Glasgow Caledonian University (GCU) is committed to the common good and social innovation. It has three academic schools across multiple campuses. GCU supports staff and students through resources on its intranet like guidance on performance reviews. It undergoes quality reviews from the Quality Assurance Agency to ensure high standards. Research at GCU aims to benefit communities through topics like sustainability and inclusive societies.

1. Online Resource for Staff new to teaching in HE
An Introduction to Glasgow Caledonian University

2. The University
The University website offers a range of information
on Glasgow Caledonian University’s (GCU) vision
and mission, values, strategy and goals. There is
also a short video introduction to the University.
Information about GCU’s commitment to the
Common Weal (‘weal’ meaning ‘state of wellbeing,
prosperity, happiness), which is the University’s
motto and forms part of its Coat of Arms (see
image) can also be found on the ‘Welcome to the
University webpages’.

3. The University
The Strategy 2020 is centred on five goals that aim to reinforce GCU as a
University for the Common Good:
Goal 1: Transforming lives through education;
Goal 2: Enriching Cities and communities through research;
Goal 3: Innovating for social and economic impact;
Goal 4: Engaging Globally;
Goal 5: Aligning for the Common Good.

4. The University
GCU’s activities reach well beyond its Glasgow campus.
GCU London offers a range of programmes and activities and the
University has expanded its activities to the USA by establishing GCU
New York as a new campus.
Additionally, GCU also works in partnership
with the Caledonian College of Engineering
in Oman, the Grameen Caledonian College
of Nursing in Bangladesh and the African
Leadership University.

5. University for the Common Good
GCU is the first university in Scotland to be
designated a Changemaker Campus by Ashoka U,
reflecting its global reputation in promoting social
innovation through teaching and research.
Find out more about GCU's Changemaker Status.
In 2015 the University launched a website and
blog entitled Social Innovation for the Common
Good @ GCU, which celebrate and raise
awareness of GCU’s staff members, students and
community partners who are involved in the field of
social innovation.

6. University Structure
The webpages under
‘University Governance’
offer information about,
and links to, more
information about the
University’s formal
structure and committees.

7. GCYou – The University’s Staff Portal
GCYou is the
University’s intranet
and offers additional
information for staff on
a variety of areas,
including People
Services.

8. GCYou – The University’s Staff Portal
The University’s staff portal is particularly useful for new members of staff
since it offers valuable information on the People Services pages, incl.
resources, performance and development, health and safety, equality and
diversity.
Guidance on the Performance Annual Development Review (PDAR) and
the Work Allocation Model (WAM) can be found under ‘Help and
Resources, Section 4. Recruitment, Staffing and Appointments’ on the
People Services GCYou pages.

9. Governance and Quality Enhancement
Governance and Quality brings together services and areas of activity
relating to:
• governance and legislative compliance;
• committee secretariat;
• academic regulations;
• academic quality assurance.
More information and relevant documents are available from the
Governance and Quality Enhancement website.

10. Quality Assurance and Enhancement
The University’s Quality Assurance and Enhancement is managed by the
Directorate of Governance and Quality enhancement. Its responsibility is
to ensure and enhance the quality of the University's provision, including
research, knowledge transfer and commercial development. This
includes:
• the development and review of policy and procedures for quality management
in compliance with the Quality Assurance Agency’s (QAA) Code of Practice;
• the preparation and organisation of the QAA Enhancement Led Institutional
Review (ELIR).

11. Enhancement Led Institutional Review (ELIR)
One of the responsibilities of the Quality Assurance Agency (QAA) is to
review universities and other higher education institutions. This review is
called: Enhancement Led Institutional Review (ELIR) and takes place
every five years.
The QAA website provides information and guidance about the ELIR
process and links to other important documents like to Quality Code with
which all universities and higher education institutions have to comply.

12. Enhancement Led Institutional Review (ELIR)
Enhancement-Led Institutional Review (ELIR) is one strand of the Quality
Enhancement Framework for Scotland, designed to ensure academic
standards and encourage enhancement.
The principles underpinning the Framework are:
• high quality learning;
• student engagement;
• the development of cultures of quality.

13. Enhancement Led Institutional Review (ELIR)
GCU underwent a successful ELIR in 2015 which included ELIR Panel
visits and meetings with students and staff.
One major component of the ELIR is the University’s Reflective Analysis
which offers valuable information about the University.
The staff portal offers more detailed information on the ELIR and a copy
of the University’s Reflective Analysis can also be found on the
Governance and Quality Enhancement pages in GCYou:
Home > Schools and Departments > Governance and Quality Enhancement > Quality
Enhancement and Assurance > Enhancement-Led Institutional Review

14. Academic Schools
The University has three Academic Schools with three departments each:
School of Engineering
and Built Environment
(SEBE)
Department of
Construction and
Surveying
Department of
Engineering
Department of
Computer,
Communications and
Interactive Systems
Glasgow School for
Business and Society
(GSBS)
Department of Law,
Economics,
Accountancy and Risk
Department of
Business
Management
Department of Social
Sciences, Media and
Journalism
School of Health and
Life Sciences (SHLS)
Department of
Nursing and
Community Health
Department of
Psychology, Social
Work and Allied
Health Services
Department of Life
Sciences

15. Academic School Structure
• School Management Group (SMG)
• School Dean
• Vice Dean
• Associate Deans: International (ADI), Learning and Teaching Quality (ADLTQ),
Business Development (ADBD), Research (ADR)
• Heads of Department (HoDs)
• Head of Administration (HoA)
• Assistant Heads of Department (AHoDs)
• Learning and Teaching Quality Leads (LTQLs)
• Business Partners (Finance, Human Resources (HR), Marketing)
• Learning Development Centre (LDC)
• Blended Learning Technologists

16. Departmental Structure
• Head of Department (HoD);
• Assistant Heads of Department (AHoDs);
• Programme Teams (PTs);
• Learning and Teaching Quality Leads (LTQLs);
International/Exchange; Business Development*;
• Administration (admin) team.
*the departmental structure may occasionally vary.

17. The Learning Development Centre
Each Academic School has a Learning Development Centre that provides
academic face-to-face and online support for students:
• SEBE LDC;
• GSBS LDC;
• SHLS LDC.
The Learning Development Centre teams are normally comprised of a
Director, Academic Development Tutors, ICT Skills tutors and an
administrator.

18. ELISR (Enhancement Led Internal Subject Review)
• Every five years an ELISR (enhancement Led Internal Subject
Review) will take place at department level.
• The review process is organised and facilitated by the Department of
Governance and Academic Quality.
• It will include programme approval and/or programme re-approval as
far as possible.
• For more information and to download a copy of the Quality Assurance
and Enhancement Handbook, please visit the Governance and Quality
Assurance Website.

19. ELISR (Enhancement Led Internal Subject Review)
The purpose of the ELISR is to support quality assurance and enhancement across
departmental programmes.
Reviews will:
• Promote dialogue in order to enhance quality and identify good practice;
• Reflect critically on practice;
• Take full account of student feedback;
• Review programmes against benchmarks and the QAA Quality Code and where
appropriate, professional and statutory bodies;
• Take account of the Scottish credit and Qualifications Framework (SCQF);
• Consider the effectiveness of annual monitoring arrangements;
• Consider the impact of central and school-based student support activities in enhancing
the student experience.

20. University Funding
The University receives its main funding from the Scottish Funding
Council (SFC). The funding is based on an Outcome Agreement (OA)
that is negotiated on an three-yearly basis and which covers all areas of
university funding. These areas are referred to as:
• Excellence in Learning and Teaching;
• Excellence in Research;
• Delivering for business, the public and voluntary sectors;
• Sustainability.
The SFC monitors the performance of the University annually based on
National Performance Measures.

21. University Funding
Other sources of funding include:
• External Research Grants (i.e. Economic and Social Research Council
(ESRC), Nuffield, Carnegie);
• External Development Grants (i.e. European Union (EU), Nuffield);
• Collaborations with industries, business, third sector organisations (i.e.
business academies);
• Consultancy and knowledge exchange;
• Conference and Events Management.

22. Supporting Learning and Teaching @ GCU
GCU LEAD (Learning Enhancement and Academic Development) is a
central academic department that drives and supports an enhanced
student learning experience through collaborative working across the
University and to support the Common Good mission through its
commitment to learning and teaching excellence and widening
participation.
It offers a wide variety of activities, one of which is academic and
professional development and recognition.

23. GCU LEAD
Strategic Activity

24. Research @ GCU
Research at GCU is aligned with the University’s commitment to the
common good. It aimed at enabling communities to build inclusive
societies and live healthy lives in sustainable environments.
The 2014 Research Excellence Framework (REF) has confirmed GCU’s
status as a world-class research institution and more detailed information
on the results can be found on the REF 2014 webpage.

25. GCU Research Institutes, Centres and Support
Departments
There are a variety of research institutes, research centres and support
departments at the University covering a wide range of areas, from
research and development to social innovation.

26. GCU Research Institutes
There are three research institutes, which are aligned to the three
academic schools:
• Institute for Applied Health Research;
• Institute for Society and Social Justice Research;
• Institute for Sustainable Engineering and Technology Research.
They were established to build on the University’s strengths and to meet
future societal challenges. They aim to:
• Consolidate GCU’s success in attracting major grants;
• Further develop collaborations with partners outside Scotland;
• Work with end-users in the public and private sectors.

27. Research Centres
• The University has a number of research centres that focus on specialised research
areas, such as:
• The Yunus Centre for Social Business and Health which examines the relationship
between social business and health improvement;
• The Moffat Centre which is one of the leading university-based research and
consultancy centres in Europe;
• Social History of Health and Health Care which focuses on issues arising from the social
history of health and healthcare in modern societies;
• Scottish Poverty Information Unit which is an established applied research unit which
has attained a reputation as an authority on matters pertaining to poverty and social
justice in Scotland;
• The Women in Scotland’s Economy (WiSE) Research Centre which aims to promote and
make visible women’s contribution and to boost Scotland’s economy.

28. International Activity
The International Partnerships Office (IPO) was formed last year and
consists of the International Partnerships team and the Study Abroad and
Erasmus & Exchange team.
It combines existing partnership activity related to GCU student and staff
mobility within Study Abroad and Erasmus+ agreements, with a new
service created to facilitate, support and administer ongoing and new
relationships with overseas institutions, with the aim of developing GCU’s
international activity.

29. Support Departments
A list of all central support departments can be found on the University
website under ‘Services and Directorates’.
These include:
• Admissions and Registry;
• Student Experience,
Governance and Quality;
• Disability Service and
Positive Living Team;
• International Student Support;
• Library and IT Support;
• Finance and Facilities.

30. Widening Participation
GCU is viewed as a key player with regards to Widening Participation (WP). This
means that a large proportion of its students come from non-traditional
backgrounds.
GCU’s Widening Participation Activities are part of the University’s commitment to
the common good. There are a number of initiatives and programmes that
support Widening Participation, these include:
• Caledonian Club – raising aspirations by working with children and teenagers from
disadvantaged backgrounds;
• Articulation Hub – offering pupils from schools with low participation in higher education
the opportunity to study for their Advanced Highers at GCU;
• College Connect – offering articulations paths from college into the University.

31. GCU Students’ Association (GCUSA)
The GCUSA is the student representative body for the University. All GCU
students are automatically members of the Students’ Association and
have the right to stand as and/or elect student representatives for their
classes, Schools and members of the GCUSA Executive Committee at
the University level.
Their roles include:
• Student President
• Vice President Education
• Vice President Well Being
• Vice President Activities

32. GCU Students’ Association (GCUSA)
As the student representative body for the University, the GCUSA supports all
class representatives (‘class reps’) and school officers. Class reps represent
students at programme level and they are members of their programme’s Student
Staff Consultative Group (SSCG). School Officers represent students at School
level.
GCUSA also offers specialised training for class reps and school officers as well
as campaign training for all those who decide to stand for any of the full-time
officer posts.
It organises events that allow class reps and school officers to share experiences
and learn from each other, like the class rep gathering and also runs the Student
Leaders Programme which enables students to develop their leadership and
employability skills.

33. GCU Students’ Association (GCUSA)
The GCUSA also run an advice centre for students that covers a wide
range of areas from academic advice to personal issues, bullying and
harassment, health, finance, accommodation and employment.
It also organises activities and there are sports clubs and about 60
different societies that students can join.
GCUSA also a volunteering service and last but not least, the University’s
own student radio station ‘Radio Caley’.

34. GCU Students
As a key player in Widening Participation GCU attracts a large proportion
of its circa 16,000 students who come from non-traditional backgrounds
and are often the first in their family to study at a University.
Other aspects include*:
• 97% of GCU students come from state schools;
• 35.1% come from a disadvantaged background;
• 17.1% of Scottish entrants come from the lowest quintile of Multiple Deprivation
The Strategy and Planning Service offers more detailed information on
the GCU Student Profile on the staff portal (GCYou).

35. GCU Student Profile (2013-14)
Gender of
Students
• 59% Female
• 41% Male
Mode of
Study
• 78% full time
• 22% part time
Level of
Study
• 3% Research
PG*
• 14% Taught
PG
• 83% UG*
*PG = Postgraduate;
*UG = Undergraduate

36. GCU Student Profile (2013-14)
Domicile of
Students
• 87% UK
• 4% EU*
(Outside UK)
• 9% Outside EU
Disability
• 6% known to
be disabled
• 94% no known
disability
• 0% not
known/sought
Ethnicity of
UK domiciled
Students
• 90% white
• 9% Black and
Minority Ethnic
(BME)
• 1% not known
*EU = European Union

37. GCU Student Profile (2013-14): Age
• 14% are 18 years or younger
• 12% are 19 years old
• 13% are 20 years old
• 24% are between 21 and 24 years old
• 14% are between 25 and 29 years old
• 23% are 30 years or older

38. GCU Student Profile (2012-13)

39. Thank you!