Taking our ambitions forward

I am keen that everyone in Sussex should take the opportunity to read and comment on the Green Paper which takes forward the preparation of a new Strategic Plan for the University.

I am pleased that, with the endorsement of our Council, we’ve published this week the Green Paper which lays out the proposed basic framework for the emerging University Strategic Plan and identifies more of the key strategies needed to deliver the plan, putting a sense of scale and detail around these ideas.

It also presents a series of questions for the wider University community to comment upon. You can access it at www.sussex.ac.uk/vc/ambition and I want to encourage everyone to read and respond to it: to be an effective plan this needs to be owned by us all.

The document explicitly builds on the earlier and extensive consultation throughout the autumn term on the “Setting the Scope of our Ambitions” document. I am grateful to the hundreds of staff and students whose ideas and involvement have taken us forward to this stage.

For example, based on these discussions, I am keen that we should sharpen the themes which we want to characterise Sussex – which might be around the “3 I’s” of “innovation, internationalisation and impact”. I want us to have a memorable, identifiable purpose and ambition. What do we want our University to be known for?

We have also begun here to put a sense of scale on the “step change” which these strategic plans imply – growing by 25% in terms of turnover above current plans for 2011; by 2,000 in terms of student numbers; a capital plan of £180m over 10 years. These are significant and serious ambitions for any institution. But with commitment, I am confident they are the right scale of challenging and ambitious targets we should aim for.

Much of the growth will need to come from research and business engagement, and the enterprise agenda will be a theme of the next Planning Conference for our Schools and departments in early February. But wider than this, I believe Sussex should place renewed emphasis on community engagement and outreach where we have much to offer and to gain.

I have already written in my blog about research themes before Christmas. PVC Bob Allison’s work continues, and the Green Paper itself does not yet draw out specific overarching themes, but provides a framework for their development, since they must draw on academic initiative, not top-down direction. But it is vital that these are seen as encompassing and open to all areas of University activity.

In relation to curriculum development, the work which PVC Joanne Wright has been supporting with different academic groups from across Schools and departments points to serious academic developments in areas such as business and management, international security, biosciences and creative arts. This reflects work already in hand – with business and management needing to be a strong and early area of growth.

I myself have started positive discussions with a range of colleagues about how we can strengthen leadership across the University, particularly reinforcing the role of heads of department as academic leaders and managers. How we can get the right sets of responsibilities at each level, and have the best organisation which flows from that? This needs to be organic development – building on the best of what we have, not ripping up the plant and starting again.

Finally, it is critically important to me that these plans are sustainable – whether financially or environmentally. Much growth will be delivered from our own efforts, bringing in new income from student numbers and research. But we should look to make use of external levers for change and development – for example in bidding to the HEFCE Strategic Development Fund, and the Green Paper flags this important initiative.

I repeat that want to continue to hear from colleagues in the Sussex community. Comments are invited on this next stage by Wednesday 19 March or sooner of course.
In the meantime I will want to discuss ideas at the open staff forum on 12 and 14 February and I look forward to discussion at Senate on 14 March.

All of this input and engagement will be vital in shaping the Strategic Plan which will then be developed for presentation in draft to Council on 4 April.