I would like to begin by reaffirming to members the commitment of CHEAD to supporting and building resilience in our sector throughout this difficult period. Our work is guided and underpinned by strong engagement with our members, agile leadership from our Trustees, and effective delivery by our two Directors.
Following feedback from our members at our AGM, we have further developed and planned actions as we seek to demonstrate and promote our value as a sector through advocacy, greater partnership working, and by surveying members to understand and establish their immediate concerns.
We hope that you are continuing to manage the day to day challenges the current situation brings. We are deeply aware of the profound and continuing impact that COVID-19 is having on our members, your students and institutions, and on our industry and cultural partners. We remain firmly committed to demonstrating the value of our participatory networks, navigating the challenges facing our sector, and responding creatively through the ongoing work of CHEAD.
The CHEAD Coronavirus Knowledge Hub provides vital sector support and a perspective specific to our unique circumstances by bringing together guidance, resources and information in one place and is available to all of your team members via the CHEAD website. I know many of you and your colleagues are already using the knowledge hub on a daily basis, and connecting with other members to share concerns, questions and solutions around the current impacts of COVID-19 on your provision.
Furthermore, to provide further peer support, you are now able to join the CHEAD membership discussion forum via the CHEAD Knowledge Hub and share any issues with the wider membership community. Current discussion topics include assessment, graduate shows, online learning, applied subjects and research. We invite members to join the conversation, post questions, and to share their institutional approaches on the wide range of topics for discussion, sense-checking, and exchange.
We aim to continue to be approachable and supportive and to ensure that we are member-led in our actions and responses; to that end, we have issued a survey to members to help us focus our short-term projects and activities. We are pleased that one of these projects will be to work with the Crafts Council to support crafts and design graduates in showcasing their work to support employability and in connecting with the marketplace.
Without the active support of our members we would not be able to be so responsive in reflecting the specific issues relating to art, media and design that you wish to be represented effectively on your behalf.
Your membership matters to CHEAD, and I would like to thank you for your continued and collegiate endeavours in working together towards our shared common purpose to ensure a sustainable, vibrant, and meaningful, context and future for art and design higher education in the UK.
Yours sincerely,
Professor Anita Taylor
Chair, CHEAD