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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 is committed to providing a learning and teaching experience for our students and staff which includes an international dimension; Erasmus+ mobility forms an integral part of this. Encouraging our staff and students to take advantage of overseas teaching, learning and employment opportunities has long been part of our University culture. Participation in Erasmus+ is recognised by our University's "Strategy to 2020" through our commitment to "expand the horizons of our students connecting them to wider opportunities through partnerships". Our goal is to "enable our graduates to realise their full potential and to be ready to make a positive contribution to a global society and economy [which] will be underpinned by our strong national and global partnerships". We strive to maximise opportunities by increasing our number of students participating in mobility programmes, maximising where relevant global awareness within our curricula and integrating where appropriate staff exchanges in key international partnerships. In 2014/15 203 individuals took part in mobility activities: 80 students worked abroad for 7 months on average; 97 students studied abroad 4 months on average; 19 staff taught abroad and 7 staff participated in training visits. Spain was the top destination for student mobility, followed by France and then Germany with a range of other countries visited. Staff also visited a variety of countries with Germany and Spain coming out top. 23% of students were from disadvantaged backgrounds and two students studying abroad declared special needs. 60% of mobile students were female whilst 73% of mobile staff were male. 63% of students studying and 33% of students working abroad were doing this as a compulsory part of their course. 43% of students studying abroad were Languages students and 21% were Business students. 41% of students working abroad were studying Business and 35% were studying Languages. The majority outgoing staff mobility took place from the Sport Department, followed by Tourism, Computing and Design plus a selection of other departments. In terms of the number of participants planned against those achieved: student mobility for traineeship was only down by 5.88% and for studies down by 3.96%. The numbers planned for staff mobility for teaching and training was achieved. Feedback from students studying (outbound and inbound) and working abroad in 2014/15 was largely positive. The vast majority of students were satisfied with their mobility experience in general (79% for outbound studying, 95% of inbound studying and 93% for students working). 82% of students received their grant payments in time. The good majority of students reported good improvements in the range of learning outcomes and competences in their participant reports. Students studying abroad largely had positive feedback about their host institution and were mostly satisfied with the support they received from the University. The majority (76%) said they have gained knowledge and skills they would not have gained at home and (89%) believing they have a better chance of getting a new or better job from this experience. Students working abroad also had positive feedback about their experience with the majority (71%) feeling their placement tasks were relevant to their studies, 73% said they had improved their language skills and 63% would work for the receiving organisation again. There was good feedback on satisfaction with the receiving organisations and support received. The perceived benefits and impact of the project for those working abroad are clear: 99% believe their chances of getting a new or better job have increased and 90% can easily imagine working abroad in the future. Feedback from staff members teaching or training has been overwhelmingly positive in terms of the high percentage responses regarding satisfaction with their mobility experience in general (100% for both incoming and outgoing) and the positive impact/benefits resulting from the staff mobility. Longer-term benefits identified include: the development of new teaching and training methods (65%), new increased co-operation with partners (92%), development of internationalisation at the University (92%) and increased involvement by staff members in curriculum development (62%). A majority (81%) felt staff mobility is actively encouraged at the University as part of its strategy for internationalisation and all outgoing staff (bar one) said their mobility would be recognised. All bar one member of staff had foreseen how they would share their experience, with most saying it would be via a staff meeting (69%). The vast majority said they had learned from good practices abroad (92%) and reported many improvements thanks to their Erasmus experience, spin offs such as curriculum development (85%) and 81% think this will lead to increased mobility at the University.
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