WELCOME

"Promoting Partnership: An Evolving Collaboration" is an ambitious venture fostering institutional change within higher education. The initiative aims to draw upon strengths and interests in both the University of Dundee and the University of St Andrews to:

• expand both teaching and research in important emerging areas;
• experiment with innovation;
• build relationships with the private sector; and
• contributesignificantly to the social and economic well-being of Scotland.

The Scottish Higher Education Funding Council awarded the Promoting Partnership Initiative a 3-year Strategic Change Grant of over £300K in 2000. With this support, the two Universities have worked to develop an innovative and effective approach to achieving added value through working together when it makes sense to do so. Prospective "nodes of collaboration" for which enthusiasm and opportunity exist have been assisted through the facilitative efforts of the PPI staff as well as the Core Team and Steering Committee, composed of leaders from the two Universities. Practical mechanisms for making such collaborations work effectively have been institutionalised. Lessons learned are being captured in a Partnership Handbook and will be disseminated in a Scotland-wide workshop.

The first tangible success of the Partnership was a NERC award of over £400,000 for a new joint MRes in Environmental Biology. Half a dozen joint courses are now either running or recruiting students. This expansion in educational offerings has been expedited by the development of a joint framework for managing programmes and the cooperation of counterpart colleagues in key offices in the two Universities.

Accomplishment Highlights

DEVELOPING COLLABORATIVE VENTURES ACROSS INSTITUTIONS A Handbook generated by experiences of the Promoting Partnership Initiative - available here

Annexes available here

Education

• 7 new joint programmes
• Recruitment expanding, including overseas
• Protocols, procedures and "can-do" attitude established to expedite current and future joint programmes (Admissions, Registry, Finance) as presented in the Joint Courses Forum. For a copy of the annotated joint presentation from that Forum click here
• Grant awarded for L& T Forum, including Abertay
  

Research and Knowledge Transfer

• Joint Social Dimensions of Health Institute established (70-researcher Directory, leadership team, four grants plus recent PPP grant, Travel Medicine PG course, £350K committed by each institution)
• Feasibility Study for "Capitalising on Creativity" (creative industries initiative also including RSAMD, Crawford Arts Centre) funded by SE and SE Fife
• Advanced medical technologies institute established, including Interdisciplinary Centre for Medical Photonics (2003 SRDG funding)
• Joint SRDG funding for "Structural Proteomics Facility"; participation of both universities in SRDG "Genetic Health in the 21st Century"

Central Services

• Economies of scale within central services, e.g. sharing of duties among "isolated specialists"
• Career Bridges management course for staff (with Abertay)
• Communication and alignment of procedures across corresponding offices, facilitating future joint efforts

Institutional Strategies

• Universities have become practised at identifying opportunities, facilitating their exploration, and expediting implementation
• "Lessons learned", useful procedures and templates distilled and shared, PPI Handbook and upcoming dissemination workshop
• Creation of an environment conducive to collaboration; continuing emergence of new strategic ventures, e.g. neuroscience
• Heightened level of trust, commitment to collaboration in the future

Suggestions are always welcome!

email info@promotingpartnership.ac.uk.

CONTACTING US