Dr Mo Ibrahim, founder of the Mo Ibrahim Foundation, pictured with the Interim Vice-Chancellor and some of our African students

David Maguire, Interim Vice-Chancellor sent a message to all colleagues today (9 May). You can read the message below: 

Dear colleague,

Firstly I would like to congratulate our Provost Rachel Mills on her new appointment as Senior Vice President (Academic) at King’s College London, which we have announced today.
 
Rachel has been a huge asset to Sussex. In her role as Provost, she has helped improve many academic processes and practices, and has been instrumental in a number of important innovations. She will be greatly missed by me and very many others at the University. I wish her all the very best in her new role.
 
With a bumper graduation season of more than 40 ceremonies fast approaching, I have been reflecting this week on how we stay connected to our students after they leave us. It is always heart-warming to hear from alumni about the next stages in their lives and, while we cannot lay claim to all their successes post-Sussex, I would like to believe that we play an important role in shaping their futures.
 
Our Development and Alumni Relations team are key to building and sustaining these relationships. This includes organising events to which our alumni, and often our business partners and supporters, are invited. These are fantastic opportunities to showcase our current research and other activities, as well as giving former students a chance to reconnect – and make new connections.
 
As this is our 60th anniversary year, we have even more reason for celebration. An event we hosted last week in London for alumni involved researchers from one of our most influential centres, the University of Sussex Centre for the Study of Corruption. Dr Mo Ibrahim, founder of the Mo Ibrahim Foundation, gave an inspirational keynote speech about anti-corruption. He also participated in a panel discussion on the same topic with academics Professor Liz David-Barrett and Professor Robert Barrington, and Baroness Valerie Amos. It was particularly good to see many of our African students in the audience. It is by influencing and shaping policy and practice that the Centre can help governments, institutions and corporate bodies around the world to address corruption issues. I am sure it made the audience proud to be associated with an institution that continues to challenge, to influence, and to do good.

This week I will also be listening to one of our most inspiring alumni, Elizabeth Churchill, Director of User Experience at Google, reflect on her time at Sussex. She will be sharing those thoughts at an event in San Francisco with our American alumni. And on 16 May we are hosting an online event for alumni to join a panel discussion with our psychology experts about our unique research on kindness.
 
Another significant event in the pipeline is a big reunion weekend on campus for alumni in September, while on our 60th anniversary pages you will find a fun, Sussex in 60 Objects feature, with an opportunity for current and past students and staff to nominate objects they feel sum up their own personal experience of life at Sussex.
 
While on the topic of reflections, I would like to remind you that our latest staff survey closes on 13 May. Please complete it if you have not already done so. Looking at the views of staff is really important so that action can be taken in response to the issues raised. One area that has improved since the pulse surveys started is that people feel more able to report bullying and harassment, which in part is likely to be due to the new Report and Support tool launched earlier in the year. This was introduced as a direct result of the previous survey.
 
I know that senior leadership is an area of particular interest for staff. Over the past few months, I have been overseeing progress with UEG’s staff survey action plan. This includes clearer information online about UEG members and their responsibilities. A UEG Open Forum is being arranged for next month, which will provide an opportunity for more dialogue with senior leaders about topics that matter to staff – more information on that in due course. In tandem, colleagues are establishing a group that will inform the ‘what’ and ‘how’ of UEG communications in the future, so we know we are meeting staff needs. And I’m ensuring that UEG members undertake all appropriate training, including an extensive Union Black anti-racism course, which is also available to all staff.
 
Also, a reminder that the results of the latest Research Excellence Framework (REF) will be communicated on Thursday, 12 May, while our Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Research, Keith Jones, will be hosting a Research with Impact forum webinar at 11am - 12 noon on release day to discuss the results. I would encourage all those interested in hearing how we have fared to sign up.
 
With fingers crossed for the REF, I hope you have a good week.
 
Warm regards,

David Maguire
Interim Vice-Chancellor