ENHANCING INTERACTION WITH EXTERNAL STAKEHOLDERS IN PROGRAM MANAGEMENT

Interaction with the surrounding society and external stakeholders is an important component when developing and managing high quality and relevant education programs. This paper presents some of the outcomes of the project MERUT which was carried out during 2018 – 2020 with support from the Swedish innovation agency Vinnova. The key outcome is a toolbox offering a structured way to describe and handle methods and tools for stakeholder interaction. The methods of interaction are organized in three categories, denoted A, B, and C, where category A includes methods for external stakeholders to influence the management and development of the education program. Category B consists of means for external stakeholders to have an active role in course modules, and category C contains methods and tools to evaluate the quality and relevance of the education from, for example, alumni or employer perspective. Examples from the different categories are presented, including the CDIO Syllabus Survey, alumni surveys, and reflection documents.