Wales: putting employability at the heart of university-business collaboration
Welcome to session 7.08
Glasgow, 17th September 2015
May 3, 2023
• Professor Hilary Lappin-Scott, Senior Pro-Vice Chancellor, Swansea University
• Dr Jon Howden-Evans, Head of Swansea Employability Academy, Swansea University
• Mr Pete Toms, Senior Project Manager, Tata Steel Strip Products, UK
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Introductions
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Prof Hillary Lappin-Scott
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Collaborating to produce highly employable global graduates – a strategy for university/business cooperation
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…Why? Who? How? When?
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Where?
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• Changes in Wales – focus on employability and entrepreneurship….
• HEFCW’s lead with Skills & Employability Action funding…
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Our vision – the ‘why’
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Innovation with impact…
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A new model…
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Businesses we work with…
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A new home - the ‘who’
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Timeline – the ‘when’
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Timeline – the ‘when’
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Working with students
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• Student fees introduced…
• Top 15 university for graduate employability…
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Delivering value for money…
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• Lessons learned…• Future plans…
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Next Steps…
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Dr Jon Howden-Evans
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Collaborating to produce highly employable global graduates – linking within the university
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…7 strong, dynamic academic colleges
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Facing the barriers to creativity…
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The solution, creating a new structure…
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The SEA support network
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Employability at the heart of all we do…
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Research in tandem
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Growing an international network
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Meaningful work placements
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Engagement early on…
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Mr Pete Toms
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Collaborating to produce highly employable global graduates – linking the organisations
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• The Role• Tata strategy• SEA Strategy Board
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Involvement with the University…
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The Role… • To Facilitate the development of a sustainable
Talent pipeline into Tata U.K. businesses.
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The Strategy… • Establish a collaborative approach which will
ensure undergraduates and graduates are both aware of Tata Steel from and early stage but also ensure that they are better prepared for working life whether part of Tata Steel or not
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SEA Strategy Board…• Platform for debate• Benchmarking with other businesses and
organisations• Forum for discussion of approaches
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• Communication• Who’s who?• Over-promise,
under deliver• Hearing the
employer voice
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Barriers to working effectively…
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Negotiating a solution
… Memorandum of Understanding (MOU)
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• Curriculum & assessment enhancement
• Placements – graduate positions
• Research projects • Collaborative training• Community
engagement…
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MOU links all activities
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Curriculum & Assessment• Alignment to needs• Real Life lectures• Improving skills and
Knowledge
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Summer placement
Graduate positions
Year in Industry
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PlacementsFocus upon
1st Years
Focus upon 2nd Years
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• Focus on final year students• Reinforces the integration of the research group
/ industry collaboration• Recognises the research pathway in career
development
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Research projects
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• As the relationship develops, we recognise gaps in staff skills will be identified…
• But we will have a structure and access to the right people to address our development needs
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Staff collaboration
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Plus reaching out into the community…
The Materials Education Training and Learning Project (METaL) is a unique work place based project offering materials and metallurgy training. METaL is part of the Work Based Learning Programme (WBL) funded by the EU’s Convergence European Social Fund, through the Welsh Government.
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• Targets have been set• Team identified – and will grow• Relies on effective CRM• Initial goals – what does success look like one
year on…before expanding to other colleges in the University, for all graduate recruitment
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Initial 5 year plan
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Questions?
Wales: putting employability at the heart of university-business collaboration
Welcome to session 7.08
Insert location here, date, time
May 3, 2023
‘I decided to study at the College of Engineering as it has a good reputation earned over the years through various research and collaborative projects with industry.
My favourite memories of the course are the friendliness of the tutors, exciting course content and the opportunity to compete in the Formula student – designing and building single seater racing cars.
I am currently studying for an engineering doctorate in conjunction with TATA steel Europe. I am currently doing research work looking at the computational fluid dynamics of the blast furnace gas cleaning plant – specifically on dust separation in a gasification cyclone.’
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David Winfield, EngD researcher