Annual Review 2022

A university for a changing world

WELCOME

In the memorable words of Bob Dylan, nearly 60 years ago, ‘the times they are a changing’, but as Nelson Mandela said ‘Education is the most powerful weapon you can use to change the world’ and we have made use of this during the last few years.

One of the biggest changes to our sector is the ongoing growth of the 18 year old market, following a decade of demographic dip in this area. The University of Suffolk was set up to widen access and participation in higher education and this social mobility mission remains a core focus for us. However, the profile of our students is beginning to change and we are ready for the opportunity that a younger market will bring.

The University has made considerable progress across a number of key measures, and this year has been no different. We have seen an excellent outcome in our Ofsted inspection for apprenticeship provision, positioning us as a partner of choice for employers and apprentices for the future. Our National Student Survey overall score is now above the average for the UK, with several subject areas reaching 100% student satisfaction. In addition, we are extremely proud of the response to our first submission to the Research Excellence Framework (REF), where over 70% of our outputs were ranked as either world leading or internationally recognised. This is an amazing achievement, positioning

us nationally and internationally to develop our research reputation going forward. This success contributes to our encouraging league table positions as we strive to continue to be a university that values transformation and change, creativity and collaboration, inclusivity and professionalism.

Our campus is also changing. We have opened our new Health and Wellbeing Building, our DigiTech Centre is attracting students and we have agreed our next big project, which will see indoor sports provision created on our campus along with enhanced Students’ Union facilities. Partnership working continues to be high on our agenda and this year Suffolk Mind brought their expertise and headquarters to our campus, providing our community with their service and our students with experience and support. Similarly, with Inspire Suffolk, we are supporting their endeavours to enhance their playing field and facilities for underprivileged young people to create a resource shared with our students and mutually beneficial to all. We are proud to have the continued support of our staff and students in all our endeavours.

In writing this annual review I wanted to share the University’s strengths and what we stand for, enhancing our reputation, and our position as the university of choice for students and staff.

Don’t just take my word for it.... We are proudly modern and innovative

We are rightly regarded as a pioneer in Block learning, and we are Top 10 in the UK for ‘best lecturers and teaching quality’ in the WhatUni Student Choice Awards 2022. We are also Top 10 in the UK for ‘best facilities’ in the Whatuni Student Choice Awards and continue to invest, including the £14m, state-ofthe-art, Health and Wellbeing building and the £9.5m DigiTech Centre. We have developed a unique alliance with the Integrated Care System and County Council in Suffolk; our partnership with BT – a world leading telecommunications company is going from strength to strength.

We deliver transformative education

We provide excellent graduate outcomes, 26th in the UK for Graduate prospects on track (Complete University Guide 2023).

We continue to invest in our students –we are 23rd in the UK for professional services spend on students.

We provide subject area excellence

– we are 6th in the UK for History and 7th in the UK for Sociology and Social Policy.

We provide opportunities for all – we educate more than double the national average of students from deprived

backgrounds and are 3rd in the UK for social mobility.

We are international class and committed to our region

We have world-class research, achieving an ‘outstanding’ award in the REF 2021 for producing groundbreaking and internationally excellent research.

We make significant contribution to the local economy and the economic impact analysis report published in 2019 showed that the University of Suffolk generated £103m Gross Value Added (GVA) and supported 2,270 jobs across the region and wider UK.

We have growing international student numbers with plans to double them year on year to 2030.

We provide global consultancy and knowledge transfer services to businesses throughout our region and across the world including Peru, Hong Kong, Singapore and Malaysia.

So, I commend this annual review to you and trust that as you read it you will join us in celebrating our achievements and demonstrating them to the world. I continue to be proud of the University of Suffolk and the ways in which it embraces transformation and change.

Professor Helen Langton Vice-Chancellor and CEO

SUFFOLK LEARNING EXPERIENCE

UK Student Recruitment

After starting academic year 2021-2022 with continuing Covid restrictions in schools and colleges, the Student Recruitment team were pleased to return to some normality in January 2022 and focus on building relationships with schools and colleges in key counties outside of Suffolk. Our aim has been to grow applications from national 18-year-olds, and the ability to work both virtually and physically with schools has meant we could increase our activity compared to pre-pandemic levels.

Schools, Colleges, and National Events

During 2021-2022, our Student Recruitment team represented the University of Suffolk at 26 UCAS fairs and four large, externally organised, exhibitions. Travelling across the UK to speak to potential undergraduate students about the courses on offer and encouraging them to consider Suffolk as one of their UCAS choices.

Throughout the year, the team attended careers events in schools and colleges, and delivered higher education talks, including information on student finance and personal statements, with groups as large

as 500 people! We also ran three large taster days on campus, which included a two-day DigiTech event, a Health and Social Care day, and an event showcasing the Creative Arts degree show in June. These were very successful and will be replicated with new additions for 2022-2023.

We also introduced a new evaluation process for all events, to ensure that our team knows the type of audience to expect at future events – including popular subjects. This ensures we have the correct materials for the target audience and can also encourage specific academics or student ambassadors to attend with us.

Lesson in a Box

We have continued to develop the Lesson in a Box project throughout the academic year 2021-2022, with six subject box options available, and another three currently being produced. The boxes available for schools to book are Architecture, Childhood, Childhood and Education, Diagnostic Radiography, Fine Art, and Sociology. The English, Social Work and Criminology boxes are launching in the New Year. Each box contains the materials needed to deliver a lesson in class, with online content provided by University of Suffolk lecturers. Boxes are available to book by schools and colleges across the country, and they are either couriered to and from schools, or hand-delivered locally by the neaco and Student Recruitment teams. The Lesson in a Box was launched to schools in October 2021, and we were delighted by the interest. Twenty-four schools booked 46 boxes, and 2,600 students in Years 10-12 participated in Lesson in a Box activities. We have had excellent feedback on the boxes and are keen to expand the courses on offer over the coming academic year.

“Wow, we had a great time with the Lesson in a Box, thank you so much. I might look at booking the sociology one later in the year and will get in touch soon!”

Teacher at Sir John Leman High School

NETWORK FOR EAST ANGLIAN COLLABORATIVE OUTREACH (NEACO)

The neaco Higher Education Champions (HECs) worked tirelessly throughout the 2021-2022 academic year, providing a plethora of highquality information, advice and guidance activities for students in Suffolk secondary schools and colleges. After a rocky start to the academic year with HECs needing to adapt to working with schools postpandemic, the team swiftly learnt that in a post-Covid era, online and in-person work was a balance that needed to be met in order to support changing school requirements. As a result, we developed and delivered activity that was online, in-person and hybrid. As the year progressed and schools and colleges allowed more activity to take place in-person, we saw a huge increase in activity being booked and arranged. Between February and July 2022, we had a massive increase in school/college visits to campus, with students experiencing university life through a range of tours, taster sessions and information talks. A total of 48 campus visits from Suffolk schools and colleges took place in 20212022 academic year. The feedback from school teachers and students showed that the re-introduction of campus visits was invaluable, and we are working together as a team to continually improve the quality of our service and deliver campus visits to a high standard.

In July 2022, neaco welcomed over 50, Year 12 students for the annual on-campus residential summer school: ‘Uni Camp’. The neaco team, with support from the Student Recruitment team, worked hard to develop a programme of activities for students to take part in over the course of five days and four nights, hoping to inspire the participants to consider university as an option for them in the future. Activities included: a range of brilliant taster sessions with our academics, Student Ambassador support and talks, trips to Alton Water and Jimmy’s Farm, social activities to support confidence building and making friends, and practical UCAS application and personal statement sessions. The Uni Camp was a brilliant success with fantastic feedback from both students and parents.

The Access team within neaco have also designed, developed, and delivered a range of events and activities for students in underrepresented groups within HE this year. They have run a variety of oncampus events, including the Never Too Late (mature learners) conference, Family Awareness Day, Splendid, and hosted the ‘More Than Mums’ group on campus. The Parent Champion scheme ran throughout the 2021-2022 academic year, a scheme designed to support local parent/carers understand, and become aware of, the vast array of options and opportunities available to their young person in terms of post 18 progression.

In 2021-2022, the Suffolk neaco team have worked with 7,620 Suffolk students in Years 9-13, with 1,608 Suffolk students having three or more engagements across the year with members of our team.

INTERNATIONAL

Following a successful 2021-2022, international student recruitment at the University of Suffolk continues to develop and adapt significantly.

The University received a record number of applications from international students from a range of new countries, resulting in the largest intake of international students since the University’s inception. This growth is consistent with our long-term vision and internationalisation plans and demonstrates the success of dedicated promotional and partnership activity.

In 2022, the University signed an agreement with a third-party private organisation to support our international recruitment and admissions activities in key geographical regions. This partnership will give the University a physical presence in South Asia and West Africa as well as providing dedicated application processing support delivering a sector-leading service level.

A new scholarship scheme was launched during 2021-2022 to support

international students with their overseas study. The International Master’s Excellence Scholarship scheme aimed to reward students who demonstrated excellent, prior academic achievement, and were able to illustrate the impact their studies would have on communities, both locally and internationally, upon graduation. We continue to build on this work with the introduction of three new schemes to support undergraduate, master’s and PhD students joining the University in the 2023-2024 academic year.

Our International team continue to collaborate with academic schools to develop their course portfolio, which will soon see the launch of exciting new master’s programmes in the areas of professional health and technology.

Outreach activity with prospective international students continued throughout the year, where a variety of online events, both in-house and with agent partners, were delivered globally. There is much excitement for the year ahead as plans are developed for incountry activity.

GRADUATION

Our 2022 Graduation Week saw more than 3,000 students graduating across 15 ceremonies in the grand marquee on the Ipswich Waterfront.

The celebratory atmosphere was matched, on the whole, by glorious autumn sunshine as guests gathered with graduates to share their special day.

Highlights included an emotional vote of thanks from Lotachi Ekwunife who graduated after losing her husband to Covid and a double celebration for newlywed graduate, Balal Awan who married Arusa the day before collecting his Unitas FdA, Youth Justice award.

The University also celebrated three new honorary graduates - Jonathan Adnams OBE, Dr Harry Brunjes and Paul Killik.

Find out more about them by visiting: uos.ac.uk/honorary-graduatesfellows

Summing up the week of ceremonies, Professor Helen Langton, ViceChancellor, said:

“Graduation is the culmination of a huge amount of hard work and brings a sense of delight and achievement.”

RESEARCH

REF Success

Following our excellent outcome from the Research Excellence Framework (REF) 2021 with nearly 70% of research outputs assessed as either 4* world-leading, or 3* internationally excellent, with both our impact case studies awarded 3*, the University of Suffolk is in receipt of QR income for the first time.

Steven Hill, Director of Research at Research England, particularly highlighted and profiled the University of Suffolk’s performance in the REF during a briefing on the Framework at Research England. Steven has overall responsibility for the REF and he thought, as a first submission to the Framework, it was a particularly strong performance.

Our research income from externally funded sources for the 2021-2022 financial year was £1.2m, an increase of almost 320% on the previous financial year.

We saw research grant successes from funders such as the British Academy, National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR), Transforming Access and Student Outcomes in Higher Education (TASO), Horizon Europe, Britten Pears Arts, Evotec UK, Suffolk County Council and the Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime.

With the introduction of the Suffolk Academic Model, we have increased the number of staff with responsibility for research to nearly 40% and we currently hold 55 active, externally funded, research grants with a combined award value of over £5m.

Operation Soteria Bluestone

University of Suffolk academic, Professor Miranda Horvath, has played a key role in compiling a report aimed at improving the way in which rape and other sexual offences are investigated by police forces in England and Wales.

The report of year one of the programme was laid before parliament and published by the Home Office on Thursday 15 December 2022.

Operation Soteria is a unique police and CPS programme to develop new operating models for the investigation and prosecution of rape in England and Wales by June 2023.

The policing model is being developed by a team of academics funded by the Home Office and between January 2022 and September 2023, the academics conducted sequential deep dives on the police response to rape in five police forces: Avon and Somerset Police, the Metropolitan Police Service, Durham Constabulary, West Midlands Police and South Wales Police.

Professor Horvath, Director of the University of Suffolk’s Institute for Social Justice and Crime, led the team for pillar one of the work, which is about making investigations suspect focused.

Professor Horvath and fellow academics were given unprecedented access to a range of police records and worked with

individual forces to understand more fully how their investigations proceed.

Her team gathered a wide range of data and information during the deep dives – including reviews of case files, interviews with officers and reviews of policies and procedures.

Their findings exposed a number of flaws in the criminal justice system including:

investigators and other police staff lack sufficient specialist knowledge about rape and other sexual offending, and there is a need for specialism and research-informed specialist investigative practice for rape and sexual offences; disproportionate effort has been put into testing the credibility of a victim’s account, and there is a need to re-balance investigations to include a thorough investigation of the suspect’s behaviour; a failure to track repeat suspects.

Professor Horvath said: “We know that people make decisions to commit sex offences and become sex offenders and the suspect’s behaviour toward the victim, the choices they make, and the way they account for these choices, must be the central focus of the investigation.

“Considering the behaviour of the suspect allows for the more appropriate prioritisation of the investigative strategy, better support for the victim, and can help facilitate stronger case building.

“Many basic investigative functions are currently not being completed, with officers relying on ‘victim credibility’ tests which undermine formulation of effective strategies and actions to investigate the suspect.

“Many cases are left to drift, through a combination of lack of capacity, lack of specialist knowledge and skills, an inability to appropriately manage or close cases, poor liaison and communication with the Crown Prosecution Service, and structural issues causing tensions between staff.

“We advocate for the development of a specialist sex offence investigator role, with specialist knowledge, skills and capability to handle all functions within an investigation.”

Following publication of the report, Chief Constable Sarah Crew, National Police Chiefs’ Council Lead for Adult Sexual Offences said:

“Uncovering deep rooted and systemic issues within policing is the first big milestone in achieving the transformational change required to improve the policing response to rape. Everyone in policing recognises that we must do better and this programme has been met with a genuine willingness and openness to change.

“The evidence tells us that building specialist knowledge, supported by critical thinking and a problem-solving mindset are among the most important changes we can make to tighten our grip on offenders and address falling conviction rates. Officers must target rapists by focusing on suspects – not the credibility of victims – and use their legal and policing powers to disrupt offenders and further harm.

“We are seeing green shoots of change in pathfinder forces and after 18 months, Avon and Somerset have increased their adult rape charge rate from 3% to over 10%. Improvements are being made at pace in pathfinder forces and I am confident this work will lead to the sustainable progress victims so desperately deserve.”

Link to report:

www.gov.uk/government/ publications/operation-soteria-yearone-report

Link to Institute for Social Justice and Crime:

www.uos.ac.uk/ISJC

PARTNERSHIPS SMART HOUSE LAUNCH

The DigiTech Smart House project is a collaborative research facility that aims to demonstrate the regional capacity for designing, building and occupying sustainable homes. The zero-carbon house has been hailed as the “embodiment of sustainability” and was officially opened in November 2022.

Partners in the project include BT and the New Anglia Local Enterprise Partnership and its completion coincides with the launch of the Suffolk Sustainability Institute.

The DigiTech Smart House will utilise systems to evaluate the performance of sustainable materials, low carbon energy and water consumption, addressing two pressing concerns – climate change and the impact on the construction industry, and the UK housing crisis with the chronic shortage of affordable homes. The house will be used as a ‘living laboratory’ and demonstrator by the University along with a range of third-party innovation partners.

The building will be easy to maintain and comfortable to inhabit, offering a vision

for a sustainable way of life to enhance lifestyles and act as a template for future domestic homes.

The University’s Professor of Energy and Sustainable Development, and Director of the Suffolk Sustainability Institute, Darryl Newport said: “The launch of the Suffolk Sustainability Institute and the opening of our new Smart House Living Laboratory is an important milestone in our journey addressing some of the major global sustainability challenges.

Our research experts will use their knowledge and understanding to work with our local, regional and international partners and collaborators to deliver innovative solutions for a cleaner greener future.”

“We hope that our collaborative research, and knowledge exchange work, will contribute to our region’s ambition for transition to a zero-carbon economy as well as the University’s key objective of carbon neutrality for scope 1 and 2 emissions by 2030.”

Lisa Perkins, Adastral Park and Research Realisation Director, at BT added: “Adastral Park has long been a home for invention and delivery to a thriving innovation ecosystem, comprising BT, Openreach and 150 businesses in the Innovation Martlesham tech cluster.

“The site is a place for impactful technology solutions that make a real difference to society. The ecosystem has been recently enriched with the presence of the University of Suffolk’s

DigiTech Centre, with the aim of creating opportunities for research, education and training.

LEGAL ADVICE CENTRE OPENING

An initiative led by Senior Law Lecturer, Eleanor Scarlett to provide students with an opportunity of advising members of the public on specific areas of law culminated in the launch of the University of Suffolk Legal Advice Centre on 18 May 2022. Together with Director Eleanor Scarlett, Dr Stephen Colman and Ant Wooding, 14 student volunteers began planning for the Legal Advice Centre in November last year as part

of a steering group set up to establish the principles of the Centre, including the areas of advice in which it would operate.

Students, under the supervision of staff and external solicitor volunteers, met with their first clients in February 2022 during a ‘soft launch’. In the successful soft launch, students received 22 enquiries and produced 12 detailed letters of advice.

“The Smart House is another opportunity that we have co-launched which will enable exciting research into sustainability linked with smart technology. We are excited to see what further purposeful solutions may come from this.”

In addition to providing law students with an opportunity of putting what they learn into practice, the Legal Advice Centre is based on a commitment to provide support and benefit to the local community with advice around two key areas, family law and business law:

Family Law Advice

Legal Aid Eligibility

Child Arrangements Orders

Parental Responsibility

Financial Remedy

Occupation Orders

Divorce

Business Advice

Company Structure

Advisory Boards

Intellectual Property

Grants

Business Plans

At the launch, Eleanor Scarlett praised the ‘great commitment shown by the students in the creation of the Centre from the planning and implementation phase through to advising their first client’. The Centre is grateful to the external volunteers who have made this project possible, with particular thanks to Richard Port MBE of George Green Solicitors who was recently awarded Solicitor of the Year 2022 at the Birmingham Law Society awards.

NEW UNIVERSITY CENTRE

In 2021 Great Yarmouth Borough Council bought the former Palmers department store to develop a new University Centre and community hub. The University committed £3.5m towards the scheme and will accredit the degree level courses taught by East Coast College at the new centre. The University’s support brings the funding secured up to £15.3m to prepare the 5,300 square metre building for its new role. Norfolk County Council has contributed £2m towards the centre creating a new local library and a base for the

county’s award-winning adult learning service.

Carl Smith, Council Leader said,

Norfolk County Council is contributing £2m and around £7.5m comes from Great Yarmouth’s government Town Deal programme and £2.4m from the Future High Streets Fund.

“This investment in education and learning is part of our drive to help resident employability and the borough’s economy.”

East Coast College Chief Executive

Stuart Rimmer said: “We are delighted to be extending our partnership with the University to include the new learning hub. This enables us to offer courses in growth industries such as health, engineering, and the

NEW PARTNERSHIP ANNOUNCED

The University of Suffolk, East Coast College and James Paget University Hospital have signed a Partnership Agreement developing projects and creating new opportunities to help local people access training and highly skilled jobs.

This unique partnership opens up a range of opportunities from Level 2 job roles to local nursing degree study and includes the immediate creation

University of Suffolk Vice-Chancellor,

Professor Helen Langton said: “As a community impact and civic university committed to widening access, creating a learning, training, and apprenticeship hub in Great Yarmouth covering key areas such as health,

of 24 hospital placements for students studying the new T Level Health course at East Coast College from September. The training will support students to adapt to change, meet the emerging needs of the healthcare workforce and directly lead to places on nursing and clinical degrees. In addition, opportunities will be developed for Level 2 Health pathway students to visit a range of areas within the hospital including pharmaceuticals, screening departments, dieticians, and digital health, and for University of Suffolk foundation degree and honours degree students to complete six-week block placements on the children’s ward and oncology department.

The Partnership Agreement also signals the continuation of the transition programme, Project Search, now in its 10th year, enabling East Coast College students to develop skills and experience working at the hospital in Gorleston, alongside the ongoing delivery of Level 3 Business Administrator Apprenticeships at the hospital.

Stuart Rimmer, CEO and Principal of East Coast College, said: “This innovative strategic partnership agreement is focused on delivering change in our region, helping people access the high skilled jobs we need. Together we will help retrain and upskill existing staff and help support young people to start a career with the NHS. It’s very exciting.”

Jo Segasby, Chief Executive of the James Paget University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, said:

“I am delighted that the James Paget has further strengthened its partnership with both East Coast College and the University of Suffolk to establish local educational and training opportunities. This demonstrates our commitment to nurturing skills and expertise, and to ensure local health and care services meet future needs.”

The University of Suffolk ViceChancellor, Professor Helen Langton, said:

“With over 1400 students in health-related subject areas and a thriving portfolio of undergraduate and postgraduate courses, we are delighted that this collaborative partnership will further develop health and nursing provision.”

Holly Chase, Assistant Principal for Health Studies at East Coast College, Julia Bates, Deputy Principal Curriculum and Strategic Partnerships at East Coast College, Mohammad Dastbaz, Deputy Vice-Chancellor of University of Suffolk, Stuart Rimmer, Chief Executive of East Coast College and Jo Segasby, Chief Executive of the James Paget University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. - Credit: East Coast College

HEALTH AND WELLBEING

The University’s new £13million Health and Wellbeing Building at our Ipswich campus is now fully open and functioning.

The building is a space on campus dedicated to the promotion of integrated care among our student body, practice partners and the wider community.

Our new intake of students in September 2022 were the first to benefit from the state-of-the art facilities in the new building which is also a base for mental health charity Suffolk Mind.

Our BSc (Hons) Physiotherapy degree has also launched with the first ever cohort starting in September 2022.

The new building houses two floors of brand-new clinical simulation facilities, featuring two hospital wards, a midwifery birthing unit, a new sports and exercise facility, community flat for paramedic training in a home setting, a working radiography imaging suite, counselling/physiotherapy clinic rooms and research centre, Suffolk Institute of Health and Wellbeing. The Integrated Care Academy (ICA) is also based in the Health and Wellbeing quarter.

There were also changes in the leadership structure with the appointment of two new Associate Deans, a Director for Practice, and Heads of Subject for Nursing, Midwifery, Allied Health Professions, Sports, Apprenticeships and Practice Leads.

Dean of the School of Health and Sports Sciences, Dr Sam Chenery-Morris said: “Students and staff are enjoying the space and learning how best to use the building to its maximum potential.”

DENTISTRY

In July 2022, the University of Suffolk announced a new strategic plan, developed in partnership with the Suffolk and North East Essex Integrated Care Board (ICB); this was hailed as a “game changer” in service provision across the county.

The project has been a year and a half in development looking at providing dental services as well as education and skills, and the plan’s initial starting point has three key components:

The development of a dental social enterprise offering NHS dental treatment;

The formation of a Centre for Dental Development;

The development of clinical simulation and treatment facilities to support the education and training of undergraduate students in dental therapy and hygiene and postgraduate dentists as they progress their careers

It also received the backing of Suffolk’s MPs, in particular Jo Churchill, MP for Bury St Edmunds who has supported the project from the start after receiving numerous complaints from constituents about the lack of local NHS dental provision.

Sara Hurley, the Chief Dental Officer for England was named as the inaugural Chair of the University of Suffolk Dental Community Interest Company. She visited the University in November and met with Professor Helen Langton, Vice-Chancellor and Dr Paul Driscoll-Evans, Pro ViceChancellor (Health and Wellbeing).

Professor Helen Langton, ViceChancellor and CEO said:

“This is a brilliant endorsement of the work that we do bringing solutions to the challenges of supporting good oral health in our population. Sara brings a wealth of dental expertise and we look forward to working with her.”

Dr Ed Garratt, Chief Executive, NHS Suffolk and North East Essex Integrated Care Board, said:

“It’s incredibly positive that the University of Suffolk Dental Community Interest Company has appointed the current Chief Dental Officer for England as its Chair. Sara is an outstanding leader, and she brings huge knowledge and experience to the role.

“From April 2023 the ICB will take on the commissioning responsibility for local NHS dental services. We are determined to do all we can to introduce positive change by working closely with our partners, patients and the dental workforce.”

“With the implicit integration of oral health into our local health and social care system, as a new provider of NHS dental care in the region we are well placed to offer ordinary dentistry delivered with extraordinary care.

“Our ethos is all about enabling dental care, improving oral health by increasing access to dental services and at the same time providing opportunities for starting or continuing a dental career in the East of England.”

PEOPLE AND PLACES ESTATES NEW STRATEGY

It was a year of rebalance for Estates, and what a year that was. Looking at what has been achieved and what is still needed, a core commitment from the team is to share more updates across the campus on progress, it is a positive, and ever evolving story to tell.

As Estates Director, Nigel Lucker is keen to acknowledge the vital part played by his team, energised by the post-pandemic buzz around the campus, and collectively now better placed to support day-to-day

operations, the team have stayed ahead of the crucial things that needed to be done and been on-hand to provide support when necessary. Often when speaking about the Directorate one thinks of buildings and workspaces, but really it is about the people, the front-line team and the staff, including cleaning, security and engineering teams who all do a fabulous job.

The Directorate was delighted to launch their new ten-year strategy and present it to SLT and the Board, based on impressive progress with unprecedented investment to transform and optimise the diverse campus portfolio. A £13m refurbishment of our new Health and Wellbeing Building was recently completed, in line with the strategy, placing student experience and the

workplace at the centre of the proposed plans.

The University is strongly committed to providing an excellent learning and research environment for staff and students, key to the regeneration of the town and local community. As an institution built on community, we continue to look at enhancing our service delivery against the University of Suffolk Strategy and Vision; transforming lives and the region.

We are equally committed to staff and students carrying the University’s values of inclusiveness, tolerance and innovation seeing the University as a fair and friendly place to study and work, a place where they can continuously develop and progress their careers.

The Estates Directorate plays a key part in making the strategic vision a reality, developing a campus that delivers against the identified priorities including growing a sustainable economy and enabling a greener future to ensure we meet our net zero targets. The Estates team are unashamedly ambitious about what can be achieved, and the difference it will make to the students, staff and the Ipswich community.

This year has started to see the strategy becoming a reality and we are working on:

Refurbishing floors in the James Hehir Building to house our new Dentistry training school

Planning to refurbish a space to house a new Career Hub

Working with local authority planning teams to develop an old church site and it is exciting to show them our plans as we have a great story to tell

Introducing upgraded, outdoor sports facilities with Inspire Suffolk with crucial support from the SU to drive this forward

Placing sustainability and the environment at the heart of our strategy meaning we are living by our principles and leading the way in this area, not only in how we think about our buildings, but it also goes absolutely to the centre of a better workplace experience.

SUSTAINABILITY GREENING THE CAMPUS

There have been some real highlights for the University over the year, with the launch of the new Estates Strategy providing the key ingredient to ensuring sustainability is embedded into the built environment in both design, decision-making and operational outputs. Whilst on an implementation level, policy development has focused on data collection, robust audits and project initiatives helped us to uncover new insights and continually strive to improve our energy efficiency, water usage, asset procurement and waste management.

Unsurprisingly, the ongoing energy crisis has dominated cost variation and supply availability. However, tackling these challenges has led to

the development of a strong strategic direction that brings decarbonisation into the centre of our procurement decisions as we continue to optimise and improve our utilities infrastructure. Presented below is a brief snapshot of some of the year’s most impactful successes. Please do read our full 2021-2022 sustainability report for more detail here:

www.uos.ac.uk/sustainability

Headlines for 2021 to 2022

As part of the University’s commitment to achieve carbon neutrality for scope 1 and 2 emissions by 2030, from April 2022, approximately 90% of our electricity was switched to procurement from verified renewable energy suppliers

Combined systems across campus have generated some 41,293kWh of solar electricity during the reporting period, representing a saving of 8,766 kg CO2e

The University has realised a CO2e emission reduction of 76% against the baseline, exceeding the 55% reduction annual KPI target as we move towards decarbonisation

The University maintains a good recycling rate of 90.18% and we were delighted to be awarded a top ten position for waste and recycling

within the People and Planet University League

As part of an awareness raising exercise for both waste and energy sustainability we ran a nine week Think Before You Print campaign. This resulted in the reduction of over 75,069 printed pages, saving 610.2kg of CO2e and approximately 5.6 trees

To celebrate the Queens Jubilee, seven trees were planted near the entrance to the Atrium. These heritage species of St Edmund’s Pipins, quince pears, plums and cherry were specially chosen for their ability to provide learning opportunities, whilst supporting the campus biodiversity plan through the creation of pollinator corridors.

SUFFOLK SUSTAINABILITY INSTITUTE

In November 2022, the Suffolk Sustainability Institute was officially relaunched with an event at the DigiTech Centre supported by key external partners and collaborators in the Smart House project.

This followed the University’s successful participation in the international Sustainable, Ecological, Engineering, Design for Society (SEEDS) Conference that took place in Bristol bringing together experts from around the world focusing on

a sustainable agenda. The University is looking forward to welcoming the SEEDS community in 2023 and hosting the conference in Suffolk.

The Institute Director, Professor Darryl Newport said, “The University is proud to be at the heart of the sustainability agenda, locally and internationally, leading on innovative projects and research, and working with students that can carry forward this vital work in the future.”

STUDENTS’ UNION

In March, the student body reelected student leaders, Alex Gooch, President of Education, and Meg Wright, President of Activities and Wellbeing, alongside a number of volunteer officers. Throughout the year SU Officers campaigned on issues such as developing ready-to-graduate skills and knowledge, environmental sustainability, gender neutral toilets on campus and extended library opening hours. We also supported 120 course representatives in their role throughout the year.

We have begun the process of our governance review, forming a stakeholder group to assess our democratic structures and how accessible and engaging they are for students, the work of which is continuing into the 2022-2023 academic year. We also expanded the Student Voice team, adding a staff member to the department to improve the support we are able to offer to elected student leaders.

The SU Advice service continues to support students by offering free, independent, impartial advice across a range of academic and wellbeing areas, helping students to understand and make use of relevant University policies. The introduction of an additional member of staff in SU Advice has increased the service’s capacity for student appointments and drop-in sessions. For the academic year 20212022 SU Advice worked on 274 cases and enquiries compared to 230 cases and enquiries the previous academic year.

We are very pleased to have implemented free social sports for this year which was one of our President of Activities manifesto points – we have seen numbers at all social sport sessions increase on last year. Our full sports timetable includes social sport sessions, competitive BUCS training and fitness classes. We have teams competing in British Universities and Colleges Sports (BUCS) across four

sports – badminton, football, basketball and netball. Our societies, which are all student led, have been able to offer lots of events, conferences and networking opportunities and member numbers are continuing to grow.

SHOP SU opened in September for another academic year. With the opening of the Health and Wellbeing Building, the numbers into the shop and social space have been increasing and it has been extremely busy on most days. We also had another successful Freshers Fair, with over 50 businesses

displaying their services and around 1,700 students attending. We are now looking forward to Refreshers in early February 2023.

As the Students’ Union embarks on a new journey of change and growth, we have recently welcomed a new Chief Executive Officer, Jumara Stone, to lead the team, as we welcome this development and expansion of our services to improve the student experience, and all that is to come in the future.

BUSINESS ENGAGEMENT

The academic year 2021-2022 has marked the first, full year of operation for the Business Engagement, Careers and Employability Directorate (BECE).

We have laid the foundations for our future growth and impact, hiring new members to the team, developing our 2030 strategy and establishing new and exciting partnerships, all of which are already having a positive impact.

As our Alumni network continues to grow locally, nationally and internationally, we have expanded the range of support on offer and engaged more Alumni in University activities than ever before.

Our increased focus on Development and Giving has seen the University receive its three, largest ever donations. With a further four significant pledges having been secured, and three, five to six figure gifts in cultivation stage, we are confident this will continue to be an area of significant growth.

Our most recent Graduate Outcomes (GO) results saw 92% of students in employment or further study, with 82% in highly skilled roles, compared to a sector average of 78%, results we are committed to maintain, and continue to improve upon. This year we have already enhanced our offer to students, with more events, access to more employers and more opportunities.

Work is well underway to embed Employability, Enterprise and Entrepreneurship into the curriculum, and with the additional investment in staff, we will see the team double in size and a dedicated careers hub established on campus.

Our sector-focused Business Development and Knowledge Exchange team has delivered over £1.8m in knowledge exchange income and worked with over 200 businesses, the growth in income alone represents a 500% increase since 2017-2018.

Our newly formed, and unique, partnership with the Innovation Labs launched in January 2022 – and already we are seeing more members hiring office space, a greater range, an increased frequency of business focused events, and members that are engaging with the wider University ecosystem, accessing facilities, students and academic expertise. We were delighted that following an inspection in May 2022 we were recognised by Ofsted as being ‘Good’ in our apprenticeship provision. This was a fantastic outcome in recognition of the work and investment across the University to ensure our apprentices

and employers are truly at the heart of our apprenticeship programmes. Achieving a ‘good’ Ofsted inspection outcome in 2022 has helped to raise the profile of the University and support our journey and vision of becoming an outstanding provider.

From this positive outcome we will now further expand our apprenticeship provision to support local and regional skills needs.

BECE had an inaugural successful year delivering real-world impact, and this review applauds our major achievements in the 2021-2022 academic year.

ALUMNI RELATIONS AND DEVELOPMENT

The work of the Alumni Relations and Development team has two central aims: firstly, to create an active, engaged and influential community of supporters, graduates and friends, building and strengthening lifelong relationships to foster a strong society of loyal ambassadors; and secondly to fundraise to support the University’s growth and its mission to transform lives, raising awareness within our communities of the need and impact of charitable giving and support.

This year has seen significant progress against these aims

We are proud that our alumni are inspired to continue learning with us. Besides taking up many opportunities to engage with Continuous Professional Development (CPD) and short courses, this year has seen the proportion of alumni studying postgraduate courses with us rise

from 22% to 54%. We are also now able to offer lifelong support from our Careers, Enterprise and Employability team, both in-person and online, through our FutureMe platform.

We have seen further increases in the number of alumni who want to engage with the University as we continue to make strong links, both with them as individuals, and with the organisations they work for. Our quarterly alumni newsletters are still reaching over 25,000 alumni and now boast a 30% read rate, far above the sector norm. We have been gratefully receiving donations from our friends, staff and supporters since 2016 and the strength of our philanthropic community continues to be both inspiring and humbling. The generous gifts made by our donors enable us to make transformational financial contributions to our students, staff, facilities and our wider community,

allowing us to support a broad spectrum of areas including: helping to address real issues within the communities we serve, supporting a powerfully relevant research agenda, enhancing student wellbeing and the student experience, and continuing to improve the environment around us.

In the last year, the University has received its three biggest donations, including a £1.25m donation to the University’s new state-of-the-art Health and Wellbeing Building. We have migrated data onto a new relationship management system for use across the University, improving the supporter experience and communications with our communities and stakeholders.

Our plans for the forthcoming year

As we move into next year, we will continue to raise the profile and impact of the University. We are focusing on creating more opportunities for our

alumni and supporters to connect with us and our students face-toface. We will soon be launching two new initiatives: the University’s Giving Circles Programme in recognition of our donor community, and a new Supporter Events Programme. As part of this, we are very excited to announce that we will be holding the University’s first large-scale alumni and supporter event, ‘Connection Week’, from 17 - 22 April 2023, culminating in our first ever Alumni Reunion on Friday 21 April. The week will offer a variety of ways for our alumni to connect and reconnect with the University, and we look forward to welcoming our graduates back onto the Ipswich campus.

For more information please contact the Alumni Relations and Development team on giving@uos.ac.uk or alumni@uos.ac.uk.

EVENTS

ARTS DEGREE SHOW 2022

After three years since the last Arts Degree Show, it was good to be able to return to the tradition of an annual celebration of all arts courses in June of this year. A warm evening brought out the crowds, with friends and family of the students rubbing shoulders with industry guests, as temporary exhibition spaces emerged on campus as if out of nowhere.

Students from the Digital Film Production, Fine Art, Graphic Design, Graphic Illustration and Photography

courses showcased their work across all three floors of the Arts Building, while Architecture students took over the lobby of The Hold.

In any previous year, prior to the pandemic restrictions, the Degree Show would have been classed as a success. But with course teams and technicians having to re-learn how to put on a show after its three-year absence, and final year students never having even witnessed one before, everyone involved should rightfully be very proud of such a major achievement at the end of a very tiring year. Here’s to the Arts Degree Show 2023.

SUFFOLK ARBORETUM

SECOND ANTHOLOGY PUBLISHED

A new anthology, Suffolk Arboretum was published in September 2022, the second collection of original stories from the talented Creative and Critical Writing postgraduates at the University. Following on from the much-loved Suffolk Folk anthology which looked at folk tales of the region, this anthology turns its attention to the remarkable woodland and trees of Suffolk, and it is possible to find every tree or area of woodland featured in the anthology from Haverhill across the county to Lowestoft. A digital map of the anthology has also been created so that the trees and their stories can be accessed from anywhere in the world.

Suffolk Arboretum also features the shortlisted and prizewinning stories from the ‘Student New Angle Prize’, an annual University of Suffolk writing award run in partnership with the national ‘New Angles Prize’ for

literature which evokes the spirit of East Anglia. The foreword to Suffolk Arboretum is written by Tom Brown CEO of the Greenlight Trust, and he said,

“Trees and woodlands are a quintessential part of what makes Suffolk, Suffolk. Even our county flower the Oxlip is a graceful woodland dweller. Suffolk quite literally has an abundance of nature.”

The book is available to buy from the University’s online shop or you can also listen to the podcast series of the book visit: https://anchor.fm/ university-of-suffolk

Enrolled

2020/21

at Ipswich Campus and Partners'

FACTS AND FIGURES Classifications for Business: 16,398 Education: 437 Engineering, Arts, Science and Technology: 1,004

the Past 3 Years Health: 2,189 Social Sciences and Humanities: 1,902

The University spends its money on costs that support academic provision and the student experience. Although the University is a private limited company, it has no shareholders; any surplus generated by the University is re-invested directly back into academic provision and the student experience.

INCOME: £135.2m

Where does the University’s income come from?

Student tuition fees account for 90% of the University’s income. The rest comes from government grants, NHS contracts, donations, research grants and other income generating projects and contracts. All sources of income help support the provision of teaching and research and the cost of providing the student experience, including a range of bursaries, new building projects and support staff.

EXPENDITURE: £116m*

What does the University spend its money on?

The University employs approximately 600 staff and teaches more than 21,930 students each year. To support our teaching activities and the student experience, the University must invest in a number of activities including support services and maintaining our campus estate. We spent £1,789,000 on bursaries and fee waivers for students, supporting students through their academic journey.

How does the University support ACCESS to Higher Education?

Every effort is made by the University to safeguard and promote fair access to all full-time and part-time undergraduate programmes, recognising the need to support students

throughout their whole student lifecycle. As part of the annual agreement with the Office for Students (OfS), the University spent £1,789,000 on financial support for 4,105 students.

FAIR ACCESS IN NUMBERS

4,105

NUMBER OF STUDENTS receiving financial support

How does the University INVEST in improving the student experience?

The University has invested £27.9 million on campus improvements and new teaching equipment over the past five years and plans to continue investing funds to improve facilities. In addition to this, each year the University sets aside £2 million of its budget for investment in its estate, IT infrastructure and portfolio development.

£1,789,000

SPENT ON ACCESS BURSARIES and fee-waivers

Capital spend by academic year (£’000s)

* excluding USS pension provision