About the Task Force

1. To understand and address racial inequalities among staff to ensure that all staff have a work environment that is fair, supportive and promotes a sense of belonging.
2. To understand and address identified barriers for students of colour to ensure that all students have an educational experience that draws on the contributions of diverse societies and cultures, and a supportive environment that promotes a sense of belonging.
3. To ensure the governance and structures, formal and informal that exist to support equality in the University are fit for purpose and effective in their mission. 
4. To ensure that the University as a centre for research is informed by and informs latest research.

The Task Force reviews existing activities across the divisions, GLAM, central university and colleges, and student groups which advance racial equality, and considers how actions which work might be shared and adopted more widely across the University.

We provide an opportunity for staff and students, and leaders, across the collegiate University to reflect on their own experiences, identify priority issues and contribute to the shaping of key actions; and we seek the perspectives of people from outside the institution who feel themselves excluded from it.

We are reviewing and drawing upon qualitative and quantitative data, and reviewing good practice in other Universities and in other sectors, including our local community and internationally, to enable us to compare our current practices with best practice, and to ‘map gaps’.

We have engaged an expert external consultant.

We are building on the University’s Race Equality Charter (REC) Action Plan to create a clear programme of measurable actions to accelerate the University’s race equality efforts and contribute to the next REC application.

The Task Force reports to Council and is co-chaired by Professor Patricia Daley, Professor of the Human Geography of Africa, School of Geography and the Environment, Professor Anne Trefethen, Pro-Vice-Chancellor, People and GLAM and Professor Martin Williams, Pro-Vice-Chancellor, Education. Reporting to the Chairs, the Programme Manager, Daisy Hung, is responsible for the development and coordination of the Task Force activities. Dr Rebecca Surender was a co-chair between November 2020 and June 2021.

Members of the Task Force are drawn from across the collegiate University and all divisions, and include students, academic and professional services staff at various stages in their careers. People who have been racialised as Black are strongly represented on the Task Force, and people of colour from a wide range of backgrounds are included.

The Task Force includes membership from the Equality and Diversity Panel (EDP) to ensure a two-way flow of information during the self-assessment process for the University’s REC renewal. The EDP advises the Task Force on areas where actions should be considered as it reviews the range of quantitative and qualitative data required for the REC.

See our full list of members.