Colleagues,
As you know all of the University Leadership Team (ULT) have been going to work around the University in recent months and will continue to do so in the year ahead. I spent my time working in the Student Hub at Merchiston and I was very impressed with the work that goes on in that area and was particularly struck by the diverse range of activities that the hub supports. I managed to get involved with some of the queries and would like to thank all the staff that helped me on the day to understand their work.
International Operations
I am delighted to say that Naomi Graham, our new Director of International Operations, will be starting at the University on Monday 8 December. I hope that you all get a chance to meet her in the coming months as she drives forward the international agenda. The International Operations Team will also be moving into Room 7.B.16 at Sighthill Campus on Friday 5 December.
As you know I have been leading on our international work since the end of Summer and more recently I have been working on a draft International Strategy for the University to support our strategic objective to internationalise our work.
Consultation has been undertaken with staff to develop the draft and it has now been amended and approved by the International Strategy Committee. The next stage is for the University Court to approve the strategy on 15 December. I thought you would like to know a couple of the headlines from the strategy at this stage which are:
- All undergraduate students will have the opportunity to undertake an experience abroad and study a foreign language. This links in to our student experience agenda which Sandra Cairncross covered in her email to you a few weeks ago.
- Increased opportunities for staff to undertake international activities and research.
Innovation, Enterprise and Citizenship
We continue to make good progress around our strategic objective to build innovation, enterprise and citizenship. Edinburgh Napier was ranked second in the league tables for student business start-ups which were compiled by Universities Scotland.
We have rebranded all our Innovation and Enterprise as the
Bright Red Triangle including the business incubators at our Craiglockhart and Merchiston campuses, our student consulting company and the 'Get on Board Programme.
We continue to work closely with
Entrepreneurial Spark (ESpark) which we deliver in partnership with the City of Edinburgh Council - providing entrepreneurs with office space, advice, support and networking opportunities to support them in their first year in business.
Finally I just wanted to mention that in June the University was awarded Small Business Charter, one of only twenty such awards in the UK. The awards are supported by the Association of Business Schools, Lord Young (the Prime Minister’s Adviser on Enterprise), and the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills.
Business School
- AACSB accreditation
We are making good progress towards our plan to be fully accredited by the The Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) by 2017. John Ensor and Sara Brown are leading on this piece of work and are in the process of submitting our Standards alignment Plan (SAP), which sets out the actions we are taking to meet the AACSB standards.
Achieving this accreditation would be a significant success for the University with only one other modern university in the UK currently holding this.
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Global Online
Our Global Online offering which includes the online MBA has now grown from having no students two years ago to over 500 now which I am really happy to see. Our students study entirely online with the option of supporting workshops which are offered in a variety of locations.
The University intends to expand its online provision across our academic portfolio in the coming years.
- Edinburgh Rugby partnership
I was delighted to see that in October we officially became the higher education partner of Edinburgh Rugby. This will mean that business and sports science students will get placement opportunities at the club and work on live projects.
Edinburgh Rugby coaches, players and the management team – including head coach Alan Solomons and MD David Davies – will also give guest lectures at the University.
I hope you all have a great Christmas and New Year.
George Stonehouse
Craiglockhart 2/57