Álvaro Fernández Luna's team won First Prize in the eighth Universidad Europea Teaching Innovation Awards with their project “University sports consulting: seeking a new student-business partnership model”.
One of the greatest challenges facing the educational system in universities is bridging the gap between academic and professional environments. In a society which demands learning based on competency development and hands-on experience in real environments, partnerships between universities and the professional world have become fundamental to innovation.
With this aim, over the 2015-16 academic year the team of Pablo Burillo Naranjo, Jorge Fernando García Unanue, José Luis Felipe Hernández, Daniel Frías López and Pedro Díaz Ridao have developed a transversal line of work, involving various degree courses, subjects and professors, in which they offered their services to renowned sports organizations, to help them solve specific problems in two real cases, led by their own students.
This involved students and professors in the Bachelor’s Degree in Sports Science and the Bachelor’s Degree in Sports Management in consulting work for the professional soccer team Getafe CF, consisting of measuring the feeling of belonging and satisfaction with the facilities, and assessing the economic impact of the Mutua Madrid Open.
These studies have improved the positioning of the School of Sports and Exercise Sciences and of Universidad Europea, thanks to working with these two prestigious organizations. Also, both projects can be repeated and extended to future projects relating to these areas of activity.