Firstly, a reminder that if you want a great overview of our £200million investment programme which is helping us to deliver our Sussex 2025 vision to be ‘a better University for a better world’ you can now watch a recording of the webinar held at the end of March.

At the moment we’re co-ordinating the first Sussex Projects Annual Planning Cycle. This is a process by which we ensure that our plans remain aligned to our changing strategic and external environment. This is an opportunity for us to look at the progress of the projects and programmes that are underway, and those that are due to start, and to ensure that they are adequately resourced, planned and supported so that they delivery exactly as planned. You will be hearing more about this over the coming weeks.

 Some of the programmes and projects that are underway include:

• The West Slope Development – specifically the Enabling Works part of the programme starts w/c 3 May. This phase gets us ready for the building phase of the project and will take place over the next year or so. The enabling works mean we can get all the services – gas, water, electricity - in place at the development before we break ground and start building. So you may experience some disruption to driving and walking routes around campus, but rest assured we will keep you updated through our usual communication channels. You can read more about the work currently underway and visit our campus development web page which is the best place to check for updates and information.

• Unified Communications (telephony) project: The aim of this project is to improve how we collaborate and connect with each other by introducing additional features within MS Teams so that we can easily make phone calls to colleagues, land lines and mobile phones.   This will help us: to simplify and rationalise how we currently communicate and collaborate; to support flexible and remote working; and will replace our current telephony system which is now over 35 years old. The project team are meeting over the next month with senior leadership teams from schools and divisions to share these plans and to hear their thoughts and questions.  Discussions will take place locally to identify specific requirements and further details will be shared widely in the coming months.
  
  
• New Identity and Access Management System: Small user groups of specific applications are already being invited to sign-on to the new  Identity and Access Management System  called Okta. This includes setting up Multi Factor Authentication (MFA) which provides an added level of security. You can find out more about MFA. In the next couple of months, you will be asked to sign-up to Okta and to set up your MFA. Full details will be provided to make it straightforward and letting you know who to contact if you need help.

Outside the programme, in other projects, the Student Centre has had a ‘soft launch’ and has been open to students from 25 April. The space is absolutely beautiful and is already proving very popular. You can find out more about the Centre and what it has to offer and take a look at this student-created video too. And if you’re on campus, do pay it a visit.