Advice and Guidance for Collaborative Partners

If you are not sure who to contact, please use our Summary of Key Contacts to help direct your query.

If further information is required, a member of Academic Registry could provide advice, you can raise a query using the Helpdesk using your LJMU log in details. If you have a query but you do not have an LJMU username and password, please contact collaborativeprovision@ljmu.ac.uk.

For Validated and Franchise arrangements, Academic Appeals are made in line with the University's Academic Framework.

For Joint and Dual Awards, the arrangements for Academic Appeals will be confirmed within the Operational Framework, please see details in the Guidance for Joint and Dual Partnerships.

Academic partners are not always required to follow the LJMU Academic Calendar. The arrangements for delivery of the programme will be agreed at validation and (deadlines for administration of the programme will be agreed with the associated School).

For reference, the University calendar is available Academic Calendar.

To keep partners up to date with the academic, regulatory and sector developments, Academic Registry organises regular training sessions and a Partnerships Forum which normally meets annually. All partner staff are welcome to attend relevant training sessions arranged by Academic Registry and whenever possible, sessions will also be made available electronically.

Details for the Partnership Forum will be shared with partner staff in advance, and some resources from previous forums are available.

Academic partner programmes are required to be delivered in line with the LJMU Academic Framework regulations, Academic Policies and Quality Assurance processes. 

There may be some variation in how these expectations are applied, depending on the model of the partnership (for example Franchise, Joint or Validated), and details of any variations will be determined during Validation or Periodic Programme Review.

If further information is required, a member of Academic Registry could provide advice, you can raise a query using the Helpdesk using your LJMU log in details. If you have a query but you do not have an LJMU username and password, please contact CollaborativeProvision@ljmu.ac.uk.

The Teaching and Learning Academy offers a range of Continuing Professional Development activities.  Staff from collaborative partners teaching on programmes leading to LJMU awards can attend any non-award bearing activities that directly support the teaching and learning or enhance the experience of the students within the partnership and places are subject to availability.  Details of these events will be circulated as they become available.  The event details include procedures for booking a place and any costs involved.

The entry criteria for collaborative programmes will be agreed at validation, and any changes between validation and Periodic Programme Review events will be considered by the Recruitment Policy Panel.  Decisions relating to the entry criteria for collaborative programmes will be informed by consideration of the University International Entry Requirements.

All graduates of LJMU, Liverpool Polytechnic, our founding Colleges and partner institutions are invited to join thousands of LJMU graduates from all over the world on LJMU Connect; our official online alumni community.

With LJMU Connect you can:

• Connect - Find and reminisce with fellow graduates, see what they have been up to and stay in touch.
• Give back - Introduce, employ and offer to act as a mentor to our graduating students.
• Expand - Leverage your professional network to get introduced to people you should know.

The alumni office can be contacted directly by email at alumni@ljmu.ac.uk.

Collaborative Partners are required to operate Boards of Study for collaborative programmes, in line with the University's Guidance for Boards of Study. Any exceptions to this would need to be agreed by the Academic Quality and Standards Committee (AQSC) or for Joint and Dual partnerships would be outlined in the Operational Framework.

The approved minutes of collaborative Boards of Study should be submitted to the Administration Manager in the LJMU link School.

Unless specified otherwise in the collaborative agreement, support for students about their employability & future careers is provided by the Collaborative Partner which is delivering the LJMU-validated programme in partnership with the University.  Therefore, collaborative students are not eligible for the LJMU-specific Future Focus employability programme.

For collaborative undergraduate programmes, employability-themed learning, including students’ self-awareness of their interests & capabilities, must be embedded at Level 4.  This is a requirement of the Academic Framework regulations (AG.A4.2.7).

Students who complete a Collaborative Programme which is delivered in partnership with a partner institution and is validated by Liverpool John Moores University will be provided with a certificate and/or transcript, as appropriate.  The award of any certificates and/or transcript are made in line with the Final Transcripts and Awards Certificate Policy and the Certificate and Transcripts for Students on Collaborative Programmes Policy, which are available via the Policy Centre.

Specific guidance regarding the dispatch of documents from LJMU to collaborative partner institutions, including expected time frame for dispatch, can be found in the documents below:

Dispatch of Award Documents to Collaborative Partner Institutions 

Example Receipt Form - Dispatch of Award Documents to Partner Institution

Any queries relating to awards should be raised via the Helpdesk.

Unless specified otherwise within their contract, the partner will be required to provide details of new students using the template supplied ahead of each defined entry point.  The completed template should be emailed to the relevant LJMU school for processing and creation of the student record.

Within the file parser template, there is a guidance tab which should be reviewed prior to completion.  Please be advised, incomplete rows of data will not be imported into SIS and be returned to the partner.

Partner students will not be subject to online Student Registration (unless specified otherwise in the contract). Once the student record has been created, a unique student ID number will be generated. The partner will be provided with this ID number and will notify the student. The student will then be able to activate their LJMU IT account.

All information regarding students and assessments must be shared with the university using your LJMU account and the Microsoft software provided. For security reasons the university will not accept the use of Google Drive or other file transfer methods when exchanging information.

If a member of collaborative staff has forgotten their LJMU username or password, they can visit My Account. 

This page also includes guidance on the following:

• account activation
• updating your security questions and answers
• changing your password 
• managing multi-factor authentication (MFA) settings
• help with IT related queries

For collaborative partner students (and staff) who are having difficulty accessing their LJMU IT account and do not have an LJMU ID card, you can get help via the library external contact form.  Please enter ‘No Card’ in the field ‘LJMU Barcode Number’.

During library open hours you can also contact the library team via telephone, or the library chat service.   Details of their opening hours are available at Library contact details | Liverpool John Moores University (Click ‘Ask the Library’ to use the chat service). Some issues will require assistance from IT staff who will be available between 08.45 and 19.00, Monday to Friday, and between 10:00 and 16:00 on Saturdays and Sundays (UK time).

For both national and international collaborative programmes/partners, unless specified otherwise in the contract, graduation ceremonies for collaborative students will be arranged by the Partner which is delivering the LJMU validated programme in partnership with the University.

For both national and international collaborative programmes/partners, unless specified otherwise in the contract, software should be provided by the partner institution which is delivering the LJMU validated programme.

Due to strict licensing obligations imposed by rights holders, most of the software available to LJMU students and staff is not available to partner organisations for the reasons listed below:

1.      The software agreements LJMU subscribe to only covers those students/staff directly enrolled or employed at the University.

2.      Licences can only be issued to staff and/or students who are included in the University’s HESA figures (which does not, in the majority of cases, include partner organisations).

For those students and staff at partner institutions who are able to visit one of LJMU’s libraries, some non-restricted (device licensed) software is available to use.

Microsoft Office 365 is available to all staff and students at partner institutions.

All University awards are required to be fully taught and assessed in English.

Collaborative staff and students have access to a range of services provided by the University’s Library Services. Find details of the resources and services available through the University Library. 

Further information can be accessed through the Library website.

Academic partnerships are appointed a Link Tutor at the University.  Information and Guidance about the Link Tutor role is available within the Link Tutor Guidance.

Further information such as the terms of reference, membership and dates for LJMU committees involved in the quality oversight of LJMU programmes, including collaborative programmes, is available online.

A partner may only advertise programmes after the conditions of Validation have been met and the Partnership Agreement/contract has been signed. 

Marketing of all collaborative programmes are required to take place in line with the expectations of the University, as outlined within the Guidelines for Marketing and Public Information for Collaborative Partners and the Brand Guidelines for Partner Institutions. 

Liverpool John Moores University’s official name in Chinese is 利物浦约翰摩尔大学。We use this in our contracts and communications with our partners in China.

A Partner Programme Leader will be appointed for collaborative programmes, as a key contact at the partner for the University at the programme level, for oversight of the programme and completion of academic quality and standards activities.

Partners are required to have their own mechanisms for obtaining student feedback on their programme of study, for example programme and module-level surveys.

Partners’ student feedback mechanisms should incorporate LJMU’s core questions. Further information is available within Module Evaluation Guide for Staff.

The outputs of partners’ student feedback mechanisms are normally required to inform partners’ engagement with the university’s Continuous Monitoring and Enhancement process. Further information is available within the Guidance for Continuous Monitoring and Enhancement.

A programme guide is required to be produced, annually, for all taught-awards of LJMU, including collaborative provision. When producing the programme guide, collaborative partners are required to use the collaborative programme guide template is produced by the University, and it is expected that this will be used to produce a Programme Guide for each collaborative programme.

Prior to issuing the programme guide to students it must be approved by the applicable LJMU Director of School (or approved LJMU nominee).

Further guidance on producing the collaborative programme guide can be found here.

In addition to production of programme guides, partners are required to ensure that mechanisms are in place to share appropriate module-level information with students.

Collaborative Partners are required to comply with the University's Recognition of Prior Learning Policy. The Recognition of Prior (Experiential) Learning and Credit Transfer Handbook outlines the University's approach and process for RPL.

The RP(E)L claim form and the mapping template for RP(E)L are available online.

LJMU have implemented Multi-Factor Authentication for additional cyber security to protect everyone's data. All staff and students must sign up for it.

If a student loses their phone or cannot verify their MFA, partner institutions need to verify their identity, then log a request through our Helpdesk, on their behalf. LJMU’s IT support can then amend their MFA verifications details, so that they can gain access again.

The University maintains oversight of the teaching teams of all collaborative programmes, and all members of teaching staff should be approved by the University before teaching on a University validated programme.

Once new members of teaching staff have been approved to teach on a University validated programme, they can apply for an LJMU IT account and collaborative staff ID card. A collaborative IT staff account can be used to access:

• the LJMU electronic library resources (subject to licence restrictions)
• the University’s VLE, Canvas - details available, under the heading Virtual Learning Environment, Canvas
• LJMU’s Webhub which can allow staff to view data related to your institutions programmes and students with LJMU - details available under the heading Webhub

Details of how new staff members are approved and how staff can apply for LJMU IT access are outlined here under the heading Collaborative New Staff Appointment.

Forwarding LJMU emails

If you wish to automatically forward on emails from your LJMU account, guidance is available.

Compliance is overseen by the Office of the Independent Adjudicator (OIA), the independent student complaints scheme for England and Wales.  The Office of the Independent Adjudicator (OIA) are approved by the Chartered Trading Standards Institute as the consumer Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) body for higher education in England and Wales.

For Validated and Franchise arrangements, student complaints follow the LJMU Student Complaints Procedure for Academic Partnerships.  This provides a clear and consistent approach for any student studying at a collaborative partner with LJMU to raise a complaint. 

If Partner Providers already have a locally developed student complaint process, a student is able to follow this process in the first instance, and that would constitute Stage 1 of the LJMU Student Complaints Procedure for Academic Partnerships.  If a university student studying at a partner wishes to complain about the actions or inactions of LJMU, they are able to submit a stage 2 complaint direct to the University. Further details are outlined with the full guidance which is available online.

For Joint and Dual Awards, the arrangements for Student Complaints will be confirmed within the Operational Framework, please see details in the Guidance for Joint and Dual Partnerships.

All LJMU partners are required to maintain a record of complaints made by University students and submit an annual summary of the number of complaints received, whether they were upheld, upheld in part or not upheld, along with a summary of any themes identified.

Collaborative Partners will work with the associated LJMU School/Department to ensure students are enrolled on the correct modules and that the student records are maintained in the University Student Information System. 

As part of the enrolment process onto Liverpool John Moores University's programmes, students studying at Collaborative Partners are required to activate their LJMU IT accounts and to upload a current photograph.

Services for current students enrolled on LJMU programmes delivered at Collaborative Partners are available online.

Collaborative Partners are required to notify the administrative team within the associated Faculty of any changes to the student record (for example changes of address or personal email, changes of programme or mode of study) in a timely manner. Please see the Key Contacts (above) for contact details.

Results are published to students at My Results on the agreed date following the LJMU Board of Examiners. Partner staff are able to access the published results for their students via Web hub.

Unless specified otherwise in the collaborative agreement, student support such as guidance about money and finance, counselling, disability and safeguarding, is provided by the Collaborative Partner which is delivering the LJMU validated programme in partnership with the University. Details of the support available to students will be specified with the Programme Handbook.

In addition, LJMU Student Advice and Wellbeing Services have a number of online resources available.

All partner staff will be invited to participate or attend the annual Students at the Heart Conference. Details about the next Students at the Heart Conference will be available on the website in the future.

Information will be circulated to Partner colleagues during the preparation stages of each conference.

The University works with a range of partnership arrangements, with different collaborative partners and different models of partnership arrangements. Definitions for the partnership arrangements which are used by the University are found online.

Collaborative partners are entitled to use the LJMU Virtual Learning Environment, Canvas, to deliver LJMU validated courses. Approved staff and enrolled students may use their University staff and student log-in details to access Canvas.

Support for new collaborative partner programme teams in the use of Canvas is available from the LJMU Teaching and Learning Academy.

Advice and guidance for staff about using Canvas is available.

In addition, the A-Z guidance for Canvas and other learning tools provides a comprehensive suite of materials designed to address many of the questions or issues that users may have.

Some LJMU Canvas facilities are not available to collaborative partners for example, Turnitin and Panopto.

The University Webhub provides an interface for collaborative partner staff to access and interact with student data relating to their Collaborative Programme(s) which is held by the University, for specified activities including Continuous Monitoring, External Examiner Reports and preparation for Boards of Examiners.  

Partner staff will require their LJMU log-in details to access WebHub, see further information about Staff Approval and Staff Cards on this webpage. 

All staff are prompted for multi-factor authentication (MFA) when accessing WebHub from outside the university. You can register for MFA online.

Please note
Without registering for MFA you will not be able to access WebHub.

Further information and frequently asked questions can be found on the Help With IT webpages.