The news at the weekend that we were entering into a second period of lockdown meant most of us have spent the week preparing for how we are going to manage it both at work and at home. Many of you have, once again, gone the extra mile to enable the University to respond to the current situation. My greatest thanks go to you for this continuing effort.

I also wanted to thank all those who have worked hard to support the delivery of O4S during this time. We have now reached a major milestone in this significant change programme with new structures in place across the organisation and a new leadership team now in place.

I know, at times, this has been challenging and it has taken a huge amount of effort to get to this point. However, I am confident that the changes we have made are the right ones and the Divisions will play a major part of our future success.

Our focus will now turn to supporting Divisions and wider teams as they come together, ensuring that they have what they need to work well together. This will take time and I know there is still a lot more we need to do – both to manage this ongoing transition period and continue to simplify how we work together.

Staff in the professional services still have a considerable amount of work to do as teams come together, and I would ask that colleagues are mindful of this, particularly over the next few weeks.

Finally, I would like to pay tribute to those colleagues who have left us under KVSS, and I know there are others who are due to leave shortly. Thank you for everything you have done to support the University, it is hugely appreciated and you will be greatly missed.

My very best wishes go to you and your families,

Karen

Professor Karen Cox | Vice-Chancellor and President