The Vice-Chancellor attended the Labour Party Conference last week, the party’s first since they were elected as the new Government in July. 

Sasha spoke at two fringe events at the conference, one organised by the Higher Education Policy Institute (HEPI), the other by Business in the Community.

As part of the HEPI panel, Sasha spoke about the significant challenges that universities and students are currently facing in relation to frozen funding and maintenance support, and the impact of the previous government’s hostile rhetoric and policy changes on international students coming to the UK to study. and changes to the international student route.

Comments made by Sasha at the event led to the following media coverage*:

A THE article, titled ‘OfS asking wrong questions on financial sustainability, says v-c' published on 23 September, was based on quotes from Sasha’s speech at the HEPI event about the need for the new government to offer solutions to the very serious problems that universities are facing. The article also picked up on comments Sasha made on the need for the Office for Students (OfS) to start asking the right questions to better understand and help support universities through this financially challenging period.

The comments on university finances were also picked up and included in Jim Dickinson’s Wonk Corner blog, published on Wednesday 25 September.

On 23 September, WONKHE published an article titled, ‘Students should expect less of universities and more of everyone else’. The article carried quotes from Sasha about international students, saying that the ‘most urgent thing’ government needs to do is: 'reverse its decision barring international students from bringing dependants,’ a decision she argued impacts women most, especially from less wealthy backgrounds,’ and or risk a ‘cataclysmic crash’ and a ’raft of masters course closures as a consequence’. 

A Research Professional article published the same day also quoted Sasha about the need to reverse the dependants bar for international students. She warned about the related drop in international masters students causing financial issues for many universities. Despite this, Sasha said at the event, universities are continuing: ‘to invest in really vital upgrades of IT and other infrastructure, and especially to provide the science facilities that are really going to contribute to the growth agenda.’

Included in a HEPI wrap up blog of the conference called, ‘Ten things we heard at the Labour Party Conference’, published on Friday 27 September, was Sasha’s response to comments made by Baroness Smith, at the aforementioned panel event, about recognising and continuing the mental health support that higher education providers deliver to their students.

Sasha responded and explained to the HEPI event that: ‘Universities can’t afford the mental health support they are being expected to provide.’

A WonkHE comment piece, also published on 27 September, discussing competition within higher education and the need to collaborate, quotes remarks by Sasha, again at the Labour Party Conference, on the benefits that the Sussex and Surrey Institute of Technology will bring to the skills agenda and economic growth.

*Staff can login to Research Professional and Times Higher Education (THE) by signing up using your Sussex email. WONKHE is open access.