Professor Kate O'Riordan
Dear Colleagues,
I hope you have been able to take something of a break over the summer, along with supporting and conducting research, recruitment, markingand summer schools. I recognise that uncertainty about what the future holds will be affecting many of you and I would like to reassure you that the leadership team is keenly aware of the impact this is having, and resolved to communicate next steps in early October.
Firstly, as a reminder, there have been some education leadership changes over the summer. Professor Lara McMurtry has started in her new role of Deputy Pro-Vice-Chancellor Education and Students, and Professor Graeme Pedlingham is the new Dean of the Sussex School for Progressive Futures, and Dean of the School for Lifelong Learning and Future Skills (LEaFS). Associate Professor Elizabeth Mills has also started a term of office as the Associate Dean for Education and Students in the Faculty of Social Sciences.
This academic year we will have a dedicated focus on the University-wide Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF) submission, which is due for completion in late autumn 2027. The TEF is the rating by the Office for Students of the quality of universities’ teaching and education, in particular the student experience and students’ outcomes, and at Sussex we have held a silver rating since 2023. It is a crucial measure so we must make our best endeavours for the next submission. Thank you in advance for your support in this.
I am pleased to share the updates below from the Education and Students leadership team, and I hope you find them useful as we start the new academic year. Best of luck with Welcome Week and beyond and thank you for everything you do to make our educational experience unique and transformative.
Resources and training for Course Convenors
Course Convenors are responsible for leading and managing the development, delivery, and evaluation of the courses we run at Sussex. This includes ensuring quality assurance and delivering the best possible experience and outcomes for all students, from induction through to graduation. The new Course Convenor Canvas site supports Convenors to maintain a course-level overview throughout the academic year, aligned with the responsibilities outlined in the Convenor role descriptor. New induction sessions will also be running throughout the year. The next Course Convenor Induction takes place on 7 October, 14:00-15:30, in Arts 2 Lecture Theatre. Invitations will be sent to all Convenors.
Refreshed resources and training for Academic Personal Tutors
Academic Personal Tutors (APTs) help students make the most of their degree and university experience. You can find guidance on the Staff Hub about the role of an APT, how they support students and the training they are advised to complete. APTs are essential in helping students transition into, through and beyond university. The Brief for Course Convenors and Academic Personal Tutors summarises the practical contribution these roles make across the into, through and beyond phases. It is designed as a prompt for local planning rather than a rigid script, allowing activity to remain responsive to discipline, course and student needs. This work supports the new Student Support and Transitions Framework, which gives us a shared way of thinking about how we help students navigate their academic journey at Sussex.
New Advance HE Senior Fellowship Scheme launching
We are excited to announce the launch of our new accredited University of Sussex Advance HE Senior Fellowship Scheme this month. This institutional route allows us to assess and award Senior Fellowship internally, recognising Sussex staff who lead and influence teaching and learning..
Senior Fellowship is open to all academic and professional services colleagues who have a sustained record of leading and influencing teaching and learning and the academic student experience. Whether you want to join our year-long supported cohort, take advantage of our mentoring scheme or fast-track your submission in November, we have flexible options .
The scheme is led by Dr Katie Piatt (Educational Enhancement) and Dr Emily Danvers (Education and Social Work) as Institutional Leads, andchaired by Professor Lara McMurtry (Chair of the Sussex Senior Fellowship Oversight Board, and Deputy Pro-Vice-Chancellor Education and Students).
Please visit our new Senior Fellowship webpage to check your eligibility, explore submission routes and sign up.
Strategic Scholarship Fellows Programme to support staff development and career progression in education
This month, the University is launching the Strategic Scholarship Fellows Programme, giving Education and Scholarship colleagues the opportunity to lead research that directly informs institutional decision-making and student experience enhancement. In its pilot year, the programme focuses on three strategic priorities: career networking, assessment and feedback, and outcomes for students from the most deprived neighbourhoods.
Fellows work in multidisciplinary, cross-Faculty teams to investigate these challenges and develop evidence-informed recommendations for institutional action. Participants receive mentoring, methodological support, access to institutional data, library expertise, and opportunities to connect their work to professional recognition routes, including Senior Fellowship and National Teaching Fellowship applications.
Expressions of interest for this round have now closed, but you can still find out more about this initiative by visiting the Strategic Scholarship Fellows webpage.
Updates from the Educational Enhancement team
From the start of the 2026/27 academic year, Turnitin Feedback Studio will no longer be used for submission, marking, or feedback in Canvas.
We have now migrated to Poll Everywhere 2.0, bringing a refined look and integrations offering a more impactful experience to you and your students through several key improvements. Read the full article for more information.
SAVE THE DATE! The Sussex Education Festival 2027 will be held on Friday 7 May.
Education at Sussex newsletter
As we get ready for the start of a new academic year, we are launching the Education at Sussex newsletter to bring together Education news in one place. Alongside the Education Staff Hub and Learning Matters, this newsletter forms part of our approach to communication across the Education portfolio with the aim of highlighting key headlines, sharing news from across the University, and signposting colleagues to the relevant opportunities, resources and conversations.
Upcoming event: Teaching in the Forest Food Garden
Wednesday 28 October, 1.30pm-3.30pm. Meet at 1.30pm outside Jubilee.
Perpetua Kirby (ESW) and Will Lock (Global) will lead this Pedagogy+ session on teaching in the Forest Food Garden. It will include an overview of what teaching through a campus garden might offer educationally, drawing on research with students. They will share examples of garden teaching practice and invite participants to try out activities themselves. The session will workshop participants’ own teaching interests to explore how they might integrate this into their own garden teaching sessions. The space can be used for teaching broad subjects and topics related to environmental sustainability and human flourishing, not just those that are specifically garden related. We shall meet at 1.30pm outside the Jubilee Building and walk up to the garden together, to explore how a walking pedagogy might also be integrated into the teaching. It’s half-term and children are very welcome to join.
About Pedagogy+
Pedagogy+ sessions are termly events focused on aspects of higher education curricula and pedagogy from the perspectives of teaching academics in different disciplines. The sessions are presented through the University's Centre for Teaching and Learning Research, which welcomes PGCertHE members to its intellectual community. We value the opportunity of joining together widely in discussion, so these events are open to all. However they have been developed specifically as a resource for colleagues on our own PGCertHE. If you have any questions about the session please contact: e.danvers@sussex.ac.uk.
Headline priorities for the Education and Students Leadership Team this year are:
-
Distinctive Sussex: the taught portfolio, looking at agility and efficiency in the taught portfolio and join-up across recruitment and design of the taught portfolio; supporting LEaFS and SSPF as catalysts for change; use of the transformation themes in the curriculum (especially through the electives);
-
Embedding the academic framework consistently and speeding up pace of change including support for the course convenor role.
-
Faculty leadership/ownership/support for: Student Experience and Outcome Planning (SEOP); and NSS; GOS; PTES campaigns; TEF submission;
-
Delivery on employability, world readiness and experiential learning, with a focus on recovering our Graduate Outcome Survey (GOS) results; headlining and advocating for employability, world readiness and experiential learning in the curriculum; engaging with CEE team.
-
Continuation and completion: supporting students through WIT and transitions framework, supporting the APT role, engaging with students through student voice framework, reps and USSU, engaging with SoSA and Student Engagement and Enhancement team.
-
International student experience: helping communicate support and intercultural awareness/inclusive pedagogy; drawing on ELAS and EE resources to make them meaningful in each Faculty.
-
AI and assessment: ongoing.