Today, 29th January 2011, the University of Sussex organised an Open Day for the students who will seek admissions to the various undergraduate degree programmes of Sussex in the academic year 2011-2012. It was a one day programme from 8.30 am to 4.00pm. Parents, students and visitors were expected to report at 8.30am and help themselves to refreshments available on purchase at the various Cafes on the University campus. Between 9.30am and 10.00am all were expected to register and collect the visitor guide and prospectus. The visitor guide provided information about the University like University ranking, facilities on campus, Student support, students’ Union, housing and security, sports and fitness, IT services & the library, campus map, transport and Sussex attractions.
After registrations activities were organised separately for parents and students in lecture theatres and seminar rooms of various schools / Departments and academic buildings. The activities for the parents/guests were-
1. Free bus tour to Brighton: this was a forty minute bus tour of Brighton with commentary by one of the student volunteers.
2. Student Life Centre: visit to this centre gave information and advice on personal concerns, student funding, student mentoring and University procedures.
3. The admission process: half an hour talk (repeated twice) in the lecture theatre that gave an overview of the undergraduate admissions’ time frame.
4. The transition from College to University: this talk (half an hour, repeated) was on students’ expectations during the first year at University and some advice to parents.
5. Student finance: this gave information about the current student finance system, scholarships and Bursaries offered to students studying at Sussex.
The following activities were organised for the students.
1. School academic welcome: this was an introduction to the academic focus within the respective school of study. Every school of study stressed on importance of subject, methods of teaching, learning and career opportunities in the concerned subjects. The seminar method of teaching was demonstrated by involving the students who are seeking admission. This created interest in the minds of these students. Current students studying the same subject were also present to share their experiences with the future students.
2. Visit to Student Life centre:
3. Library Tours: there was a twenty minute guided tour of the Library and the facilities available.
4. Campus tours: this was a thirty minute guided walk to see the facilities and services available.
5. View Student accommodations: students and parents were able to see the wide range of students’ accommodation on the University campus available for first year students.
6. Meet Subject Tutors: students could interact with subject tutors. This gave the students more information on the degree programmes.
7. Sussex sports: there was a talk on sports teams, clubs, classes and training available on the campus. There was an opportunity for students to visit the sports complexes.
8. There were representatives from student Services including the housing office, career and employability centre, the students’ union and cultural studies.
I found that this helped the students and parents to know the place of study and degree programme before admission.
