Communities

1. Create living and learning communities that foster students and staff to feel a sense of belonging, inclusion, well-being, resilience and empowerment. We will work in collaboration with our students and the Students’ Union to shape our communities around our students’ needs, ambitions and ideas and to nurture the strengths, capabilities and experiences that our students bring to Essex.
2. Enhance our support for students’ future lives, careers and learning by scaling the range of opportunities for students to apply their learning, including the integration of experiential, work-related, employer-engaged and entrepreneurial learning in the curriculum.
3. Provide opportunities for our alumni to participate in our living and learning communities, nurturing their continuing sense of belonging on our campuses and providing opportunities for alumni to support the advancement of the University through philanthropy, to share their experiences with students and staff, to contribute to the University’s mission in education and research and to continue their learning journey with Essex as they progress through the multiple transitions of their future lives and careers.
4. Ensure that our campuses are equipped with world class education and research infrastructure, including teaching and learning spaces that are designed and equipped to enable our ambitions for transformative education, appropriate and flexible facilities and equipment for research and shared open spaces for community, collaboration and chance encounters.
5. Ensure that our natural, built, digital and social environments promote connections, community and innovation across departments and sections of the University through collaborative and agile working, across and through existing boundaries, a culture of empowerment, responsibility and mutual trust, and by supporting wellbeing, motivation and effectiveness.
6. Develop the networks, strategic partnership and communication channels that connect our research base with our user communities (including industry, enterprise, government, policy, public sector and third sector users), harnessing the power of co-production to maximise the effectiveness of our research outputs in improving people’s lives.
7. Be a catalyst for international, national and regional research and development by scaling the range of opportunities for researchers to connect with collaborators and communities of practice, globally and locally, and nurturing partnerships that advance the quality, profile and visibility of our transformative research and education.
8. Continue to connect our alumni with the University and each other to celebrate their Essex Spirit and its impact on people and communities, locally and globally.
9. Promote the opportunities that the University’s investments in the Knowledge Gateway and in building strong partnerships with others who share our values have created for businesses, industry and regional development partnerships to access knowledge and innovation through partnerships with our staff and students and to realise economic growth, increased productivity and social benefit for our region.
10. Engage with the local communities in which the University and its campuses are located, including their related public authorities and our local schools, to make the most of the opportunities provided for students and staff from within these communities, and, through the benefit that flows back into our local communities to maximise the opportunities that these partnerships provide for the work of the University to have impact in the world.

3.1.1 Albert Sloman said, “A university should, I believe, provide an experience of living as well as an opportunity for learning.” We will work in partnership with our students and the Students’ Union to create living and learning communities, both campus-based and communities of interest, shaped around our students’ needs, ambitions and ideas.

3.1.2 We will provide a transformational student experience by scaling the range of opportunities for students to apply their learning, to discover their Essex Spirit and to develop and practice the capabilities to put their ideas into action for the benefit of people and communities.

3.1.3 We will celebrate the diversity of our students and staff, nurturing communities of belonging in which all are accepted without exception, and promoting inclusion, well-being, resilience and empowerment to enable every member of the University to achieve their full potential.

3.2.1 Our campuses provide the physical and digital, social and natural environments for our community of staff and students to connect, collaborate, test and exchange the knowledge and ideas that drive transformational research and education.

3.2.2 As we grow our community of staff and students, we will nurture, develop and grow our campus communities. Investment to grow our academic staff will aim to reduce student-staff ratios, and investment in our campuses will ensure that we provide a transformational environment for education and research, equipped with physical and digital infrastructure, facilities, workspaces, learning spaces, shared spaces and environments aligned to our ambitions and priorities.

3.2.3 Our campus environments will nurture our sense of community and belonging, providing safe and effective social environments, where positive relationships promote well-being for all. Economies of scale in the delivery of our work will enable us to offer an outstanding experience to our students and staff.

3.3.1 We will nurture and promote our impact, reputation and standing, to ensure that the University of Essex is recognised globally and nationally for the quality, profile and visibility of our transformational research and education and for the benefit we create for people and communities.

3.3.2 We will lead research programmes of global and national importance, harnessing the knowledge base of the University to make the world a better place. We will support our students and graduates to apply their Essex Spirit for the benefit of people and communities. We will celebrate the successes of our alumni, their global impact, and the inspiration they give to our current and future students.

3.3.3 Albert Sloman said: “A great University has a lot to give to its community.” We will work closely with people and organisations who share our values to maximise our impact as a world-class University committed to creating global and local benefit. We will work with strategic partners in schools, businesses, industry, cultural organisations, local authorities and public services to advance the quality, profile and visibility of our transformative research and research-led education, and to ensure that the work of the University has a positive impact in the world around us.