| Overall Rating | Gold |
|---|---|
| Overall Score | 76.52 |
| Liaison | Maria Kirrane |
| Submission Date | July 28, 2022 |
University College Cork - National University of Ireland, Cork
PA-14: Wellness Program
| Status | Score | Responsible Party |
|---|---|---|
|
0.75 / 1.00 |
John
O'Halloran Deputy President and Registrar Office of the Deputy President and Registrar |
Does the institution have a wellness program that makes counseling, referral, and wellbeing services available to all students?:
Does the institution have a wellness and/or employee assistance program that makes counseling, referral, and wellbeing services available to all academic staff?:
Does the institution have a wellness and/or employee assistance program that makes counseling, referral, and wellbeing services available to all non-academic staff?:
A brief description of the institution’s wellness and/or employee assistance program(s):
UCC has a dedicated Staff Wellbeing & Development unit in the Human Resources Department including a Staff Wellbeing & Development Manager who leads the team. There is strong university leadership commitment to staff wellbeing & development which is woven into the university’s 2017-2022 Strategic Plan, ‘Delivering a Connected University”. The Wellbeing Manager was the lead for Pillar 4 of the Strategy: People & Organisational Culture.
The HR Director champions wellbeing at University Senior Management (UMT) level and is assisted by 6 HR Business managers who are supported by the Wellbeing Team. Wellbeing is represented throughout the university’s committee structures with wellbeing and HR staff among the members of the Equality Committee, Business Continuity Committee and Academic Council Staff Development committee.
The university is a member of the UK Healthy Universities Network and University Senior Management team (UMT) have recently agreed to adopt the Healthy Ireland Campus Charter and Framework which will be implemented over the coming months. The Staff Wellbeing & Development Advisor will be the staff lead for the implementation of the Charter and Framework.
The wellbeing programme and initiatives are informed by annual staff surveys including the EDI survey and by Employee Assistance Service reports which highlight the main supports sought by staff. Programmes are delivered by a mixture of internal and external experts to address these issues. The Wellbeing team provide induction training and individual and team interventions to foster a culture of staff wellbeing. A monthly programme of wellbeing activities is circulated to all staff and HR staff receive monthly wellbeing bulletins with updates on key trends and new initiatives.
The university has been recognised nationally for its commitment to staff wellbeing. In 2018, UCC became the first Irish university to be awarded the IBEC Keep Well Standard. The university contributed nationally to the HE Wellbeing Symposium in 2021.
UCC has led the way with innovative wellbeing staff supports including becoming the first university to introduce a coaching panel of professional coaches available to support staff wellbeing.
UCC’s commitment to staff wellbeing was central to business continuity during the Covid-19 pandemic with the following Wellbeing protocols being adopted for Hybrid working and working from home.
Meeting Timings
• Core hours under Athena Swan for meetings (10am-4pm) while noting not all can do this at present with challenges of working from home
• Build in time (i.e., morning or afternoon weekly) to allow for no meetings to allow research/preparation to be undertaken (at local level)
Meeting Duration
• 45 minutes rather than a standard hour with 15 mins break prior to the next meeting
• Focus and encourage a more decision-focused culture in meetings
Meeting Agenda
• An item ‘Staff Wellbeing’ (what practices are working in your area, what practices should continue, what practices need tweaking or adopting) be added to local agendas of meetings
Email protocol
• Introduce email protocol - advising staff not to send emails after 6pm but to wait until following morning
Inspire workplaces provide an external employee assistance programme to all staff and their family members, over the age of 18 and retired staff. UCC also have a student wellbeing coordinator and the Health Matters Programme, which aims to improve improve the health and wellbeing of staff, students, and visitors to our university community. Information for students on available health services, advice on money matters, academic support or queries about student living can all be addressed with information and links to services you need for Student Wellbeing.
UCC takes a holistic approach to the wellbeing needs of staff and has a strong culture and tradition of excellence in Workplace Wellbeing. https://www.ucc.ie/en/students/wellbeing/.
In 2018, UCC was the first university to be awarded IBEC's KeepWell Mark, which reflects UCC's dedication to the health and wellbeing of its staff. UCC is committed to the health, prosperity and wellbeing of our colleagues and helps to ensure that the principles of health and wellbeing extend beyond the workplace and into the lives of our families and communities. UCC offers a comprehensive and varied programme of wellbeing related supports to all colleagues including networking cafes, lunchtime activities and 60-minute resilience workshops in addition to the EAP service offered by Spectrum Life.
In addition, the Student Union have a dedicated Welfare Officer - http://collegeroad.ie/welfare/
See attachment for further information.
Does the institution prohibit smoking within all occupied buildings owned or leased by the institution?:
Does the institution restrict outdoor smoking?:
Does the institution prohibit smoking and tobacco use across the entire campus?:
A copy of the institution's smoke-free policy:
The institution’s smoke-free policy:
UCC Smoking Policy
As and from the 29th March 2004, under public health legislation, smoking is prohibited in all University buildings and enclosed workplaces including University vehicles. This applies to all persons.
The limited exceptions as specified in Section 47 of the Public Health Tobacco Regulations (current edition) also operates. Details are available from the Office of Tobacco Control and the Health & Safety Authority.
Note: This policy also covers e-vapour smoking/vaping
Website URL where information about the institution’s wellness programs is available:
Additional documentation to support the submission:
Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
The information presented here is self-reported. While AASHE staff review portions of all STARS reports and institutions are welcome to seek additional forms of review, the data in STARS reports are not verified by AASHE. If you believe any of this information is erroneous or inconsistent with credit criteria, please review the process for inquiring about the information reported by an institution or simply email your inquiry to stars@aashe.org.