Report and Support Second ReportUpdates to the Report and Support System from September 2021 to end of August 2022

In response to suggestions and conversations with students and staff at the Fora, colleagues have updated and developed the following features, at times utilising support from Culture Shift, the organisation that developed and maintains Report and Support:

• To make the process more understanding and sensitive to the likelihood that reporters are sharing distressing information, we reordered the questions so that ‘Tell us what happened’ is now the first question.
• We included additional text within the report process to provide or signpost support. For example, “we understand this may be difficult to think about, so please only recount whatever details you feel comfortable to share.”
• We added reporting outcomes to reflect the work of Student Services, Conduct and HR more accurately. Outcomes now include ‘Support received,’ ‘Support offered – no reply’ and ‘Information passed to relevant staff.’
• We gave each report a reference number, visible on screen when the report is submitted, so that reporters can maintain their anonymity and check on progress by quoting the reference number when calling Student Services, Conduct or Human Resources to discuss their report.
• Students or staff reporting anonymously can now switch to named reporting without losing the information already shared.
• To gain a more comprehensive understanding of the experiences being reported, from end of May 2022, reporters can choose as many categories as necessary, previously they were limited to one specific category.
• There is now an option to simplify the process by submitting reports without answering questions related to data collection.
• Street Harassment and Hate Crime support documents are in development and will be available in spring 2023.
• In response to ‘Other’ being the most frequently selected category for describing the situation the report relates to, we added four new categories:

• Racism

  We introduced the racism category at end of May 2022. This category enables reporters to voice their experiences and to help the University to understand more of the lived experiences of students and staff, to investigate and provide support.

  A video was produced by students and staff with an introduction by The Principal, Professor Dame Sally Mapstone. This video explores the ways that racism manifests and provides examples of how it can be experienced, challenged and reported.

  A Listening Guide is located in the section on Racism Support. It is designed for those wanting to support people who have experienced racism. We produced the guide with input from student representatives and staff. It includes advice on how to listen to those who have experienced racism. We are adapting this guide to make it relevant for all categories in 2023.

• Drink Spiking

  In response to feedback from students, to learn more about the frequency and impact of drink spiking behaviour and to facilitate bringing this behaviour to light, we developed the Spiking category. The support pages provide a comprehensive resource for accessing support around Spiking.

  In collaboration with the Student Association, guidance offers descriptions about drink spiking, symptoms one might experience, what to do if you think you may have been spiked and what to do if the Spiking involved being assaulted.

• Anti-social behaviour and Safeguarding concerns

  We added categories for Anti-social behaviour and Safeguarding concerns at end of June 2022.