{"id":25826,"date":"2024-10-01T10:00:34","date_gmt":"2024-10-01T09:00:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ounews.co\/?p=25826"},"modified":"2024-10-01T10:00:34","modified_gmt":"2024-10-01T09:00:34","slug":"the-open-university-an-independent-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/news\/around-ou\/university-news\/the-open-university-an-independent-review\/","title":{"rendered":"The Open University \u2013 an Independent Review"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The Open University has today published, in full, an<a href=\"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/Indpendent-Review-N-Dandridge-09.09.24.pdf\"> independent report <\/a>from Dame Nicola Dandridge.\u00a0The report is the conclusion of a four-month independent review led by Dame Nicola that was commissioned by The Open University\u2019s Council following the Employment Tribunal brought by Professor Jo Phoenix.<\/p>\n<p>The University Council has accepted the recommendations in the report and has asked the University Executive to move forward with an action plan, taking into account the report\u2019s advice on implementation.<\/p>\n<p>Formerly Chief Executive of the Office for Students, Universities UK and the Equality Challenge Unit, Dame Nicola\u2019s independent review was tasked with considering the consequences of the Tribunal\u2019s findings and making recommendations to assist the OU with:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Safeguarding academic freedom and freedom of speech at the OU, and how these rights intersect with equality and employment rights and legislation.<\/li>\n<li>Ensuring difficult and contested matters can be debated in line with the OU\u2019s values.<\/li>\n<li>How the University manages disagreements where colleagues hold profoundly different and conflicting views.<\/li>\n<li>Defining, communicating and upholding standards of behaviour expected of and by OU staff through effective policies and practice.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Staff from across the University contributed evidence to the independent review which contains the following recommendations for The Open University:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>The OU Council and Vice-Chancellor\u2019s executive team should discuss and agree a set of underpinning principles regarding free speech, equality and employment rights, that can inform the implementation of this report\u2019s recommendations.<\/li>\n<li>A working group should be set up to oversee the implementation of the recommendations, reporting through the Vice-Chancellor\u2019s executive team to Council.<\/li>\n<li>The working group should agree ways forward in areas where there is uncertainty or disagreement on policy or process.<\/li>\n<li>The OU\u2019s approach to EDI should embrace the full diversity of the OU\u2019s staff and their identities, encourage debate, and continue with its work to review terminology and the role of the staff networks and EDI leads.<\/li>\n<li>Agreed standards of behaviour should be developed and aligned with the OU\u2019s Values in Action initiative and implemented by way of mandatory training.<\/li>\n<li>Training to be provided to managers to support them in enforcing expected standards of behaviour and in managing disagreement.<\/li>\n<li>Involvement of staff groups<\/li>\n<li>Systems and structures should be put in place to support the promotion of free speech and academic freedom.<\/li>\n<li>The OU should explore initiatives or projects which would enable it to draw on its experience to take a lead in promoting a culture of encouraging debate and constructive disagreement, in line with its values, both internally and externally.<\/li>\n<li>The impact of these recommendations should be evaluated.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Responding to the publication of the Independent Review, Professor Tim Blackman, Vice-Chancellor of The Open University said:<\/strong><\/p>\n<blockquote><p><em>\u201cThe University made a full and unreserved apology to Professor Phoenix following the Employment Tribunal but we also needed to act on the judgment and change. The University Council has accepted the recommendations in the report and has asked the University Executive to move forward with an action plan, taking into account the report\u2019s advice on implementation. The review gives us valuable learning and insights into how we can and must change. As a university we must ensure that academic freedom and freedom of speech are protected more proactively and that unacceptable behaviours are challenged and corrected whenever and wherever they occur.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>\u201cWe have already taken several steps following the tribunal judgment and this review will be an important reference point ensuring the OU remains a place of open thought and scholarly debate in a community that has regard for the wellbeing of everyone.\u00a0\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>\u201cAchieving our mission to be open to people, places, methods, and ideas depends on us all at the OU committing to take forward these recommendations and to treat each other with civility and respect however profoundly we may disagree.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><strong>Malcolm Sweeting, Pro-Chancellor of The Open University, said: <\/strong><\/p>\n<blockquote><p><em>\u201cWe are grateful for Dame Nicola\u2019s work in producing this report following her independent review. The review reflects our commitment to learn from this experience. We will be asking The Open University\u2019s Senior Leadership Team to take forward its findings with a clear plan of demonstrable actions.\u00a0\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>\u201cI would like to thank all the staff who contributed so fully for their insights and their engagement in the review. As the University\u2019s Council we are committed to helping all at the University move forward and deliver the review\u2019s recommendations.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><strong>Dame Nicola Dandridge, author of the Independent Review, said: <\/strong><\/p>\n<blockquote><p><em>\u201cI would like to thank the many contributors from all parts of the OU who took the time to share their experiences and contribute their views as to how disagreement between staff who hold profoundly different views should be managed, and how contentious matters should be discussed and addressed at the University.\u00a0\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>\u201cThese are difficult and challenging issues that the entire higher education sector is grappling with. I hope not only the OU but others across the sector will find the report\u2019s positive recommendations useful.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Read the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/Indpendent-Review-N-Dandridge-09.09.24.pdf\">full report here.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Open University has today published, in full, an independent report from Dame Nicola Dandridge.\u00a0The report is the conclusion of a four-month independent review led by Dame Nicola that was commissioned by The Open University\u2019s Council following the Employment Tribunal brought by Professor Jo Phoenix. The University Council has accepted the recommendations in the report [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":23,"featured_media":24861,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[1525,1640],"class_list":["post-25826","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-university-news","tag-news-home","tag-ou-home"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25826","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/23"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=25826"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25826\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/24861"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25826"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25826"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=25826"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}