EQUAL OPPORTUNITIES: CONFIDENTIAL STAFF SURVEY SUPPLEMENT (1) TO NO. 4365 MONDAY, 29 MAY 1995 Council has authorised a confidential staff survey, and within the next three weeks all staff will receive a questionnaire, a specimen of which is annexed. The survey is important, and Council hopes that all staff will co-operate in making it as complete as possible. The survey is designed to provide comprehensive information on the sex, marital status, ethnic origin, and any disability, of all university staff. This notice gives advance notice of the survey, and aims to answer any questions individuals may have about why it is being carried out and how it will be conducted. Why carry out a survey? ---First and foremost, to enable the University to pursue its equal opportunities policy more effectively. For that purpose the University needs reliable information about the distribution of men and women, ethnic minorities, and people with disabilities throughout the organisation; ---to enable the University to meet its objectives under its membership of the equal-opportunities campaign Opportunity 2000; ---because it is a requirement of the codes of practice issued by the Commission for Racial Equality and the Equal Opportunities Commission, under the Race Relations Act 1976 and the Sex Discrimination Act 1975, to collect such information; ---because the University is legally required to supply such information (in anonymous form) to the Higher Education Statistics Agency; ---to prepare for the new Disability Discrimination Bill; ---to identify specific needs which staff with disabilities may have; ---to enable the University to be able to defend itself against any possible complaints of unlawful discrimination on grounds of race, sex, or marriage. What will the information be used for? The information supplied will be used in support of the University's equal opportunities policy in the following ways: ---to compare the University's staff composition with the composition of the relevant working populations, and with that of other universities. This will help the University to see whether it faces any particular concerns in relation to under- or over-representation of any groups; ---to provide a `snapshot' against which to measure any changes in the composition of the University's staff. This will help the University to see whether its equal opportunities initiatives are actually working; ---to enable the University to identify any specific grades, overall categories of staff, or departments, where particular groups are concentrated or under-represented. Further investigation may then show whether there are any particular reasons for this, and whether action needs to be taken. Who will have access to the records? Access will be very strictly limited and controlled. Staff will be asked to return their questionnaire directly to the University's Equal Opportunities Officer. Returned questionnaires will be entered on a database which will be accessible only to a restricted number of named individuals within the University's central offices. Reports will be produced from the database for university committees or external authorities (e.g. industrial tribunals or the Higher Education Statistics Agency); these will be of a statistical nature by which individuals will not be identifiable. It is essential that the survey results are kept up to date. To enable this to be done, a unique serial number will appear on each questionnaire, so that, if an individual moves posts within the University, or moves from full- to part-time working (or vice versa), or if his or her marital status changes, the relevant details can be transferred from the university payroll. Can members of staff check what information is held about them? Yes. Staff may wish to know the details of their own record and the serial number will enable us to supply these on request. Is filling in the questionnaire compulsory? If not, how important is it? Completion of the questionnaire is voluntary. However the information to be gathered is essential to the University's ability to manage its equal opportunities policy, and if everyone completes and returns his or her questionnaire this will make a real difference. It is hoped that staff will be willing, therefore, to take the short time necessary to complete and return their questionnaires. What can I do to get further information? It is hoped that this notice has answered any concerns you may have about the survey. But if you have further questions or worries, you should contact your faculty board secretary or departmental administrator in the first instance, or the University's Equal Opportunities Officer, Rebecca Nestor, on (2)70083. A series of four seminars has also been arranged for the following dates: Friday 2 June, 2.00-3.00 pm, Meeting Room, Level 4, John Radcliffe Hospital; Wednesday 7 June, 4.00-5.00 pm, Seminar Room, New Chemistry Laboratory, South Parks Road; Friday 9 June, 8.30-9.30 am, room 314, University Offices, Wellington Square; Wednesday 14 June, 12.00-1.00 pm, Seminar Room, Department of Pharmacology, Mansfield Road. All staff are welcome to attend these seminars, which will provide an opportunity to hear more about the aims of the survey and how it will work, and to ask any questions you may have. ANNEXE SPECIMEN [serial no.] EQUAL OPPORTUNITIES: STAFF SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRE Please answer the questions by ticking the appropriate box. 1. Are you: Female Male 2. Are you: Married Not married (`Not married' includes single, widowed, and divorced.) 3. Do you consider yourself to have a disability? Yes No Note. If you have answered `yes' to question 3, please read the enclosed additional sheet which invites you, if you wish, to give further details which may help the University to provide adequate support for your particular needs. 4. If you answered `yes' to question 3, are you a Registered Disabled Person? Yes No 5. Please describe your ethnic origin. (Ethnic origin questions are not about nationality, place of birth, or citizenship. They are about colour and ethnic group. UK citizens may belong to any of the groups indicated. The ethnic origin categories used here are based on the 1991 census of the population and are those required by the Higher Education Statistics Agency.) White Indian Black (Caribbean) Pakistani Black (African) Bangladeshi Black (other) Chinese Asian (other) Other If you ticked `Black (other)', `Asian (other)', or `other' please give details here: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Thank you for completing this questionnaire. Please return it in the envelope provided. SPECIMEN EMPLOYEES WITH DISABILITIES If you answered `yes' to question 3 on the Staff Survey Questionnaire, you are invited to use this form to give additional information which may help the University to provide any specific support you may require because of your disability. If you answered `no' to that question (i.e. you are not disabled), you do not need to complete this form. Important note. This form is NOT anonymous. Please give your name, work address, and (if possible) a contact telephone number in the box below. This is so that, if you describe a need you have which is not being met at present, the University's Committee for Disabled People can try to help. The information you supply on this form will be kept completely separate from the information you supplied on the Staff Survey Questionnaire. THIS FORM IS AVAILABLE IN LARGE PRINT OR ON TAPE IF REQUIRED Name Work address Telephone 1. Type of disability Please tick one box to describe your disability: Blind/partially sighted Deaf/hard of hearing Wheelchair user Other mobility impairment Dyslexia Mental health difficulties Unseen disability (e.g. diabetes) Two or more disabilities (please describe) Other disability (please describe) SPECIMEN 2. Equipment or support (a) Do you need any special equipment or other support because of your disability, in order to do your job effectively? Yes/No (please delete as appropriate) (b) If you answered `yes' to (a) above, please describe the equipment or support you need. (c) If you answered `yes' to (a) above, is the equipment or support already provided? Yes/No (please delete as appropriate) 3. Access (a) Do you consider your place of work to be readily accessible to you? Yes/No (please delete as appropriate) (b) If you answered `no' to (a) above, please say how your place of work could be made more accessible to you. Thank you for completing this form. Please return it with your completed Staff Survey Questionnaire in the envelope provided.