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Celebration of 150 Years of Vaughan College

The Institute of Lifelong Learning's main teaching centre will this year celebrate it's 150th Anniversary. It was 150 years ago, in 1862, that Canon David James Vaughan and his wife Margaret founded the Leicester Working Men's Institute, which was named Vaughan College. To mark this anniversary we will be holding a celebratory event Read More

 

Colleges–University of Leicester Network (CULN)

Comprising 19 Further Education Colleges and three Higher Education Institutions across the East and West Midlands, the Colleges-University of Leicester Network (CULN) exists to optimise collaboration between Further and Higher Education Institutions for the benefit of staff and learners.

CULN was set up in 2001 by the Institute of Lifelong Learning at the University of Leicester. It represents the single largest grouping of Further and Higher Education Institutions in the central Midlands.

What does CULN do?

  • Fosters a cooperative relationship between its members, promoting greater collaboration, particularly in terms of the contemporary lifelong learning agenda and in widening access to higher education.
  • Provides a network for sharing information about lifelong learning and other opportunities, enabling staff to work together in their respective fields.
  • Creates further links with businesses and local communities, in order to promote fair access and progression to HE and FE, and assists in developing a regional lifelong learning network.

How does CULN work?

The network has a two-tier structure:

  • A strategic committee debates policy and oversees the activities of the CULN working groups and projects
  • An operational tier of working groups of FE and HE practitioners discuss and plan CULN activities

CULN currently supports 7 working groups, including curriculum-specific groups, (such as Chemistry, Sociology and English), and more cross-cutting groups, (such as Librarians/Student Support and International Students).

The network provides flexible mechanisms to enable FE and HE institutions in the region to collaborate on a variety of matters of common interest, such as foundation degrees, student activities, progression, research and staff CPD. 

The network develops by responding to changing needs and priorities so that working groups are formed and dissolved as required.