‘Be The Change − Tackling Harassment’ is a University Programme aimed at all staff, students, and other members of the University community. The programme aims to tackle all forms of harassment, bullying and discrimination at the University of Bath through a series of training opportunities and awareness raising events. We want to help and encourage all members of our community to ‘Be The Change’.

Training for students

As you may have seen, we launched the student training programme in September 2022. We’ve been really encouraged with the take up so far. Almost 30% of all new undergraduate students completed this course as part of their induction.

Of these participants:

  • Over 80% feel it is “extremely important” for the University to tackle harassment
  • 21% had experienced gender-based harassment or bullying prior to starting the University
  • 27% have experienced sexual harassment
  • After completing the module there was a 36% increase in confidence levels for knowing where to seek support, and a 36% increase for confidence to personally seek support
  • 52% of participants felt more confident they knew how to make a harassment report

Training for staff

‘Be The Change’ eLearning (mandatory for all staff)

We’re pleased to announce the launch of our new eLearning module, for all staff to complete as soon as possible.

This training will cover:

  • Guidance for staff who work with students on how to respond when students report harassment, and how to signpost them to relevant processes and colleagues
  • Encouraging every member of staff to reflect on their own bias and behaviours
  • Raising awareness of how we can support others by being an ‘active bystander’
  • Empowering individual change-makers to take responsibility for their own actions and behaviour
  • University policies and procedures for staff seeking support and reporting harassment for themselves or on behalf of other colleagues
  • How to create a community where questioning bias and discrimination is a regular and welcome act

The training will take around 60 minutes to complete and can be done at your own pace, taking breaks as needed. There’s no test involved, but you will need to work through each slide and complete the survey questions at the start of the training and repeat at the end.

Pastoral Care & Safeguarding staff training session (mandatory for Personal Tutors and Doctoral Supervisors)

In addition to the eLearning module, we’ve also developed Pastoral Care training, for staff working with students. This has been developed in conjunction with academic colleagues, based on needs identified by the academic community. If you’re a Personal Tutor and/or Doctoral Supervisor, you’ll need to complete this training as well as the Be The Change eLearning module. This training is also recommended for non-academic student-facing staff.

This training will cover:

  • The opportunity to increase your confidence levels in relation to pastoral support
  • Clarity regarding your role and expectations when it comes to pastoral support
  • Factors that can help colleagues recognise when students may be struggling
  • Understanding and managing boundaries
  • Understanding where to signpost students, particularly highlighting internal avenues of support
  • Knowledge of what to do in the event of a disclosure/concern raised around a student’s wellbeing
  • Safeguarding

The session will take 2.5 hours and you can choose to attend in person or live online. There will be sessions running regularly, so you can find time to fit it in around your other commitments. There’s no test to complete for this training.

How to access the training

Be The Change training for staff can be accessed via Moodle.

Pastoral Care training can be accessed via Student Support Staff Training page.

Be The Change Student workshops can be accessed via this page.

We ask that:

  • All new members of staff complete the relevant training as part of their induction
  • All existing academic staff complete the ‘Be The Change’ eLearning by the end of July 2023 and personal tutors/doctoral supervisors the Pastoral Care training session by the end of July 2024
  • All other staff complete the ‘Be The Change’ eLearning as soon as possible
  • With recommendations that student facing professional service and technical staff complete the additional Pastoral Care training

We hope you’ll find the training informative and helpful in giving you the confidence and skills to support students and colleagues in our community.

Regards,

Professor Rajani Naidoo, Vice-President (Community and Inclusion)
Richard Brooks, Director of Human Resources
Professor Cassie Wilson, Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Student Experience)