Memorandum 36
Submission from the Universities' Transport
Partnership
1. THE UNIVERSITIES'
TRANSPORT PARTNERSHIP
1.1 The Universities' Transport Partnership,
UTP, is a group of eight leading UK universities providing Masters
level education in transport. The UTP members are:
- Imperial College London, Centre for Transport
Studies;
- University of Leeds, Institute for Transport
Studies;
- Newcastle University, School of Civil Engineering
and Geo-Sciences;
- Napier University, School of the Built
Environment;
- University of Salford, School of Computing,
Science and Engineering;
- University of Southampton, Transportation
Research Group;
- University College London, Centre for Transport
Studies; and
- University of Westminster, Department of
Transport Studies.
The Partnership is supported with funding from
the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council, EPSRC.
1.2 The Partnership was created in 1999
to bid jointly for EPSRC funding, and was again successful in
securing support through a later bidding round in 2004.
1.3 Partnership members work together in:
- the development of new course materials;
- promoting Masters courses to both employers
and prospective students;
- working with professional bodies in promoting
careers in transport and in the development of the transport planning
profession; and
- working with employers in ensuring that
the content and delivery of the Partnership courses meets their
needs, and those of their staff but they compete for students.
1.3 A total of 289 full time equivalent
(FTE) students are studying for a Transport Masters this year
at UTP members, 162 from the UK, 32 from other EU countries and
95 from the rest of the world. Of the UK students 119 FTEs are
studying part time, almost all of whom are supported by their
employer.
2. WORKING WITH
EMPLOYERS
2.1 To facilitate cooperation with employers,
in 2001 the Partnership established an Employers' Forum, chaired
by a senior and respected transport planning consultant. The Employers'
Forum is open to all employers of UTP Masters students and graduates,
and membership is free. The Forum meets twice a year in London
and has one regional meeting a year.
2.2 Members of the Forum include nearly
all the major transport engineering and planning consultancies,
and many others, as well as a number of local authorities, and
central and devolved government bodies. The employers are generally
represented at a senior level, often by directors.
2.3 The Forum considers the structure, content
and delivery of the UTP Transport Masters courses, as well as
topics relating to the promotion and development of careers in
transport, including professional development and CPD. Topics
considered at recent meetings include
- the Bologna Accord and European Credit
Transfer System, and their potential impact on education in transport;
- skill shortages, and the Borders and Immigration
Agency's Shortage Occupations list;
- attracting high quality graduates into
transport engineering and planning careers; and
- professional qualifications and recognition
for transport planners.
2.4 As a result of Forum discussions:
- nearly all UTP courses are now delivered
in a structure that enables part time students to spend one full
day a week at the university' Previously they had to attend for
parts of two or more days, making it disruptive for them and their
employers;
- a number of new courses and modules have
been introduced and more are being developed;
- there is more emphasis on generic management
and communications skills; and
- there is greater emphasis on knowledge
underlying, for example, transport models, relative to how to
use particular model packages.
2.5 The Forum has become a unique opportunity
for employers in transport engineering and planning to meet and
to discuss issues of common interest relating to careers, skills,
education and professional development in an environment that
is removed from the competitive context in which many of its members
work.
2.6 The identity provided by the Employers'
Forum has provided opportunity for employers to present a collective
view on matters of common concern such as the identification of
transport skills among those listed by the Borders and Immigration
Agency as Shortage Occupations.
3. WORKING WITH
PROFESSIONAL BODIES
3.1 The UTP meets twice a year with the
four professional institutes concerned with transport engineering
and planning, the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport,
the Institution of Civil Engineers, the Institution of Highways
and Transportation and the Royal Town Planning Institute, to discuss
matters of common interest in education and professional development.
In addition, the Transport Planning Society is represented through
the Employers' Forum Chair.
3.2 Topics considered at recent meetings
include:
- the Bologna Accord and European Credit
Transfer System, and their potential impact on education in transport;
- continuing professional development;
- promoting careers in transport; and
- professional qualifications and recognition
for transport planners.
4. SOME LESSONS
LEARNED
4.1 The UTP is widely regarded as a success.
By working together, it has been possible for the university members
to work with employers and the professional bodies in a way that
would be difficult, if not impossible, for individual universities
to achieve; one university, working alone, would be unlikely to
bring 35 or so employers together every six months; certainly
not if all universities sought to have such meetings, individually.
The same applies to the regular contact with the professional
bodies that has been established.
4.2 Since the Partnership was established,
the number of students studying for a Transport Masters at member
universities has more than doubled. Whilst some of that increase
most probably reflects an increasing demand for transport professionals,
and thus for education in transport engineering and planning,
a substantial proportion will be attributable to the effects of
the collective promotion of Transport Masters by the Partnership,
both to prospective students and through the Employers Forum.
Certainly, the Employers' Forum has provided Employers with a
much better understanding of Masters level education, both the
opportunities and the requirements for both employers and students.
4.3 However, the success of the partnership
activities is totally dependent on:
- the availability of funds to meet the costs
of the shared activities. At present those are provided by EPSRC,
but if that funding were no longer available, it is unlikely that
the member universities would be able to fund the Partnership
directly, and although employers clearly see real benefits in
participating in the Employers' Forum, soundings suggest that
they would be unlikely to provide the funding necessary to maintain
it; and
- the commitment of individuals within the
member universities to the time required to manage and participate
in partnership activities as well as mutual trust, and having
a Chair of the Employers' Forum who shares that commitment, is
prepared to make the necessary time available and who is both
respected and trusted by the employers, the universities and the
professional bodies.
4.4 The lesson for other sectors in higher
education is that by working together across universities, it
is possible to have highly effective, and efficient, relations
with industry and the professional bodies, and to work together
to promote careers and professional development within
March 2008
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