News

 

Welcome to the new Education at Sussex Newsletter. Your monthly update to support the student experience.

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 This newsletter brings together the latest updates, opportunities, events and examples of inspiring educational practice from across the University. It highlights the ideas and innovations shaping our students’ learning and experience, helping colleagues stay connected, share good practice and build momentum around education. Further education resources for staff at Sussex can be found under the Education tab on the Staff Hub, and the Learning Matters blog.  

Contents 

1. Welcome from Education and Student Leadership
2. Student transitions: our focus this month as we welcome students into a new academic year
3. Updates and events for the new academic year 
4. Career development opportunities
5. Scholarship opportunities across the sector 

1. Welcome from Education and Student Leadership 

As we get ready for the start of a new academic year, it feels like the right time to launch the Education at Sussex newsletter. Alongside the Education Staff Hub and Learning Matters, this newsletter forms part of our approach to communication across the Education portfolio. The Staff Hub will continue to serve as the home for key information, guidance and resources around education, while Learning Matters remains our space for sharing ideas, practice, scholarship and educational developments. This newsletter aims to bring everything together by highlighting key headlines, sharing news from across the University, and signposting colleagues to the relevant opportunities, resources and conversations.

There is an extraordinary amount of activity taking place across our University, but it is often difficult to keep track of the many initiatives, opportunities and examples of excellent practice that emerge from our Schools, Faculties and professional services. My hope is that this newsletter will help bring those conversations together. Each edition will highlight key developments, celebrate educational innovation and scholarship, showcase the achievements of colleagues, and signpost opportunities to get involved. Every issue will also be archived under the Learning Matters ‘News’ tab, creating a record of our collective work and a resource you can return to throughout the year. 

This first issue comes at an exciting point in the academic calendar. As we welcome new and returning students, you’ll find news of our new Transitions Framework, which is helping to shape a more connected and inclusive approach to Welcome, Induction and Transition across the University. Supporting students to feel that they belong from their very first interaction with Sussex is a key priority, and there is already some excellent work to tell you about in this newsletter. This builds on our approach to Academic Personal Tutoring, which underpins academic support for students across all transitions. This is particularly important at Sussex because students now often enter our courses directly at every stage, as well as transitioning across educational stages.  

You’ll also be able to learn more about two important developments that respond to our goal of educational excellence. Our new institutional route to Senior Fellowship will provide colleagues with an opportunity to gain national recognition for sustained educational leadership and impact. Our Strategic Scholarship Programme will provide collaborative scholarship opportunities for Education and Scholarship colleagues on projects that enhance teaching, learning and the student experience, all in ways that align with our institutional priorities. 

Alongside these initiatives, this newsletter will bring together the latest education news, opportunities, events, updates and practical resources, while pointing you in the direction of some of the outstanding work taking place across our education community. There is much we can learn from one another, and we hope this becomes a space that celebrates, connects and inspires you, wherever you are when you read it and whatever you happen to be working on. 

Finally, this newsletter is a community endeavour. If you have a project, initiative or example of practice that others could benefit from, we’d love to hear from you. Working together, we can continue to build a culture in which educational excellence and scholarship are visible, valued and shared. I hope you enjoy this first issue and wish you all the very best for the start of the new academic year. Please email AcademicDevelopers@sussex.ac.uk if you would like to contribute to the next issue.  

2. Student transitions: our focus this month as we welcome students to a new academic year

Supporting every student into, through and beyond Sussex 

Every student arrives at Sussex in transition, no matter what year of study they are in. For some, this means moving away from home and entering higher education for the first time. For others, it means returning to study, joining us from another educational system, entering directly into a later year, progressing to a more demanding level or preparing to leave university. These moments are exciting, but they can also bring uncertainty. Our new Student Support and Transitions Framework gives us a shared way of thinking about how we help students navigate their academic journey. For a summary of the Framework, please read my recent blog post Supporting every student into, through and beyond Sussex.

The central proposition is simple: transition is not confined to Welcome Week. It is a continuous, sometimes non-linear process that runs into, through and beyond university. Nor is transition solely the responsibility of student support services. Students experience Sussex most directly through their courses, teaching, assessment, Academic Personal Tutoring, communications and everyday relationships with staff and peers. Supporting transition is therefore an educational responsibility shared across our whole university community. 

Play your cards right: Re-thinking how students start university 

As a complement to the new Transitions Framework, I’ve written a Learning Matters blog post exploring how we support student transition on the Foundation Year. Drawing on a national pre-arrival survey and research with Sussex Foundation Year students, I reflect on whether our assumptions about what students need when they arrive at university match the realities of their experience. The post explores key challenges around time management, independent learning, digital confidence, assessment and belonging, and asks how universities might rethink transition as an ongoing process rather than a single induction event. Do take a look at my post for ideas on creating a more supportive and inclusive student experience.

3. Updates and events for the new academic year

• Academic Personal Tutoring. Academic Personal Tutors (APTs) help students make the most of their degree and university experience. On our webpages, find out about the role of an APT, how to support your students and training you are advised to complete. 

• Course Convenor Canvas support. The new Course Convenor Canvas site supports Convenors in maintaining a course-level overview and fulfilling the responsibilities of the role. Induction sessions will run 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. 

• Turnitin. From the start of the 2026/27 academic year, Turnitin Feedback Studio will no longer be used for submission, marking, or feedback in Canvas. Canvas SpeedGrader will be the tool used for marking all assignments submitted to Canvas. You will still have the option to generate Turnitin similarity reports, these will also now be able to support multiple files in a submission. Students will see all of their feedback for online submissions in Canvas Speedgrader. See our Broadcast news item for more information.

• Jisc Digital Capabilities Discovery Tool. Sussex staff and students have funded access to JISC’s Building Digital Capabilities tool. There are specific question-sets for higher education, including Effective Digital Teaching, Overall Digital Capabilities and Digital Skills in AI and Generative AI. The questions prompt users to reflect on their practice and how confident they feel working with digital technology, and then the tool summarises the results and directs you to tailored information and training resources. 

• PollEverywhere 2.0.Over the summer Poll Everywhere has been updated, offering an enhanced experience for creating and managing interactive activities. This is a great opportunity to increase engagement through live in-class polling and gather instant feedback from learners (asynchronous options are available). For more information contact Educational Enhancement: ee@sussex.ac.uk 

• MS Teams: MS Teams will be the University’s single online platform for meetings from Friday 4 September. Guidance, training resources, and FAQs are available via the Staff Hub to support the transition away from Zoom. 

• Teaching in the campus forest garden. Wednesday 28th October, 1.30-3.30pm. Meet at 1.30pm outside of Jubilee. Perpetua Kirby (Education and Social Work) and Will Lock (Global Studies) will lead this 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. It’s half-term and children are very welcome to join. 

4. Career development opportunities 

New Senior Fellowship Programme launching at Sussex 

We are excited to announce the launch of our new Advance HE accredited University of Sussex Senior Fellowship Scheme this September. This institutional route allows us to assess and award Senior Fellowship internally, recognising staff who lead and influence teaching and learning without any additional fee to Advance HE. Senior Fellowship is open to both academic and professional services colleagues who work to enhance the student learning 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 to find what works best for you. The scheme is led by Dr Katie Piatt (Educational Enhancement) and Dr Emily Danvers (Education and Social Work) as Institutional Leads, chaired by Professor Lara McMurtry (Chair of the Sussex Senior Fellowship Oversight Board). Visit our new Senior Fellowship webpage to check your eligibility, explore submission routes and sign up.

Strategic Scholarship Fellows Programme 

This September, 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 will focus on three strategic priorities: career networking, assessment and feedback, and outcomes for students from the most deprived neighbourhoods. Fellows will work in multidisciplinary, cross-faculty teams to investigate these challenges and develop evidence-informed recommendations for institutional action. Participants will 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. To find out more and express your interest, visit the Strategic Scholarship Fellows webpage. Expressions of interest close on 20^th September.  

5. Scholarship opportunities across the sector 

There are many opportunities to engage with educational scholarship, share practice, and contribute to sector-wide conversations about higher education. Here are some scholarship opportunities that might be of interest. 

Conferences and events 

• Assessment in Higher Education Conference: The Assessment in Higher Education (AHE) Conference will return to Manchester in 2027. The conference brings together researchers, academic developers and practitioners working in assessment and feedback. A call for proposals is expected to be circulated in October 2026. 

• European Conference on the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (EuroSoTL): A leading international event for educators, academic developers and researchers interested in enhancing teaching and learning in higher education. We are pleased to note that EuroSoTL 2027 will take place in London, hosted by the University of Westminster, from 8-11 June 2027. A call for proposals is expected to open in the coming months. 

Where to publish 

Whether you’re new to educational research or looking to disseminate innovative practice, there are a range of outlets to consider: 

• Learning Matters: Sussex’s own platform for sharing reflections, scholarship and innovation in teaching and learning. We welcome case studies, blog posts, articles and podcast contributions from colleagues across the University. 

• Journal of Learning Development in Higher Education: An open-access journal serving an international readership interested in all aspects of learning development and higher education practice. 

• Open Scholarship of Teaching and Learning: A welcoming journal that values multiple forms of scholarly writing, including traditional educational research, reflective accounts, provocations and “working-out-loud” papers. 

• Teaching & Learning Inquiry: The flagship journal of the International Society for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (ISSOTL). Publishes original research, theoretical analyses, critical commentary and innovative scholarly work relating to teaching and learning in higher education. 

• Practitioner Research in Higher Education: Publishes practitioner-led research and evaluation that contributes to understanding theory, policy and practice in higher education teaching and learning. 

• RAISE Journal: Focuses on student engagement in higher education and welcomes disciplinary and interdisciplinary contributions. 

• Journal of Educational Innovation, Partnership and Change: Publishes articles, case studies and opinion pieces relating to learning, teaching and assessment, with a particular emphasis on students and staff as partners and change agents. 

• Wonkhe: Publishes commentary, analysis and opinion pieces on UK higher education for a wide readership that includes academics, professional services staff, sector leaders and policymakers. 

• Times Higher Education (THE) Campus: A global knowledge-sharing platform focused on teaching and learning in higher education. Contributions include practical guides, evidence-informed explainers, case studies, reflective pieces and leadership insights. 

For regular updates on education-related events, don’t forget to engage with the Scholarship area on Teams.  

Useful links: Staff Hub: Education | Learning Matters | Newsletter archive 

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Have a story, event, resource or example of practice to share? Contact the Academic Developers – AcademicDevelopers@sussex.ac.uk  

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