Support for students and colleagues affected by recent events in Israel, Palestine, and the Middle East

This will be a stressful and worrying time for many in our community and outlined below is information on the support that is available to our students and colleagues, which we would encourage you to access, should you need to.

Wellbeing support for students

If you need support, or someone to talk to, please do get in touch with Wellbeing Services in Exeter and Cornwall for support and guidance; they are here to help.

The Students’ Guild in Exeter and Students’ Union in Cornwall are also here to support members of our student community who are affected. They are reaching out to societies and communities to see how they can best support them at this time and encourage any students to contact them if they are in need or have suggestions for how best to assist them.

Wellbeing support for colleagues

If you are directly or indirectly affected by these events, you can contact our Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) counselling service, Spectrum Life, through a new support line (0800 6525008), which has been set up to provide dedicated support to colleagues at this difficult time. Information about this service can be found via this webpage.

General information about Spectrum Life, as well as information about other internal and external support, can also be found on our Colleague Wellbeing and Occupational Health webpages.

How to report

We urge anyone who has witnessed or experienced any form of abuse to use the Exeter Speaks Out tool to report incidents.

Our campus security teams are mobile, response-based services covering all aspects of security, safety and welfare for staff and students on our campuses. They are available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

Estate Patrol on our Exeter campuses

• Routine: 01392 723999
• Emergency: 01392 722222

The Safety and Support Team on our Penryn campus

• 24-hour contact number 01326 254444

Remember: if you are in an emergency, call 999 and ask for the appropriate service

You can also contact security directly through the SafeZone app. The app is available to all Exeter students and colleagues and makes it easier for you to contact Security directly from your phone.

You can report hate crime to the Police here.

In addition to the support outlined above, UBUNTU is a counselling service that offers multicultural counselling, support and education. They aim to provide a holistic and evidence-based, multicultural counselling service for all communities across Devon and further afield.

If your studies, including examinations and assessments, are affected by your personal circumstances, then the Mitigation process is here to support you. Mitigation works by giving you extra time to complete your assignments, or the chance to take your exam later in the year.

Inbound travel

For those of our community currently studying or working in affected areas, please read the information below about the steps we strongly recommend you should be taking, to help ensure your safety. We will be updating these pages should the situation change, so please return regularly to read any updates.

The FCDO advises against all travel to parts of Israel, parts of The Occupied Palestinian Territories, and Lebanon. Consequently, we strongly recommend that all students on placement, and colleagues working in these areas, return to their home countries as soon as possible, where it is safe to do so.

The University will facilitate travel from the affected areas to home countries, but you are welcome to make your own arrangements sooner if you wish.

Support from the University will be available to facilitate your return. Should you require this, please contact insurance@exeter.ac.uk.

For those currently overseas and requiring assistance, the University’s travel insurer is AIG who can be contacted on +44 (0)1273 552 922.  Please provide the policy number: 0010628173.

Outbound travel

It is imperative that you keep the travel team informed of your travel plans so we can ensure we hold the most up to date information and can support you accordingly: please email outbound@exeter.ac.uk to share your details and please monitor your Exeter inbox and notify us immediately if we should contact you at a different email address.

You must also speak to your supervisor or line manager and must complete a risk assessment before travelling.  This risk assessment should be sent to the Insurance Office insurance@exeter.ac.uk and travel details entered online here, to ensure you have travel insurance in place.

We appreciate this may be a difficult time for University of Exeter students studying and/or working abroad.

If you would like to discuss your options or raise any concerns regarding your placement, please contact outbound@exeter.ac.uk in the first instance.

We are committed to the protection of freedom of speech and academic freedom, alongside our duty of care to our community. Speakers and events play an integral role in our academic environment and can be a valuable platform for colleagues and students alike.

We are committed to protecting the right to debate openly and freely, and we will always seek for such events to go ahead providing they are carried out safely, respectfully and within the law.

Further information can be found in our Freedom of Speech Policy, which was developed in partnership with the Students’ Guild in Exeter and the Students’ Union in Cornwall, and our Agreement on Academic Freedom, which was developed in partnership with the University and College Union (University of Exeter branch).

Students and colleagues who are organising any event on our campuses, online, or elsewhere in the community must ensure a suitable and sufficient risk assessment is in place. Where risks have been identified, the event manager will ensure that action is taken to eliminate, reduce or control the risks so that it is as low as is reasonably practicable and the control measures are documented in this risk assessment.

The processes outlined are in place to ensure the smooth running of the event and we will support you through the process of completing the risk assessment, once it has initially been submitted.

Process for colleagues and students organising events not-affiliated to a student society (Guild and/or SU)

An event risk assessment template is recommended for use by the event manager. Note: If you have speakers at your event, the University Speakers and Events Policy (Exeter) / Speakers and Events Process (Cornwall) must be followed, including risk assessment and approval of your speakers.

Following completion of the risk assessment, please ensure you send it to relevant parties, as outlined on the risk assessment form. Please also ensure you take note of the deadlines involved in submitting the completed risk assessments so we have enough time to fully consider the risk and mitigation measures and can ensure all events run smoothly for those attending, as well as for all other users of our campuses. 

Where actions are identified by the risk assessment an action plan will be created and a lead person(s) assigned to ensure that all actions are undertaken.

Where there are actions in the action plan that cannot be fully resolved, the event manager must escalate within their management structure to seek support. The line manager must establish under what circumstances the event can proceed, or not, based on discussions with the event manager and other key people as appropriate.

The risk assessment must be treated as a ‘live’ document and be updated when actions in the action plan are complete.

For further guidance on risk assessments please visit the Event Management Standard or contact safety@exeter.ac.uk.

Process for students organising events affiliated to a student society (Guild and/or SU)

Student events should follow the External Speaker Framework of the Exeter Students’ Guild in Exeter, or complete a risk assessment as advised by the SU in Cornwall.

Following completion of the risk assessment and other relevant paperwork, please send or upload it as outlined in the relevant process: Exeter via the ‘Student Leaders Portal’ on Memplus and for Cornwall to activities@thesu.org.uk.

Please ensure you also send a copy of the risk assessment to all other relevant parties, as outlined on the risk assessment form. Please also take note of the deadlines involved in submitting the completed risk assessments so we have enough time to fully consider the risk and mitigation measures and can ensure all events run smoothly for those attending, as well as for all other users of our campuses.

Where actions are identified by the risk assessment an action plan will be created and a lead person(s) assigned to ensure that all actions are undertaken.

Where there are actions in the action plan that cannot be fully resolved, the event manager must escalate within their management structure to seek support. The line manager must establish under what circumstances the event can proceed, or not, based on discussions with the event manager and other key people as appropriate.

The risk assessment must be treated as a ‘live’ document and be updated when actions in the action plan are complete.

For further guidance on risk assessments please visit the Event Management Standard or contact safety@exeter.ac.uk.