COLLABORATION IS KEY 1

Workshop 4 West Lothian College and Edinburgh Napier University Friday 5 th September  Helen Young (West Lothian College)  Alastair Stupart (Edinburgh Napier University) 2

Aim of Workshop  Share our experience to date  Look at examples of collaboration  Reflect on successes and constraints  Look forward 3

School of Engineering & Built Environment Engineering (civil, electrical & mechanical) Transport, construction, project management, Control Systems, architectural technology.

Colleges.  Borders  Edinburgh  Fife  West Lothian SEBE have 108 funded Associate Students ; Split equally between AY13/14 & AY 14/15. (School of Computing have similar numbers) 5

6 West Lothian College is an award winning provider of further education based in Livingston, West Lothian since 2001.

Associate Students WLC:ENU 1.HND Engineering Systems --> Year 3 of BEng Environmental Engineering 2.HND Electrical Engineering --> Year 3 of BEng Electrical Engineering 3.HNC Civil Engineering --> Year 2 of BSc/BEng Civil Engineering 7

Interactions Joint lectures (1 st & 2 nd year students) Joint labs (1 st & 2 nd year students) Guest lectures (including wider audience) Academic skills (report writing, referencing, note taking etc) Maths assistance (e.g. Dr Kate Durkacz) Employability skills Contribution to PhD research on student transitions 8

External lecture (1 st October) for Civil Engineers Lagan Construction Jacobs 9

EMPLOYABILITY SKILLS  Wood Report – employee engagement  Theme common to all institutions  College contribution  Workshop to get all students interacting with each other.  Event open to associate students and any student interested in taking part. 10

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Laboratories 12

Further Benefits Staff working together Strengthening relationships Professional learning opportunities for staff Growing understanding of each sector Students observe close relationship Bridge subject knowledge gaps for students 13

Constraints  Getting staff on board  Timetables – tying ENU in with several college time tables  Wednesday afternoons (freed up but getting used up)  Student records (e.g. who returns to college after the HNC)  Numbers 14

Why it works so well? Buy in of senior staff (e.g. Head of School). Shared objectives *. Communication. Planning Active participation. Flexible/wider approach to which students can participate * The programme delivered is done in co-operation with the colleges (e,g. labs/lectures at the University that cannot be offered at college) 15

Going Forward Good communication Keep developing relationships between universities and colleges Making the most of opportunities that arise Inclusion for all (associate and articulating students) Associate student programme provides more opportunities for collaboration and more benefits for all. 16

Discussion 17