I am pleased to share the Education and Student Life strategic plan with colleagues across the University. This plan is a central part of our new strategy, Sussex 2035: Creating Progressive Futures – flourishing, sustainability and progress for the whole world and a key driver of our recovery and rebuilding priorities over the next three years. The plan responds to concerns and priorities raised by staff and students through the engagement that informed the strategy, and through proposals and ideas submitted about how we should approach the challenges of student recruitment as part of our ‘recovery and rebuilding.’ It is pro-active in relation to immediate developments, including financial constraint, sector changes post-COVID 19, and generative AI.
At its core, this plan is about students - who we attract to Sussex, how they experience their time here, and what they can achieve during - and after - their studies. It supports our aim to make Sussex ‘a first-choice university for ambitious, creative, and forward-thinking students and staff’ (Sussex 2035). If we get education and student life right, we strengthen recruitment, improve retention, build our reputation, and create a Sussex education that students are proud to both choose and talk about.
Success will be felt in very practical ways:
- More students from a wide range of backgrounds choosing Sussex
- Better experiences of teaching, assessment, support and belonging
- Stronger continuation, completion, and graduate outcomes
- A clearer sense, for students, staff, and the world beyond the University, of what makes a Sussex education distinctive and valuable.
This work does not sit in one team or one plan. Every colleague, in faculties and professional services, plays a part in shaping the student journey - from that very first enquiry, through to graduation - and beyond. Our taught portfolio of courses, academic framework, services and systems for students, our campus estate, careers advice, wellbeing and community all contribute to whether students feel supported, challenged, and able to thrive.
Over the coming years, we will focus on consistency, clarity and continuous improvement, using external and internal evidence and student voice to guide us.
Working together, we can deliver a student experience that supports recovery now, strengthens our reputation, and lays firm foundations for Sussex 2035.
This is a shared endeavour, and one where the impact of our collective efforts will be felt most clearly in the lives of our students.