Glasgow College, UESTC

Glasgow College Programmes and Pathways

All current University of Glasgow single and joint honours degrees with 'Electronics' are accredited by the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET) on behalf of the Engineering Council for the purposes of graduates fully meeting the academic requirement for registration as Incorporated Engineers and partly meeting the academic requirement for registration as Chartered Engineers. For the Glasgow College, UESTC (Chengdu) and Glasgow College Hainan, UESTC, the BEng (Hons) Electronics and Electrical Engineering title is accredited. Other programmes are considered 'pathways' of this.

In Hainan, two pathways are offered at undergraduate level: Electronics & Electrical Engineering with Communications and Electronics & Electrical Engineering with Information Engineering. These are taught by staff based at the Hainan campus, and by a team of dedicated 'fly-in-fly-out' lecturers, under the leadership of the Executive Dean of Glasgow College Hainan, UESTC Dr Robert Partridge (UofG) and Dean Guanghui Liu (Dean, Glasgow College Hainan, UESTC).

Successful IET accreditation

Professor Kelum Gamage, of University of Glasgow, led colleagues in preparation for the IET accreditation panel's visit to the Hainan campus this October. A large delegation were present 'on the ground' for the various activities taking place before, during, and after accreditation was complete. This team effort was well rewarded with the successful outcome all had been hoping for : resounding endorsement from the panel of teaching, resources, and the student learning experience at Glasgow College, Hainan.

Often, the detailed technical work required to execute, control, and measure high quality teaching and learning outcomes is hidden, taken for granted, by anyone not enmeshed in the discipline. Exercises in mapping, improving, refining, and documenting every element of our partnership's taught programmes was taken over many months in both Hainan and Glasgow. All to ensure that the quality of undergraduate provision for students passes muster with the engineering powers that be, so that students can confidently assume the international recognition they seek when embarking on Glasgow College Hainan, UESTC.

Accreditation came in two parts. Firstly, confirming that the Hainan 'offering' was of the same quality as that of the Glasgow College, UESTC Chengdu campus; and secondly, reviewing the 'Action List' given to colleagues by the Panel after their last visit in 2023. 

Profressor Gamage reported with delight:

I am pleased to inform you that the Academic Accreditation Committee is satisfied with progress has been made against the action plan submitted as part of the recent Monitoring Review, and that the programme at the Hainan campus has met the requirements to be accredited under the Commonality Regulations. Their official decision letter confirms the accreditation of both locations, covering up to the 2027 intake. Please note the Programmes in Hainan are backdated to cover the intakes starting from 2022. The next accreditation visit will be in the 2026/27 academic year for both. Let's get ready!

Dr Robert Partridge reiterated his thanks to Professor Gamage for leading the successful outcome on behalf of students and teaching staff at UESTC and UofG. He thanked colleagues from University of Glasgow, UESTC, and colleagues from the Hainan Campus Bureau (HCB), for preparing for and participating in the Accreditation Panel's visit. He noted that the Panel were impressed with what they saw - the quality of physical provision (labs, equipment, buildings, learning materials), the teaching match between campuses, and the glowing reports from students. 

The Panel also confirmed that Glasgow College, Hainan had fulfilled many of the actions raised by the 2023 Panel. They observed that there is still work to be accomplished in matching claims for ILOs (Independent Learning Outcomes) to the assessment material reviewed - but praised teaching and administrative staff for the processes carried out to improve claims made, and to improve practices of learning, teaching, and assessment. Another three years of accreditation were recommended in light of this positive trajectory, as was later confirmed with the IET to become official.

 

In a list of names too numerous to list on the UofG side, particularly noteable contributions came from Programme Directors Dr Julien Le Kernec, Professor Sajjad Hussain, Dr Frederic Surre, Dr Ahmed Zoha, Dr Wasim Ahmad, Mrs Jennifer MacDougall and Dr Faisal Tariq, who contributed to fulfilling the AHEP4 related action items arising from the 2023 Panel. Mrs Chengyang Wang and Ms Cherrise McLaren from the TNE Learning and Teaching Administration support team collected and supported the IET ADAMS submission while ensuring everyone pulled together to meet the deadlines. The pair were also noteable for their presence in person for the visit. Ms Yaya Yan and Ms Qingqing Bian (key members of the adminstration team based in Hainan) ensured the event ran smoothly logistically.

As was noted by Professor Scott Roy (Convenor of Teaching and Learning) and Professor Andrew McBride (Deputy Head of School, James Watt School of Engineering), the hard work must continue apace. Our expert team members have already added dates for the 2026/27 session panel visit to their diaries, to ensure accreditation of the 2028 student intake. The volume of the student body is only expected to increase, and the quality levels achieved must not only be maintained, but scaled.

We might surmise that in future, even more programmes and pathways will be added to the exciting Hainan campus offering.

 

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First published: 20 December 2024