It has been a couple of weeks since my first Covid-19 email, writes AUDE Executive Director Jane White.The first was full of resources and events to help you through this time. If you need a reminder of the content you can find it on our website. A lot has happened since then, and I thought it about time to write version #2.

Firstly thank you to those who have been emailing and calling, sharing and networking. It’s times like this when as an association we are truly invaluable. Our member engagement, website visits, discussion board posts and attendance at virtual meetings and events has gone through the roof! I am getting daily requests from governments agencies, funding councils across all nations, and other high profile stakeholders for ‘AUDE’s opinion’. The sector know who we are and are looking to us to lead campus reopening and solve all of the many pressing issues, including that elephant in the room, space.

This week we have finally started to see some HE sector specific guidance being published. From speaking with you, I get the sense the main documents you are busy reading include;

• Department for Education’s Reopening buildings and campuses
• Scottish Government’s guidance Preparing for a phased return
• Welsh Government’s Higher Education and student support
• Northern Ireland’s Government Services advice on Universities
• Irish Government’s Phase 1 Road map to reopening
• UCEA’s Joint trade unions statement Working safely on campus during the pandemic
• UUK’s 9 Principles for emerging from lockdown

We’re looking at the DfE, UCEA/unions and UUK documents ourselves and we’ll provide a summary/highlights note for you next week.

Given the complexity of the situation, in each case, the guidance tries to establish guiding principles for decision-making and it’s unrealistic to think any document of this kind can provide ‘all the answers’ no matter what the exact circumstance. We’re likely to be living through a time where our efforts to protect and socially distance need turning up or down at a relatively local level. That throws the weight back onto risk assessment. We’re seeing primary and secondary school settings think about risk in their local areas at the moment, and opening or refusing to open based on their local understanding of infection rates. That kind of variation would be near impossible to manage on our campuses, with students from across the country and across the world. But it again highlights that there is no one-size-fits-all solution here, and there won’t be. All the guidance gives space for interpretation. There needs to be that space, it’s the reality of the wide variety of specific situations we find ourselves in.

AUDE’s survey on when universities are likely to open their campuses (and to what degree) is still live. It’s just 3 questions and once you have answered them you immediately get to see what others are saying. Whilst the vast majority of you have already started accepting some academic staff back on site (usually research focused activities), 30% of you intended to keep all teaching online and digital for the rest of 2020.

If your mind is whirling around university finances and the devasting impact this could have on us all, you could do no better than viewing this recording, Sussex’s Finance Director Allan Spencer tells it as it is – no drama, just facts and measured opinion, with appropriate caveats. Well worth a watch.

Wherever you are on your own institutional roadmap to getting ready for the start of the next academic year, you must, like I am, be at the stage of bombardment with resources and documents from a vast array of sources telling you how it might be done. Well, this next section aims to give you a short list. These are the resources you have told me are the best:

Resources for your institution

• BEIS workplace guidance, including for laboratory and research facilities and offices and contact centres, which will be relevant to HEIs
• Zurich’s Coronavirus crisis: Return to “new” normal operations, Version 2 comes highly recommended
• Cushman and Wakefield’s Recovery and Readiness guides remain popular with members
• Advanced HE’s Creating socially distanced campuses This is behind a membership login firewall, I have a copy if you need me to forward to you let me know
• NHS Guys and ST Thomas’ Risk Assessment for BAME, Vulnerable and Pregnant Staff and Coronavirus Exposure
• BSI Safe working practices during the Covid-19 pandemic

Resources for you:

Your health and wellbeing are undoubtedly effected. Make sure you look after yourself too.

• NHS Every mind matters
• New Zealand’s Mental health pocket guide for construction
• Handbook for Marginal gains, to thrive and survive during Covid-19
• CIOB Understanding mental health in the built environment
• Mates in mind

Unmissable discussion board posts:

• The ‘Green Restart’ not wasting a crisis to implement new ways of working
• The impact on space when universities reopen
• The problem with sports facilities, a request for help from those struggling to find the answers in this problematic area
• Useful resources for the collection of student belongings

Upcoming AUDE events, get yourself booked on, all free of charge:

• Professor Graham Scott will be hosting a session on research methodologies we can adopt to solution scan and enable a socially distanced campus 11^th June

• A time to talk about space 22^nd June 12:30 – 2pm Research space and capacity.
• A time to talk about space 2^nd July 12:30 – 2pm Long term implications on space ‘The Green Restart’
• If you have anyone new on your teams or new to HE then we have a free Introduction to HE course  on the 3^rd July

Our full library of coronavirus resources can be found at https://www.aude.ac.uk/resources/strategy/coronavirus/. We are adding to it daily.

I am very happy to announce that AssetWorks LLC has joined AUDE as a new business partner member. AssetWorks is one of just five organisations this year to have met the scrutiny. Currently better known within US higher education than they are here in the UK, AUDE believes the AssetWorks specialist estates and facilities management software offer is potentially very interesting to our membership, and that they have a valuable international perspective to bring to discussions. There are plans afoot to bring you a webinar looking at the agility and adaptability needed to operate campuses in these times, this builds on previous work we have done together already, you will find the recording of How to prioritise you capital projects a very interesting watch.

I hope this has been useful for you. As always if there is anything you need or think that AUDE should be providing please do get in touch and let me know.

If you need a reminder of your AUDE website login details email me.

Stay safe, stay well and have a wonderful weekend.