VC's Voice

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The start of a new academic year is a time to look forward, and I am looking forward with optimism not just to the coming year but further ahead.

Elsewhere in this Bulletin is the announcement of the appointment of Neil Gershon as Registrar and Secretary. I look forward to working closely with Neil, who combines a strong personal commitment to the future of higher education and a depth of experience in areas of academic administration that are of central importance to this University. Three other senior posts in the Administration have been filled during the summer, with Owen Richards (Academic Registrar), Sarah Butler (Director of Academic Support) and Andrew Proctor (Director of External Relations) all gaining well-merited internal promotion to externally-advertised posts.

Tony Moore and John Dearlove have taken on their new duties as Pro-Vice-Chancellor and Arts Budget Holder respectively with the energy and enthusiasm that their colleagues know well. Managing a University is a team effort, and I have great confidence in our team.

The meeting of Deans and Directors at the Isle of Thorns in September devoted most of its time to thinking about the future. The current University plan covers a five-year period which ends this academic year and in any case I think the time is ripe for a reconsideration of our strategic priorities. The planning process is an important mechanism for helping the University improve its performance, for keeping others informed of our plans and progress, and for us to measure that progress. The revision of the University plan must not be seen as a paper-producing exercise - it is the production of ideas not the production of paper that matters. Equally, it must not be seen as a top-down exercise in which the University "management" decides what the future holds and tells the rest of the University. Over the next few weeks, we need to devise the best means of ensuring that such a dialogue takes place; I want our thinking about the future to be based on a genuinely collective discussion.

Sussex did well in the Sunday Times league table published in September, rising from 35 last year to 30 this year. All the league tables are dubious exercises, at best; and there are particular aspects of the methodology of these tables that understate our true performance and put us in a lower position than we should be. But league tables are here to stay, and the factors which led to our improved position this year are real factors - stronger performance in teaching quality assessments and in undergraduate admissions standards. League tables or not, we need to work hard to maintain and build on these real improvements in our performance.

The University of Brighton has suffered particularly badly in the past from the imperfections of league table methodology, so it was good to see Brighton shooting up the Sunday Times table by 22 places to number 62 and receiving the accolade of "Sunday Times University of the Year". The two Universities work closely together in a number of areas. Each gains from the strengths of the other, and we all benefit from the reputation of our area for excellence in higher education. Our colleagues at the University of Brighton deserve our warm congratulations on their success.

In April, the Industrial Society conducted an Employee Attitudes survey here. 52% of staff responded to the survey - an encouraging response rate. There was good news - the University is rated positively by its staff in the areas of working relationships with colleagues, co-operation between units, and relationships with immediate managers. But there was also less welcome news - poorer scores in the areas of opportunities for personal growth and career progression, job satisfaction and perception of senior management.

It is tempting to look for excuses for poor scores; but much healthier to treat them seriously and look for improvement. Perhaps some problems are the inevitable consequence of the chronic under-funding of higher education and the strengthening of the financial base of the University's activities will be a slow process. But in other areas, we should seek more rapid progress. I am discussing with Deans and other colleagues how we can improve our employment policies and practices, including reviewing our staff development practice and our use of fixed-term contracts. All readers of this column know that I am committed to open discussion and to reducing the perceived gap between the senior management of the University and the rest of the University community. So is the new Registrar.

I am making a personal commitment to staff development, and absenting myself from the University for the first four weeks of term in order to undertake a management training course organised by the Cabinet Office. Watch this space for evidence of my returning as a better and wiser VC! The Administration lost two valued members in recent months. In September, Ted Nakhle retired from the University after 25 years of service here, latterly as Academic Secretary. Everyone who worked with Ted gained the greatest respect for his knowledge and judgement. The University owes much to him, perhaps particularly for the long period he spent as Planning Officer. We all wish him a happy and fulfilling retirement.

We were all shocked to hear at the end of August of the sudden death of Andrew Hood, our Staff Development Officer. He too was a dedicated and wise servant of the University and we are the poorer for his loss. He would have been an enthusiastic participant in the development of new staffing policies which we must now progress without him.