Archive for the ‘Services’ Category

The Equality Challenge Unit (ECU) is the equality policy and advice body for universities in England, and has recently launched an anonymous HE sector survey to examine mental health in the workplace.

The survey is aimed at understanding how universities can:

• develop an environment that encourages staff to inform the university about mental health difficulties to receive targeted support;
• ensure that the courses, work environment, facilities, and services are accessible to students experiencing mental health difficulties.

Responses to the survey will be invaluable in helping the ECU develop materials to promote an inclusive university environment that is supportive of mental health.

Please let the ECU know your views by completing the survey here – the survey is open until 12 April.

Ethos Sports Centre will operate with the following reduced opening hours from Thursday 28 March to Tuesday 2 April.

• Thursday 28 March 09.00 – 17.00
• Friday 29 March 09.00 – 17.00
• Saturday 30 March 09.00 – 17.00
• Sunday 31 March 09.00 – 17.00
• Monday 1 April 09.00 – 17.00
• Tuesday 2 April 09.00 – 17.00

There will be no studio classes on these days.

There is currently an intermittent fault with the College image library which makes it appear that users are unable to log in.

If this happens, click your browser’s back button and try again. You should find that you have been logged in on the second attempt. The fault has been reported and we are awaiting a fix.

If you have any further problems, please contact Peter Gillings.

Staff are invited to complete a short survey on their daily travel to and from Imperial. The data gathered will help the College ascertain how successful current travel initiatives are and help formulate sustainable initiatives for the future.  In particular, this year’s survey includes a section on a proposed new bike scheme, with feedback sought on potential take-up. The information will also inform the College’s report to HEFCE on its travel-associated carbon emissions when this becomes part of the Estates Management Statistics survey from August 2013.

The survey should take 5-10 minutes to complete and participants will be entered into a draw to win a £100 Amazon voucher. Results of the survey will be published on the Sustainability website.

The Commercial Services Division has been renamed as Campus Services with effect from this week. The new name reflects the main focus of the Division’s work in providing facilities and services for students, staff and visitors. Staff across the College are asked to ensure that any references to Campus Services – on the website, in documents or elsewhere – use its new name.

All staff and students are invited to meet the Campus Services senior team and representatives from each of its departments (Accommodation, Catering, Conferencing, Sport Imperial and the Student Hub) between 12:00 and 14:00 on Thursday 14 February in the SCR and JCR on the South Kensington Campus to hear more about their services and give feedback.

The Telecoms Department are warning staff that the College is currently receiving a number of scam phone calls. These are from individuals claiming to be from the directory “Who’s Who” and have an originating ID of 001-866-978-6670. Staff are advised not to give out credit card details. Because the calls are originating outside of the UK they cannot be blocked by the Telephone Preference Service announced in Staff Briefing #77. Telecoms are working with their suppliers to block the calls by other means.

From 1 February the Office Depot print facility at the Sherfield building will be taken over by a new supplier, Service Point.

Service Point will be able to provide all services previously available through Office Depot, and will also be able to service all our campuses through various print sites located in and around London.

For further details and updates please check the Purchasing pages or contact Victoria Stanger if you have any queries.

The Energy and Environment Team are inviting staff to register for the free Waste Action Reuse Portal (or WARPit), a network for loaning, giving or claiming unwanted resources within the College.

Using this network saves the College money, frees up space, diverts resources from landfill, reduces carbon emissions and saves on the costs of removal and disposal.

Register for the service

More information can be found on the WARPit website. Queries should be directed to Lisa Holland or Helen Swanton.

All staff are invited to complete an online Disability Survey by Friday 8 February, regardless of whether or not they have a disability or line manage someone with a disability. Responses will help shape how the College caters for the needs of staff with disabilities.

The departments with the highest response rates will be entered into a draw to receive a gourmet food hamper to share. The survey takes less than 10 minutes to complete and is anonymous.

Take the survey

ICT will shortly be launching an interactive voice recognition (IVR) system to provide an automated switchboard service. Callers will be prompted to name the person or department they wish to speak to and the IVR system will route the call to the intended recipient.  If the name is not recognised by the system or if the caller wishes to speak to someone they can say “switchboard”, “operator” or press 0 to route the call to switchboard operators. Staff can also use the system as an internal directory enquiries service, for example by dialling it and requesting “give me the number for John Smith”.

The system will go live for internal calls on Monday 3 December 2012, and for calls from outside on Monday 17 December. Staff can test the system now by dialling ext. 43434 from a College extension or Mobex and requesting their number.

Where details are not recognised by the system staff should check their College Directory entry is in place by visiting the College Directory.

Staff with queries should contact Stuart Kerr, Telephone Services Manager (s.kerr@imperial.ac.uk).