Alumni news
Philanthropy at Sussex: Boosting employability
By: Emma Wigmore
Last updated: Monday, 13 January 2025
Dr Andrew Morgan
University of Sussex careers fair
Our Careers, Employability and Entrepreneurship programmes at Sussex are pivotal in equipping students with the skills needed to succeed as graduates in today's competitive job market.
Through our Career Lab we provide students with opportunities to gain work experience and to develop their skills, experiences and confidence, with different offerings depending on year of study.
One particularly successful scheme is the Student Consultancy programme, through which students get to work on a live project set by an external organisation. The project will typically address how a company is meeting the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals, such as reviewing sustainability practices within an organisation, community outreach and engagement, and analysing trends.
Participants benefit from working with a range of organisations from different sectors who set the project briefs, including local charities, NGOs, and startups. Sussex has also collaborated with Capgemini, a global leader in consulting, technology services and digital transformation, who shared their consulting expertise exclusively with students on the programme.
Key skills that students receive training on include: how to manage a project, work as part of a team, deliver a presentation and how to showcase their experience on their CV and in interviews.
All of our internships and the Student Consultancy programme are paid at the UK living wage to ensure equal access, and all undergraduate students are eligible to join the scheme, with places prioritised for those from underrepresented groups.
A recent generous donation from alumnus Dr Andrew Morgan (BIOLS, 1979) has significantly bolstered our Student Consultancy provision.
Dr Morgan explains what compelled him to make his gift, saying:
“One of the highlights of a Sussex education in the 1960s and ‘70s that I benefited from was the opportunity to learn things that are adjacent to or even distant from one’s main subject, as part of providing for a more rounded education and helping us become better citizens of the world. I gained so much from my time at Sussex that I wanted to support the current generation of students so that they could also benefit from a valuable learning experience beyond their core subject.
“The Student Consultancy programme is just that. It provides a fantastic opportunity for students to gain valuable employability skills while learning and contributing solutions to help businesses and other organisations meet their goals including those addressing environmental sustainability challenges.”
It is hoped that we can continue to expand our Student Consultancy offering, as Emily Huns, Head of Careers, Employability and Entrepreneurship explains:
“The Student Consultancy provides paid opportunities at scale to our students whilst helping employers address live challenges – challenges which frequently relate to the University’s own drivers of change, such as environmental sustainability and human flourishing.
“Through the programme, our students become agents of change, whilst building their employability and relevance to the job market. We’re really proud of the scheme’s success and are working with faculty colleagues to embed the model into a number of academic courses in ways that also help deepen and contextualise subject knowledge. Our vision is for all Sussex students to have this opportunity.”
To fully fund a placement costs £252 per student. Through making a gift to Sussex, and by supporting initiatives like the Student Consultancy programme, alumni can positively influence the career prospects of Sussex graduates, allowing them to thrive and achieve professional success.
If you would like to help a Sussex student enhance their career prospects, please email giving@sussex.ac.uk.