Global Partnerships

Presentation to Warwick Network

David LawDirector: Warwick International

14 September 2007

To cover in the next 50 minutes …

• Introductions and expectations

• The new University Strategy

• Partnerships and the Global University

• Your views on how we might develop an international quarter

New Strategic Aims• To make Warwick an undisputed world leader in research and

scholarship• To sustain an exceptional teaching and learning experience at Warwick

• To make Warwick into an international portal

• To enhance the University’s reputation with stakeholders in the UK• To make the University a more effective generator of income

What do you understand by “international portal”?

The new University Strategy is …

“chiefly about creating new competitive advantage by making Warwick recognisably both excellent and unique on a world stage”

What the Strategy is (and is not)

• Not a “fully worked out plan of action”

• Strategy provides– “working set of ideas and principles”– “some important priorities”– “a list of key activities”

International ambitions• To achieve international recognition as one of

the top 50 world universities (2015) – measured by research output and strength of student demand

• To become “a key node on the international map of HE”

(is the second objective more important than the first?)

What is a ‘global university’• Global brand penetration

• Comprehensive excellence (research, teaching, academic staff, facilities, leadership)

• Innovative global research

• Global distribution of teaching and learning

• Strong and diverse international student and staff demand

• Impact on global issues and policy development

• Close interaction with global business

(Realising the Global University: Part One, The Observatory on Borderless HE, September 2007)

How do we rate?• Global brand penetration

• Comprehensive excellence

• Innovative global research

• Global distribution of teaching and learning

• Strong and diverse international student and staff demand

• Impact on global issues

• Close interaction with global business

Please use a 7 point scale: 1 = very low, 7 = very high

VC’s view on partnershipsInterview published in Education Guardian

(11 September 2007)

“One of the major tendencies for the next 10 to 15 years is that many universities will realise that they have to collaborate to compete.”

“We want genuine collaborations with three or four universities abroad.”

International Partnerships

• Key objectives:– “to markedly increase Warwick’s international

reputation”– to create an “international quarter”– to establish “research collaborations with

overseas partners (including at overseas sites)”

Where are we now?• Formal membership of three multi-lateral groups

– AC21 (Academic Consortium of the Twenty-first Century)– ECIU (European Consortium of Innovative Universities)– Groupe Maastricht

• Huge range of academic links some of which are very robust (eg GARNET – the EU-funded Network of Excellence on Global Governance, Regionalisation and Regulation. Run by CSGR. 42 partners in 21 countries.)

• Big network of student exchange arrangements.

Our assets

• VC’s and senior management commitment

• Distinctiveness and energy

• Partnerships internally (academic/admin)

• Largest non-UK student registration in the country

• Extensive footprint of rep offices – particularly in Asia

Some issues

• What do our prospective partners want from us?

• Competition - Cuckoo in the nest?

• Partnering up (or down)?

• How to ensure that the research dynamic is dominant?

• Keeping all the balls in the air! (all the things that are not identified in the Strategy)

How can ‘Warwick International’ assist?

• Research the targets

• Broker the contacts

• Provide the admin framework

• Join up the dots!

How you can help?

• Advice– Identification of prospective partners?– Balance between research, consultancy and teaching?– Where to focus? (US, China, Australia)

• Support– Project teams– Meet and greet

Thank you.

Your views please …

Qs and As?