Building an ever more global University
Tuesday, 28 May 2019
Enzo highlighted how the University is now far more than just a UK campus; one in five of our students are now at campuses outside the UK. Much of this growth has come from partnerships, with the most significant including Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology (NUIST) and Moscow State University of International Relations (MGIMO). Enzo said that while the partnership with NUIST in particular has been successful, the University needs to maintain a diverse portfolio of partnerships to avoid over-reliance in one country or area.
Growth at the University of Reading Malaysia (UoRM) has been more challenging than originally planned. This has led to a new plan aimed at refreshing the model for the future, focusing more on undergraduate and foundation degrees and providing a greater emphasis on professional careers and graduate employability. These changes, along with focussing on the degree market in Malaysia with a more teaching intensive model will make the future of UoRM more sustainable.
Internationalisation of students is a key part of our global engagement strategy with 13% of last year’s graduates having studied abroad. This is both UK students going abroad as well as students from overseas coming to the UK for part of their degree. The traditional year or term long exchange is still part of this but increasingly includes short courses and summer schools. External uncertainties, such as Brexit, do not lessen our commitment to this outward mobility.
This was the fifth annual update of the University’s global engagement strategy session. The full presentation can be accessed here.