Join the Working Group
We are keen to receive expressions of interest from any University staff who may wish to join or contribute to the refreshed working group.
The Academic Freedom and Freedom of Expression Working Group is being restructured to build capacity and expertise to take forward a renewed remit that aligns with priorities identified by our University community.
We are seeking to expand the membership of the group to support the creation of four new Workstreams and two new Task and Finish Groups that will replace the existing Workstreams.
Once the new group structure is up and running, we will also be working with our student community to ensure there is also effective student engagement, which is key to this work. The work of the Research Task and Finish Group, in particular, will seek to understand students’ perspectives to inform how we take forward the objectives of the Working Group.
We are looking for staff:
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at all levels and with a diverse range of roles and responsibilities across the University.
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who have an interest in, and commitment to, the principles of academic freedom and freedom of expression, and an openness to developing their understanding of these topics further to the benefit of our University community as a whole.
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who want to help the University to promote, support and facilitate academic freedom and freedom of expression in ways consistent with our purpose and values.
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who appreciate the complexities of academic freedom and freedom of expression in law and practice and are open-minded to the challenges that differing viewpoints can sometimes present in a large, diverse community.
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who will contribute to the Working Group in good faith, and be willing to listen to and share different viewpoints respectfully, with the aim of furthering mutual understanding and tolerance.
Members will:
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Work collaboratively to develop and deliver a range of outcomes consistent with the Working Group’s objectives.
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Support communication and stakeholder engagement with members of our community, advising on coordination with wider University activity and helping to share information.
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Respect the sensitive and confidential nature of content likely to be considered by the Working Group, notably contributions and insights provided by members of the University community, for example around contested areas of the Working Group’s activity.
Members will need to be able to commit to:
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attending Workstream meetings, ordinarily monthly.
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working both independently and in collaboration with other members of the Working Group to follow-up on relevant actions.
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reading and responding to correspondence between meetings.
We expect the time commitment to be equivalent to about a day a month.
Working Group members are expected to embody the University’s values as set out in our Strategy 2030, and to behave in ways consistent with our Behaviours Charter.
Those interested in joining the group are first encouraged to read more about our approach to academic freedom and freedom of expression, the refreshed purpose and priorities for the Working Group (including the remit and Terms of Reference for each Workstream and Task and Finish Group), and the guidance above on expectations of Working Group members.
If you think you meet the criteria for joining the group as outlined above, please fill in our Expression of Interest form by Monday 18th March 2024.
We are seeking around 40 staff from across the University to populate the new Workstreams and Task and Finish groups.
It is important that the Working Group is comprised of members at all levels of the University with a diverse range of roles, responsibilities, experience, characteristics and perspectives; so, it can develop and deliver outcomes that resonate with a wide cross-section of our community. Members will be selected on this basis. People external to the Working Group's work to date will contribute to the selection process, the design of which has been overseen by our HR team.
To select new members in a transparent and equitable way there will be two stages to becoming a member of the Working Group. Firstly, we are inviting staff to complete an anonymised expression of interest form. Following this stage, a selection of people will then be invited to participate in a short discussion group exercise to observe how colleagues work together to solve a task and interact. The discussion topic, structure and observation checklists will be available before the session. You will be able to view your scoring and feedback from the discussion groups after these have taken place. We are committed to this being a positive experience for everyone and will provide feedback to aid your personal and professional development.
If you are not in the position to commit to joining the Working Group, you could contribute through joining a list of Expert Contributors whom the Working Group might draw upon as its work progresses. Please complete the ‘Expression of Interest Form’ indicating that you are interested in joining the Expert Contributors list.
If you are considering expressing interest in joining the group and would like to ask any questions beforehand, please email acfreedom.workinggroup@ed.ac.uk