Athena Initiative Award

We introduced the Athena Initiative Award to encourage staff and students to send in practical ideas on 'What would make CHE a better place to work'. Submissions are considered by members of the EDAT, and the winners announced at a staff meeting.

Our latest winners are Gillian Robinson and Susan Griffin. Their winning suggestions related to better access to internal doors by moving dip locks and pro-actively considering citizenship roles and maintaining a register of those seeking roles. The EDAT responded by lowering the dip locks and changing to automatic opening doors, improving the accessibility of the entrance. We also record citizenship roles and membership of committees and groups across all staff, and keep a record of those interested in taking on a role, contributing to CHE, the University or an external organisation.

Previous winning suggestions acted on by CHE include a proposal to make more information available on our website about local childcare provision and being family-friendly; and a suggestion that the University IT services’ change to name based email addresses could potentially disadvantage women or men who may choose to change their name.