UCL-Institute of Child Health
Athena SWAN
18th Self-Assessment Team Meeting
Thursday 14th May 2015, 2:30pm – 4:00pm, June Lloyd Room, ICH
Present:
Professor Shamima Rahman (Chair)
Dr Mona Bajaj-Elliot
Professor Andy Copp
Dr Fani Deligianni (Postdoctoral
Representative)
Dr Steven Hope
Ms Lydia Leon (PhD Representative)
Dr Dan Kelberman (Postdoctoral
Representative)
Ms Kathy Kennedy
Ms Wendy Knowles
Ms Natalie Mark
Professor Gudrun Moore
Professor Jenny Morgan
Professor Pete Scambler
Dr Nikhil Thapar
Mr Michael Williams
In Attendance: Dr Philippa Mills
Apologies: Professor Ros Smyth (Director), Professor Maria Bitner-Glindzicz, Dr Sara Mole
(LMCB Representative), Professor Jane Sowden, Dr Andy Stoker, Dr Erin Walker
Notes
1.
Minutes
There were no issues arising from the minutes of the March meeting.
2.
IMT Update, Going for Gold and Monthly Meetings
Shamima noted she had recently given a biannual Athena SWAN update to IMT and
notified IMT that ICH will apply for a Gold Award in November 2016. In preparation for
this application it was agreed that the SAT will move to monthly meetings starting
September 2015.
Gudrun shared feedback from the ‘Going for Gold’ workshop she attended. At the
workshop it was recommended that departments applying for a Gold Award should
undertake activities which are innovative. It was also advised departments should set
goals which expand on, but not duplicate, their objectives from previous applications.
Michael to circulate additional meeting dates.
3.
Maternity Research Funds
Jane provided a written report which Kathy spoke to during the meeting. To date there
have been no applications for these funds. There have been two enquiries to HR and on
both occasions the individuals did not meet the eligibility criteria. In her report Jane
suggested the following actions:
1. To continue awareness of this fund and increase visibility, to add a link "ICH maternity
fund to support women in academic posts" to the Athena Swan page, HR Updates, and
highlight also at MADs.
2. To extend the scheme to include fellowship holders if we do not have any applications
over the first 6 months from HEFCE staff.
3. To continue discussion with the postdocs forum regarding new initiatives/identifying
new funds to support postdocs on maternity leave as part of gold application.
It was agreed that other options for making best use of these funds, in support of the
Action Plan, should be considered in the event of no applications. All suggestions
should be sent to Kathy.
Kathy to discuss suggestions for expanded use of the Maternity Research Funds with
the Maternity Subcommittee and circulate feedback to the SAT in June.
Michael to add information about the Maternity Research Funds to the website.
4.
Breastfeeding Facilities
Kathy asked whether it would be possible to identify a room at ICH where milk could be
expressed. It was agreed this should be in an area accessible for use by both staff and
external visitors.
Wendy and Kathy to identify a suitable room.
5.
MADS Update
Shamima welcomed Dr Philippa Mills to provide an update on the ICH Mums, Dads and
Carers (MADS) group.
Philippa explained that MADS meetings are held informally and attended by
approximately twenty staff as well as representatives from the UCL Parents and Carers
Together Network (PACT). It was agreed we should push for a higher profile for MADS,
as this was highlighted as a beacon activity for ICH, but should not duplicate the work of
PACT. Gudrun suggested expanding MADS across SLMS as part of our Gold Award
application.
6.
Core Hours
Shamima discussed the need to ensure all meetings are held within UCL core hours of
10:00 – 16:00. Representatives from the SAT were asked to confirm whether core
hours are being adhered to across ICH.
Michael to follow-up with Programmes for information on current meeting times.
Fani and Dan to follow-up with postdocs regarding meeting times.
Lydia and Steven to follow-up with PhD students regarding meeting times.
7.
Survey
Shamima highlighted that the ICH Athena SWAN survey needs to be circulated soon.
Mona and Survey Subcommittee to finalise survey and circulate to the SAT in June.
8.
Fellowship Update
According to the Action Plan, baseline data for 2014 needs to be generated and this
should be updated annually. Andy C is going to review the data in the Programme
Management Information Packs to extract information on fellowships.
Michael to send Programme Management Information Pack data to Andy C.
9.
Action Plan Traffic Lights
Michael noted he has created a spreadsheet outlining current progress on the Action
Plan, and that this is saved in S:\ICH\Athena_SWAN\ASWAN SAT\Application. It was
advised that this is colour coded to provide a quick visual reference on progress.
Michael to colour code the progress spreadsheet.
10. Data and Graphs and Writing Group
Shamima has offered to contact Elisa about creating the graphs for the Gold Award
application. Lydia has also offered to help with this.
Shamima to contact Elisa about the graphs.
11. Beacon Activities – Reaching out to other BRCs and BRUs
Shamima discussed the importance of beacon activities and advised that each member
of the SAT needs to make an effort to do outreach with other institutions.
12. A.O.B.
a. Shamima thanked Natalie for creating the ICH Appraisal Checklist Form.
b. Dan provided an update on the ‘Careers Beyond Academia’ event held on 13th
March. He noted that 180 people attended and feedback was overwhelmingly positive.
c. Michael suggested drafting a budget for Athena SWAN.
13. Next Meeting:
Tuesday 7th July 2015
2.30pm – 4.00pm
June Lloyd Room, ICH