Today, 12 March, the Vice-Chancellor wrote to all staff. You can read his email in full:
As the UK took its first tentative steps out of lockdown this week, we welcomed back around 200 students for in-person teaching. The students on practice-based courses joined those in Education and Social Work and the medical school, who have been allowed to learn on campus throughout the lockdown.
Even though the numbers are small for now, we continue to take every precaution to ensure a safe learning and working environment, with measures including a cleaning task force regularly sanitising high-touch areas and testing available for all on site. We are encouraging students and staff on campus to take a test every three to five days.
I cannot thank enough those staff who continue to work around the clock to prepare our campus every day and make sure things run safely and smoothly. I was delighted then to have the opportunity last week to present (virtually) certificates to our security team, awarded by their professional body, the Association of University Chief Security Officers (AUCSO). Richard Walker was nominated as Security Officer of the Year and he and his colleagues were also nominated for Security Team of the Year at AUCSO’s annual awards. The nominations are well deserved for the way the team have managed their increased workloads in the past year and focused their energies to give our students on campus the best possible support.
Nearly a year after the UK first went into lockdown, the difficulties in balancing competing workloads continue to pile up. Just this week saw the resignation of Emma Hardie MP as Shadow Education Secretary, citing the increased demands on her time from constituents affected by Covid-19. She has been replaced in her shadow role by Matt Western, MP for Warwick and Leamington. We look forward to working with Mr Western on the many issues facing our sector and wish Ms Hardie all the best.
It is notable that Ms Hardie’s resignation came on International Women’s Day, ending a brief period when all Government and shadow ministerial posts covering HE were held by women. The theme of this year’s IWD was ‘Choose to Challenge’, a spirit closely aligned to Sussex’s and embodied by many of our excellent colleagues. Our resident writer Jacqui Bealing interviewed four women academics at Sussex for a special IWD feature. All four are actively challenging laws, perceptions or behaviours to bring about change and I strongly encourage you to read their reflections.
The above examples show the power that we all have to make a positive change in the world. This ability crystallises when individuals come together to make a collective contribution to their field. This is very much the case with Development Studies at the University of Sussex, which has been named number one in the world for the fifth year running, again muscling out the likes of Harvard and Oxford to the top spot. The critical mass of development experts across our School of Global Studies, the Business School, our partner IDS and a number of other units at Sussex is indisputably world-leading and their continued success is a source of pride for the whole University.
Given this, I was alarmed to receive a letter from UKRI yesterday morning which set out how they will have to respond to the cuts in the aid budget. The schemes affected include all GCRF programmes, ESRC-FCOD programmes and some Newton Fund programmes, as well as a small number of others. UKRI does not have the funds it needs to meet its current funding commitments. The scale of their challenge is momentous and they expect to reprofile and reduce existing grants, with a view to supporting current longer-term awards to “remain active” and to continue to operate into future years; whilst some grants that are part way through will be terminated. Any submitted proposals which don’t have a contract will be disregarded. We don’t yet have any further details and I expect some granular conversations around specific grants. We will, of course, involve the Principal Investigators as soon and as much as we can.
If you are interested in learning more about the many ways in which Sussex is engaging on a global scale, I recommend that you take some time to look over our new Global Engagement Review. The publication is both an eye-opening look into the breadth and scale of our international activities and a heartening vision for a more hopeful and resilient future for our world.
You will remember that I wrote at length last week about the challenges facing the USS pension scheme and the current valuation process. This week, I co-signed with Alistair Jarvis, Chief Executive of Universities UK, and Julia Buckingham, UUK’s President, a letter to the USS Trustee requesting a review of the 2020 valuation approach. I did so in my role as Chair of the Employers Pensions Forum but of course my concerns are mirrored in my role as Sussex’s Vice-Chancellor.
Finally, I learned this week that Sir Leslie Fielding, who was Sussex’s Vice-Chancellor between 1987 and 1992, died on 4 March. I never met Sir Leslie but I know that there will be colleagues at Sussex who do remember him and would have stories to share. Sussex continued to be a part of Sir Leslie’s life after he left and he returned to campus on numerous occasions, including for the University’s 50th anniversary celebrations in 2012. I have sent my condolences to his family on behalf of the University community.
With best wishes
Adam