Returning from volunteering externally

As part of ADAPT schemes on resilience building and support, the Academic Careers Office have produced video resources with useful exercises derived from therapy techniques to help you cope with periods of uncertainty or when feeling overwhelmed by difficult thoughts and feelings. The short videos are presented by ADAPT coaches and you can practice the exercises at any time.

UCL has a contract with an external service provider to provide a comprehensive Employee Assistance Programme. This service is free for staff to use and is designed to help with personal and work-related problems, and is also available to family members of UCL staff. Advice is provided on a wide range of topics including emotional, health, family, consumer information, relationships, legal and financial. Counselling can also be arranged through the EAP. Find out more about the EAP Scheme. 

Other sources of support that you may find useful include
NHS Every Mind Matters and information and support from Mind.

In order to help the academic community to cope with the current global situation, the Academic Careers Office has launched ‘Academics Need to Talk’ (ANT) a new global networking initiative to help academics and researchers reach out to each other at this difficult time. You can:

It is simple to register and once enrolled, you can browse through a list of participants and their specific information in order to find a good match for you based on research areas, type of support or advice during lockdown. You will be able to connect with as many participants as you want and others will be able to find you.

• Get help with applying for grants or share experiences of online teaching

The Academic Careers Office provides an online training scheme in resilience skills based on cognitive behavioural coaching for doctoral students and Academic Clinical Fellows called ADAPT to Grow. We all encounter difficulties and setbacks as our careers progress, and learning how to manage these and building resilience will help you reach your potential more quickly. This is especially the case in the current crisis and it is important to think about how we can cope with the challenges to returning to our regular work. Applications for the next round open on 18 May and there are 100 places available. 

In order to help the academic community to cope with the current global situation, the Academic Careers Office has launched ‘Academics Need to Talk’ (ANT) a new global networking initiative to help academics and researchers reach out to each other at this difficult time. You can:

It is simple to register and once enrolled, you can browse through a list of participants and their specific information in order to find a good match for you based on research areas, type of support or advice during lockdown. You will be able to connect with as many participants as you want and others will be able to find you.

• Get help with applying for grants or share experiences of online teaching

Community support is available via the UCL PACT Network (Parents and Carers Together). Their MS Teams group will allow you to connect with other UCL staff who are experiencing the same stresses and may provide some valuable advice on how to juggle work and caring responsibilities. Join the MS Teams group.  

UCL has developed a bereavement and loss support toolkit that has been designed to help managers and colleagues support their teams when a person dies.

The Academy of Medical Sciences offers a one-to-one mentoring scheme that is available to post-doctoral and independent biomedical and health researchers, offering career development support by pairing participants with an Academy Fellow or senior academic.

Contributing to the national effort is an essential role. UCL has agreed to release clinical staff to provide their specialist skills to the NHS at this critical time. As well as supporting the NHS, UCL staff have been contributing in many ways to the national effort. Your contribution makes a significant difference, not just to patients, but to NHS colleagues, external partners and the wider community.
 

Your release to support the national effort can have an impact on your day-to-day work activities. You should not be adversely impacted when you return. Active consideration is being given to how we can best support you when you return to your regular duties. This includes providing the time required to get your academic work back on track.
 

Our Academic Careers Framework recognises institutional citizenship in our appointment, promotions and appraisal processes. Associated promotion guidance is being updated to specifically reference contributions relating to COVID-19-related activity. Staff can choose to include the period of COVID-19-related service in their CVs, or make reference to this under special circumstances, or both.

The National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) currently cannot approve funding extensions to ACF/ACL posts. Trainees should reschedule lost research/ academic time within the time left of the ACF/ACL post. If this is not possible, this will need to be discussed with your supervisor and Nikhil Sharma, the UCL Integrated Academic Training Lead. Health Education England (HEE) are aware that this may pose particular challenges for some trainees and will assess individual requests for the extension of training. These will be determined on a case-by-case basis.

It is important to keep in touch with your colleagues. Please tell your line manager when you are ready to return to work. You should discuss with them anything that you might need to assist you in doing so. Unless you have been given permission physically to return to working at a UCL site (e.g. because you are an authorised UCL key worker) you should work from home if you are able to do so. If you will find it difficult to work from home, please speak to your line manager about this. For more information, please visit Remote, not Distant.

It is advisable that you arrange to speak to the member of staff prior to and when they return to work. The return to work discussion should focus on identifying any support the member of staff may need, update them on work activities they may have missed and agree work to be undertaken. Your role as a line manager is critical in supporting, motivating and understanding the work needs of your staff. Regular follow up discussions may be needed until the staff member feels settled back into work. The UCL website provides useful advice to managers on managing teams remotely.

You could discuss your change in circumstances with your childcare provider to establish whether and for how long you can access their services. While UCL buildings remain closed, you will most probably be required to work from home if your work can be undertaken remotely. UCL recognises that staff with caring responsibilities can be affected in different ways and may need to change work routines or perhaps reduce the number of hours during which they are able to work. Any such proposed changes should be discussed and agreed in advance with line managers. Please be assured that anyone in such circumstances will continue to receive full pay. Further information on leave and absences related to caring responsibilities can be found on the UCL website.