University of Suffolk News
WELCOME Welcome to the first newsletter of 2019. We remain in a challenging and changing environment, with the results of the Augur Review expected this month, Brexit looming, recruitment competition ongoing, essay mills, unconditional offers and grade inflation all remaining high on government agendas. It would be easy to be despondent but as a senior team we remain optimistic. We have concluded the Schools and Directorates strategic planning round, and are now looking at the shape of our estate and IT along with our people strategy to enable us to be in the best position possible to weather the turbulent times ahead. Our students and their education remain our key focus, and the task and finish groups will be reporting back by Easter with changes made ready for the next academic year. Many of you are engaged in these and they are already reporting good discussions and ideas in the key areas under consideration. Our students need us to provide the best education and education environment that we can and this includes ensuring that we prepare them for working in a global market, whether based in Suffolk or much further beyond. Our interest in international partnerships remains high and we continue to seek partners who will enable us to meet our student needs in this area, whether through bringing international students on campus, providing study abroad/Erasmus opportunities and in the future research relationships. Our staff population enables us to bring a rich and diverse culture to our university and I am grateful to you all for sharing your expertise and experiences with our students and each other to enable us to learn from our differences.
Issue 6 Winter 2019
This year marks the 25th anniversary of our provision in Early Childhood studies—something that we should all be proud of and use to demonstrate how we integrate with our community through using our expertise. In December we ‘installed’ our first Chancellor— a fantastic way to round off 2018 as we continue to mature as a young institution. Dr Helen Pankhurst gave her time freely for staff through a lecture and with students through a visit to the SU. She plans to engage with us through the year, mainly at graduation ceremonies, at University Court and with a further lecture; alongside this she will actively champion the University wherever she finds herself in the UK and abroad, helping us to put the University of Suffolk on the world map as we grow our reputation and brand. Our strategic planning helped us to identify our key areas of distinctiveness and in turn this is helping us to drive the vision for our estate over the coming years. Watch this space as we seek to engage you in our thinking during 2019 and be willing to share your ideas to ensure we are challenged to deliver the best that we can for our future. I wish you all a productive and peaceful 2019 and look forward to working with you in the months ahead. Professor Helen Langton Vice-Chancellor
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