They shared some of the great things going on with their international summer school and how they partner with StudyGroup (a private ESL/Foundation provider). We had the opportunity to choose one of two workshops. I chose the workshop on integrated student services. Claire Powrie, Director of Student Services was a great resource for UK student services information and truly put off a student affairs vibe (although they don't technically have that here). It could have been the group work :-)
One of the concepts I gleaned from today was that for exchange partnerships to be both deep and wide, it is smart to exchange faculty before students. Faculty stay around campus and can help the program grow roots. Students leave after a few years, meaning their impact on recruitment is limited. Another thing that was mentioned (yet again) is how the U.K. always historically thought of internationalization as only about recruiting international students and not sending students out. Now they are placing more emphasis on mobility schemes and consider mobility in a much broader sense. They include internships and co-ops as well as study abroad. It is just an interesting point to note since U.S. higher education is very focused on international student recruitment. I suppose it is for many of the same reasons that originally drew the U.K. to fee-paying students.
After our lunch and lectures they took us to the next town over, Lewes (pronounced "Lewis"). Martin Hookham, Head of the International Office said it best when he described Lewes as "Everything you think England should be". He was spot on. They have a castle, beautiful gardens, narrow alleyways called "twittens", and timber frame buildings. Lewes is most famous for their Guy Fawkes bonfires and having been the former home of Thomas Paine. They even have their own local currency. We took a slightly rainy tour of the town with a blue-badge guide and ended at a pub with a round from the uni. You really can't get better than that.
They gave us a few hours of free time to relax before dinner. I took this as the opportunity to head over to the Tesco and buy a tube of McVitie's Digestives --the best cookies ever--and stopped myself short of a half package. Dinner was at Bill's, a local chain. I ate until I had to question my wardrobe, as it should be.