Four universities – City, University of London, De Montfort in Leicester and Surrey – are working with NatCen, the social research agency, and Universities UK, the membership body for the sector, to develop a survey towards gathering evidence on students’ experiences of all forms of harassment and incidents of hate. The aim; to use the findings to inform universities’ policies and practices to address harassment. An advisory group, convened by Universities UK, in November 2020 called for such data-gathering among other things.
That’s among the topics at a two-day webinar on tackling violence and harassment on campuses. Among the speakers will be Prof David Richardson, Vice-Chancellor, University of East Anglia, who was chair of the group.
Other speakers on day one, March 10, include Mick Confrey, COO at Intersol Global and Hazel George, Lead investigator, at the company, which carries out investigations for universities (and other workplaces) in such cases that may lead to internal disciplinary hearings rather than a criminal case. For more background see the blog at the Intersol Global website.
Elizabeth Dunford, Principal Solicitor at Coventry University will introduce data sharing guidance for assist universities when deciding whether to share personal data in respect of harassment cases.
Day two speakers on March 11 include Eva Tuchell and John Edmonds, authors of the 2020 book Unsafe spaces: ending sexual abuse in universities. The event will end with a session by Prof Geoff Layer, Vice-Chancellor, University of Wolverhampton; Prof Graham Towl, Associate Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Colleges and Student Experience), Durham University; and Nicola Bradfield, Group Director Legal Services, Coventry University, on end-to-end reporting for hate incidents and the need to establish institutional policies.
