Higher Education resources at Suffolk College - East Anglian Daily Times Education Page, 24 February 2004

Research published by the Department of Trade and Industry earlier this month shows that UK Universities are driving business success. The third annual Higher Education Business Interaction survey identified a rising trend in the financial benefits of partnership working.

This transfer of knowledge from the academic to the business communities was described by Science and Innovation Minister Lord Sainsbury as “making a valuable contribution to the economy and society”, a judgement that would no doubt be endorsed by the many organisations that have benefited from their contact with the Higher Education resources at Suffolk College and the Suffolk Institute of Technology (SIT).

The College has for many years played a major part in providing commerce and industry with the skills for success through the education and training of students. But the manner and means of the support for business has changed and grown to go far beyond the conventional notion of just classroom provision.

The formation of CREATE, a self-funded research centre, is just one of the ways in which a partnership approach has been established. CREATE works closely with business in the area of course development, with particular reference to on-line delivery. This can take the form of bespoke content, as with the work currently being carried out with a medical supplies company to produce specific courses on nursing subjects.

Or it can cover the development and delivery of more generic topics such as health and safety, and effective communication - as was the case with the recently completed Learning Options in Suffolk project. As one beneficiary of that initiative, Dean Clackett of Pitkin & Ruddock, commented “With staff based across Suffolk and the flexibility that on-line training offers, allowing staff to train at a time and in a place that suits them and our company’s needs, seems an ideal solution to the training needs of a busy operational organisation like ours.”

Like the other 17 New Technology Institutes established across England, the SIT has a remit to work with business ensuring that commerce reaps the benefits of academic research. The SIT hosts a forum for an active group of local employers from a range of sectors who have a common interest in technology-related issues. It has also developed a regular series of lectures covering commercial aspects of technology such as changes in legislation, latest developments, practical applications and best practice.

There are many innovative ways in which the SIT has established a dialogue with the business world. With the support of the Suffolk Development Agency, a series of learning stations are being opened across the county including a substantial presence in the new Hadleigh Business & Learning Centre.

Add all this to the work carried out with employer organisation such as the Suffolk Chamber of Commerce, and you can see that Suffolk College’s Higher Education provision means business.