Today, 9 October, the Vice Chancellor wrote to all staff. You can read the full email below:

It’s early days but we can all feel very proud at how the new academic year has begun.

As we approach the end of the second week of teaching, around a third of our learning sessions have had a significant face-to-face component. This is higher than most other universities and is going a long way to ensuring that we are embracing blended learning both in reality and in spirit.

I know there are many examples across the university of innovative teaching taking place – both in person and remotely. I’m also acutely aware of how much effort staff are putting in to make their teaching vibrant and engaging.  Both modes are extremely important to our current students. Indeed, in a blended model, one would not be possible without the other.

I said earlier in the year that, in many ways, the Covid-19 pandemic had accelerated our Sussex 2025 ambition to integrate greater levels of digital experimentation within our teaching. I was questioned again about this at this term’s open staff forum, which took place this week.

I think it’s too early to say where all the pieces will land once we are out of the pandemic but I think it is inconceivable that we will revert to business-as-before.

While, quite rightly, the focus for now has had to be on the basics, we are beginning to see colleagues embracing the opportunities afforded by remote learning technologies. This is an area that our Technology Enhanced Learning has been pushing forward and will continue to advance as we move through the academic year. Please do look out for the many sessions that are being put on to help you make the most of the emerging digital pedagogy.

Inevitably many of the discussions we had at the forum were about the immediate situation we are in but I was heartened by how many questions and comments colleagues had about Sussex’s longer-term future. Clearly circumstances are such that we will not meet all the ambitions we set out to achieve when we published our strategic framework two years ago but it is absolutely right that colleagues are keeping this front of mind. Far from being a luxury or distraction at a time of squeezed resources, our strategy is a roadmap through the uncertainty and will ensure we emerge on the other side in good shape.

On research and enterprise, too, we continue to forge ahead. Just this week, Enterprise Therapeutics, a biopharmaceutical company based in our Sussex Innovation Centre and with close ties to our School of Life Sciences, signed a £75 million deal with the multinational healthcare company Roche for a new treatment for cystic fibrosis and other respiratory diseases. Such deals are further evidence of our importance to the economy and to society at large.

At the forum, I was also pushed on our green commitments, being around a year now since the University declared a climate emergency. Frankly, we have not done as much as I would have liked but it remains my firm belief that we must walk the walk as well as talk the talk. In the coming academic year, we will be really taking this up a gear and hope to be able to share plans with you soon. As ever, we are keen to hear your ideas, so please look out for more engagement opportunities in the coming weeks and months.

Many of you have already shared your thoughts around further cost-saving measures the University could introduce, via a series of workshops we ran over the last month. We’ve had some really good contributions through these and we are reviewing all of these now and will be sharing feedback on this soon.

As you know, one of the ways we have been able to steady our finances has been through our recent voluntary severance scheme, which will take about £6 million out of our annual wage bill. Some people have raised concerns about the potential impact on remaining staff. I want to be clear that the intention behind the scheme was to reduce headcount, not to add to the workloads of our remaining staff. Where activities need to continue, workloads across teams and departments need to be re-evaluated and prioritised, which may include ceasing or pausing activity that is not essential. I would encourage those colleagues to raise this with their line manager or department head in the first instance.

I know that there is a lot to contend with at the moment and we want to continue to offer you opportunities to engage with the senior team on the issues that matter to you. We have announced another set of ‘return to campus webinars’, on 14 and 21 October, to give people the opportunity to hear the latest guidance and to address any issues that have arisen in the first weeks of term. There will be other sessions too.

As you may have seen, the last week has seen an increase in the number of staff and students who have tested positive for Covid-19.  We trace all contacts and students have been exceptional in complying with a request to self-isolate.  The University will be providing all students in self-isolation with enhanced support.  For students on campus, we will wash their clothes once a week, provide a pack of cleaning materials, cover the delivery charge for grocery delivery slots, and will give them £25 per week to help with food shopping.  On campus students with a positive test will also receive a hot meal once a day without charge. Students off campus will also get £40 per week financial assistance and the food delivery support, as well as an additional payment towards take-away hot meals if they are positive.  We will also provide proactive welfare support to all quarantined students wherever they live.

As a reminder, if you or a member of your household has Covid-19 symptoms, have been told by Test and Trace to self-isolate, or you have received a positive test, please fill in the online reporting form.  We will do what we can to support you and any member of staff can also access support via the Employee Assistance Programme. 

Finally, we learned this week that the Alert Level in Brighton and Hove has been raised from Yellow to Amber.  Although the number of people with positive tests for Covid-19 remains low by national standards, we are not complacent.  The University is working very closely with the local public health authorities at a range of levels and they are fully supportive of the approach that we are taking to monitor and contain cases amongst our community.  As the health of our students, our staff and their families and our wider community is paramount, we will not hesitate to adapt our approach if the circumstances warrant this.

I hope you are able to enjoy the weekend and thank you for continuing to be so engaged.

With best wishes,

Adam