All

I write this as I am preparing to leave my office and like all of you, I don’t quite know when I will be back. And for all of us, I think that’s quite a strange feeling. As a University, we are in amazingly good shape in terms of all the preparations that have been made over the past few weeks and I’m really grateful to you all for your support, your engagement and your willingness to tackle what really is an unprecedented situation. There has been some very impressive teamwork, genuine care and concern for others and some very agile working. And I really appreciate your willingness to understand and accept some massive uncertainties. Those uncertainties continue but I remain optimistic about our ability to cope and our ability to deliver in these trying circumstances.

For now, please stay safe, look after yourselves and your families and friends. Keep active, keep looking out for each other and keep smiling! I don’t want to repeat any of the messages that you have already seen (although I am sharing a more formal “official” note at the bottom of this message.). I will keep you informed as much and as often as I can (while trying not to completely fill up your mail boxes). If you need anything in terms of information, actions etc, please let me know, although I may not be able to do much about toilet rolls J

Take care and I’ll see you all for the “back to work” party that Stuart has promised – we’ll all be ready for that! And I remain optimistic that this will be sooner rather than later………..

Cheers

Chris

Formal message to our teams

Dear all

We have a further update about the steps being taken to mitigate the impact of Covid-19 and continue to protect the welfare of our staff, students and visitors. All staff and students will now have received this update from Stuart – confirming that in order to adapt to the changing circumstances and continue to protect our community welfare, we will now move to online working and virtual operations from home until further notice, from 00.01 on Monday 23 March 2020. The University is in the process of mapping critical services that need to stay operating on campus and we will see a temporary reduction in some University activities in order to enable us to focus on our most critical work and wellbeing.

There is much uncertainty, and there will be more guidance and opportunity for engagement to come in the coming weeks. At times like this, we must maintain our shared purpose, our connectivity and look after one another and I’m hugely grateful for your understanding and support. To continue to stay informed, please use www.warwick.ac.uk/coronavirus

Professor Christine Ennew OBE