Rosemary Martin, Chair of Council
I was very pleased to read Dame Denise Holt’s warm words announcing my appointment as her successor as Chair of the University of Sussex Council, and I have decided to follow in her footsteps and produce an update for staff after each full Council meeting. I hope these notes will be helpful to give you an overview of what Council discusses and to update you on any key decisions we make.
Our final full Council meeting of the academic year took place on Friday 14 July. Council met for dinner the preceding evening, which gave us the chance to bid a proper farewell to Denise and thank her for her excellent chairing. We also enjoyed an inspiring visit to the School of Mathematical and Physical Sciences, as part of an ongoing tour around the Schools. These visits are helping us to understand more about the day-to-day academic operations of the University and it has been really fascinating to find out more about your work.
Move to faculty structure approved
The main discussion point of our meeting was the Vice-Chancellor's proposal to change the academic structure of the University to a faculty model. Sasha presented the case for change and briefed us on the consultation process with academic Schools, the professional services, the three recognised trade unions and the Students’ Union. It was clear the proposal had received support from many colleagues, but it was also recognised that some parts of the University have reservations about the change. Sasha provided us with her considered responses to the concerns and questions that had been raised as part of consultation process.
Council agreed that the consultation process had been extensive. We all appreciated the transparency afforded by the detail shared with us, including Senate’s feedback and full reports from all the consultation meetings held with Schools.
Council recognised that, unsurprisingly, there was not consensus amongst the University community on the proposed change, but after a full discussion of the proposal we agreed with the Vice-Chancellor that a change in the academic organisation of the University with a move to faculty structure is in the best interests of the University. Now that the change has been approved, Sasha will share more information with you all on the next steps.
Strategy planning for next academic year
It is an exciting time for us all, as Council and the wider University community start to consider our new strategy, which will replace Sussex 2025. Council is having a strategy planning session in September, after which a consultation will start around the University, and you will be able to take part in a range of ways in the process of developing the new strategy.
Sharing key University news – report from the Vice-Chancellor
The Vice-Chancellor brings a formal report to every Council meeting, and you can read her written report on Sussex Direct. Amongst other updates, Sasha gave us some good news about the improvement in the QS World University Ranking (up 22 places in 2024), and ‘hot off the press’ improvements in graduate outcomes, as well as an improved response rate in the National Student Survey. She also gave us an update on the impact of the national marking and assessment boycott, and the impact on Sussex students, particularly finalists.
Reports from committees
Every meeting, Council has a number of reports from key committees which are led by Council Members. During this meeting we heard from the Student Experience Committee, the Remuneration Committee, the Chair’s Committee, the Strategy and Performance Committee, the Finance and Resources Committee and the Audit and Risk Committee. As part of this round of reports, we were delighted to approve Kate O’Riordan’s appointment as the new Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Education & Students).
The longest discussion in this part of the meeting was around the Finance and Resources Committee report, and as part of this, Council approved the Annual Capital Delivery Plan for the next academic year. The annual plan contains all of the University's major projects for next year, and the Chief Operating Officer, Tim Westlake, will share more information with staff on the contents of that, now that Council has approved it.
We also approved the tuition fee framework and accommodation rents for 24/25, and agreed to continue to work towards completing the negotiation phase ahead of the full delivery of the West Slope project, although the real-world costs of this are inevitably rising as inflation rises.
Bidding farewell to Council members
There are some changes happening on Council as our Professional Services representative, Max O’Donnell-Savage, has served his term and will be succeeded by Pippa Robinson. Alison Haigh-Davies is, sadly, leaving us to move to Australia with her family. Council thanked both Alison and Max for their input as Council members.
I hope you have found this update helpful, and remind you that you can explore the full Council papers via Sussex Direct. I am considering ways to help staff understand more about the workings of Council, so if you have any thoughts you would like to share with me, please do send me a message via the Internal Comms team at: internalcomms@sussex.ac.uk.