Collaborative Provision

In May 2023, the Academic Partnership Office hosted a group of students from our partnership institutions for a 2-week stay in the UK. During their time with us, the students took part in various cultural experiences and social activities alongside completing a programme of teaching.

The programme of teaching was developed to support UON’s commitment to developing knowledgeable graduates, who are socially responsible, digitally proficient and highly employable global citizens. The teaching provided participants with the opportunity to develop the essential skills and attributes necessary to be a forward thinking, employable graduate. The programme included special guest facilitators LemonPop and Barclaycard. Impressively one of our students was even offered an interview with Barclaycard following her time at their workshop. The programme also incorporated visits to local social enterprises, the McCarthy-Dixon Foundation and Workbridge, where the students were able to offer their support by volunteering and learning about the inspirational work carried out by these charities.

Many of the students had not visited the UK before so relished the opportunity to explore Northampton and further whilst bonding with their fellow delegates. Trips and activities included:

• A tour of Warwick Castle
• A local visit to the Northampton Museum
• Traditional afternoon tea served by local social enterprise, The Good Loaf. Members of our professional services team joined the event and had the chance to meet the students
• Tailored social activity plan hosted by the Academic Partnership Office including a treasure hunt exploring the town centre, a pub quiz, bingo, mini golf and escape room experience.

An exhibition was held at the end of the programme where the students had the chance to showcase their hard work from across the 2 weeks. It was an eye-opening event for staff who had the chance to speak with the students about their experiences at home and what the summer school meant to them. The students also filmed a wonderful Reflections video with the help of the team which was on display at the event.

The Academic Partnership Office have been organising and hosting the Summer School since 2019. It is a valuable and unique experience bringing students together from different backgrounds and cultures. We have received some fantastic feedback from all of the students who have taken part in the programme and hope to be able to continue delivering events like this in the future.

On 20 and 21 June 2023, the Academic Partnership Office hosted an Academic Partnership Conference at Waterside Campus. Partner and UON colleagues were invited to come together to share ideas and best practice around the theme of Higher educational partnerships in contribution to the achievement of UN sustainable development goals and the challenge of assessing social impact. The event provided a chance to share stories, experiences, and research with a focus on networking and celebrating achievements. We were lucky enough to see many of our partner colleagues make the trip to see us in person. For some this was their first-time visiting post Covid.

Sessions from our partner institutions included:

• Insights into Changemaker Activity in Sri Lanka presented by Wathsala Nanayakkara from Human Resource Management Institute
• Higher Education Partnerships and their Contribution to the Achievement of UN Sustainable Development Goals to Induce Social Inclusive Growth presented by Fazeela Banu from Amity Global Business School
• UN Refugee Council presented by Elina Saveriades from CASA College
• Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) Support for Children and Young People in Thailand to Aid the Achieving of Sustainable Development Goal 4 (Quality Education) presented by Harshi Sehmar from Village International Education Centre, Dr Chanisa Tantixalerm from Chulalongkorn University with UON’s Julian Brown
• Cross Border Collaboration Towards Sustainable Development Goals presented by Dr Hesham El Marsafawy from Gulf University
• Collaboration – the Key to Success presented by Fiona Creed from Oxford University Hospitals with UON’s Cindy Odell, Dr Roshni Khatri and Tracey Ali
• Achieving UN Sustainable Development Goals – Insights from Singapore’s Green Economy Approach presented by Professor Kit Leon Choong and Dr Easwaramoorthy Rangaswamy from Amity Global Institute

Maggie Anderson, Academic Programme Manager, has highlighted the importance of the topic of this year’s conference:

“With over half a million students studying through educational partnerships across the globe with UK universities, it is important to consider how or if commitments to social impact and sustainable development are being met. Most universities now have some type of commitment or strategy which attempts to align to UN sustainable development goals. Specifically, SDG 4 which outlines the drive for access to tertiary education for all, including university education, and lifelong learning opportunities. The British Council considers that academic partnerships are fundamental to achieving UN sustainable development goals through education and guidance from Advance HE highlights the need to reduce and remove privilege and to improve accessibility and representation in higher education. The complexity of SDG’s and how universities can achieve those aims is an under-explored area and there are many unanswered questions specifically in relation to institutional policies and practices that could better support positive alignment of outcome versus intention.”

We would like to thank colleagues who took the time to attend the event, either as a speaker or delegate. We have received extremely positive and complimentary feedback from our partner colleagues who embraced the chance to meet with UON staff and other academic partners. Some meaningful connections have been made which will hopefully lead to further collaborations.

For further information on any of our academic partners and their presentation topics, please contact the Academic Partnership Office at academic.partnerships@northampton.ac.uk.