HE in FECs

Expert programme

DEVELOPMENT MATERIALS: FE/HE Partnerships

July 2009

Using the materials

The table provided here takes the common features of successful partnerships set out in section 4.2 of the Good Practice Guide: ‘Supporting higher education in further education colleges. Policy, practice and prospects’, HEFCE 2009/05.

It can be used as a checklist to work through whether the partnerships between a college and an HEI demonstrate these elements. These are features generally considered to contribute to effective partnerships but they may not be applicable to a particular partnership nor is the list exhaustive and after discussion you may wish to delete some features and add others.

Many colleges have more than one partnership so it is suggested one pro forma is completed for each. Some partnerships are bi-lateral, others are multiple. They may be limited to validation (for directly funded colleges) and/or to funding (‘franchise’ relationships for indirectly funded colleges) or may encompass comprehensive strategic development (further details are given in section 4.1 of the Guide, provided here).

Some case studies taken from the Guide are also provided which can be used to prompt discussion.

It may also be useful to refer to ‘Writing higher education strategies’ published on the HEFCE website in July 2009 as a supplement to the Guide: http://www.hefce.ac.uk/pubs/hefce/2009/09_05/supp.htm

In addition to these materials, which have been produced by the project team, you may find it useful to access more detailed complementary material and examples of good practice which have been provided to the project by colleges and HEIs. The Directory of Materials lists the material currently available on the website.

You are welcome to download and print out these materials for development sessions.
Please note however that the world of HE in FECs is fast changing. While we are working to keep the website up-to-date it is your obligation to check with relevant organisations where information may no longer be accurate. The HE in FECs Expert Programme website: www.sheffield.ac.uk/heinfestratprog/index.html
provides links to the websites of agencies including HEFCE, QAA, BIS, Ofsted.

HE in FECs

Expert programme

Checklist for HE/FE partnerships

Partnership:

College member(s):

HEI member(s):

Scope and purpose of the partnership:

Common features of successful partnerships / Demonstrated in partnership / Action / By whom
Yes / No
Pre-requisites
Clarity of purpose – a clear, shared understanding of why the partnership should exist and what it is seeking to achieve
A commitment to collaborative working at all levels, including senior
management and the board or corporation
Real benefits for all partners
Informed awareness of the costs of working in partnership, especially in terms of time
Clear roles and responsibilities
Clear communication structures
Clear financial and service agreements
Ethos
Collaborative arrangements that recognise the equality of all partners
Openness and transparency
Shared resources and responsibilities
Willingness to compromise
Partners who are alert to potential areas of conflict of interest and competition.

Structure

Advantages of building on existing or prior networks
Some central co-ordination for partnerships in both the college and the HEI
Appropriate administrative support
The involvement, in some capacity, of all categories of staff
Creation of sub-groups and working parties, bringing together FE and HE staff around topics of mutual interest to build effective relationships.

Process

It is helpful for partnerships to focus on a limited number of key issues
Initial concentration on practical issues should not result in the loss of a more strategic perspective
Flexibility to respond creatively to changing external circumstances is an important characteristic of successful partnerships
An agreed mechanism for dealing with conflicts or disagreements is very helpful

Other aspects relevant to this college


MODELS OF COLLABORATION

Extract from: ‘Supporting higher education in further education colleges. Policy, practice and prospects’, HEFCE 2009/05, Section 4.1.

Types of partnership

There are many models of collaboration and partnership, some involving formal partnership agreements and others based on more informal linkages. The 2003 White Paper ‘The future of higher education’ placed particular emphasis on partnership, through increased collaboration and indirect funding relationships. Since 1999, the number of colleges with small directly funded numbers has reduced, and substantive and extensive collaborative FE/HE partnerships have emerged across the country. HEFCE’s review of HE in FECs, explained in the consultation (HEFCE 2006/48), demonstrated HEFCE’s support and promotion of effective partnerships between colleges and universities and a wider range of stakeholders.

HEFCE, as the funding body, and QAA, as the body responsible for the oversight of quality and standards in HE, have different definitions of partnership or collaborative arrangements (see boxes below). However, both are concerned to locate accountability: in the case of QAA, accountability for quality; in the case of HEFCE, accountability for public funds.

Whatever the funding model, there is a partnership dimension.

HEFCE definition

An indirectly funded franchise partnership is one in which the student is attributed to the HEI for funding purposes but the course is wholly or partly delivered in the FEC.

HEFCE’s code of practice for indirectly funded partnerships is being updated in 2009 following the review of HE in FECs. The revised guidance will not differ substantially from that first offered in December 2000 (HEFCE 00/54: ‘Higher education in further education colleges. Indirectly funded partnerships: codes of practice for franchise and consortia arrangements’).

QAA definition

The term ‘collaborative provision’ is taken to mean ‘education leading to an award, or to specific credit toward an award, of an awarding institution delivered and/or supported and/or assessed through an arrangement with a partner organisation’.

The ‘precepts’ by which HEIs are expected to manage quality and standards within partnerships are set out in QAA’s ‘Code of practice for the assurance of academic quality and standards in higher education: Section 2, collaborative provision’. Although most of the precepts relate to the actions taken by the lead HEI, it is important for an FEC working in partnership to be aware of what is considered to be good practice.

From 2008, QAA is directly involved with all colleges providing HE in FE, regardless of whether the funding is received directly by the college or indirectly through a partner HEI. This review methodology is known as Integrated Quality and Enhancement Review and is explored more fully in Section 10.

CASE STUDIES OF PARTNERSHIP ARRANGEMENTS

From ‘Supporting higher education in further education colleges. Policy, practice and prospects’, HEFCE 2009/05

The following case studies illustrate the diversity of features that different collaborative models embrace. The first example is a college which has both direct and indirect funding, with five HEI partners and Edexcel.

York College

Extract from higher education strategy

The College position, currently, in the establishment of HEI partnerships, can be described as ‘best fit’. This ‘best fit’ is primarily based upon a [College] curriculum team’s relationship and understanding of the partner HEI programme content and delivery and building a working relationship to deliver a quality product.

This range of partnerships will ensure [that] future planned growth will be developed where the subject/sector expertise is complementary with each partner’s institutional portfolio, and where effective and strong academic/vocational staff links work well for the benefit of the students.

The second example is an indirectly funded college in a collaborative partnership with other colleges and one main HEI partner.

West Herts College and Hertfordshire Higher Education Consortium

The college is a member of the Hertfordshire Higher Education Consortium, which comprises the four FECs in Hertfordshire and the university. The five institutions work very closely together to assure quality and maintain standards across all HE provision at the colleges.

Distinctive features include:

·  collaborative curriculum development activities, guided by a handbook for programme developers and reviewers

·  strategic planning and marketing of the consortium’s provision, as evidenced by strategy away days and a recent marketing plan developed at consortium level and funded by all five partners

·  strong leadership and management and effective buy-in that includes college principals, HE managers, senior administrators, admissions and other student and business support staff

·  highly effective peer support across the four colleges at strategic and curriculum delivery level, including cross-college setting and moderation of assessments and development of innovative blended learning strategies.

Benefits include:

·  access to all university resources – including learning resource centres and sports and social facilities – for HE learners at the FECs

·  joint delivery on some programmes, including one day per week at one of the university campuses for some learners

·  progression opportunities for all HE students at the colleges to achieve an honours degree at the university, generally with only one further year of study (e.g. after successful completion of a foundation degree)

·  access to the university’s excellent blended learning system

·  highly effective staff development opportunities for FE staff in both scholarly activity and teaching and learning practice, including development of blended learning skills and expertise

·  pooling of expertise and sharing of curriculum development and management responsibilities and tasks.

The University of Plymouth has one of the largest partnerships in the country.

University of Plymouth Colleges
The management hub, or nerve centre, of the University of Plymouth’s relationship with its partner colleges is somewhat unusual, in that it is a full faculty of the university – the UPC Faculty. This enables the colleges to have focused points of contact for all aspects of the partnership, while still benefiting from strong academic links to the subject faculties. In essence, colleges’ HE staff teams are full members of a university faculty, with all the benefits that status brings. It is also a faculty of strength, with 10,000 students (7,000 FTEs) from 21 partner institutions (15 FECs) and 296 ‘live’ HE programmes running in 2007-08.
The UPC Faculty essentially manages the university’s delivery across the whole south-west region, from Bristol to Penzance via the Channel Islands, and has enabled thousands of learners, often geographically isolated, to benefit from university-level education. One key partner, Cornwall College, states in its HE strategy that the partnership with the university extends beyond that of a validating HEI, as working together includes the Combined Universities in Cornwall initiative, the south-west LLN, the Aimhigher Peninsula Programme and the south-west RDA.
Key features of UPC include:
·  registered university teacher status for staff, which allows full access to the university’s intranet and a wide range of staff development/CPD activities
·  subject forums, which are an academic focus for staff; they deliver subject-specific staff development activities/days and events, and act as a medium to spread good practice and encourage collaboration
·  subject forum chairs, who act as academic links between the university and the staff team at the college, or ensure that such activity is in place via another faculty member
·  strong links for students between the University Student Union and college student bodies, via UPC-funded student union officers
·  the HE Learning Partnerships Centre for Excellence in Teaching and Learning (HELP CETL).
HELP CETL
This CETL is a full part of UPC and is a five-year project funded through HEFCE to build on, promote and enhance good practice in teaching and learning across the UPC network. HELP has a number of development activities which partner college staff can feed into. An important one is the Award Holders Scheme, which funds and supports fellowships and CPD awards. These are given to help staff to develop projects and their own academic practice, based on development themes. The CETL works to encourage and support communities of practice and subject forums. The aim is to enable staff to participate in the network in order to enhance student experience and provide opportunities for personal and professional development.

The following three examples illustrate variety and complexity in partnership models while sharing the key pre-requisite of clarity of understanding and purpose. The first is a large partnership across a substantial geographical area, focusing on a single curriculum.

Consortium for Post-Compulsory Education and Training (PCET)
PCET is a large, dispersed collaborative partnership that traces its origins to 1966. It now consists of an equal partnership of the University of Huddersfield and 30 FECs across the north of England, delivering in-service qualifications in professional development to over 2,000 teachers and trainers working in the post-compulsory sector of education and training. The awards made are those of the University of Huddersfield.
Several characteristics of the partnership have contributed to its endurance and success (such as in quality review), particularly the professional relationships of all those involved in delivering the programmes. All partners, including the university, are equal members of the consortium, and the university’s staff all have extensive experience in the post-compulsory sector. These relationships have been cultivated and supported through various means, including:
·  monthly, all-day meetings of leaders of the teaching team in each college; these can include a programme of outside speakers and presentations profiling each centre, training workshops, resource exchanges, research seminars and dissemination activities
·  focused occasional workshops for staff in partner colleges who support the programmes (librarians, finance officers, HE/quality assurance managers)
·  liaison tutors – university staff who are designated as the link person for the programmes in each college; their duties include attending centre-based committees, inducting/briefing students on parts of the programme, supporting the pathway manager in each location, and providing the first point of contact for queries
·  collaborative curriculum development which, because of the programmes’ specialist focus on teaching in post-16 education, genuinely values the expertise and experience of practitioners in the FECs
·  an annual conference (with associated events) that brings together all tutors engaged on PCET programmes for reflection on practice, sharing of experience and updating on current developments and research
·  the creation of a Centre for Excellence in Teacher Training, HUDCETT, of which the consortium is the largest constituent member.
The consortium has developed a VLE – ASSOCiate Online – to enhance collaboration by dispersed institutions through ICT; this acts as a supplement to existing mechanisms that entail face-to-face contact by partners, not as a substitute for them. ASSOCiate Online is now being further developed as part of HUDCETT and has a national reach far beyond the consortium.

Two other ways to work in partnership are illustrated below; the first represents a considerable geographical spread and a wide curriculum.