Westminster showcases best practice of international experiences for students at UUKi Conference

UUKi organised this conference for global mobility professionals and international teams at UK universities looking to expand and develop their strategic and management skills. Alyssa Martin and Eduardo Lees jointly delivered a session called Accessible short-term international opportunities: A cross institutional approach alongside sessions from the universities of Kent, Lancaster and Newcastle University as well as a Deputy Vice Chancellor panel and a presentation from British Council India. Comments and thoughts from the day were captured in a podcast and through a live graphic drawing.

Alyssa Martin and Eduardo Lees discussed how the University of Westminster strategically approaches overcoming barriers to studying and working abroad and expanding access to international experiences to as many students as possible sharing suggestions for how to work cross-institutionally to achieve impact. They highlighted the University of Westminster’s Global Experience bursary, which supports students to study, work or volunteer abroad over the summer in locations around the world. They also spoke about the award-winning Westminster Working Cultures programme, led by the Alumni Relations team and offering employability and mobility support.

Alyssa Martin said: “With Westminster Working Cultures International, we are able to provide students a global mobility experience combined with a unique employability opportunity through the support of our alumni and global partner network. It was brilliant to be able to share more about our award-winning programme with the sector as well as how we’ve been able to expand our reach to students who may not otherwise be able to take up mobility during their studies. Through the conference, sharing best practice and learning from others continues to inspire me to explore even further how we can support Westminster students to have a meaningful global experience.”

Eduardo Lees said: “We have been working hard to create a culture of students gaining impactful international experience during their studies at Westminster. The UUKi conference gave us the perfect opportunity to showcase to the sector all the hard work we are doing, here particularly through two of our programmes that are helping to increase access, the Global Experience Bursary and Westminster Working Cultures. Presenting was also an opportunity to start conversations with colleagues from other institutions and organisations on areas of potential development and collaboration as well as to advocate for the continued need for national funding support. It was reassuring to hear so much positive feedback on what we are doing and inspiring to discuss how we can continue to develop and grow in the future.”

Professor Dibyesh Anand, Interim Deputy Vice Chancellor for Employability and Global Engagement, said: “As a global University, we are keen to support multiple ways to encourage international mobility for our students from diverse backgrounds. We want our students to break barriers and gain experience of study, travel and work beyond our amazing city of London. We are Westminster; we are international.”

This event contributed toward the Quality Education (4) development goal of the United Nations’ 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) which were adopted by the University of Westminster to help make the University a more sustainable, responsible and inclusive place to live, work and study.

Learn more about working and studying abroad at the University of Westminster.