UCL News statement on allegations relating to The Bartlett School of Architecture

Professor Sasha Roseneil, UCL Pro-Provost (Equity and Inclusion) said: “We have been aware of issues in The Bartlett School of Architecture and have been working hard to address them for some time. We are deeply concerned to learn about these incidents, and we will investigate them, and any others that are brought to our attention. 

“We want to understand the wider and deeper issues raised by these reports, and so we will conduct a review into culture and behaviours in the School, as well as looking at the historical data.

“We are all too aware that sexist and racist behaviour takes place at UCL, and we are committed to tackling inequalities and to ensuring that our university is an environment in which students and staff can thrive in their diversity.

“UCL has an online reporting tool for students and staff to report unacceptable behaviour - ‘Report + Support’, which includes the ability to report anonymously. We encourage students and staff to use this to raise any issues or concerns, as well as our formal complaints procedures.

“Our institution-wide campaign ‘Full Stop’ has also focused on how all members of the UCL community can play an active role in shaping a welcoming and inclusive environment for students and staff. Key to the campaign is the message that we do not excuse poor behaviour or minimise the experiences of those affected by sexual misconduct, harassment and bullying.

“We regularly review policies and procedures to ensure that they are fair, transparent for all parties involved and follow best practice in the UK and globally. We are currently undertaking a comprehensive review of our reporting processes and our responses to all forms of harassment, abuse and sexual misconduct.

“The university regularly assesses equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) data for all departments to ensure that any issues are identified and effective action is taken to address them.

“The Bartlett Faculty of the Built Environment itself is engaged in a programme of action that focuses on gender and race equality, such as the Commitment to Change manifesto, which articulates a future built environment education that highlights the roles gender and race play, faculty diversity action plans, teaching materials and research workshops.”

Progress in The Bartlett Faculty of the Built Environment:

• The Bartlett holds an Athena SWAN Bronze award
• The Bartlett Faculty of the Built Environment introduced The Bartlett Promise Scholarship scheme in 2020, to attract students from a broader range of backgrounds and to tackle the lack of diversity among the built environment professions. This scheme currently offers over 25 awards annually, covering all financial aspects of study plus mentoring, personal support and careers advice.
• Representation of women in senior academic positions at The Bartlett: our profile of senior women has increased by +7% in 2019 vs. 2016 through targeted initiatives such as Promotion Surgeries which offer support with the preparation of promotion cases
• Representation of women in head of department leadership roles has increased in the past five years. Nearly half are women (compared to one in seven in 2016) and four out of five of our Vice-Deans are women.
• In 2020, in The Bartlett School of Architecture, 40.5% of women gained a first class undergraduate degree compared with 39.5% of men.

UCL’s proactive measures to address bullying, harassment, and sexual misconduct:

• The creation of an online reporting tool for students and staff to report unacceptable behaviour - ‘Report + Support’
• An institution-wide campaign called ‘Full Stop’. This focuses on how all members of the UCL community can play an active role in shaping a welcoming and inclusive environment for students and staff in which sexual and gender-based violence and harassment are unacceptable. Key to the campaign is the message that we must no longer excuse poor behaviour or minimise the experiences of those affected by sexual and gender-based violence.
• We regularly review policies and procedures to ensure that they are fair, transparent for all parties involved, and follow best practice in the UK and globally. We have recently launched a major review of our reporting procedures and policies, chaired by Professor Sasha Roseneil (UCL’s first Pro-Provost (Equity and Inclusion).

UCL wide progress on sexual misconduct, bullying and harassment:

• Engaging staff and PhD students in ‘Where do you draw the line?’ training on preventing harassment and bullying. We have delivered training to nearly 4,000 staff to date.
• Delivering ‘Taking the Lead’ to 400 managers across UCL from Sept 2018 – January 2020.
• Banning the use of non-disclosure agreements in settlement agreements with staff or students who have raised complaints of sexual misconduct, bullying or harassment.
• Appointing 35 Dignity Advisers to provide support and guidance to staff and students at an informal, local level.
• Publishing data relating to reports of sexual misconduct and bullying. We hope this decision will provide further impetus for positive cultural change, as well as deliver increased transparency - both publicly and internally. 
• Establishing a dedicated phone line which offers support on bullying, harassment and sexual misconduct through our employee assistance programme.
• Appointing a lead for the prevention of and response to bullying, harassment and sexual misconduct, and creating a Crime Prevention and Personal Safety Advisor role in the Campus Security team.
• Revising and delivering the Students’ Union Active Bystander training. These workshops give students the skills they need to intervene should they witness bullying, harassment and sexual misconduct on campus. This is done through a strong grounding in understanding consent and recognising sexual misconduct. Since the 2015 academic year to date, nearly 33,000 students have received Active Bystander training.
• Hosting a global conference ‘Calling time on Sexual Misconduct’ in June 2020 to share learning from around the world on how to tackle sexual misconduct in higher education.
• Delivering specialist Rape Crisis training to staff in student-facing roles.
• Establishing an agreement with Intersol Global to improve the quality and consistency of investigations.
• As of October 2020, 41 departments, divisions and institutes from across UCL hold Athena SWAN awards.

Links

• Report + Support
• Full Stop
• Tackling unacceptable behaviour in our community - updated statement: 3 June 2021