UWE Bristol Employer engagement in curriculum practice How to work with Employers Presentation by Wendy Fowles-Sweet CPDA Co-ordinator UWE Learning and Teaching Associate Fellow

Why Employer Engagement? UWE offers academic learning from Short Courses to Foundation Degrees to Doctorates – students take these awards to enhance their career opportunities

Why Employer Engagement? UWE offers academic learning from Short Courses to Foundation Degrees to Doctorates – students take these awards to enhance their career opportunities If employers are engaged at the earliest stages they will have employable graduates who “tick all their boxes” and can quickly apply what they have learnt

Why Employer Engagement? UWE offers academic learning from Short Courses to Foundation Degrees to Doctorates – students take these awards to enhance their career opportunities If employers are engaged at the earliest stages they will have employable graduates who “tick all their boxes” and can quickly apply what they have learnt Skills need to be continually up-graded and enhanced – universities can provide this life long learning

Why Employer Engagement? UWE offers academic learning from Short Courses to Foundation Degrees to Doctorates – students take these awards to enhance their career opportunities If employers are engaged at the earliest stages they will have employable graduates who “tick all their boxes” and can quickly apply what they have learnt Skills need to be continually up-graded and enhanced – universities can provide this life long learning THIS LIST IS THE WRONG WAY ROUND...

Why Employer Engagement? 1.Skills need to be continually up-graded and enhanced – universities can provide this life long learning 2.If employers are engaged at the earliest stages they will have employable graduates who “tick all their boxes” and can quickly apply what they have learnt 3.UWE offers academic learning from Short Courses to Foundation Degrees to Doctorates – students take these awards to enhance their career opportunities

What can we do? Some of many options: Long-term Relationship Building Curricula Development to include application Relating Academic Qualifications to Professional Recognition Regular Employer Engagement Fora = Employer Involvement and Commitment

Relationship Building Market Intelligence, not Sales Develop long term relationships with employers, recognising we will not be their sole academic partner, but willing to collaborate as needed Ensures award curricula meet employer demand Enables bespoke offerings, based on generic concepts and organisational needs Working across faculties to provide a united and easily accessible entry point to UWE by employer, for a range of topics, e.g. technical and business Identify direct route to potential students

Flexibility of Delivery On offer: Traditional, taught, semester-based modules Short, fat courses any time of year Bespoke courses, held at employers’ sites Distance Learning E-learning Work-based Learning, on a topic of the student’s / employer’s choice Blended learning – a mix of the above – to suite employer’s business requirements and student’s work / life balance

Link to Professional Registration Young people are very keen to become professionally qualified as quickly as possible Providing a number of routes for: o Students to achieve their career goals o Employers to show their workforce is both academically and professionally recognised Alternative award options: o Accredited awards, UG and PG o Shell and module-gathering named awards, providing a portfolio of evidence to Professional Institutions Easily understood academic steps to complement work experience for Professional Recognition

Engaging Employers - PABs Professional Advisory Boards o Relatively easy if the subject matter is applied, such as Engineering o Harder if subject is “Pure”, such as Maths or Physics What can be achieved o Employer appreciation of the learning required in that topic o Employer input – lecturing, placements, seminars, etc o Academic awareness of current sector needs o Approval of planned academic curricula changes to meet future business challenges o Long term employer interest in students at all levels o Research opportunities

Academia – Employer Continuum

Student Experience Learning, not teaching, environment Offers safety, allowing students to operate outside their “comfort zone” without fear of business-related consequences Targets applied learning Offers networking with peers within and outside their own sectors Flexible learning options: o Flexible delivery (e.g. distance and work-based learning) o Supporting employers’ internal employee development programmes

Summary Employer-focused learning requires a different environment than the traditional academic setting Relationship building is required to gain trust and ensure the learning offered is what is needed This approach is likely to achieve ever greater employer participation The revised focus requires alternative assessment and accreditation activities