Higher education student and staff mobility projec..
Higher education student and staff mobility project
Start date: Jun 1, 2014,
End date: Sep 30, 2015
PROJECT
FINISHED
LSBU is committed in providing the Erasmus project to its students and staff, and to welcoming Erasmus students and staff from overseas. LSBU joined the programme 3 years ago and has slowly built up the project within the university and with partners overseas.
We have struggled to really provide full support to the project for various reasons, but including a complete restructure of the university in 2014-15 and a new team to support the project moving forward. Much work has surrounded the development of valuable partnerships/agreements to enable mobility to take place, and with the processes to enable Erasmus to take place.
We have seen a small increase in overall numbers, especially within the staff mobility side. We have also seen an increase in knowledge of exactly what Erasmus is and who can undertake a mobility. Students in the UK are not very well versed in the advantages of Erasmus at high school and thus rely on the information when they come to university. LSBU has worked hard to 'get the word out there' about the Erasmus and how to apply.
It has always been the objective of the university to increase exposure of Erasmus to the university population and to enable its students and staff to undertake a mobility to enhance individual development. The university strategy is to not only increase its student numbers but also to provide value for money and academic and internship opportunities not only within the UK but also outside. The university also works hard to provide its staff with a environment of potential progression and training to enhance the employment opportunities and also to attract excellent staff.
The profile of our students is one of the most varied in the UK. We welcome students from over 100+ countries and from a wide range of socio-economic backgrounds. A large proportion of our students live locally to London and we a good proportion of mature students. The opportunities that Erasmus gives to our students is significant as this will enhance their competitiveness to the workforce.
Erasmus mobility remains quite small for a university of our size. Erasmus has not been running for a long time at LSBU and more work needs to be done to increase the brand and knowledge of Erasmus. Opportunities in other study areas also needs to be undertaken to ensure access for most if not all students is available. Students who undertook the mobility opportunities came from both British and overseas background and from similar socio-economic categories. Most had been encouraged to seek Erasmus opportunities from academics in their subject areas.
Staff mobility increased slightly, and this has been due to the communication of the project at various staff events and the positive feedback within departments. However, the same academics tended to apply for teaching opportunities and only a small number of new staff approached us. Positively a large number of new support staff undertook a mobility period and have been invaluable in promoting the project to other colleagues.
There is much work to be done to successfully fully implement Erasmus into the university but the support for the project, internationalisation and transnational education is evident in the senior management and key academics in all subject areas.
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