As well as being a provider of education nationally, The Open University is involved in a number of local projects and partnerships, contributing to education and the local economy.
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The Open University in the East Midlands is a member of the East Midlands Universities Association - see www.emua.ac.uk - formed in 1998 and the Regional Director sits on the Association's Steering Committee along with the Vice-Chancellors and Principals of the region's institutions of higher education. The Open University has an important role in meeting the region's educational and training needs. There are over 10,000 Open University students in the East Midlands and they account for over a third of all the region's part-time university students.
The University is also represented on a number of the Association's Task Groups including those relating to Foundation Degrees, Healthcare and Widening Participation as well as the East Midlands Partnership for Progression Co-ordinating group and the five county-based sub-regional partnerships.
The Open University in the East Midlands contributes to the provision of information advice and guidance (IAG) about educational opportunities for adults through its Regional Centre in Nottingham. Our main focus is on the University's own courses and qualifications though, where appropriate, we refer enquirers to other IAG services with which we are affiliated.
Each network offers information advice and guidance concerning education and career opportunities within a given county or local authority area.
The Guidance Council provides details of other IAG networks outside thess areas - see www.guidancecouncil.com.
The Guidance Accreditation Board provides information on individual organisations that offer IAG in any area - see www.gab.org.uk.
The Open University in the East Midlands is a member of Em-grad online which has been developed through partnership between the nine university Careers Services in the East Midlands region. It is aimed at graduates seeking work and those that have graduated within the last two years. The site contains information on choosing a job, further study or becoming self employed. It also looks at where to find vacancies and how to conduct an effective application.
There are also links to other sites that contain careers and vocational related material - see www.cap.ntu.ac.uk/emgrad.
The Open University in the East Midlands is also the home of the national office that provides post-registration support for students following a range of O.U. postgraduate courses in Computing and Technology:
A specialist team of academic and managerial staff work within the national CCI/MMT Office, and serve the needs of all students on these programmes, wherever in the world they may be studying.
For further information on postgraduate courses in Computing visit the computing section of the Courses and Qualifications website.
For further information on postgraduate courses in Technology visit the technology section.
The Open University in the East Midlands is successfully establishing and sustaining effective partnerships with a range of corporate sponsors in Social Work, Social Care and Healthcare settings aimed at widening opportunities for staff to access professional qualifications through The Open University's flexible and part-time routes.
Since the launch of the Diploma in Social Work Programme local student numbers have grown dramatically. Twenty sponsoring agencies in the East Midlands are currently involved. These include statutory and voluntary providers within Social Work and Social Care contexts and a range of other providers who require staff to have social work qualifications, including those in Youth Offending and Education Services and in Health and Counselling settings within Asian communities.
We have a well established relationship with East Midlands Healthcare Workforce Deanery who commission our Pre-Registration Nursing Programme in adult nursing or mental health nursing and fund a wide range of our health and social care courses, making them available to all registered health care professionals across the East Midlands. The Pre-Registration Nursing Programme has been delivered in the region since 2004, and we currently have partnerships with seven Trusts in the north of the region and are currently expanding the programme into the south of the region. Our first nursing students graduated with a Diploma in Higher Education (Mental Health Nursing) and registered with the Nursing and Midwifery Council in May 2008. The recent alliance of the Open University with the Royal College of Nursing Institute has increased the post-registration nursing pathways available and opened up study opportunities for all registered practitioners at Masters level. The Health Sector has shown a growing interest in our collaborative teaching arrangements, particularly in relation to our new Mentoring and Assessment in Health and Social Care Settings course. Opportunities for teaching partnerships with other Universities are explored through active membership of The East Midlands Universities Association's Healthcare Task group.
