People attending the UWL Academic Partnerships Conference with a presentation projected onto the wall.
People attending the UWL Academic Partnerships Conference with a presentation projected onto the wall.

UWL holds Academic Partnerships Conference for overseas and UK partner institutions

Intro

The UWL Global Partnerships Office welcomed almost 100 delegates from 14 overseas partners from Europe, the Middle East and Asia and 22 UK partners to the annual Academic Partnerships Conference on 4 - 5 July.

Main body

People attending the UWL Academic Partnerships Conference with a presentation projected onto the wall.

The conference brought together partners and UWL staff to discuss key trends impacting collaborative partnerships. The theme was ‘Making an impact with partnerships’ and sessions were focused on developments in policy, innovation, and ways of working in education.

Welcoming attendees, UWL Vice-Chancellor and President Professor Peter John CBE highlighted the university’s recent achievements, new developments, and invited questions.

It’s wonderful to see so many of you from UWL partner institutions,” said Professor John. “We want to hear your thoughts and questions about finances, quality, student experience, and anything else you’d like to share.”

People attending the UWL Academic Partnerships Conference with a presentation projected onto the wall.

The first keynote was ‘Generative AI in Higher Education: opportunities and challenges’ by Professor Mike Sharples, Emeritus Professor of Educational Technology at The Open University.

Professor Sharples said:

There are four approaches we can take to generative AI. Ban it, but that opens up a digital divide; try to evade it by moving to invigilated and oral exams; adapt to it but this will require new methods of assessment, policies and guidelines; or embrace it which will take institutional change across different subject areas and with students who are genuinely concerned about how they should use AI and for what purposes.”

People at a table in discussion at the UWL Academic Partnerships Conference.

Almost 80% of delegates live voted to adapt to the coming changes in generative AI and there was discussion among the partners about how this is best achieved. 

Another keynote: ‘The key to successful partnerships in the context of current UK and global trends’ was given by Joana Westphal, Head of Transnational Education at Universities UK International. 

The final keynote considering ‘How to build sustainable practices in higher education’ was presented by Dr Suresh Gamlath, UWL Pro Vice-Chancellor (Business Development). This was followed by a workshop with Tom Levitt, Associate Lecturer in Sustainability at UWL’s Claude Littner Business School (CLBS).  

The event included sessions on topics including partner collaboration, induction, library support services, social media, continuing professional development, appointments with link tutors, data metrics, student loans, marketing, data protection and GDPR, assessment, the TEF framework, annual reviews, and research. 

Two long-term partners also gave a presentation on their experience of working with UWL and lessons they have learnt. 

A delegate said:

The conference had a great mix of varied sessions, and passionate and interesting speakers. We have partnered with UWL for many years but continue to learn so much at this annual conference.” 

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