Dame Denise Holt, Chair of Council
I appreciate that you have been hearing a lot from me during the Covid-19 pandemic. Council continues to hold fortnightly informal briefings and although there may not always be significant developments from week to week, I do feel it’s important to keep you in the picture with what Council (the University’s governing body) is hearing and saying.
At our meeting last Friday, I reported that Sussex’s finances continue to be sound for this academic year, with no change in the status of the dashboard metrics that we consider. Council was briefed about a recent report commissioned by one of the campus trade unions about the University’s finances. It’s always good to learn more about the state of our finances, and to understand the wider context in which we are working. However, although the report is accurate in part, it also makes some incorrect assertions. For example, its observations on the University’s creditor arrangements are not based on commercial reality. I strongly suggest that you look at the information provided by Finance Director, Allan Spencer, which explains the position very clearly. The report also significantly underplays the role of Council and its Committees in scrutinising the institution’s strategy, growth, capital projects, loans and budget.
The role of the governing body is critical in all major University decisions, as is the responsibility that we hold in carrying out our duties as Trustees of the institution. As their biographies show, our fantastic independent Council members come from a wide variety of professional backgrounds, with very senior level experience in the public, private and third sectors. They include devoted alumni and former staff and all have been through a rigorous selection process in order to give generously of their knowledge, their experience and their time on a pro bono basis. Our staff and student representatives, chosen by you, play an invaluable role in keeping Council and its Committees sighted on matters that concern the community.
My personal confidence in the way the Executive manages our finances, and the quality of decision making at Sussex, received a further boost last week, when I learned that the webinars that the Director of Finance has been running were commended by the Associate of University Directors of Estates as being an excellent, clear and accessible analyses of the challenges that universities face. If you haven’t already seen these, it is worth taking time to do so.
Alongside an update on finances, Council received an update on the University’s major Estates projects. You will know that some projects, which had already started, will be delivered in the coming months. The University is expecting 500 bedrooms to be completed in August, as part of the East Slope residences, and that we will soon be at the next stage of fit out for the Student Centre. In addition, West Slope residences will continue at a minimal project level, although we have delayed any construction until at least next year.
The Chair of the Capital Projects Committee for Council, Professor Steve Caddick, summed it up best when he commented that despite all that is going on it's important that we retain our commitment to build a better future for the University. In my own view, whilst the next nine months may not be the time to carry on with major projects in the same way (due to the need to see how our finances will evolve), we do know that students (and staff) will want to come to a university that have great facilities and that meets their student experience needs. Council concurs with the Executive on the need for prudence, and to conserve cash, but also believes that we need to hold our nerve and understand how we can balance today’s challenges with the demands of our future students and staff.
The need to meet student expectations featured strongly at a recent briefing for University Chairs, where a speaker from UCAS gave a presentation on student recruitment. Although she reported that, overall, applications were up on last year (not our experience at Sussex), she also noted that students were more hesitant than usual about accepting offers, with number of concerns predominating, including the quality of online learning and worries over their student experience in the uncertain months ahead. The UCAS message was that students will need more reassurance and support than usual. So it was very pleasing (though not surprising) to hear of Sussex’s focus on providing just such reassuring and caring messages to our prospective students. Demand may be down at this point, but it's clear that a huge amount of work is going on to convert offers, leaving no stone unturned. I would like to send my thanks to all those professional services and academic colleagues who are working so hard and imaginatively to deliver on these very pressing and much needed student numbers.
There will be one more informal briefing in June, before the full Council meeting in early July. I look forward to sharing more reflections with you soon.
Denise Holt
Chair of Council