The Open University

The Open University
motto	Learn and Live
founding	1969
Sponsorship	state
place	Milton Keynes (Headquarters), United Kingdom
Vice-Chancellor	Tim Blackman (since 2019)
Students	174,000
Website	www.open.ac.uk www.openuniversity.edu

The Open University (OU), founded in 1969, is the largest public university in the UK and Europe . The Open University offers courses, certificates, diplomas and university degrees such as bachelor's , bachelor's (honors) and master's in distance learning as well as the doctoral degree Doctor of Science and the doctoral degree ( PhD ) Doctor of Philosophy / Philosophiae Doctor in part-time study. In addition, the Open University Business School faculty is one of the largest MBA providers in the world, making it one of the largest business schools in Europe. The Open University was founded in 1969, the Open University Business School in 1983.

Study principle

The study principle is based on that of Supported Distance Learning , a type of distance learning in which you are accompanied by a tutor and extensive study material is made available. The OU offers around 70 different degree programs and 570 different courses. The Open University Business School's MBA program is particularly well known .

For most of the basic courses at the Open University, there are no admission requirements (e.g. Abitur ) and no language tests (e.g. TOEFL ) (language aptitude is, however, a prerequisite).

In October 2006, the Open University made study material from 170 subject areas available for free use. The value of this study material is £ 5.6 million .

courses

The courses at the OU are basically modular , which means that several courses have to be taken, each of which is rewarded with a number of points. As a rule, 60 points are awarded for the basic course in one year, which corresponds to a part-time course. Depending on personal motivation, up to 120 points can be taken in one year, which in turn corresponds to full-time study and is only used by a very small number of working students. A minimum number of points is required to achieve a degree such as the Bachelor of Arts . Studies are exclusively in English . For example, an MBA degree takes a good 2½ years.

Accreditation

The Open University Business School has the internationally recognized accreditation seals of approval from AMBA , EQUIS and AACSB . The Open University Business School is among the top 1% of business schools worldwide (as of 2015). The 'Certificate in Accounting' course has also been certified by other subject-related organizations (ACCA, CIMA, CPA, IFA, CIPFA and ICAEW).

Students

Robert Hook Building, Open University Campus, Milton Keynes

Wilson Building, Open University Campus, Milton Keynes

The Open University, Leeds

The OU campus is located in Milton Keynes , Central England . According to its own information, over 174,000 students were enrolled at the Open University in 2019, including over 90,000 in England , 16,500 in Scotland , over 9,000 in Wales , 3,700 in Northern Ireland and 1,000 in Ireland . In Great Britain there were 122,360 students enrolled in the 2018/2019 academic year, 75,200 of them women. In the 2013/14 academic year there were around 200,000 students, 75% of whom worked full-time or part-time alongside their studies. They were supervised by 6,000 tutors and 1,100 full-time lecturers. Only a very small proportion actually study on site in Milton Keynes. These students work, for example, on a doctorate or as part of a research program. All others study by distance learning , mostly part-time, often alongside a full-time job. About half of the students receive financial support from their employers during their studies.

Education

The course is organized according to the principle of "blended learning": Students are supervised by personal tutors. Traditional teaching materials such as textbooks alternate with materials on the Internet, with multimedia offers and audiovisual teaching programs. This requires very good knowledge of English, because only English is spoken at the OU.

Great value is placed on personal support and contact with other fellow students. The students are in regular personal, telephone and e-mail contact with their tutors and meet each other. Depending on the subject, local tutorials usually take place on Saturdays around every eight weeks. In addition, there are workshops in Germany and abroad that strengthen personal contact among fellow students, and alumni events to which former students also invite newcomers. So-called residential schools, mostly weekend seminars in Great Britain, take place around three to four times during the entire course of study. Participation in the tutorials is voluntary, but participation in the residential courses is compulsory.

The constant exchange and the establishment of a network between the students enables u. a. The Internet Conferencing System: Students take an active part in a large number of discussion forums and exchange practical experiences. The dialogue takes place internationally between fellow students in over 40 countries.

The modular structure of the courses also affects the structure of the tuition fees; these are also recorded for each module and the number of credits awarded for this module. Currently (for modules starting before June 2021) undergraduate European students are charged fees of £ 51.60 per credit, so a typical smaller module of 30 credits costs £ 1,548 and a larger module of 60 credits costs £ 3,096 Pound. A bachelor's degree with a total of 360 credits adds up to £ 18,576. In the graduate area, the fees vary more between the individual courses; For example, the MBA (180 credits in total) costs around £ 20,000, depending on the modules you take, while the Master of Arts in Creative Writing (also 180 credits) costs just £ 9,990. The university also points out that the fees usually increase annually, so that the total fees for a course cannot be calculated using the rates applicable at the start of the course.

Business School partners and sponsors

Various organizations and companies (currently 44, as of 2015) provide their own employees or support the university in training its own tutors. Perhaps the best known of these in German-speaking countries are Airbus , DHL , Deutsche Telekom , IBM , IKEA , Nike , Nokia , Pfizer and Rolls-Royce .

research

The strategic research directions of the OU are interdisciplinary; They are divided into four areas: Citizenship and Governance, Education and Technology Enhanced Learning, International Development and Space Science. There are eight faculties, ranging from liberal arts to education and languages, health and social affairs, mathematics, computer science and technical sciences as well as natural and social sciences to business administration and law. The Open University conducts active research in these areas with over 1,000 scientists. In the 2013/14 academic year, almost £ 17 million third-party funding was raised. In the Research Excellence Framework 2014 , the OU ranks third. The Planetary Sciences Research Institute achieved awareness through the Mars project Beagle 2 , which was headed by Professor Colin Pillinger .

Personalities (selection)

Former and current professors

• Jocelyn Bell , Professor of Physics, Open University, 1991-2001; Discoverer of the first pulsar (neutron star)
• Stuart Hall , Professor of Sociology, Open University, 1979-1997; plural Marxist
• Doreen Massey , Professor of Geography, Open University, 1982-2009; shaped the emergence of a feminist geography
• Derek S. Pugh , Professor of International Management and Director of Research, Open University Business School, 1988-1995; Developer of the Pugh Matrix
• Eileen Scanlon (Open Education), Professor of Open Education and Regius Professor of Open Education (2013 - today)

Alumni

• Joan Armatrading - singer, songwriter and guitarist.
• Elizabeth Arnold - writer
• Craig Brown - former Scottish football manager
• Natalya Kaspersky - entrepreneur
• Sir Brian Burridge - Four Star General of the Royal Air Force
• Romola Garai - actress
• Dean Gratton - author and columnist
• Frank Hampson - illustrator
• Sir Lenny Henry - entertainer
• Neil McIntosh - journalist
• Gordon Pask - cyberneticist and psychologist
• David Andrew Phoenix - biochemist
• Tina Redshaw - diplomat
• John Reid - Labor politician and former minister
• Talulah Riley - actress
• Mary Stuart - Professor, Vice Chancellor of the University of Lincoln
• David Wilkinson - British psychologist
• Meles Zenawi - former Prime Minister of Ethiopia

Web links

• Open University UK
• Open University worldwide
• Open University Business School
• BBC / OU open2.net
• English language site of OpenLearn

Individual evidence

1. ^ Vice-Chancellor - Professor Tim Blackman. In: The Open University> About> Our Vice-Chancellor. The Open University, June 28, 2018, accessed June 1, 2020 .  
2. ↑ ^{a b} 50th anniversary brochure. The Open University, 2019, accessed June 1, 2020 .  
3. ↑ World-leading Flexible MBA. (Website). The Open University, accessed December 7, 2015 . 
4. ↑ Where do HE students study? | HESA. In: Higher Education Statistics Agency> Open data> Students> Where do they study? Higher Education Statistics Agency HESA, accessed June 1, 2020 .  
5. ↑ ^{a b} Facts & figures. (Website). The Open University, accessed December 7, 2015 . 
6. ↑ George Bickerstaffe (2008) Which MBA? 2009 ; Economist Intelligence Unit, London; ISBN 978-0-86218-209-0 ; Page 25
7. ↑ http://www.openuniversity.edu/courses/qualifications/q64-ast#fees-and-funding .
8. ↑ http://www.openuniversity.edu/study/fees/how-much-it-will-cost .
9. ↑ Corporate sponsors and partners. (Website). The Open University, accessed December 7, 2015 . 

Coordinates: 52 ° 1 ′ 30 ″  N , 0 ° 42 ′ 15 ″  W.