London Met’s partnership strategy with Historically Black Colleges and Universities presented by Project lead Ella Deadman to the online education forum, PIE News.
Date: 16 February 2023
Ella Deadman, Project Manager of London Met’s HBCU strategy, presented and discussed the ground-breaking partnership with PIE News (a global higher education news establishment).
Titled ‘actualising a successful partnership strategy with Historically Black Colleges and Universities in the USA’, Ella led the discussion with PIE Business Development Director Nick Golding.
In their discussion Ella explored London Metropolitan University’s pioneering work in developing ‘Partners in Global Change'. While forging international partnerships with complementary institutions is on almost every university’s agenda, Ella’s work is particularly impressive as London met is creating meaningful, reciprocal, and enduring relationships with multiple institutions across the USA.
She discussed their strategy, progress, and the difficulties she has experienced, as well as the positive outcomes. In particular, how these partnerships further develop London Met’s strategies towards removing systemic barriers, integrating anti-racism into the university system, and building a diverse academic pipeline.
"This project feeds directly into our race equity strategic plan launched in 2021, which aims to transform the experiences of black and minoritised students and hopefully ultimately act as a catalyst for change across the sector. We are hoping that these partnerships formed with HBCUs will inform our work addressing key issues like the attainment gap and feed directly into the strategic plan," she said in the presentation.
“Participating in this knowledge exchange with partner institutions in the US will help us on our mission to create a sense of belonging for all our students at London Met and provide cultural support from faculty and professional service staff.”
Ella enjoys working on the project. “It has been such a pleasure for me to learn about, and work with our HBCU partners over the past 6 months.”
London Met is one of the most diverse institutions in the country with a long-term commitment to social inclusion. The new partnerships take an integrated approach to improving student outcomes across the entire bodies of both London Met and its partners, and form part of the University’s wider commitments to social justice and its long-term strategy to invest in student success.
Professional services staff and academic faculty from both sides of the Atlantic will work together to develop interventions to support student attainment, continuation rates and graduate outcomes through joint action and research projects.
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