Broadcast: News items

Following a six-week engagement period running from w/c 19 April to w/c 24 May 2021 - which saw two rounds of University-wide engagement sessions attended by over 1,400 staff in the first, and nearly 1,300 in the second - the Sussex Engagement Group (SEG) has produced a Size and Shape engagement report which has been presented to the University Executive Group (UEG) for consideration as part of the Size and Shape programme.

During the engagement sessions, staff had the opportunity to explore key questions about what the University’s Size and Shape should be at a University level, and at a local school and divisional level. The report is available to staff to read, and includes an appendix where you can read the SEG’s considerations for actions in response to the engagement process.

Some of the key overarching findings are:

• The range, extent and quality of the responses to the engagement process and questions are indicative of the appetite for this kind of activity and process across the University. It was thought to be productive and a positive outcome if some form of engagement continued into the future while the Size and Shape programme was active
• “Continue the engagement process, and do it better”. The Sussex Engagement Group recognised an appetite for further engagement alongside a need for more time and more breadth – finding a way to involve more people, more meaningfully
• A large amount of data has been collected and individuals have fed their responses into the process in good faith, expecting to see further action taken as a result

There were also some key themes that emerged across several of the questions:

• (More) communications: internal (to explain thinking, raise awareness, celebrate success) and external (to raise awareness and shout about our achievements)
• Links between teaching and research: ensuring teaching is research led and taught by great teachers; the need for knowledge-sharing, continuous learning/training/improvement
• Retaining the Sussex heritage: activist, interdisciplinarity, challenging and informing social change, a focus on sustainability
• Avoiding siloes: maintaining interdisciplinarity in research
• Industry links: teaching, curriculum, research, employability
• Agility: being able to make changes rapidly, while avoiding ‘knee-jerk’ reactions or ‘fads’
• Reducing the administrative burden: freeing up academic time; empowering staff to take decisions; encouraging innovation; efficiency through training, processes and procedures, and cross-team working

The key proposals outlined in the report that UEG have agreed to progress are:

• That responses to the engagement questions be made available to all staff across the University, subject to considerations of data protection and confidentiality
• That a further engagement round be undertaken on key topics associated with academic structures and cross-subsidy, in a timely manner to inform decision-making related to Size and Shape
• That a series of engagement activities be held to allow colleagues to connect with the University’s academic vision, how it enables Sussex 2025 and what it means for people in their day-to-day work
• That a Task and Finish Group be established to examine additional opportunities on service provision that have been discussed during the engagement process and to feedback to the University community on progress
• That UEG consider the actions that have been proposed under each of the questions (see Appendix) and provide a response as to which will be taken forward

Professor Keith Jones, PVC for Research and Enterprise and Interim Provost, who chaired the Sussex Engagement Group said: “On behalf of the University Executive Group I would like to extend our sincere thanks for the time and expertise the members of the Sussex Engagement Group have given to deliver the report. This has been no easy task and it has been instrumental in opening up discussion and debate across the University. It’s very clear to me that we need to continue the conversation – especially at a School and Divisional level and to do this regularly.

“We will be taking forwards all of the five key proposals outlined in the report. I’m particularly keen on holding further local engagement activities to allow for more open conversations about our academic structures, such as cluster models and faculties. We also hear you loud and clear that you’d like to understand more and discuss why addressing cross-subsidy is so important to our future. I know these are not always comfortable areas to discuss, but we do need to come together on such important matters and it is vital to a healthy community that there is an in-depth understanding of our financial model across Schools and how this works in practice.

“An observation that we also discussed at UEG is that many of the suggestions outlined in the report are reflected in our strategic framework Sussex 2025 such as staff wellbeing, community engagement, sustainability, knowledge sharing and so on – so it’s been good to hear that we are all striving for the same shared goals.”

The University Executive Group is keen to clarify that the Sussex Engagement Group’s role is not to direct the decision making of UEG and they are not decision makers in the Size and Shape programme – however they have played an instrumental role in helping to share and amplify the voice of the Sussex community.

The process of further engagement will therefore continue despite Senate on Friday 28 May, passing a vote of no confidence ‘in the Engagement Process accompanying Size and Shape, as it has been conceived and implemented so far, within its current timetable’.

The need for additional engagement opportunities was a key theme raised by staff as part of the initial process and UEG have agreed, in considering the report, that additional opportunities for engagement are critical.

Staff can view the engagement report, which includes an appendix outlining summarised responses to each questions, that was submitted to UEG this week.

Further details of the additional engagement activities will be shared with all staff in due course.