Internationalising the student learning experience: Special event for Scottish HEIs Setting the cont

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Internationalising the student learning
experience Special event for Scottish
HEIsSetting the context

• Alastair Robertson,
• Senior Adviser, Scotland
• Higher Education Academy
• 27 November 2008

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Some statistics (Universities Scotland)

• One in five students are from overseas allowing
  institutions to collect 181m last year through
  international fees. 
• Wider benefits an estimated 172m fed into
  Scotland's economy by the students.
• Creation of jobs in Scotland 1 for every 3
  overseas students.

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Scottish Political Context

• Scottish Governments international Lifelong
  Learning Strategy (June 2007)
• To position Scotland as a world leader in
  international post-school education.
• the quality of the international student learning
  experience
• increasing mobility of Scottish students and
• increasing the international perspective of all
  students
• Associated co-ordinating group
• Supporting implementation of the strategy
• New International Fund 5 collaborative 3 year
  projects 941,000.
• The Fresh Talent Working in Scotland Scheme has
  over 4500 graduates able to work in Scotland for
  two years.
• Scottish International Scholarship Programme
  provides 22 scholarships for international
  students to study Masters degree.

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Universities Scotlands commitment to quality for
international students (2006)

• 11 strands covering
• Educational experience
• Student Welfare
• Academic support
• Careers Support
• Visas
• Social and cultural opportunities
• Communications
• Financial Guidance
• Raising of complaints
• Cultural awareness
• Continuous improvement

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Political Context- UK

• DIUS debate on the future of HE 9 strands
  including
• Internationalisation of Higher Education a ten
  year view by Drummond Bone (ex-VC, Uni of
  Liverpool)
• How do we anticipate the international market for
  higher education will change over the next 10-15
  years?
• How well positioned is UK higher education to
  take advantage of these developments?
• Is it possible to assess both positive and
  negative consequences of the increasing
  internationalisation of UK universities?

http//www.dius.gov.uk/policy/int_issues_in_HE.htm
l
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Policy Context
SFC grant letter to the Academy
(2008-09) Internationalisation is one of four
Scottish-specific priorities The Council and the
Scottish Government are giving increased priority
to internationalisation. In particular, we look
to the Academy to support institutions in
broadening the curriculum to include
international perspectives, in supporting the
process of global benchmarking and in helping to
enhance the quality of learning experienced by
international students.
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Internationalising the student experience- a
partnership approach

• British Council
• UKCISA
• Universities Scotland
• Universities UK (Europe Unit and international
  Unit)
• NUS
• EUA
• QAA
• i-grad

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Todays Programme
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How is the Academy supporting the Scottish
sector? 1. UK-wide activities

• One of seven Programme Areas in the new Academy
  structure
• Institutional support
• PVC-VP network
• Change Academy
• Consultancy-type support
• Links with other thematic areas e.g. inclusion,
  employability, global citizenship, assessment,
  sustainable development etc.
• Discipline-specific
• Projects
• Networks
• Case studies
• Events
• Publications and resources.
•  

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How is the Academy supporting the Scottish
sector? 2. Scottish-specific activities
1.  Engagement with Senior Managers through
Universities Scotlands LTC and Academy Scotland
VP Network).   2.  Links with the inclusion
agenda potential to update and enhance the Race
Equality Toolkit (2006) as a resource for
promoting an inclusive curriculum and learning
environment.   3.  Working with educational and
staff developers to meet their undertaking to
provide professional development for academic
staff 4. Supporting Employability needs of
international students responding to issues
raised in the recent i-grad report for British
Council Scotland  
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How is the Academy supporting the Scottish
sector? 3. Scottish-specific activities
5. The Bologna Process "Promoting the European
Dimension in Learning and Teaching" (23 January
2009, Dundee) in partnership with th British
Council   6. Liaising with the Academys Subject
Centres to ensure support for curriculum inquiry
and design in relation to internationalisation.  
7.  Participating in the Academys UK-wide
Internationalisation Programme Areas exercise to
map materials, resources and activities generated
by the Academy and its Subject Centres in support
of internationalisation.   8.  Showcasing
discipline-related practice related to
internationalisation event in late AY 2008-09  
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Discussion
1. Within your role, what do you see as the main
priorities/ challenges etc. in terms of
Internationalising the student experience? 2.
What kinds of support from the Academy
(particularly the SCs) would you value?  
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Further information

• Email
• alastair.robertson_at_heacademy.ac.uk
• Website
• http//www.heacademy.ac.uk/ourwork/learning/intern
  ational