Universities UK: Changing Culture report
By: James Hakner
Last updated: Friday, 21 October 2016
Today Universities UK, the umbrella body for the university sector has released a report titled: Changing the culture: report of the Universities UK taskforce examining violence against women, harassment and hate crime affecting university students.
Commenting on the report the University of Sussex Vice-Chancellor Adam Tickell said:
“Since joining the University of Sussex in September, I have been impressed with the strength of feeling amongst students and our staff, on how we can best approach the well-being of all our students. It’s something our community cares about enormously.
"We welcome this report from Universities UK as it’s important the sector comes together to share learning and research on how we can all best support our students who may be dealing with extremely tough circumstances.
"What’s crucially important is not just that the best policies are in place, but that we take action at the earliest opportunity and help students to disclose in an environment in which they feel safe.
"It’s pleasing to see the University of Sussex’s care pathway, for supporting students who disclose incidences of sexual violence has been highlighted in this report - which has been developed through partnership working between our Student Services team, the Students' Union and local services.
"We are also currently working on a programme of comprehensive disclosure and signposting training through an EU funded project, co-led by Dr Alison Phipps here at Sussex.
"We will be looking closely at and responding to the recommendations put forward by the taskforce – the wellbeing of our students is critically important and we must continuously ensure that we monitor and effectively respond to the challenges they face.”