Close
Information on the role of Inclusion Leads
The Role of Inclusion Leads
- To help the Head of Department with the local implementation, where appropriate, of UCL's Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Strategy 2015 - 2020, institutional action plans on Athena SWAN, the Race Equality Charter and Faculty or Departmental Equality Action Plans
- To be a local resource within your department to whom staff and students can come for information and advice, distributing and drawing attention to new equality developments and legislative change, thus ensuring staff and students are familiar with the relevant UCL policies and procedures
- To be a first point of contact for individual equality, diversity and inclusion issues within your department
- To liaise with the Head of Department about implementing good practice on equalitiy, diversity and inclusion within the department
- To provide valuable feedback about equality, diversity and inclusion implementation at a departmental level.
You are accountable to your Head of Department who is responsible for the implementation of UCL equality, diversity and inclusion policies within the department. Regular (e.g. termly) meetings between the Head of Department and Inclusion Lead are encouraged in order to provide an opportunity for the Inclusion Lead to flag up any issues. It is important for the Inclusion Lead to be integrated into the departmental organisational structure in order to enable them to fulfil their role. For example, it would be appropriate for the Inclusion Lead to be part of academic staff meetings and student/staff meetings.
Your Head of Department should be informed of concerns relating to equality, diversity, and inclusion raised by staff and students regarding departmental processes and procedures. But care should be taken to maintain individual anonymity and confidentiality unless you have gained the permission of the staff or students concern to do otherwise.
Regarding individual cases, if you can't resolve the issue yourself, then you signpost to the Dignity Advisors or ask for help and advice from the Head of Equality, Diversity and Inclusion, or your HR contact as appropriate. It is necessary to get the agreement of the person concerned before involving the Head of Department.
The workload associated with the Inclusion Lead role should be formally recognised as a departmental contribution. It will vary with the size of the department and it is a matter for negotiation with the Head of Department. The valuable 'enabling' contribution of Inclusion Leads to the department and to UCL should be recognised with regard to appraisal, promotion, and incremental points. Heads of Departments have agreed to allow up to 5 days a year for Inclusion Leads to attend meetings and training sessions.
Please contact lacara.rowe@ucl.ac.uk for further information.