Service Level Agreements: Connectivity and collaboration between a University Careers Service and Academic Department Tim Reed Head of Careers and Employability

What I will cover Terminology Why? Key Documents Process Achievements Benefits Challenges Future

Terminology SLA KPI CES AS Benchmarking Audit Review Moderation QAA/HEA

Why undertake service level agreements? A key recommendation of the University of Kent Thematic Review of CEIAG in 2012 tasked the CES and Academic Schools with: Developing Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) Auditing CEIAG provision Using SLAs for CES/AS co-ordination AND Collecting examples of good practice and prioritising resources for the joined-up delivery of CEIAG

Key Documents - KPIs 2 key indicators: - Employment indicator - Job Status

Key Documents - KPIs 2 key indicators

Key Documents - Audit RAG rating Audit document with accompanying Action Plan taking into account key recommendations and current best practice in the HE sector, including: QAA Quality Code The Higher Education Academy The University of Kent “Employability Strategy” ‘The Role of academic schools in enhancing the employability skills of University of Kent students' Prof Alex Hughes (PVC) The Department of Student Services Strategy AS required to produce ‘evidence’ to satisfy Audit points

Key Documents - SLAs Generic SLA document, tailored to individual AS following Audit meeting SLA agreed by CES and AS then document signed by Heads of School and CES and uploaded onto Employability Shared drive – Sharepoint - as a record SLA document includes sections on: General principles Graduate employment Curriculum design Placements and Work Experience Employability initiatives Links with CES

Process KPIs produced by Planning Office Meetings arranged between CES and AS Audits undertaken by CES and AS capturing action points, examples of good practice and areas for development Action Plan produced following Audit meeting SLA document signed by Head of School SLA documents centrally stored Action Plan and SLAs reviewed by lead careers advisers and AS

Achievements SLA Agreement documents signed by all Heads of School and stored centrally Academic Schools’ commitment to Employability is rated providing examples of good practice AND areas for development No Academic Schools rated RED SLAs remain up-to-date and relevant (e.g. new Green Plus rating category introduced)

Benefits CES and AS formally plan priorities for the Academic Year Audit document updated as priorities develop (e.g. change in QAA Quality Code, HE Review, change in University strategy) AS keen to improve on previous year’s Audit rating Good Practice is captured and shared across the University (for example ….) Promotes the work of employability-related staff within AS AS comment on how useful they find the process (especially where new staff were in post)

Challenges AS focus on Audit “score” Organising meetings so key colleagues can attend Ensuring SLA process is managed and reviewed Subjectivity verses objectivity during Audit (importance of Benchmarking and Moderation) Timing of process especially in relation to the production of relevant KPIs

Going Forward Continue to update Audit document to reflect changing priorities in the sector and at University level Aim to reduce number of Audit questions Try to limit subjectivity in relation to Audit Produce Audit document for Academic Centres Produce KPIs more directly relevant to AS (e.g. Architecture) AS and CES to see Action Plan as a working/living document Facilitate better sharing of good practice through staff section of CES website Use Audit to identify employability-related training

Contact Details Tim Reed Head of the Careers and Employability Service University of Kent European Careers publication Tomas Sivicek at J. E. Purkinje University in Ústí nad Labem, Czech Republic is seeking contributors for a publication outlining Career Services in the UK, Germany and the Czech Republic. If you are interested please contact Jenny Keaveney at the University of Kent

University of Kent Careers and Employability Service