17 October 2019 
Martin Higgs, Communications Officer
Rhona Bain, HR Partner – Engagement and Inclusion at Edinburgh Napier University, is the recipient of this year’s UHR / CUPA Bursary, which enables attendance at the CUPA-HR Conference, this year being held in Denver, Colorado, as well as providing support for a study tour of UH universities. Rhona flies out today, and to mark the start of her adventure we’re publishing a short blog on her plans and study tour aims.
Well, the countdown is now on!
Time has flown by since I was fortunate enough to win the UHR/CUPA study visit bursary to Colorado. I have been busy organising travel and accommodation for the trip and arranging my meetings at both Colorado University and Denver University whilst I am there.
Both institutions have been very accommodating and welcoming already and I know there will be many opportunities to share experiences and learning. The focus of the study visit is two-fold. Firstly, to explore their strategies to tackle sexual violence, harassment and misconduct including their policies to support changes in culture across the University community (staff and students) and also to consider how they have built their communication campaign. This will better inform the approach we take in terms of HR policy and practice development along with the victim support framework we introduce for staff and students.
We have developed our own strategy here at Edinburgh Napier University which is due to launch in November and as an institution, we are taking all steps within our power to prevent, tackle and respond appropriately and supportively to any and all forms of sexual violence or misconduct affecting our students, staff and those who use our facilities and services.
Along with a number of other colleagues, I have undertaken accredited training as a Sexual Violence and Misconduct Liaison Officer. This role is new to the university and will be launched as part of the wider strategy, offering a safe place for staff and students to come in the event they need to make a disclosure. This is the area I am particularly keen to explore whilst I am there to understand if similar roles exist, how do they support survivors and what can we take back from the practice in Colorado.
It will also be really interesting to look at the communication campaigns in place to support these and similar initiatives. We have developed our own campaign which is called “#It’s Never Ok” which we are delighted and proud of and I will be happy to share this and the visuals with those I am meeting.
I will be travelling to Colorado on Thursday 17th October before heading to the Rockies Gaylord Conference Centre on Saturday 19th ready for the start of the conference. The planned workshops are varied and interesting and I know there will be plenty of opportunity to network, listen, learn and meet new associates.
Following on from the conference I will be moving back into Downtown Denver and using this a base to travel to the universities and acquainting myself with the City for a couple of days before returning to Scotland on the 26th October.
