Dear colleagues,
Welcome to 2025 and the start of a new year. I hope you all had a lovely Christmas break and have returned to work feeling well rested and energised for the year ahead. I spent much of the holiday with a new-born granddaughter and her exhausted but delighted parents, so I know that for some of you, the holidays may have been very busy indeed!
This week is Preparation Week, a brand-new moment in the academic year where both staff and students have dedicated time to get on top of things before teaching begins. For those students who are on campus, a whole host of events and activities are taking place, and all services are open as usual. For our academic staff, it’s a time to complete marking and prepare for Teaching Block 2. I once again want to thank those staff who worked tirelessly in the lead up to the Christmas break, and continue to do so, in response to SAY changes.
Planning is now well underway for our January Graduations as around 3,000 students don their caps and step into their gowns to celebrate the significant milestone in their lives. It’s always a pleasure to see students come together with their families, friends and members of staff to mark their achievements. A big thank you to all the staff who make these events happen.
The health, wellbeing and success of our students is our utmost priority, and I’m delighted that our students can now benefit from our improved student wellbeing services, with the introduction of a self-booking form, an increase in specialist mental health provision, a new dedicated Sexual Violence team and improved internal processes. These changes mark a major step to making it quicker and easier for students to access the support they need, when they need it.
During our October All-Staff Assembly, we told you about our current financial situation, which is stable but not growing, and our confidence in the University of Bristol’s future. We also called on you to ‘Act now’ to ensure that we remain financially resilient going forward. I’d like us all to start the year with this fresh in our minds. We, like many other universities in the UK and worldwide, will need to be proactive in our response to the challenges – thinking creatively, adjusting our behaviours and contributing to finding solutions to help to safeguard our own future and that of generations to come.
Our next All-Staff Assembly will take place on Tuesday 11 February, when my team and I will provide more updates about the external financial environment and our own position. There will be other opportunities to meet with us and ask questions throughout the year at our one-to-one surgery sessions. Please do engage with these opportunities so we can hear directly from you, what’s going well and where we can improve.
I’m excited to see what this year brings and look forward to working with you all as we continue our mission to make a positive impact locally, nationally, and globally.
Thank you,
Evelyn