1. University Collaboration and Contributions
Department of Meteorology
University Collaboration and Contributions
Andrew Charlton-Perez, Ben Cosh (Univ. of Reading)
David Babb (Penn State)
Greg Byrd (University of Colorado/WMO)

2. Motivation for Universities

3. What Can Be Offered?
Online course design and content: Penn State and COMET are leaders in providing online Meteorological content and have experience of making online and blended approaches work in our sector. U. Reading has some experience of this through two FutureLearn courses and an ambition to develop more. Short course design and delivery: U. Reading has developed several short course in the past on a variety of topics delivered on 1-2 week timescales Quality assurance and assessment: A key part of any combined training programme would be quality assurance or programme components and combined assessment for progression. Both Universities have significant experience in this area.

4. Split of Expertise
In many ways, a training programme that combines aspects from a variety of providers is very attractive.
It is important to recognize from the University side what kind of training we are skilled in offering and where we would benefit from further collaboration.
We can offer training in:
Introductory and basic meteorological concepts
Topics at the research edge
Generic skills and competencies for employment
Areas where we would benefit from collaboration:
Translation of basic skills into operational actions
Best operational practice

5. Possibility of Collaboration
An additionally attractive prospect for Global Campus is the opportunity for Universities and other training providers to work together
This could include in particular:
Short staff exchanges to collaborate and learn about new educational techniques and ideas
More formal course validation arrangements (e.g. in the UK the External Examiner role)
Potential future student exchanges and joint degrees (e.g. Reading/NUIST and Reading/Oklahoma exchanges)
Exchange of trainers (e.g. Reading/Met Office exchange for operational forecasting & Tropical Met.)

6. Barriers to Progress
A central catalogue and credential tracking is critical for us to be able to engage fully with Global Campus. This follows our current modular structure whereby pre-requisite knowledge for each course is known prior to the start of training.
A co-benefit of the credential tracking is the possibility for Universities to recognize credits from other institutions and, ultimately, to consider awarding degrees and other qualifications based on Global Campus training.
There would need to be a clear system by which the cost of provision could be recovered by University providers – but this is less of a barrier.