Building Sustainable International Partnerships
Following the launch of the British Council & Universities UK International (UUKi) report on ‘Managing risk and developing responsible transnational education (TNE) partnerships’, where the report highlights the importance of well-managed TNE, we’re bringing this topic to The IC Café to provide you with practical strategies and tips to build sustainable partnerships. We’ll share an update on current and emerging trends in the TNE space; explore how to mitigate risks at various stages of TNE partnerships; provide institutional case studies at early and mature stages of TNE and look at how the UK-International Campus Alliance Network (UK-ICAN) can support UK institutions.
Join us for this IC Café, open to institutional Heads and Directors and colleagues.
Date: Tuesday 1 October 2024
Time: 11am (UK time)
Join The IC Global community to get access to The IC Cafés.
Our guest speakers
Kevin Van Cauter, Independent Higher Education consultant and an IC Global Fellow
After many years of research and analysis as a Higher Education Advisor specialising in TNE at the British Council, Kevin established as an international HE consultant in March 2023. He has represented the British Council’s activities in the field of higher education partnerships and transnational education at major international conferences, served on several high profile advisory boards (UCAS International advisory group, UUKI TNE advisory Group, Going Global Steering Committee, UUKi on-line learning task group), and published several articles and book chapters. His recent research includes the Impact of Transnational Education on Host countries (2014), Transnational Education Data collection systems: Awareness, Analysis and Action (2015); TNE: A classification framework and data collection guidelines (2017); The Value of Transnational Education & The environment for TNE in 16 countries (commissioning editor 2022) and he contributed market analysis to the UUKi Scale and Scope of UK TNE report (2022).
Stephanie Niven, Managing Director and Independent Education Consultant, Loroba Consulting Ltd and an IC Global Fellow
Stephanie is an international recruitment and admissions professional with 23 years of higher education experience gained working in university international office management and leadership roles, and more recently as a higher education consultant.
She worked for 16 years at the University of Stirling, and as Head of International Affairs had responsibility for global partnerships and TNE, developing and implementing the University’s internationalisation strategy, managing study abroad/exchanges and short course provision (including English language, International Summer School and tailored programmes) and has considerable international and domestic recruitment experience across Asia and the US most notably. During this time she led on the set up of the INTO-Stirling University partnership managing the business planning and workstreams.
Stephanie has worked for the past 7 years as a higher education consultant with several universities, developing specific knowledge and expertise in new business development, market sizing and market research for new initiatives and programmes, global strategy and international partnership development, evidence-led reviews, identifying future opportunities and global trend analysis.
In her early career, Stephanie trained as a teacher and has worked in the school’s sector in the UK and overseas undertaking roles in Japan, New Zealand and the USA
Ben Matthews, Associate Director of Global Engagement, Lancaster University
Ben oversees international collaborations, global reputation and mobility. Under his leadership, Lancaster University has Transnational Education (TNE) programs in Germany, Malaysia, China, and Ghana, enabling one-third of the student population to study overseas. Today, Lancaster is the largest UK provider of TNE in Malaysia.
With a focus on widening participation, diversity, and inclusion, Ben is passionate about creating opportunities that empower students to become global citizens – fostering cross-cultural understanding and enabling their future leadership. Having led institutional sustainability programmes, Ben’s focus is to harness the power of digital and promote sustainable practices in student mobility, foster meaningful education, and contribute to a more sustainable approach.
Through practical actions, Ben leads efforts to enhance the university’s reputation within global league tables. With his deep understanding of the factors that shape institutional reputation, he has played a key role in elevating Lancaster University’s standing on the international stage.
Dr Barbara Howell, Director, Global UniStudy Consultancy Limited and an IC Global Fellow
Barbara is the Director of Global UniStudy. Barbara Howell’s portfolio career spans some twenty-five years in the Further and Higher Education (HE) sector with significant leadership and management experience at a senior level in small specialist and large complex organisations. Over that period Barbara has gained a comprehensive understanding of UK higher education systems/frameworks, transnational higher education, internationalisation approaches and practice, funding mechanisms, enterprise and commercial propositions, quality assurance procedures and the implementation of strategies and solutions. Barbara is certified as IENG-MBCS CITP a Fellow of the HEA, had several external examiner roles and has been a QAA Institutional Auditor/Reviewer for the last 14 years (to include overseas review, pathway providers and embedded colleges).
Barbara is passionate about internationalisation and working with institutions locally and globally to enhance their offer. She has created many innovative strategies and approaches to encourage greater engagement in mobility opportunities and increase international student recruitment. She also has also led on the initiation development and ongoing management of many highly successful transnational higher education and joint-venture partnerships.