Top updates from across the University.
1. Israel and Palestine
The Vice-Principal and University Secretary, Leigh Chalmers emailed all staff and students to encourage anyone feeling distressed or concerned to seek help, and reminded those impacted to use the support available from the University Chaplaincy. She also outlined what support is available for at-risk scholars and reaffirmed the University’s commitment to freedom of expression and the right to protest.
The relevant webpages will be continually updated with information about support and events.
2. University climate action: seeking your views
The University is holding a four-week consultation to seek the views of staff and students on proposed updates to the University’s climate strategy. The Social Responsibility and Sustainability department is keen to know if staff support its direction of travel and wants the community to say what they think the priorities should be across net zero, learning and teaching, research and innovation, partnerships, operations, nature and biodiversity, water scarcity and chemical pollution, and people and culture. There is also a series of town hall events, where you can hear more, ask questions, and share views.
The consultation opened on Monday 20 November and closes on Monday 18 December.
University climate action: seeking your views (ed.ac.uk)
3. Increase in the Real Living Wage and pay rates for grades 1 – 3
As an accredited Real Living Wage employer, the University has committed to pay its staff no less than the Real Living Wage. The Living Wage Foundation announced in October that the Real Living Wage will increase from £10.90 to £12 per hour. Real Living Wage employers have six months from the date of this announcement to implement the increase. However, the University has made the decision to implement the new rate from 1 November 2023 to ensure that the impacted staff benefit from the increase as soon as possible.
Affected staff have been informed and the increase will be reflected in November’s pay.