Kelly Coate, Pro Vice-Chancellor for Education and Students

Pro Vice-Chancellor Kelly Coate wrote to all taught students this morning. You can read her full email below:

Hello,

I really enjoyed meeting many of you at the Spirit of Sussex Award mixer event last week, where Student Connectors ran a quiz and shared their stories. The Spirit of Sussex Award encourages you to take part in a range of student experience opportunities, celebrating your extra-curricular and voluntary achievements. One of you told me how the Award encouraged you to be more involved with the Sussex community by logging your points, which is exactly why we started this programme.

Like me, the new Vice-Chancellor, Professor Sasha Roseneil, has also been meeting with students. You can find out more about her first open office session and how you can take part in the next session in November. We love hearing from students and the Vice-Chancellor’s open office sessions are one of the ways in which you can feed back to us about your time at Sussex.

And for those of you celebrating Diwali next Monday, happy festival of lights!

Please read on for information about:

• Tell us what you think about your modules
• Your student reps have been elected
• Cost of living support for students
• 95 employers want to talk to you on 2 November
• You could win up to £10,000 investment through the Ideas Lab
• Free Covid-19 vaccination clinic on campus
• Looking after your wellbeing
• Free outdoor cinema night
• This week’s Sussex snapshot

Tell us what you think about your modules

Next week we will be inviting all taught students to take part in mid-module evaluation surveys, so please look out for the survey link. This is an opportunity to let module convenors and tutors know what is going well and what could be done differently. We’ll use what you tell us to make improvements and recognise the great teaching and learning that goes on at Sussex. Find out more ways to share your feedback.

Your student reps have been elected

Following your votes, students have been elected into a wide range of roles to help share your views and make university life better. Visit the Students’ Union website to see the autumn election results.

Cost of living support for students

You can read about university support for students affected by the cost of living crisis, and we will be sharing updates in the coming weeks. We are running Finance drop-in clinics at the Student Centre every Wednesday, where you can talk to an advisor about your financial situation or money worries. As a Sussex student you can also get free access to Blackbullion, which offers tools to improve your financial knowledge and confidence. Please visit the Money and Funding section on the Student Hub for further information about university services.

95 employers want to talk to you on 2 November

Register now for Careers Fair 2022, taking place on Wednesday 2 November (11am to 3pm) at the American Express Community Stadium in Falmer. It is your opportunity to browse and speak to over 95 employers who want to meet you as Sussex students. They are recruiting for graduate roles, vacation work, placements, work experience and voluntary positions. Visit the Careers Fair 2022 webpage to find out more, register and download the Career Fair Plus app – your complete guide to the event.

You could win up to £10,000 investment through the Ideas Lab

Do you have a passion, side-hustle or hobby you'd like to turn into a startup or social enterprise? Or would you just like to grow your entrepreneurial skills, such as creative thinking and pitching ideas, and meet like-minded students? Come to Ideas Lab, the University of Sussex’s weekly workshop programme, where you’ll get all the support you need to develop an idea through to launch – and potentially win up to £10,000 of funding. Register now.

Free Covid-19 vaccination clinic on campus

On Wednesday 26 October, the University will be hosting a free mobile Covid-19 vaccination clinic on campus. Find out if you require a Covid-19 vaccination from the Student Hub vaccination event listing. As a reminder, we strongly encourage all our students to get vaccinated to protect our campus community and those in the city.

Looking after your wellbeing

The Library has a new Wellbeing Collection of print books to support the mental and physical health of our student and staff community. Some of the topics include:

• mindfulness
• anxiety
• stress relief
• relationships,
• sleep
• building happiness
• cookery
• eating well

Alongside this, we are developing a Subject Guide to accompany the collection which highlights some texts, has recommendations from Library staff and links to wellbeing resources and services on campus and beyond.

Find the books on the ground floor of the Library. The new section has lots of natural light, plants and artwork on display, with comfortable seating including bean bags and a sofa – an oasis of calm in a busy building.

Free outdoor cinema night

On Halloween (31 October), join a free outdoor screening of Stephen King’s IT on Bramber lawns, outside Eat Central. From 4.30pm, the ‘Feastival’ van will be serving treats like Korean corndogs, dirty fries, mulled apple juice and Halloween popcorn with a trick or treat, in time for the film to begin at 5pm.

With best wishes,

Kelly

Kelly Coate, Pro Vice-Chancellor for Education and Students