Exchange Partnerships

In the last 30 years, Edinburgh Napier University has established more than 80 exchange partnerships around the world, signing more than 100 exchange agreements. The University is also a member of the International Student Exchange Program (ISEP) since 1992. The ISEP Network is the largest global community for study abroad offering exchanges at more than 300 universities.

The full list of the Edinburgh Napier University exchange partners can be viewed here. 

Questions about non-reciprocal (fee-paying) incoming study abroad agreements should be raised with Federica Giuntoli, the International Partnership Manager.

Types of exchange agreements

Our exchange agreements are either University-wide or subject specific.

University-wide exchanges are open to most students, however, not every degree subject may be offered by all our University-wide partner institutions.

Subject-specific exchanges are only open to students whose degree programme is in the stated subject area.

Questions about non-reciprocal (fee-paying) incoming study abroad agreements should be raised with Nicole Lombardo N.Lombardo@napier.ac.uk , the International Partnership Manager.

The Institutional Mobility Forum (the IMF)

To manage the process of setting up and reviewing exchange agreements, and ensure an equitable and clear approach, all agreements are subject to scrutiny via ENU’s Institutional Mobility Forum. 

Important dates:

Any proposals approved through the May or August IMF will normally be promoted from September-December with a view to the first exchanges taking place the following academic year. For example, proposals submitted by July 2022 will in most cases be considered at the August 2022 IMF and the agreement will likely take effect from 2023/24 academic year.

Due to the extended lead-in period, colleagues are asked to make contact with the Global Mobility team to indicate their interest in creating a new partnership at the earliest opportunity. The Global Mobility team are specialists in reciprocal partnerships and are able to provide strategic, qualitative and quantitative feedback on possible new partnership options to ensure that any new partnerships are likely to be a good institutional match and meet student demand and interest.

Initiating exchange agreement – 10 steps:

1. Programme Leader (PL) (or their depute/programme mobility lead) initiates discussions with potential partner and collates all the information required to enable completion of ‘Exchange Partner Proposal Checklist’.  The document can be downloaded here​.

2. PL will send ‘Safeguarding Policy Framework Policy Commitment’ form to the partner, which must be signed and returned along with the ‘Exchange Partner Proposal Checklist’. The document can be downoaded here.

3. The ‘Exchange Partner Proposal Checklist’ requires the signature of the PL, School Lead for Mobility and the School Academic Adviser for visiting students.  Once signatures are obtained, the for, along with the ‘Safeguarding Policy Framework Policy Commitment’ form should be sent to studyabroad@napier.ac.uk. (It is expected that the person fulfilling the School Mobility Lead role has designated authority from their Dean to approve agreement proposals). 

4. The completed proposal and safeguarding forms will be scrutinised by the Global Mobility Manager, who reserves the right to reject outright, or request further consideration/information before tabling it for the IMF. For this reason, it is important that colleagues flag potential new partnerships to the GM team at the earliest opportunity (and preferably prior to reaching out to potential partners) as there may be rare instances where the proposed partnership is not in line with institutional objectives, particularly in regards to outgoing mobility for students. 

5. The Global Mobility Manager will contact the colleague proposing the partnership to confirm if/when the agreement will be tabled at the next IMF.

6. GMT will table each approved ‘Exchange Partner Proposal Checklist’ submission for the appropriate Institutional Mobility Forum (IMF) for information and formal acknowledgement only.  The IMF will rarely overrule or refuse an agreement once the proposal has been signed by the relevant School stakholders and approved by the Global Mobility Manager. More information regarding the Institutional Mobility Forum (IMF) can be found here​.

7. The Global Mobility Manager will complete the relevant agreement template and liaise with the nominated contact at partner institution to negotiate final terms.

8. After agreement content is approved by both institutions, the Global Mobility Manager will arrange signature from the Principal’s office, or in the case of non-EU exchange partnerships, these will be reviewed and signed by teh Vice Principal International.

9. All signatories of the ‘Exchange Partner Proposal Checklist’ will receive a copy of the finalised student exchange agreement. GMT will hold master copies of all reciprocal exchange agreements.

10. GMT will record the agreement and operational details for use in promotion, application and management of the exchange. 

Frequently asked questions are answered here​.

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