Guide to the prospectus
Publications and Branding produce an undergraduate (UG) and a postgraduate (PG) prospectus in print and online for every year of entry. We begin to produce the prospectuses well in advance of the recruitment cycle, ie we started producing the UGP12 in September 2010.
What’s the purpose of the main prospectuses?
The UG and PG prospectuses are designed to be a first point of contact for prospective applicants, giving a brief overview of the subject area, programme descriptions and structures, fees and funding info, entry requirements, faculty, career opportunities, etc.
The design of the print and the new integrated online prospectuses is based on consultation across campus, competitor analysis and external focus groups. In addition, Publications and Branding as well as Student Recruitment Services collect feedback from colleagues across campus and hold focus groups to further develop the prospectuses.
The front section of the prospectuses includes key marketing messages and gives a flavour of what it’s like to study at Sussex with general information about rankings, teaching and learning, research, student life, location and accommodation, etc. The back section includes the small print, ie fees, funding, living costs, terms and conditions etc.
Information about degree programmes is grouped within subject areas rather than by school or department (for more information, refer to How are the prospectuses structured?).
All subject areas have a consistent structure to make top-level information as easily accessible and comparable as possible. The common elements in the print prospectuses are as follows (the elements are broken up into web-friendly chunks to populate the tabs in the online prospectuses):
For the print UG prospectus
Essentials column: this red column gives a list of degree programmes within the subject area (plus cross references to any related degree programmes). It also lists admissions requirements (including English language requirements), signed off by Admissions, a cross reference to fees information, contact details, and information about Open Days.
Introductory paragraph: this paragraph describes why a potential applicant should consider studying the given subject.
Key facts box: this box outlines why the potential applicant should study the subject at Sussex.
Career information box
How will I learn?
What will I achieve?
Programme descriptions
Core course column: this blue column gives an overview of core courses and a flavour of options that might be available.
For the print PG prospectus
Essentials column: this red column gives a list of degree programmes within the subject area (plus cross references to any related degree programmes). It also lists admissions requirements (including English language requirements), signed off by Admissions, a cross reference to fees information, and contact details.
Key facts box: this box outlines why the potential applicant should study the subject at Sussex.
Programme descriptions for all taught programmes to answer the following questions:
- Why this programme and why at Sussex?
- What does this programme involve and how will I learn?
- What will I get out of it (ie knowledge and skills)?
Programme structure: core course and options listed by teaching block/year of study.
Career opportunities
Assessment
Research programmes
Specialist facilities
Faculty research interests: this can be an A-Z list of faculty currently available for supervision or faculty grouped by research centre/group/theme.
To complement and enhance the subject area information available in the prospectus, each school then adds more information, ie students' work, career profiles, videos etc, on the school web pages or in school print publications.
Print and online prospectuses
Publications and Branding manage the production of the print prospectus first and then divide the signed-off print copy into web-friendly sections while the print version is at press. The print and online prospectuses are then launched together to kick off the recruitment cycle.
The online prospectuses are dynamic and can be updated whenever necessary. Publications and Branding rely on the schools to inform them of any changes, ie new members of faculty, new contact details etc.
The text for every programme in the online prospectus is divided into eight tabs.
For the UG prospectus these are:
• Overview
• Programme content
• Entry requirements
• Related programmes
• Fees and funding
• Careers and profiles
• Contact our School
• Visit us
Some of these tabs, ie Overview, are common to all programmes listed in one subject area. Other tabs, ie Programme content, are tailored to the individual programme.
For the PG prospectus these are:
• Overview
• Programme outline
• Entry requirements
• Related programmes
• Fees and funding
• Faculty interests
• Careers and profiles
• School and contacts
Again, some of these tabs are common to all programmes listed in one subject area, ie Overview, whereas others are programme specific, ie Programme outline.
The developments for the online PGP12 will include making the Careers and profiles as well as the School and contacts tabs programme specific.
Prospectus production schedules
UG prospectus production usually starts in September with a launch date in the beginning of March (the schools normally get first proofs in October and final proofs for sign off in December).
PG prospectus production usually starts in February with a launch date in the beginning of August (schools normally get first proofs in March and final proofs for sign off in May).
The production process always starts with a pre-planning and planning meetings. In the pre-planning meeting, colleagues from central teams such as SRS, Planning, Admissions and the Academic Office meet with Publications and Branding, in the planning meetings Publications and Branding and the schools meet to discuss any issues and feedback and the challenges ahead.
The deadlines for prospectus production are determined externally, ie distribution companies such as HEIST tell us when they need print prospectuses for delivery, our production schedule is worked back from these external deadlines.
Who’s involved in the schools?
Prospectus proofs go to the School Administrator (SA), Director of Taught Programmes (DTP) and, for the PG prospectus, also to the Director of Doctoral Studies (DDS) in each school. It is then up to these recipients to further circulate the proofs in the schools to whoever needs to be involved (ie academics, programme convenors, admissions tutors etc).
SA, DTP and DDS are also expected to keep their Head of School and their Strategy and Operations Manager in the loop.
The schools are responsible for the content on their subject pages and sign off the proofs. Central teams, ie Admissions, Planning, etc, sign off entry requirements, fees information etc. Publications coordinate all this and make sure everything is on brand.
What’s a prospectus proof?
At the first proof stage, the SA, DTP and DDS in each school receives an envelope with A3 hard copy proofs. These are copies from the current version, which we use as a basis for updating text for the next prospectus, ie to create the UGP12, we update text that went to print for the UGP11.
Publications and Branding will make notes on the pages indicating where new programmes are to go etc. Sussex currently doesn’t have a system for flowing web content into software for print production.
How are the prospectuses structured?
Based on focus groups, competitor analysis and feedback from colleagues on campus, the prospectuses are divided into subject areas. Subject areas don’t necessarily map onto our internal structure (ie schools and departments) but group programmes in sections that make sense from a user point of view.
The subject areas differ from UG to PG and from year to year, and are reviewed for every new prospectus.
How does a programme get in the prospectus?
Once a programme has outline approval, the Academic Office alerts Publications and Branding to get copy for the programme from the school and to contact Planning and Admissions to include fees information and entry requirements on the database. We only let a programme go live in the prospectus once it has all relating info. Programmes can be included in the online prospectuses year-round but can only be inserted in the print prospectus at the first stage of proofing before the overall pagination is set.
No recruitment (activity or supporting materials) should happen before a programme has outline approval.
How do I withdraw a programme from the prospectus?
Contact the Academic Office or the Doctoral School. Once there’s approval, they will mark the programme as withdrawn on the database and it will automatically disappear from the online prospectus. They will also alert Publications and Branding to delete and relating info, ie student perspectives etc.
How do I update information in the prospectuses?
Degree programme information such as new programmes to be added, programme title changes and programme withdrawals: this information is database driven. Contact Sam Riordan for UG and PGT programmes (E s.y.riordan@sussex.ac.uk), and Julie Carr for PGR programmes with any queries (E j.l.carr@sussex.ac.uk).
Fees: this information is database driven. Contact James Bluring (E j.n.bluring@sussex.ac.uk) with any queries.
Entry and language requirements: this information is database driven. Contact Rob Evans with any queries (E r.evans@sussex.ac.uk).
For everything else (including changes to programme descriptions, images and videos), contact Claudia Biedert or Publications and Branding with any queries (E c.biedert@sussex.ac.uk or E publications@sussex.ac.uk).