Broadcast: News items

PS Essentials highlights the key priorities for Professional Services colleagues and recent news and updates which you and your teams may find useful. 

If there is information you would like included in future PS Essentials, please submit your request to the Internal Comms mailbox.

Quick links

About you

• Cost of living support for staff and students
  
  
• Real Living Wage – spinal pay points update
  
  
• Organisation Development Workshops coming up this term

About Professional Services

• Sussex appoints General Counsel and Director of Governance and Compliance
  
  
• Education and Innovation Fund launched
  
  
• QS sustainability rankings revealed
  
  
• Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF) submission has begun
  
  
• Meet the Sussex Research Hive Scholars  
  
  
• Investing in a Better Sussex: November highlights
  
  
• Colleagues are invited to read Senate papers 

Coming up

• Professor David Ruebain’s inaugural Professorial Lecture: tomorrow, 8 November
  
  
• Pedagogic Revolution – co-creation in the curriculum workshop: 16 November

A reminder

• All leave requests and absence to be recorded on MyView
  
  

 About you

Cost of living support for staff and students

On 4 November, Vice-Chancellor Sasha Roseneil shared the University’s plan to support staff and students during the cost of living crisis as we move into winter. A package of support has been agreed by the University, with the priority to focus support on those in the greatest need. Including the actions already taken, the support amounts to around £6.6m and you can read more in the full update.

A second, progressive, non-consolidated payment will be made to staff this winter, weighted towards those on the lowest salaries. These payments will be staggered from November to March for Grades 1-7, and a single lump-sum payment will be made for Grades 8 and 9. In addition, a range of financial advice, services and support is also available for staff and students to help our community during the cost of living crisis.

Real Living Wage – spinal pay points update

The University recently attained accreditation as a Real Living Wage Employer. The Real Living Wage is reviewed annually and the new rate of £10.90 was announced in late September. The University had until May 2023 to introduce the new rate, but we chose to pay it from 1 October 2022.

In introducing the new Real Living Wage rate, the University has decided that spinal point 10 will become the lowest point paid on our pay scale, as point 10 represents an hourly rate of £10.94.

Several changes are being made to spinal pay points in order to maintain pay differentials and you can read more on the Staff Hub.

Organisation Development Workshops coming up this term

Places are still available for a range of upcoming workshops being hosted by the Organisation Development team, including the Work/Life Balance webinar on 23 November. Check out our full events calendar.

At this time of year, as the season changes and evenings get darker, it's important to consider our mental health and look out for others. This LinkedIn Learning pathway, How to Have a Conversation about Mental Health, brings together resources and guidance around mental health, self-care and preparing for a supportive conversation.

About Professional Services

Sussex appoints General Counsel and Director of Governance and Compliance

Laila El Baradei will join the University next March as our new General Counsel and Director of Governance and Compliance. Laila is currently General Counsel at Plan International where she has worked for the last nine years. Having qualified as a lawyer in both England & Wales and New York, Laila has seven years’ private practice experience in the City of London and over nine years of in-house experience advising across a wide range of practice areas.

Geraldine Ismail is Interim Head of Legal Services and Emma Potts, Interim Deputy Chief Operating Officer, oversees the Governance and Information Management teams. Geraldine and Emma will continue in these roles until Laila joins in March 2023. Read the full announcement.

Education and Innovation Fund launched

We recently launched the new £50,000 Education and Innovation Fund, which will help provide resources to advance the Pedagogic Revolution at Sussex. The initiative aims to drive positive changes in the way we deliver our teaching and learning experience by stimulating student and staff co-creation, and rewarding innovation and teaching excellence. 

This academic year’s awards will favour projects that prioritise NSS, assessments, feedback and the student voice. Staff members will be able to apply for up to £5,000 per individual project. See how to apply.

QS sustainability rankings revealed

Sussex has been ranked third in the UK for sustainable institutions and 55th in the world for overall sustainability performance and in the first ever QS Sustainability Rankings.

In addition to finishing third in the UK for sustainable institutions and 55th in the world for sustainability the rankings also found that University of Sussex was:

• Eighth in the UK and joint 35th in the world for environmental impact;
• 17th in the world of sustainability institutions; and
• Ninth in UK for impact of education, which assess subjects that have the greatest potential to positively impact society.

Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF) submission has begun

The Teaching Excellence Framework is an important measure of the quality of teaching, learning and student outcomes provided by universities. Issued every five years, TEF rankings enable university applicants to make informed choices and encourage universities to continue to improve. The University of Sussex currently has a silver award rating.

The latest TEF process has now launched, with submissions due in January 2023. The detailed submission for Sussex will be developed by a steering group and, new for this TEF, students from each provider are also invited to make an independent submission. If you have any questions, or information that may support our submission, please contact Kelly Coate or Nadia Pattenden.

Meet the Sussex Research Hive Scholars  

Each year, in partnership with SAGE Publications, the Library offers three Research Hive Scholarships to support the needs of the doctoral research community at Sussex, fostering a sense of belonging and contributing to the vibrant research culture within the Library’s Research Hive and beyond. This year, our three Research Hive Scholars are Georgia Wetherall from the School of Media, Arts and Humanities, dyuti a from Global Studies and Andrea Perez Porres from SPRU.

If you’d like to see what the Research Hive Scholars get up to this year, you can follow them on Twitter or on Instagram, @sussexreshive.

Investing in a Better Sussex: November highlights

Work is continuing on the major projects that form part of creating a better Sussex. Recent highlights include:

• Student Information System (SIS): Ellucian have been confirmed as the provider for the new SIS. Implementation planning and timelines are being agreed, with roll out expected to begin in September 2024.
  
  
• West Slope: In the last month, a new temporary road opened which has allowed a new area of work to start at the bottom of the East Slope Road. Washing machines have been installed in our new Swanborough Laundrette, and more work is underway along the Arts Path as we install new drainage and communications ducting across campus.
  
  
• HESA Data Futures: Every year all UK universities send student data to the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) and from 2022/23 we will be required to capture a greater depth and breadth of information. The HESA Data Futures project team will be working with all areas that provide student data to look at ways the new requirements can be met.

Read more about these projects and others underway.

Colleagues are invited to read Senate papers 

The next Senate meeting is on 16 November 2022, the first meeting of the academic year. The agenda, minutes and papers are published a week in advance on Sussex Direct. Senate is the highest academic committee in the University, overseeing quality assurance and standards of the education provided by the University and it is vital that the PS voice is part of the discussion at Senate. 

Two elected senators, Gemma Harman and Kit Eves, act as spokespeople for PS staff, representing your needs and interests. Please contact Gemma or Kit in confidence if there is a matter you’d like them to raise. Upcoming meetings are planned for 8 March and 14 June 2023 and you can view information on past and future meetings. 

 Coming up

Professor David Ruebain’s inaugural Professorial Lecture: tomorrow, 8 November

‘Can the law deliver inclusion?’ Book your place at Professor David Ruebain’s inaugural Professorial Lecture which will explore what is needed to transform organisations and society to achieve inclusion. David is our Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Culture, Equality and Inclusion and a member of the University Executive Group (UEG). This free event, followed by a drinks reception, will be held at the ACCA at 6pm.

We also held our first ‘Inclusive Sussex: In Conversation with…’ event last week, featuring musician and songwriter Dan Gillespie Sells with and audience of staff, students and our wider community. Discussion topics ranged from liberation and storytelling to power and gender stereotypes. Find out more and view the replay.

Pedagogic Revolution – co-creation in the curriculum workshop: 16 November

Co-creation in the curriculum can help empower and engage students, while developing a collaborative environment that reflects the diversity of the learning community. All staff interested in student co-creation are encouraged to join the workshop, from 1pm – 4pm on 16 November in the Open Space Learning Room in the Library. For those who cannot attend face-to-face, the presentations from this workshop will be recorded and shared after the event via the Educational Enhancement webpages.

A reminder

All leave requests and absence to be recorded on MyView

It has been a month since HR introduced absence management on MyView for all staff across the University. Please remember that all absences, including annual leave, sickness, paid/unpaid leave and volunteering leave must now be booked through MyView.

If you haven’t yet, please log into MyView, and check that all personal information is correct, including the name of your manager, and any employees you manage. Don’t forget you can always refer to the MyView user guide on the HR webpages for videos, instructions and other useful information on how to use MyView including how to set up working patterns if you work part-time, compressed hours, or shifts.