As part of our civic engagement work, the University recently commissioned research to help us understand to what extent, and how, local residents feel we are making a difference in the community. The research also looked at residents’ priorities for their local area, awareness of, and pride in, the University, and views about what the University should be prioritising.

Comparing the data to similar research in 2020, we can measure people’s changing perceptions of the University and consider how to better engage with the local community and enhance the benefits we bring to the local area. 

What did we learn and what will we do with the information?

Two thirds of residents said they felt proud or very proud to have the University in their region, a substantial increase from the previous survey. People referred to the value of having a prestigious university in the local area, and appreciated the job opportunities on offer, as well as the wider contribution to the local economy. This insight into how local people relate to the University will help us plan communications and engagement in the future. 

Looking at how local residents have interacted with the University, they are most likely to have visited our website, talked to a student or visited part of the campus. The website is an important first touchpoint, and our project to redevelop our web estate will be a critical step in making sure that our residents’ first interaction with the University is a positive and engaging one. 

The research told us that 40% of respondents had visited campus in the last five years, which again was higher than was found previously. Moreover, people who had visited campus were more likely to think positively about the University, which raises the question of how we could encourage more people to visit our campus more often. This is one of the priorities for Sussex’s growing programme of work on civic engagement. 

It was interesting to see that some of the most common ways in which people had encountered the University included student and staff volunteering, schools outreach, and involvement in cultural initiatives and partnerships such as the Brighton Festival and the Turner Prize at the Towner Gallery. This local activity clearly has a wide reach, promoting positive relationships amongst our staff, students and local communities, and encouraging economic and wellbeing benefits to all concerned. 

The majority of residents (72%) agreed or strongly agreed that the University makes a positive difference in their local area. We found out that local residents want the University to play an active role in their local communities, not just in terms of its existing strengths in the educational offer and job opportunities, but also in terms of improving the local environment and actively leading and contributing to areas through research. 

This raises the question of how we can prioritise the greatest issues of concern that were highlighted by residents – including health and social care, cost of living, crime, economy, transport, and environment – and be more present in local communities. Collaboration with local businesses and schools, public lectures, workshops, and accessible courses for disadvantaged local people or community members were all raised as ideas by the community. 

How was the data gathered and what happens next?

The data was gathered through online surveys of over 1,500 adults in East and West Sussex, including 374 from Brighton & Hove. There were also five online focus groups, including two for residents of Brighton & Hove, with one of these specifically for people living nearer to our Falmer campus in east Brighton. 

The insight gathered in the research has already been shared with some teams such as Marketing who can use the information to assist with planning student recruitment campaigns, for example. The findings have also fed into the global and civic engagement strand of the Sussex 2035 strategy that is currently in development. 

More detailed insights from the data analysis will be shared with relevant teams in due course, but if you feel that you could benefit from digging a bit deeper to help with your role, please do get in touch with me at: R.A.Banerjee@sussex.ac.uk.

Professor Robin Banerjee
Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Global and Civic Engagement