Our university is great for the city
This letter from me was published in the Argus newspaper on Monday (14 July) and I would like to hear your views on the issues I raised in it.
Professor Michael Farthing, Vice-Chancellor
“Having two universities supplying high-quality graduates on its doorstep is surely one of the reasons why our city is such a great place to live or work. And while other towns have suffered as package tours replaced seaside breaks, Brighton’s economic strength has powered continued growth.
At Sussex we commissioned the highly respected Oxford Economics consultancy to put a price on the economic benefit our university brings to Brighton and Hove. Their conclusion was that we contribute £600 million into Britain as a whole and add £192 million of economic value in our region. And the University of Brighton brings in yet more.
We plan to increase our contribution by growing further and that means increasing student and graduate numbers. Growth will give us the strong base needed to attract the best researchers and to finance the building and maintenance of laboratories and teaching spaces.
We are in the world’s top 1% of universities and, despite ever tougher competition, we intend to stay that way.
I know that not everyone in Brighton and Hove sees things the same way as I do. Some people blame students for many problems in the city. That view, I am sure, contributed to the city council’s decision to recently reject our recent outline planning application to redevelop some parts of our Falmer campus.
Students are not angels, but I think they often are treated unfairly or their real contribution to Brighton is ignored. And that contribution is often more than just economic.
For instance, our students are at the heart of so much voluntary effort in our community – in so many areas they give back more than they get.
Housing is a big concern I know. Our plan was actually to have more students housed on campus. But in any case I think the problem – a shortage of affordable homes – should be tackled at root and students should not be scapegoated.
Argus readers are never short of an opinion: Brighton and Hove – like my university – loves a good argument. So let us have the debate about the University out in the open, through the Argus letters page in particular.”
And let us continue to have the debate on campus as well.