Ethics and Values

NTU supports staff and student partnerships with local communities for sustainable development.

NTU's Sustainability Team has, as part of Enterprise Week, sponsored a ‘Green Dragon’ award for several years in order to encourage students to embed sustainability into their business.

NTU follow guidance on the UKCISA website for student fee classification. NTU offers a discretionary student hardship fund and has an Equal Access Agreement. As outlined in the Equal Access Agreement, NTU also provide 2 ‘Article 26’ Scholarships. NTU also has a ‘Success for All’ initiative.

Our Access and Participation plan reflects how NTU supports students with finance. Furthermore our Bursaries and Scholarship statement reflects our efforts to ensure all students have access to some funding including asylum seekers, those granted status as a result of an asylum claim, and those from forced migrant backgrounds.

The Embracing Sustainability strategy is developed and monitored by the Chief Operating Officer, who oversees the university's strategic direction and ambition in Sustainability.

The Carbon Programme Group is a which board comprises representation from all areas, including Academic, Research, Learning and Teaching, Students' Union and Estates for our Net Zero 2040 Target.

Funding for the Embracing Sustainability strategy and Net Zero comes from a number of sources, these include the the Strategic Investment Fund, capital and long term maintenance budgets, as well as funded programmes such as Sustainability in Enterprise. The Sustainability Team has a stand alone, ring fenced, yearly budget for staff and sustainability projects which also contributes to the funding of the Embracing Sustainability strategy and Net Zero. In 2022/2023 £1 million was dedicated to achieving NZC 2040.

The University is committed to taking a sustainable approach to its purchasing activity. The University's Executive Team endorsed the Sustainable Procurement Policy Statement in 2021, which outlines how we aim to embed sustainability into our purchasing activity.

The Sustainability Team works closely with NTU Procurement to provide specifications and criteria to be included during the tender process, particularly in high impact areas such as travel and transport, food and construction. The team also provide  guidance, tool kits and useful web links so that staff can give due consideration to the sustainable impacts of their purchasing activity when making purchasing decisions.

Supply Chain

In line with our environmental and societal objectives, suppliers who have been part of a successful tender process are required to sign up to the NETpositive Supplier Engagement Tool and Net Zero Carbon Supplier Tool. These tools  help to drive a more sustainable supply chain.

The North Eastern Universities Purchasing Consortium Ltd (NEUPC) has recently become fully affiliated with Electronics Watch (EW) on behalf of its membership. As a member of the NEUPC, NTU now has full access to EW, which is an independent organization dedicated to promoting labour rights in the global electronics industry through responsible public purchasing

Investments

NTU recognises its responsibility to operate in an ethical manner and take account of social, environmental and ethical considerations in all activities, including financial investment. Our Treasury Management Policy includes a section on Ethical Investment and states that "the University will consider ethical implications of investments alongside commercial opportunities".

View NTU's Ethical Investment Policy

In April 2019, NTU signed the Fossil Fuel Declaration, affirming that NTU holds no investments in extractor fossil fuel companies, and it will never invest in these companies.

A list of all investments is included in the University’s Accounts which are published annually and publicly available online.

NTU's investments and investment policy are reviewed at least annually by the Finance Committee and approved by the Board of Governors. Implementation and progress towards Ethical Investment Policy objectives are evaluated at least annually at the Strategy, Policy, Finance and Resources Committee. View an extract of the minutes of the Strategy, Policy, Finance and Resources Committee meeting.

Stakeholders have the opportunity of expressing their views and concerns about the investments NTU hold to the Finance Committee by emailing the Sustainability Team.