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Happy New (Academic) Year

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Vice-Chancellor, Gordon Conway, writes:

Welcome to the New Academic Year, and an especially warm welcome to new faculty and staff, and to all the new students who have joined us this autumn. I hope all of you will soon feel at home.

Since last term the Dearing Committee has reported and the government has introduced new proposals for greater contributions by students to the costs of their education. Dearing has proposed a rapid evolution of higher education with a much greater participation rate, improved access for disadvantaged students, changes in learning and teaching and more funds, especially from industry, for research.

At Sussex we are already doing much that Dearing recommends and therefore we welcome the report. However, I am very conscious that new activity will incur greater costs and even to maintain existing standards of teaching and research will require more funding than current spending plans permit. The release of £165 million by the government two weeks ago is a welcome step, but we need a commitment to ensure that similar support will be forthcoming in future years. We do not want to get into a situation where students are paying and we are unable to deliver the quality of education they deserve. I hope you will continue to lobby government through your MPs and other representatives.

Meanwhile, on the campus we continue to seek to improve our facilities. The new library extension is nearing completion and should greatly add to the academic life of faculty and students. We will continue to find ways of making similar invest- ments in the future of Sussex.

Finally, let me wish you all an enjoyable and productive year ahead.

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Friday October 10th 1997