Development of co-operation
In this section you will find a summary of the development of the relationship between the two institutions. Clearly, each institution has developed over the years its own profile and strategy (for a history of each institution please go to the following links….) .
Our work together first started in 2002 when both business schools embarked on an initial semester-length exchange of students at undergraduate level. Gradually this has developed into a portfolio of jointly conceived postgraduate courses, research activities and administrative management and we have now arrived at a point where we can say that a significant and solid partnership has been constructed covering a wide range of activities one would normally expect to find at tertiary level education.
The first jointly designed graduate programme to be offered, called International Marketing Communications (the so-called ‘IMCo’ double degree) was launched in 2005. The concept was to develop a three tiered approach to the educational experience: one programme, two qualifications, three constituencies. The ‘one programme’ respects the idea of jointly conceiving the structure and content of the idea. The ‘two qualifications’ represent the awards which all successful students are entitled to receive upon graduation. The ‘three constituencies’ represent the international mix of students who join the programme. The mix arises from the combination of French students who are completing the final year of their Masters programme (and have chosen to specialize in Marketing Communications), those students directly entering the programme via London and those directly entering via France. This structure has, with slight amendments, been adopted by other jointly managed programmes in Finance (2007) and the recently validated International Business (2009).
It is not only in programme design and management where the two institutions co-operate. Over the past three years, a ‘teaching & learning group’ on ESCEM’s Poitiers campus has provided the focus for cross institutional exchange of teaching and learning practices . This is a forum dedicated to sharing best practice in pedagogical issues the aim of which is to enhance the quality of the teaching and learning experience for all students. More latterly, research activity, already significantly developed independently in both institutions (see following webpages), has over the past twelve months involved both partners in joint projects which have emerged from the research days conducted in both countries: (include list of research projects proposed).
Finally, the management structures in the institutions have evolved to create a bi-annual senior level management forum where strategic and tactical issues relating to future direction and current operations can be raised and reviewed. This group which meets twice per year encompasses all aspects of the relationship: course development, research activity, teaching practice and administrative management.