Having sent the following to members last week, writes Jane White, AUDE Executive Director, I realised a number of the links would have a useful shelf-life and it might be good to publish this information onto the website too. Inevitably some it will date, and perhaps even by as soon as the weekend, with the PM lined up to please/disappoint/enrage us with clearly signalled adaptations to the lockdown. In the coming weeks I'll update and share anew, as fresh information comes in.

Dear Members,

During these incredible times AUDE is here to help and support. We have been working behind the scenes to ensure you stay connected, help keep you informed and act as conduit between sector bodies and government agencies.

I have been speaking to many of you over the past few weeks on the phone and via video-conferencing. I am so proud of the work you are all doing, busier than ever, keeping the universities running whilst impacting on local and national efforts to support the NHS and public services. As estates and FM professionals you are the key to navigating the pandemic within your institutions.

• You led on the closure of the campus.
• Your staff make up the majority of essential workers onsite right now.
• Your function has been able to furlough large numbers of staff and thus contribute towards protecting finances.
• And you are leading the way for re-energising the campus and enabling new models of research, teaching and learning?

Listening to webinars and reading news articles there is a lot of speculation about what the future of HE look like. Staggered course start dates reaching into 2021, modelling of student number reductions (some estimating it to be as high as 80%) and grappling to understand the nature of bailout packages that may or may not help. The slight advantage we have of being a week or two behind the rest of Europe in terms of our ‘peak’ is that we can learn from our colleagues at other universities and take heed of their stories.

I imagine one of the main things on your minds now is ‘post lock-down, what does University life look like?’. AUDE is working to create a set of resources to help you better understand this challenge and share your approaches. The remainder of this email details what we have so far that maybe of assistance to you. As a side note; most of these resources are behind our member login, if you need a reminder of your details, drop me an email.

Facilities Management

When it’s time to re-energise the campus there’s a lot to think about, including; safety, compliance, human behaviours and operational agility. CBRE have been giving this some consideration and are happy for me to share these guides with you.

• Reopening the worlds workplaces PDF – CBRE
• Reopening the worlds workplaces PowerPoint – CBRE
• Reopening the worlds workplaces Real Estate & Facilities PDF – CBRE

I have also picked up on our discussion boards other helpful resources you have been sharing.

• Getting the next phase of remote working right in HE PDF – McKinsey & Company
• Recovery Readiness: A how to guide for reopening your workplace PDF – Cushman & Wakefield
• Building reopening plan WORD – Sheffield Hallam University

• SFG20/SFG30 PDF mothballing and reactivation
• COVID-19 and HVAC Systems WEB – CIBSE
• How to operate and use building services in order to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in workplaces PDF – REHVA
• COVID-19 Steps to recovery WORD – HEBCON
• Approaches to Business Continuity in Universities PDF – AUDE & others

• Join our Strategic Facilities Management group for an online event on the 1^st June as we meet to talk and plan a series of briefings on topics pertinent to this ‘new normal’.

Space Management and Social Distancing

It feels like a bit of a waiting game looking to the HSE and WHO for guidance, and then interpreting that guidance for our sector. But of course we can’t wait, we have to plan now for our uncertain future. It is looking more like those that can work from home will have to work from home for quite some time as we seek out as much space for learning and teaching as we can. How do we manage this?

• Join in our discussion board conversations and share your thoughts.

• Here is an interesting article on teaching spaces and lecture theatres including some European examples.
• Lecture Theatres: Has COVID-19 made them redundant? PDF – Dr Jo Dane

• Join for a 90 minute chat with your fellow AUDE members on the challenges of managing space in an era of social distancing. Sit with your lunch and join this informal conversation. No set agenda, the meeting with be hosted by our Space Management Group Chairs Dave Beavis and Helen Wallace from the University of Exeter. We aim to share our own stories, concerns and successes and consider how AUDE can support during this time.

14^th May 12:30 - Online event ‘AUDE Space planning for post lockdown conversation’

Capital Planning

Operating with the unknowns of the Post COVID-19 world, triaging finances while accounting for the costs of the pandemic, forecasting enrolments with unprecedented variance, and helping institutions make data-driven decisions in an often-irrational environment. To enable those data-driven decisions, we must collect and deliver data that is accurate, complete, timely, and actionable. At the same time, undertaking more complex maintenance efforts throughout the entire real estate portfolio to ensure the safety of students, staff, and visitors now and in a Post COVID -19 world. 

• AUDE, with our partners AssetWorks held a webinar last week. The recording ‘Capital Planning in a post Covid-19 world’ you can watch now. We also have presentation slides ready to download.

• A guide to finance business measures written by our colleagues in BUFDG may be worth a read.

Health and Wellbeing

As leaders you will be mindful that your staff need your support. And as leaders you know you need to preserve your own mental health and wellbeing too. As a membership organisation we go beyond supporting you to do your job. We are also here to support you as an individual. Our membership is made up of people who are parents, spouses, partners, carers, children, brothers and sisters and everyone one of us has had to adapt to a whole set of new challenges over the past few months.

We have been gathering together resources that we hope might support you in your everyday life, many are available to access when you have the space and time, others require registration and to be online at a specific time. We hope that you find something here that is helpful.

• CIPD Providing access to a suite of products and services to support your mental health and well-being during these challenging times - providing you with a structured way to work through physical or mental health issues and any financial difficulty you may be currently facing.
• A 30 minute, daily mindfulness call with the PPMA (The Public Services People Managers Association) at 7.45am.  The session is led by the PPMA Executive Director, Leatham Green, focusing on mindfulness and guided mediation.
• “Building Resilience Through Humour", with some helpful tools and techniques on how to FLIP your thinking from Laughology.
• Mercer have developed a set of financial guides that are free to view and download and can share with families and friends.
• As we evolve and adapt to the new norms that surround us, our own personal resilience is key to how we navigate and respond to uncertainty. On-line every second Thursday, 16:00 – 17:00, started Thursday 9th April join a zoom call for guided conversations about the tools and techniques you can try.

A team at King’s College London has identified three different types of lockdown personality – the accepting, the suffering and the resisting. Faced with the same rules and information, some of us lose sleep and experience anxiety, while others seem more able to take it in their stride. A smaller group, however, will aim to carry on with their lives regardless. The researchers have dug into how these groups intersect with age, gender and political leaning and shed light on what’s happening under the surface.

Please continue to get in touch, let me know how I can help you and your institution.

Stay safe and stay well,

Jane White: Executive Director