On Tuesday 12 July, Interim Vice-Chancellor David Maguire wrote to all staff. You can read the message below:
Dear colleague,
Those of you who have been attending or watching our Graduation ceremonies at the Brighton Centre will, like me, be feeling uplifted by the emotional scenes. Our students, especially those whose ceremonies were postponed because of the pandemic, have been thrilled to be given the experience. Sussex is among just a few universities giving those who completed their courses in 2020 and 2021 the opportunity to be gowned-up and applauded. We have seen tears of joy among students, guests and members of our staff. Again, I want to thank all of those who are helping during the ceremonies as well as those who assisted in the preparations for this three-week celebration. We must acknowledge all the hard work that has led to this, especially by our teams in Communications, Marketing and Advancement, and Student Experience.
We know our students have a fantastic time at our Graduations, which are often acknowledged to be among the very best in the sector. Of course, we want our students to feel that their entire Sussex experience has been phenomenal. This continues to be our focus.
The latest National Student Survey results are now in and represent a mixed picture for Sussex. There are pockets of excellent practice in some subject and thematic areas. For example, for ‘overall satisfaction’, English Language and Linguistics, and Art History each scored 100 % and are ranked top in the country, while Pharmacy, Physical Geography, and Biochemistry were all rated above 90%. But there are too many areas where we must do better. I am pleased to say we have seen improvements in Assessment and Feedback (up nine places) and Student Voice (rising seven places). Our Overall Satisfaction rating places us at 61st – up from 62nd last year. So, while we are seeing improvements, we must work smarter and harder to provide an outstanding student experience and help us achieve our target ranking of 25th. Our teams will be working on enhancement plans for the next academic year.
We have also approved a refresh of our Inclusive Sussex strategy, which aims to give all members of our community equal opportunities. The main development of the refresh has been to add a fifth goal, Connected Sussex, to our strategy. This plan will bring together a range of programmes that can build good relations within our community
I am pleased to say that our ambitions, particularly in creating an inclusive culture, firmly align with those of Universities UK (UUK). Last week our University Executive Group welcomed to campus Chris Hale, the interim Chief Executive of UUK, who is also a Sussex alumnus. UUK is firmly focussed on promoting equality, diversity and inclusion in universities, and we will be working closely with them.
In addition, we have approved the development of a new Student Information System (SIS), which will enhance user (staff and student) experiences, provide an accurate system of record, support the lifecycle of operational activities associated with students’ educational pursuit, provide a means for intelligent reporting, and offer compliance with relevant legislation and regulations.
We know that Sussex remains a popular choice among students. Our current applications figures are looking good and our overseas postgraduate applications are the highest they have been since 2017. We now want to ensure students’ time at Sussex is the best it can be, from the very beginning to way beyond Graduation.
Warm regards,
David Maguire
Interim vice-Chancellor