Race Equality Charter
The University holds a Race Equality Charter (REC) Institutional Bronze award.
“Advance HE’s Race Equality Charter helps institutions in their work to identify and address the barriers facing Black, Asian and minority ethnic staff and students, while also providing a framework for action and improvement. Institutions can apply for a bronze or silver award, depending on their progress” Advance HE.
The REC was established in the UK higher education sector in 2015, and updated in 2023. You can find out more about the Race Equality Charter on the Advance HE website. The REC currently offers institutional Race Equality Charter awards.
Race Equality Charter at the University of Sussex
Inclusive Sussex outlines our strategic aim of becoming an equal, diverse and inclusive community. A key priority is to create a systemic, University--wide approach to race equality work, therefore, we developed an objective to apply for and hold a Race Equality Charter Award by 2025.
The University of Sussex received a Bronze award for the first time in 2023; it is valid until 2028.
The University’s award application was endorsed by the University Executive Team and other senior leaders, as demonstrated in their letters of support:
- Prof Sasha Roseneil, Vice Chancellor: SR Letter [PDF 201.32KB]
- Dr Tim Westlake, Chief Operating Officer: TW Letter [PDF 68.68KB]
- Prof Kate O’Riordan, then Dean of the School of Media Arts and Humanities: KO Letter [PDF 250.31KB]
- Prof Jo Moran Ellis, Head of School of Law Politics and Sociology; Prof Simon Thompson, Head of School of Education and Social Work; Prof Elizabeth Harrison, Head of Global Studies: Social Sciences Letter [PDF 119.16KB]
- (Then) Prof Robin Banerjee, then Head of School of Psychology; Prof Malcolm Dean, Dean of Brighton and Sussex Medical School; Professor Sarah Guthrie, Head of School of Life Sciences; Professor Vanessa Styles, Head of School of Mathematical and Physical Sciences: Science, Education & Research Letter [PDF 104.01KB]
- Prof Steve McGuire, Dean, University of Sussex Business School: SM Letter [PDF 83.02KB]
During the application, the Race Equality Charter Self-Assessment Team (REC SAT) undertook a systematic process to evaluate and understand race equity at the University. Between 2019-23 the REC SAT scrutinised institutional culture and processes, using a variety of methods including surveys, focus groups and data collection and analysis.
You can view a redacted version of the REC application here: Redacted REC Bronze Application 2023 [PDF 9.90MB] The application has been redacted as per Advance HE Guidelines meaning that personally sensitive or confidential data is removed, in accordance with the General Data Protection Regulation 2016.
The data and insight gathered helped identify key issues and a four-year action plan was created, designed to address the key issues and support systematic change over a period of time, using measurable and context specific actions. View the four-year action plan here: REC Action Plan [PDF 337.33KB]
Our REC SAT is chaired by Pro-Vice-Chancellor David Ruebain, and Senior Lecturer Naaz Rashid is the Deputy Chair. Membership to the REC SAT is reviewed periodically. The University has a full-time EDI Consultant within the EDI Unit who supports the work of the Self-Assessment Team. The SAT will monitor the four-year action plan and oversee progress.
