Brookes is continuing to build on its commitment to act as a key educational resource for the region by forging new partnerships and strengthening existing links with colleges and the business community. Plans to combine the Brookes School of Education and Westminster College, Oxford, in a new centre of excellence for teacher education are well advanced. The new Westminster Institute of Education at Oxford Brookes University will offer a distinctive range of education, religious studies and theology courses when it is launched in September 2000 with around 100 staff and capacity for 1,600 full-time students. Brookes is committing significant investment to building improvements to accommodate the combined schools on the existing Westminster site at Harcourt Hill.
Discussions are underway on extending community use of the sports and other campus facilities.
The strategic alliance with Reading College continued to develop, with the establishment of seven degree programmes in Art. Many Schools have formed partnerships with the city of Oxford. The School of Health Care has been working closely with local NHS Trusts to tackle the shortage of nurses, with recruitment and retention initiatives, return to practice courses, and support for overseas nurses taking jobs in local hospitals. The Brookes School of Engineering was a key partner in a national project developing the use of carbon fibre plates to upgrade existing bridges. A specialist Enterprise Centre has been launched by the Oxford Brookes Business School to support local companies and entrepreneurs through a programme of courses and consultancy.