Rachel Mills, Provost

Today (7 January) Provost Rachel Mills wrote to all staff. You can read her message below:

Dear colleague,

Welcome back, and a happy New Year to you all. We all probably have a sense of déjà vu as we start 2022 with many of us working from home, with significant Covid infections in the UK and across the world. But this year we know much more about mitigation against transmission in our own community, and how to keep people safe. We will return to more normal operations if we all get boosted, get tested regularly and are vigilant about our other Covid measures.

I want to start my first message of this year by celebrating one of our own, Jayne Aldridge, our Director for the Student Experience, who was recognised for her services to students in higher education by being awarded an MBE in the New Year’s Honours. Congratulations Jayne!

I am looking forward to 2022 with a renewed sense of optimism, particularly to implementing our ambitious plans that will help us realise our vision to “build on our achievements and evolve as a better university, dedicated to making a better world”. A couple of important recent funding successes for 2022 that will deliver this vision include the Coast2Capital Institute of Technology led by the School of Engineering and Informatics and the £12m Economic and Social Research Council Centre for Inclusive Trade Policy led by the Business School. And I know, from the School visits that I carried out with David Maguire last term, that there are many other exciting plans in the pipeline for new initiatives with our partners in the UK and globally.

However, we can’t achieve our 2022 plans without looking back on 2021, and the successes we have had with delivery of the Size & Shape Programme. We have worked hard to create robust plans in each area that address the stark challenges we have as a sector in terms of flat income and rising costs, changing student choices and the types of student that we can attract to Sussex. To address these challenges, we have committed to a relentless focus on improving the student experience, excellence in research and enterprise and investment in our University for future success. This includes providing a professional services support model that is fit for purpose, working as one team across the University to support the academic strategy. We are now in the implementation phase of the Size & Shape Programme. 

The implementation approach was ratified by Council at the end of 2021 and we will use the refreshed annual Academic Business Planning process to deliver on the School plans. Within some of our Schools such as Life Sciences and MAH, work is already underway to transform the curriculum, and this work is a key component of our Sussex 2025 Learn to Transform strategy. Across Professional Services, implementation plans are being finalised for those areas where changes have been proposed and staff will be advised directly of the timeline and process to move to the new structures. Key to this implementation is continued engagement, discussions, and feedback - and this will continue throughout.

Now we are in the implementation phase you will hear us speak less about Size & Shape. You will hear instead about our ambitious new plans and how they are aligned to our strategic framework Sussex 2025. You will be kept up to date on the implementation of all changes and how we are working together to bring about those changes.

We will continue to work with Heads of School and Professional Services Directors across the University to implement the plans as smoothly as possible, with a format that is adapted to the needs of each School or Division. In some areas this might be very straightforward communication; in others we may deliver workshops and interactive forums for wider engagement. But please remember, at any time, you can have your say by speaking to your line manager, Head of School or Professional Services Director in the first instance. There is plenty more information on the Size & Shape Programme pages of the staff hub.

Please do stay safe and well and I look forward to seeing you all on campus soon.

Best wishes,

Rachel

Rachel Mills 

Provost