Collaboration & Learning Environments

Cross-institutional access to resources

Expected Outcomes

• Straightforward access for students and staff to resources and services at all three Universities
• Easy and consistent access to wireless local networks (and the Internet) via use/installation of JANET roaming services at each University
• Student record systems at all three Universities to be aware of all students on the Alliance’s courses, including which is their home Institution and which modules they are taking
• Library resources, both physical and online, at each University made available to all students on Alliance courses subject to compliance with licence conditions

Benefits

• Minimises the number of usernames and passwords that a user has to remember
• Staff and students able to benefit from resources and services available within the Alliance beyond their home Institution
• Delivers on the Student Entitlement initiative to access resources at all three Universities
• Provides ready access to the Internet at all three Universities for staff and students

Completed Projects

• JANET roaming services have been set up on each site, to give ease of access to wireless networking. The systems are fully operational as “eduroam” in all three institutions.

• Provision of access to partner institutions for all SWan affiliated and associated students. This has been achieved by exchanging information between student records systems, resulting in all Swan students appearing on the student record systems of all three institutions. They then get issued with usernames and passwords for each institution, giving them online access to services. They are also entitled to apply for ID cards to provide them with physical access as well. This provision, organised by the SWan Student Records Group, has been fully operational since October 2009.

• The SWan Library Group has identified which e-resources have licence conditions which permit them to be shared with SWan students. Appropriate ATHENS permission sets have been set up to allow SWan students from partner institutions to have online access to these e-resources.

Current Activities

• The SWan Student Records Group needs to define how academic roll-over will be applied to the student records exchange system now in place.

• The SWan Disability Group is co-ordinating consistent and innovative support for disabled students – this group has looked at the ways in which the collaboration and learning environments can benefit disabled students and has ensured that where appropriate statements of support needs are provided by the student’s home institution to the relevant partner institution(s).