How do Professional Services support teaching and learning?
In order to understand 1PS, it’s important to know where and how Academic and Professional Services staff work together to give students the best possible education and experience while they study with us and to support research. We know that the student experience can be a big factor for young people when applying for undergraduate courses in particular and of course it’s at the heart of the NSS and therefore our position in league tables.
Whether you are an academic or work in Professional Services, all of us play a critical role in delivering the Sussex experience. 1PS isn’t simply about reviewing and optimising and standardising, it’s about us working together as one team.
Whilst our academic colleagues deliver the core elements of our student experience, e.g. teaching and our research outputs, there are many ways in which Professional Services support academics to achieve the best results possible. Some Professional Services are delivered from the central ‘PS’ functions, while others are better situated in Schools where local knowledge is vital.
Professional Services spans a wide range of functions, supporting the student journey from enquiry and recruitment throughout the study years, graduation and beyond. They create the infrastructure to support students and staff in Estates, Student Experience, Student Recruitment and International Development (SRAID), Finance, HR, Library, and IT, whilst our research ambitions are led through the teams in Research & Enterprise, but supported by many other PS functions.
Professional Services adopts different delivery models depending on the function: General Counsel, Governance and Compliance (GCGC), Estates, ITS and the Library operate as a standalone subject matter expert and service provider; whilst Finance and HR operate a business partnering model in which dedicated resource is provided to different areas of the institution; while some functions such as Communications and Marketing and divisions such as Research & Enterprise, and Student Experience, SRAID have roles to play both at centre and at School level.
We attract students to Sussex through creative Recruitment and Marketing activity to ensure we are seen as a great place to study. We also showcase our offering by hosting a number of events for prospective students, for example open days and applicant visitor days.
Once people apply to study here, we have to process thousands of applications and admissions every year. Students often need help obtaining visas, and once here we offer support with the normal day to day things you’d expect, such as accommodation, finding a GP, a bank and so on. There is also a comprehensive range of support for all matters relating to study and research, including choosing modules, examinations and assessments and the many choices students might make along the way – for example whether to study abroad, take time out, take a placement in industry, apply for funding and further study. We also know that life isn’t always straightforward. For some students, University life just doesn’t seem to work, so they might choose to leave early, some students will ask for extensions, some may want to raise complaints or they might need support because they are finding life tough.
So, whether it be support with marketing, recruitment, admissions, the logistics of study such as timetabling and exam boards, and student welfare, a lot of work happens in the background to enable students to study at Sussex. This work covers many roles, some which sit centrally in a Professional Services division such as Research, Student Experience, Communications or Marketing, whilst some sits in schools.