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Higher education student and staff mobility project
Start date: Jun 1, 2014, End date: Sep 30, 2015 PROJECT  FINISHED 

The University of Northampton has participated in the Erasmus programme for a significant number of years and its staff and students continue to benefit from the opportunities to study and work abroad offered by the collaboration with partners within the scheme. The number of participants and level of engagement has increased steadily as a result of the promotion of staff mobility, increase in staff engagement in Teaching and Training activity, and curriculum development with Schools to effect student mobility opportunities within the current academic structure in both Study and Traineeships. Partial semesterisation of further degree programmes within a trimesterised system led to Early Childhood Studies students within the School of Education engaging with mobility for the first time, and staff mobility activity in Nursing led directly new Traineeship opportunities realised in Denmark. This was achieved by staff from Northampton teaching the staff at its partner institution to assess using its methods thereby resolving this barrier to mobility posed by UK professional standards. Staff mobility in English led directly to curriculum change which, by re-validating BA English to include a year abroad within the degree programme with a partner in Spain, opened up the opportunity (realised in the 2015-16 Erasmus year) for BA English students to study abroad with this particular partner. Staff mobility has been utilised as a tool for curriculum change to enable Study mobility and to consider opportunities for Traineeships and this is reflected both in the increase in outgoing students and the new academic areas opening up for mobility. Incoming student activity remains constant, with around 30 students coming to the University each year in two intakes for Study and for Traineeships, both within the University itself e.g. PG student engaged in conservation work at the Leather Conservation Centre, and in partnership with placement providers in Health for OT and Nursing. Academic staff are wholehearted in their support of the benefits brought to their classes and the "home" students by the incoming students, and the feedback from incoming students continues to be encouraging. As the programme grows steadily, so does the positive impact for the University and its partners, as staff and students continue to engage in collaborative activity. Staff from all areas have engaged, with some Schools being particularly active, and one School re-engaging with the programme in the field of staff mobility after a number of years. Schools and Professional Services staff, particularly in the areas of Student and Academic support, will continue to receive encouragement to participate. The University's European Research & Bidding team is now providing dedicated advice and assistance in the identification and administration of KA2 bids with academic staff, which is releasing other resources to manage and administer KA1 activity.
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