 were staff on casual contracts working regular hours. The numbers fluctuated week by week as staff returned from furlough and other staff were newly placed on furlough leave.

RECRUITMENT

The demographic downturn, with the number of 18-year-olds resident in the UK continuing to reduce until 2021, and the global impact of COVID-19, has led to rising uncertainty in recruitment across the sector. In response, we have enhanced our marketing strategy and continue to innovate and evolve our portfolio to secure a strong future for Winchester. This is a critical component of our new Strategic Vision 2030. In June/July 2020, a portfolio review led to Winchester introducing a targeted voluntary severance scheme, concentrating on specific academic areas where recruitment has decreased. 23 members of staff accepted voluntary severance. We continuously review financial sustainability with our Director of Finance and Planning, reporting to the SMT. Winchester plans to offer further voluntary redundancies in autumn 2020. We continue to develop our procurement function to ensure robust purchasing control and to maximise value for money. We are carefully monitoring staff costs through control of staff recruitment and examining opportunities for restructuring.

REDUCING THE IMPACT TO STUDENTS (NO DETRIMENT POLICY)

In recognition of the exceptional circumstances caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, we introduced a ‘No Detriment Policy’ to support students through the 2019-20 academic year. This involved consultation with the President and the Vice President (Education and Welfare) of the Student Union, to ensure student views were represented. Key elements of this policy include:

1. The decision to move teaching

online as soon as practical. 2. A two-week extension to the submission deadline for assessments due to be submitted between 18 March and 22 May 2020.

3. Replacing traditional timeconstrained on-campus examinations with a range of carefully designed and approved alternative assessments.

4. Revisions to our extenuating circumstances policy to enable students to self-certify for

COVID-19 related issues and to remove the need for evidence in several cases.

5. No detriment frequently asked questions (FAQs) made available for students. 6. Weekly progression and award boards over summer 2020 to ensure that students received their results as soon as possible.

7. Emergency regulations for taught programmes for 2019-20. These included a benchmark safety net for all students (except those with

Public, Statutory or Regulatory Body (PSRB) or equivalent constraints) to ensure they were not disadvantaged by performance in semester two assessments should these have had a negative impact on degree classification or progression.

8. Additional support for postgraduate research students on a case by case basis.

#BlackLivesMatter

Our response to the murder of George Floyd and the recognition of systematic racism within academia is an ongoing challenge. Winchester condemns racism wherever it exists and recognises that this is a journey needing a clear signal for action. The SMT are committed to leading this change. While work had already started, in recognition of this commitment we will bring change through actions to focus on the following: promotions.

1.

2. Establishing a working group, in partnership with BAME staff and students and white allies at Winchester, to identify what needs to be done and establishing and reviewing an action plan to monitor change.

Decolonising our curriculum through faculty representatives who are agents for change, by creating resources, workshops and learning events to support 3.

4. Accelerating our unconscious bias training for all staff including separate training on race and introducing interventions in staff recruitment practises to maximise the opportunity for BAME applicants.

Creating a plan to become a member of Advance HE’s Race Equality Charter by 2022. 5.

6. Addressing the BAME attainment gap through data-driven, department-level initiatives.

Reflecting the rich diversity of culture that staff and students bring in our materials and staff.

Sustainability and social justice

We pride ourselves in being the University for Sustainability and Social Justice, living in harmony and caring for the planet and all living things now and for future generations. We were the first university in the world to offer student teachers the opportunity to complete the UN-accredited Climate Change Teacher Course. We have improved carbon literacy among staff and students through training on the Carbon Literacy Project, recognised globally as a transformative action programme. 1.

2. Implementing an improved approach to collecting and analysing business travel data, using the travel hierarchy to refine the existing travel policy and to encourage low carbon travel options for business travel.

Promoting and increasing student awareness of doctoral research on sustainability, responsible management and climate change and environmental management systems (EMS). 5.

6. Increasing the awareness of the opportunities to reduce energy consumption in information technology, integrating the environmental matters into IT’s decision making and implementing energy-saving initiatives

Improving data collection, analysis and reporting for energy, water, waste and travel, and visibility of performance

The reduction in ranking in the Times Higher Sustainability League table was disappointing but has provided the impetus needed to re-focus. With a newly appointed Sustainability and Environmental Manager, we will embrace the new challenges presented by the Climate Emergency, realising that to bring change through actions, we need to concentrate on the following for the next academic year: 3.

4. Providing a clear definition of roles and responsibilities across Winchester.

Focusing on energy efficiency measures, verifying the savings for each project to understand their impact and continue to identify and implement additional energy conservation measures to close the performance gap.

Procurement and value for money

The Office for Students terms and conditions of funding for higher education institutions (ref 2019.12) requires our Board of Governors to demonstrate that it uses public funds for proper purposes and seeks to achieve value for money from public funds.

At Winchester, the responsibility for value for money is delegated to management and the Board's responsibility is discharged through proper scrutiny of Winchester’s affairs and through exercising appropriate oversight of strategies and policies.

At Winchester, we believe that there is a clear relationship between how we create value and the value for money we provide to stakeholders. Value for money is about maximising the value generated from our financial capital. However, through integrated thinking, we believe that value encompasses all capitals, as outlined in Winchester’s Value Creation model on page 23. This integrated report describes how we create value and the areas in which we have delivered value from financial inputs, amongst other sources.

As the University for Sustainability and Social Justice, we place greater value on financially supporting environmentally sustainable, low carbon practices, which is exemplified by how we invested in our new carbon efficient building at West Downs Quarter. Whilst value for money was at the forefront of the tender for securing a development partner, it was also important to Winchester that all partners would support an energy efficient design incorporating solar PV, green roofs and rainwater harvesting. Not only does the sustainable design lead to a carbon efficient building, but it also leads to an improved full-life cost of running the building.

We provide value for money for students, investing in a modern, sustainable and safe campus. 57% of tuition fee income is spent on direct teaching costs and learning resources.

Direct cost savings are achieved through active contract engagement and management and robust tender processes. Winchester also benefits from a number of local and national purchasing consortia and partnerships, including:

• Southern Universities Purchasing

Consortium (SUPC) • GOV.UK – via Crown Commercial

Services (CCS) • HE Shared Legal – legal services provision • British Universities Finance

Directors Group (BUFDG) – for online financial training • Eduserv – for the purchase of software licences • iESE – construction framework • JISC – for broadband purchasing • NHS – TDS Framework • Southern Universities Construction Consultancy Affinity Group (SUCCAG) • The Energy Consortium (TEC) • The Society of College, National and University Libraries (SCONUL) • TUCO – the leading professional membership body for in-house caterers

The aforementioned organisations consistently offer the sector value for money, often through rates specifically negotiated for the Higher Education sector. For example, figures published by SUPC for our 2018/19 expenditure demonstrate that Winchester has saved a total of £288,710 (£132,880 cashable savings) on an addressable spend of £2.3m, through channelling Winchester’s non-pay spend through regional and national collaborative agreements where possible. The majority of Winchester’s SUPC addressable spend is associated with computer supplies and services, the remainder based on furniture, library and publications.

Supplier engagement

SUPPLY CHAINS

Winchester’s supply chains predominantly fall within the following categories:

• Estates and facilities management (works, services and goods) • ICT equipment and services • Professional services • Teaching materials

We are a member of the Southern Universities Purchasing Consortium (SUPC) which has also published its own Modern Slavery Statement. We channel in excess of 30% of the value of our addressable spend through SUPC and other agreements arranged by higher education and public sector purchasing consortia or frameworks. The particular business and supply chains which may pose particular risks in terms of slavery are in IT and AV equipment, construction and uniform/clothing supplies.

POLICY AND STRATEGY

Winchester’s procurement strategies are well developed and aligned with the institution's sustainability policies. Winchester has clear procurement policies and sustainability has been embedded into these practices. Staff involved in buying activity have been fully trained on their procurement approach and how this should align with Winchester’s environmental objectives. These policies are reviewed throughout the financial year.

STAKEHOLDER ENGAGEMENT

Stakeholder engagement is carried out through tender user groups. It forms an extremely important part of the value for money process, ensuring end user expertise is combined with a commercial professional procurement approach. For example, Winchester will shortly be tendering its travel management requirements and a diverse user group has been formed to agree policy around using the service. Issues such as managing carbon footprint, using trains whenever possible instead of flying, and even decisions around the need to travel, have all been discussed, debated and incorporated into the tender.

ACTION PLANNING TO DRIVE SUSTAINABILITY

Action planning is extremely important to Winchester. It incorporates objectives and associated value for money targets and drives activity across the board. This includes the development of mutually beneficial links between suppliers who have strong ethical and responsible procurement values.

Winchester has recently released Strategy Review 2030. From this strategy, each department and faculty produce an annual operating statement that identifies objectives against this strategy for that year. Hence, corporate objectives are disseminated to each area of the business to reflect Winchester’s values and direction. Procurement is one such department, under Finance and Planning, which is targeted to implement environmental sustainability into the supply chain. Winchester’s stationery provider, Warrens, is a good example of this. We have partnered with them and worked together to reduce packaging and single-use plastics from their deliveries.

Sustainability is embedded in all areas of our operations, from our Values Studies modules taught to our students, to our project to have the first WELL accredited building in the sector.

FAIR TRADE CONTRACTS

Winchester has a strong reputation of supporting many Fairtrade initiatives, particularly in catering and hospitality. We have been able to tap into many TUCO contracts which have delivered a host of products to staff and students. We have also set out to establish these initiatives in other areas such as clothing. It is Winchester’s aspiration to use environmentally and sustainably resourced clothing wherever possible, whether they are Fairtrade, WRAP or Fit for Purpose products. We are committed to the principles of sustainable development, environmental management and protection of biodiversity. It is our aim to use Fairtrade or equivalent garments wherever possible.

ELECTRONICS WATCH

Winchester has signed up as an affiliate member of Electronics Watch, an organisation that aims to improve working conditions in the global electronics industry. The decision was made to ensure that employees working for companies supplying ICT equipment to Winchester are treated fairly, and that the companies themselves operate to an acceptable ethical standard. Electronics Watch aims to help public sector organisations by being their eyes and ears on the ground in areas of the world where their ICT products are made. Becoming a member of Our Modern Slavery Statement is designed to satisfy the requirements of Part 6, Section 54, of the Modern Slavery Act 2015. Winchester’s Financial Regulations, Procurement Policy and Procedures and Ethical Investment Policy state our commitments to the highest standards of ethical conduct in all activities, along with making continuous improvements in this area. We do not engage in, or condone, the practices of human trafficking, slavery or forced labour. We are committed to improving our business practices to combat modern slavery and human trafficking and to ensure that we are not complicit in any human rights Electronics Watch is testament to Winchester’s commitment to meeting the highest possible ethical and social standards when it comes to procurement.

DELIVERING SAVINGS AND EFFICIENCIES

Over the last 12 months, we have made a conscious effort to move procurement away from reactionary activity to a more strategic, proactive approach. Procurement activity now aims to not only deliver governance and value for money, but also support and drive Winchester’s values and aspirations around stimulating the local community, fostering sustainability, delivering ethical sourcing and managing the environmental footprint of our buying activity. In short, we have worked hard towards having a positive and balanced impact on our community and environment.

A good example of this is our relationship with our stationery supplier, Warrens Office Supplies, a local supplier who was recently awarded Winchester’s stationery contract.

Winchester has recently awarded its stationery contract to a local supplier. One of the initial aims of the procurement approach was to give local business the opportunity to bid for our requirements. In an unusual violations. We are committed to zero tolerance of slavery and human trafficking or child labour practices. We mitigate the risk of modern slavery occurring in our workforce by ensuring that directly employed staff are recruited by following robust HR recruitment policies. There is a whistle-blowing policy in place for members of staff to raise any concerns about wrongdoing by Winchester. Staff employed on a temporary staff basis via agencies are only recruited through established sources who can provide assurance that they comply fully with the requirements of legislation relating to the rights and welfare of their

Modern slavery

step for the sector, Winchester decided to run its own EU compliant tender for stationary provisions.

This enabled us to give our local business community a chance to pitch for this business. It also enabled us to fully control the specification and requirements, meaning we could weight environmental factors such as controlling delivery, managing packaging and reducing single-use plastics as high priority factors in the award criteria.

Warrens Office Supplies’ bid not only offered improved value for money, but also more importantly fully understood and incorporated our sustainability and environmental requirements and were keen to work together in order to achieve this.

The contract was able to deliver: • Value for money, realising considerable savings on our legacy supplier. • A reduction in all cardboards and packaging, by utilising a special reusable delivery box – "Notbox". • A commitment to work with their suppliers to reduce all single-use plastics in the packaging. • Reductions in deliveries from every day to twice a week, in order to cut emission on site. • A supporting initiative to move to an

electronic fleet of delivery vehicles. candidates and employees. Our Ethical Investment Policy has been developed to reflect Winchester’s commitment to ensuring that our investments are not complicit in any human rights violations. To this extent Winchester does not knowingly invest directly or indirectly in organisations that breach human or animal rights, or that are in breach of the Modern Slavery Act 2015. Our Modern Slavery Statement is published on our website and reviewed on an annual basis. It can be found at:

www.winchester.ac.uk/about-us/ sustainability-and-social-justice/ modern-slavery/