Practical Support for Group Student Projects for External Clients

SUMMARY

Group student projects for external clients have long been a feature of business education courses in the Faculty of Management and Business at The Manchester Metropolitan University. The University was one of the first‐round Enterprise in Higher Education (EHE) institutions. The EHE initiative provided an opportunity to further develop the level of practical support available to students undertaking projects in the Faculty. A Project Support Unit (PSU) was set up which provides students with access to telephones, fax, photocopying, message service, postal facilities, etc. Through the PSU our aim is to give students appropriate support and also to improve the quality of project work for a wide variety of external organizations. This paper focuses on two issues: the initial development of the Project Support Unit and how ongoing support is maintained; and the lessons learnt from this development and implications for future practice.