Nomatemba Tambo, the South African High Commissioner, pictured on her visit

David Maguire, Interim Vice-Chancellor sent a message to all colleagues today (25 April). You can read the message below: 

Dear colleague,

I hope you had a restful Easter break. I enjoyed a family day out to Eastbourne and some walking and biking on the South Downs in the sun. How lucky we are to live and work in such a lovely environment.
 
Today (25 April) sees the opening of our new Student Centre, an exciting moment for all of us, and a very major resource for students and staff. As many of you will be aware, this building will facilitate even better student engagement and support in its meeting rooms, shared learning spaces, student services, café, new shops and sensory garden. It has been carefully designed with input from students to meet their current and future needs. It will undoubtedly enhance their experience of campus and benefit the whole of our community for the facilities it offers and the opportunities it presents. I recommend you take the time to have a look around next time you are passing.
 
Within the next couple of weeks we will also be undertaking further preparatory work to redevelop West Slope to build new residences, a new campus health centre, an extension to the library and a shop. While I know that many feel nostalgic for early campus buildings, the reality is that some are now no longer fit for purpose and we can make much better use of our precious space through careful redevelopment. The exceptions, of course, are our original Basil Spence buildings, many of which are listed. But we do also have plans for their internal refurbishment to give our staff and students comfortable, updated environments in which to work and study. And on the subject of working at Sussex, you will be able to provide feedback on working here in our staff survey which launches today and will be open until 13 May. You should have received an email directly from our survey provider People Insights.
 
I was thrilled to learn this month that Development Studies has once again topped the globe in the latest QS World Rankings league table. Development Studies at Sussex brings together the work of many groups, most notably Global Studies and our campus partners the Institute of Development Studies (IDS). Many of our other disciplines featured in the top 20 in the UK, and in the top 100 globally – a reminder that Sussex can justly be proud of its international standing and reputation in many areas.
 
Among the many nationalities who come here for our outstanding Development Studies courses are those from South Africa. In fact it is something of a tradition at Sussex, and certainly since 1973, when we started offering our Mandela Scholarship to students from African nations. Last week I had the pleasure of welcoming to campus the South African High Commissioner, Nomatemba Tambo, who was delighted to meet some of our current South African students. One of our South African alumni, Moss Ngoasheng, sums up the importance of these links in this interview, which we have published in advance of South Africa’s Freedom Day on 27 April. 

A key aim in our Sussex 2025 strategy is to increase our internationalism. Our goal is to ensure that by 2025, 40% of undergraduate students undertake a global experience during their studies, either physically (through study abroad) or via the University’s on-campus Internalisation at Home programme. The latter includes virtual learning opportunities, virtual field trips and intercultural activities and language modules – all great ways to increase global experiences without substantially adding to our carbon footprint. We are now advertising for an Academic Director, Internationalisation at Home (0.2FTE) to take on the challenge of developing this aspect of our teaching and learning. Academic staff interested in discussing the post may wish to have an informal conversation with Richard Follett DPVC International (r.follett@sussex.ac.uk). The advert will also on our website.
 
I’m pleased to see that our Emergency Ukrainian Students Sussex Fund Appeal continues to receive generous support. We are now at about £50k, including donations and matched funding provided thanks to a very generous legacy gift that can be used to leverage additional support. This will make an enormous difference to our students, many of whom are facing extreme hardship while the war in Ukraine shows no sign of ending. Thank you so much for joining me in providing support.
 
I hope you have a good week ahead.
 
Warm regards,
David Maguire
Interim Vice-Chancellor