Broadcast: News items

Academic Update: February 2024

Posted on behalf of: Internal Communications

Last updated: Wednesday, 14 February 2024

Academic Update highlights the key priorities for academic colleagues and recent news and updates which you and your teams may find useful.

If there is information you would like included in future Academic Updates, please submit your request to the Internal Comms mailbox.

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Education and Students

Promoting the National Student Survey
Our promotion of the annual National Student Survey (NSS) began on Monday 29 January and will run until 30 April. The NSS is an important way for final-year undergraduates to tell the world about their time at Sussex.

Staff across the University are involved in promoting the completion of the NSS to eligible students. You can find a briefing document and folder of shared resources on Box to support activity in your area. If you have any issues accessing these please email: internalcomms@sussex.ac.uk. Thank you for your collaboration on this high-priority campaign.

Nominate inspiring staff for the 2024 Education Awards
The Sussex Education Awards are an opportunity for staff and students to recognise members of Professional Services or academic staff who have had a positive impact on our community. Please nominate staff and share this with students.

Consultation on new Curriculum Framework
Curriculum Reimagined has launched a draft Curriculum Framework, which is the starting point for the future Sussex Education Framework that articulates the what, the how, and the when of our curriculum. The framework will be finalised by September 2024 and we will be consulting widely until Easter. Please provide feedback to: curriculumreimagined@sussex.ac.uk.

Clinton Global Initiative Fellowship
Do you know a student passionate about making a positive impact on the world? The Clinton Global Initiative Fellowship offers an exciting opportunity for emerging entrepreneurs to address urgent global challenges. Encourage eligible students to apply by 15 March.

Research and Enterprise

Sussex joins Eastern Academic Research Consortium
On 11 January, Sussex signed a Memorandum of Understanding and joined the Eastern Academic Research Consortium (EARC), alongside the universities of East Anglia, Essex and Kent. The Director of the EARC, Phil Ward, is making his second visit to Sussex from 19-21 February to scope opportunities for Sussex researchers to collaborate with the other partners across research themes and explore initiatives such as a technicians’ network, equipment sharing, and mentoring programmes. To discuss opportunities with Phil during or following his visit please email: research.initiatives@sussex.ac.uk

Doctoral School rebrands to become the Sussex Researcher School (SRS)
The Doctoral School has entered an exciting new phase as the Sussex Researcher School (SRS). This rebrand is part of the development of our new Enabling Plan, which aims to enhance provision and support for emerging researchers at Sussex. The new, more inclusive name more accurately reflects the three key communities of emerging researchers we support: undergraduate Junior Research Associates (JRAs), postgraduate researchers (PGRs) and early career researchers (ECRs). All web updates to reflect the change should be complete by summer 2024. The SRS team has expanded considerably in the last year - find out more about them on the SRS blog.

New commercial partnerships
Sussex is delighted to have recently entered into several new commercial partnerships, including with Cambridge-based company Nu Quantum on ion trap designs for use in networks for quantum computing (MPS), and with a London-based company Free Piston Power on engine systems for robotic autonomous flying vehicles (EngInf).

Future Leaders Fellowships scheme
UKRI has issued a pre-announcement for Round 9 of the Future Leaders Fellowships scheme and Sussex will be able to submit four proposals. There will be a two-stage selection process, first at School level followed by a central panel, chaired by the Deputy Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Research. Each School is invited to submit up to three candidates for consideration by the University’s central review panel. Interested applicants should first discuss their proposal with their Director of Research and Knowledge Exchange. School-selected applications should be submitted by 12 noon on Friday 5 April to: research.initiatives@sussex.ac.uk.

About you

Can you help make applicant Visit Days a success?
Applicant Visit Days are continuing on Saturday 2 March (also with an in-person Postgraduate Open Day), Saturday 13 April and Saturday 27 April. We know that visit days can have a positive impact on applicant conversion rates, and this is important in the context of the challenges we are facing around student recruitment.

With that in mind, we are calling on all staff to play their role in making sure applicants have a great first impression of Sussex. There has been a huge effort from multiple teams across the University to make these events as successful as possible, including new presentations and video content developed at speed, to appeal to both the student and parent audience, as well as a focused effort to clean up campus. Please be vigilant in the run-up to these days and if you see anything you think could detract from giving an applicant a brilliant experience on our campus, please do raise it. It could make all the difference!

Cyber security – what is it? Why does it matter? And how to play your part
We hear about Cyber Security everywhere, but how much do we really know about it? Watch an introduction to our recently-launched Cyber Security campaign from Professor Michael Luck, Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Provost.

Change to how to book development workshops
From the end of February 2024, staff development workshops run by Organisational Development will be bookable through our central learning management system, LearnUpon, rather than Eventbrite. This will mean that your staff development record will show your e-learning and your live learning all in one place. It will make it easier to book on to workshops, and to cancel your place if you need to. The booking process is very simple; read how to do it or watch our short video tutorial on booking onto a workshop in LearnUpon.

Teams Calling in Schools – rollout schedule released
MS Teams Calling, the new functionality for making phone calls to people inside and outside the University in Microsoft Teams, is coming to Schools. Read the rollout schedule.

New features in MyView and reminder to complete your equalities data
Following staff feedback, changes have been made to how information is displayed in MyView. Full-time staff with a regular working pattern can now view their holiday in days as well as hours, giving a clearer view of the remaining annual leave available to book. The change is part of an ongoing commitment to improve staff experience, and we will also be reviewing this for part-time staff as part of the roadmap for future development within the Digital HR programme (see below).

As a reminder, please check that your equalities data is up to date in MyView. Collecting equalities data helps us to monitor diversity at Sussex, providing evidence to inform and support improvements to policies, practices and initiatives. In MyView, simply select the ‘My Personal Details’ tab and then ‘My Equality Data’ to fill in the details required.

About Sussex

Senior staffing update
We have recently been joined by Emma Potts, Interim Chief Operating Officer and University Secretary, who has been appointed for a year in order to give sufficient time for the permanent recruitment. Jacinda Humphry, our new Chief Financial Officer, joined at the end of January. Allan Spencer, the previous Director of Finance, moves into a new fixed-term part-time Executive Director (Special Capital Projects) role on 12 February.

Vanessa Cuthill, Director of Research and Enterprise (RES) will be leaving the University in April to take up the position of Director of Research and Innovation Services at Cardiff University. Vanessa will remain in post until Easter, after which interim arrangements will be in place for the RES division until a permanent replacement is appointed.

Digital HR programme to bring consistency of experience
Colin Shipp, Director of HR, recently launched our Digital HR programme, which will automate processes to ensure that staff have a consistent experience. This supports one of the focus areas of the People Strategy – ‘Getting the Basics Right’. Representing an investment in our people, this significant project is part of the University’s wider Capital Programme (see below) which includes several work areas which will transform our University.

University of Sussex to offer degree apprenticeships to local employers
As part of the Sussex & Surrey Institute of Technology, the University of Sussex will be offering degree apprenticeships for employers from September 2024, helping to address skills gaps in the region. Sussex will offer Level 7 master degree programmes in Advanced Manufacturing Engineering and Data Science and Artificial Intelligence, as well as a Level 6 undergraduate degree apprenticeship in Business Analytics and Digital Technology. Watch this two minute video to find out more.

Latest developments shared in the Transforming Sussex newsletter
The Capital Programme is our targeted investment focusing on transforming Sussex over the next few years. Discover the latest developments in our monthly newsletter, where we highlight key updates from the projects that are improving and changing our University. Covering the four portfolio areas: Better Campus, Better Education, Better Working, and Better Research, this month’s issue focuses on the launch of the new Digital HR programme, a new cyber security campaign, demolition updates and the installation of art on campus. Sign up here.

Hearing your views on our Sussex 2035 strategy
Thank you to all of those who have joined the discussions on the future of the University as we develop our strategy for the next 10 years. We have now concluded our series of events centred on Sussex 2035's core themes: research and enterprise, education and student life, and global and civic engagement. You can read a blog by each of the Pro-Vice-Chancellors who led these sessions, Robin Banerjee, Kate O'Riordan and Keith Jones, on our strategy webpages – you'll need to log in to view these.

Safeguarding guidance available
You can now view staff guidance on the practical application of the University’s Safeguarding Policy on the Safeguarding webpages. It is important that staff are aware of the support available and we ask that you share this staff news update about Safeguarding with colleagues in your Schools and PS Divisions. Feedback and comments on the guidance are welcome – please contact Louise Spenceley via Teams or email: l.spenceley@sussex.ac.uk. Your input will help us make sure that the guidance is an accurate reflection of practices and processes across all areas of the University.

Coming up

Research with Impact forums
The next Research with Impact forum will take place on Wednesday 13 March and focus on environmental sustainability – more details about this event will be made available soon. Catch up with the recording of the latest forum on Research Culture at Sussex now.

Webinar about becoming a school governor
Learn about school governance and how your skills can help improve school standards across the UK in an online webinar delivered by Governors for Schools on Wednesday 28 February from 11am-12 noon.

A reminder

Annual Leave Purchase Scheme window closes on 28 February
The current window to buy additional annual leave will close on 28 February 2024. Up to five days additional leave (pro rata for part-time staff) can be purchased during this window. Application forms need to be signed off by your manager first, so please consider this in order to submit your application by the deadline. Visit the Annual Leave Purchase Scheme webpage to find the application form and view the frequently asked questions, guidance notes and policy.

Panopto microphone/audio issue
There is an ongoing issue with Panopto resulting in no audio on recordings done in campus lecture rooms, which is affecting many universities that use this software. Find out about what you can do to address the issue while we work on a permanent solution with the provider.