ACAP's current strategic plan places a focus on the student experience. ACAP's Student Success Program is specifically dedicated to improving the student experience and providing students with the academic and wellbeing support services they need to succeed in their studies.
ACAP is also considering a graduate destination and retention project with current rebuild of AQF 5 modules to enhance student experience.
The Diploma of Counselling Skills has been nested in the Bachelor of Counselling so as to incorporate employability skills earlier in the course. Similar skills focused Diploma level exit awards are currently also being planned and developed across ACAP's undergraduate course portfolio.
Curtin has focussed attention on two key strategies over 2018:
The retention strategy includes:
2.4 Provide advice and career guidance on courses, changing courses, and postgraduate study opportunities. This initiative is realised through the following targets:
The Distinctive Student Experience Framework comprises four pillars, each of which has a connection to employability outcomes. The pillars and relevant strategy are outlined below:
Strategy 1.2
Ensure implementation of the Curtin graduate capabilities, which align to the Distinctive Curtin Student Experience, and are embedded in all undergraduate programs and course work master degrees.
Strategy 2.1
Launch an enterprise-wide career development initiative spanning future students, current students and alumni.
Strategy 2.2
Provide future focused initiatives for student to collaborate with industry leads, other institutions and student communities to solve wicked problems.
Strategy 2.4
Deliver an enterprise-wide recruitment solution for employers and students covering internships through to graduate roles.
Strategy 2.5
Ensure developmental leadership programs are innovative and promote the development of self, problem-solving, design thinking, collaboration and a Focus on real world solutions.
Strategy 3.1
Create Design Thinking, Entrepreneurship and enterprise master classes that are available for all Curtin students.
Strategy 3.2
Expand place activation across all locations to excite, inspire and challenge students to grow personally and professionally.
Strategy 3.3
Develop short-term student mobility programs under a global intensive banner, with global learning opportunities available in every course.
Strategy 3.5
Embed career support and development into curricula and stackable credentials.
Strategy 4.2
Extend global experiential learning opportunities that foster community engagement and networks through sport, volunteering and other community partnerships.
Strategy 4.3
Implements a holistic range of wellbeing, recreation and equity services and programs that focus on resilience and engagement available across all campus locations.
The ECU Strategic Plan 2017-2021 World Ready links employability to Strategic Goal 1: Enhancing learning and teaching. The targets for Strategic Goal 1 encompass the student experience, retention and employment. Strategic Goal 1 focuses on employability with the key performance indicators focused on employment measures.
The Student Transitions and Employability team work with Schools, students and industry with this strategy evolving into an institutional approach. The curriculum framework, supported by the Curriculum Design Policy and Procedures is focused on developing employability through, for example, Learning Outcomes.
The ECU Learning Intranet provides information and resources to assist staff in embedding employability into the curriculum.
The recent development of the Student Success Blueprint 2018- 2021 (the Blueprint); revisions to the Curriculum Design Policy and Procedures, and an organisational restructure are the foundations for an institutional approach to employability at ECU.
The Career Advisers and Learning Advisors are allocated to Schools. Assistance is provided through tailored support to academic staff in the Schools to integrate career development, learning and employability in the curriculum. Learning Designers provide assistance to academics to design authentic and purposeful resources, including learning activities and assessment tasks, for enhanced student/graduate employability.
There are a large number of complementary University-level strategic endeavours underway relating to various aspects of learning and teaching, the student experience, and student success. The university is at present developing an integrated Student Success and Retention Strategy, which includes Employability as one of its pillars. The development of Griffith’s integrated Employability Strategy and Action Plan 2019-2021 will also provide a wider ‘joined up narrative’ to activity, through the lens of graduate employability and lifelong career success. Taking a more integrated approach to graduate employability was the top recommendation arising out of initial consultation workshops conducted with Griffith staff as part of the university Employability Review in August 2018.
Key University-level strategy and policy endeavours currently underway that are complementary to, and link in significant ways with our graduate employability agenda are:
• Griffith’s Learning and Teaching Framework and Learning and Teaching Standards
• Griffith’s Student Success and Retention Strategy
• Griffith’s Digital First Strategy
• The roll-out of the new Virtual Learning Environment
• The establishment of a program-centric structure in learning and teaching, and the revision of Program Director and Program Leadership Team roles
• The PwC Review of Student Administration and Group/School Administration
• The Programs Quality Review As outlined in section 2 1.2, employability is linked to other strategic priorities of the University and the suite of documents containing complementary and appropriately cross-referenced messaging regarding employability strengthens and reinforces a set of integrated strategic messages across learning and teaching, student success, employability and digital engagement
Employability is linked to other strategic priorities through our Massey University Strategy 2018-2022 which states Massey University's unique position and reputation is based on curious world-ready graduates with entrepreneurial acumen and capability, who create jobs for others and are committed to making a better world and also through our draft Paerangi Massey University Learning and Teaching Strategy, where the third principle of three key pedagogical and curricula principles is 'We enable learning that is applied, active, and relevant; to learners, our disciplines, communities, stakeholders and the wider world.'
SAE's current strategic plan places a focus on aiding graduate progression by provided dedicated careers and alumni services to all SAE students.
SAE has also undergone a structural change to better support this strategic action. The structural changes involves establishing a new functional area of the business, specifically dedicated to Student Experience. This function, provides additional dedicated resources and includes work-integrated learning, career services and student wellbeing support.
Retention and attrition:
Student progression and experience
The UNSW 2025 Strategic Plan addresses employability of students through priorities such as developing student skills, providing internship and mentorship opportunities and supporting future careers. The below excerpts are taken from the UNSW 2025 Strategy: https://www.2025.unsw.edu.au/sites/default/files/uploads/unsw_2025strategy_201015.pdf
A2: Educational Experience
Objective 3: To ensure that UNSW Students obtain a holistic education, securing the real-world practical skills needed for a rapidly-evolving workplace.
Initiative 1: The UNSW Scientia Educational Experience will be: focused on work-integrated learning and support for future careers
B1: A Just Society
Objective 2: To develop support activities ensuring we support students of high potential regardless of background
Initiative 2: We will ensure that support for students from disadvantaged backgrounds is ongoing throughout their studies
B3: Knowledge Exchange for Social Progress and Economic Prosperity
Initiative 1: We will increase student internships, industry placements and mentorship by working closely with industry, especially our alumni
C2: Partnerships that Facilitate our Strategy
Initiative 1: To transform the student experience and ensure graduates have the required skills to meet the future needs of employers
C3: Our contribution to disadvantaged and marginalised communities
Initiative 2: Toensure our graduates from these communities continue to be supported to further their lifelong learning aspirations and careers
Employability development at UQ is explicitly connected to the student experience, and connects directly to the retention and success of our students. Research undertaken at UQ in 2015 indicated that concern about course choice for careers was a significant consideration factor for those thinking of leaving university. Student Strategy investment in employability has enabled Career Development Advisors to be engaged and deployed in each Faculty. These staff are able to provide discipline specific advice and support to students early in their studies, exploring career options and directly addressing concerns relating to uncertainty of future employment prospects.
Furthermore, the UQ Employability Framework is predicated on experiential learning and, as such, encourages students to engage with a range of experiences throughout their time at university that they can reflect on to identify skill and attribute development. By focusing on the meta learning involved in self reflection we are able to help students realise that their skills and abilities come from a holistic appreciation of experiential learning. This, in turn, enables them to recognise that their long term success will be based not only on their degree studies, but also on their ability to make meaning from their life experiences.
An example of how we are able to frame this for students is the UQ Employability Award. This program acknowledges students who have engaged in experiences outside of their academic studies and who have been able to recognise and effectively communicate the employability development gained through these experiences. Information on the Employability Award can be found at https://employability.uq.edu.au/award
Employability also features as part of curriculum design and delivery and is integral to both the current Blended Learning program, and the teaching and learning plan (currently in development). Work Integrated Learning Advisers have been appointed to work with academic staff across the university to increase the opportunities students to engage with industry for academic credit. These appointments align with the four stages of the UQ Employability Framework with the CDL Advisers working predominantly in alignment with the Awareness and Transfer stages and the WIL advisers concentrating on ˜Experience and Learning Information on the Blended Learning Program can be found at https://student-strategy.uq.edu.au/uq2u
Employability at UQ is also linked closely to the UQ Entrepreneurial Strategy which positions entrepreneurial mindset and innovative thinking as key elements the development of an employable graduate. The UQ Entrepreneurial Strategy can be found at https://entrepreneurship.uq.edu.au/consultation
Employability is referenced throughout the following key strategic documents and action plans:
Evidence:
1.3a Employability linked to strategic priorities overview
1.3b USC Strategic Plan 2016 -2020
1.3c USC Strategic Plan 2019 -2022 (Draft to be approved)
1.3d Academic Plan 2016 - 2020
1.3e Student Engagement and Retention Blueprint 2017-2020 Summary
1.3f First Year Experience Enabling Plan 2017-2020
The University has accepted the recommendations resulting from the Australian Government report into improving retention, completion and success in HE and is working towards implementing comprehensive career development support for pre access students. This strategy is currently in development by the USQ Retention Task Force: Australian Government Final Report into Improving Retention, Completion and Success: https://www.education.gov.au/news/release-final-report-improving-retention-completion-and-success-higher-education
Educational Experience Plan “ employability is linked with learning and teaching quality enhancement and digital fluency (Educational Experience Plan: https://open.usq.edu.au/mod/page/view.php?id=5581
Phoenix Central Student Experience Journey - the student life department has developed a University Student Learning Journey Map which connects learning, with peer interaction, employability and career development. This is currently not published.
A range of specific support services emerging in disciplines including jobs boards and career supports e.g. Mathematics & Sciences employability support platform, jobs board in Engineering, etc. Many managed by faculty professional or administrative staff. These offerings are on top of and discrete to program areas, operating without connection to the Careers service
ACOLA Review (2016) of the research and training system identifies that research graduates need to be [sic] equipped for, and achieve, employment outcomes in a range of sectors . https://acola.org.au/wp/saf13-rts-review/
The Graduate Research School has accepted the outcomes of this review and are working towards ensuring USQ HDR students meet this criteria
At an institutional level, employability is linked to the Retention and Success Strategy.
Yes. Employability is linked to the student experience and student engagement priorities. This has been indicated in the UWA Education Strategy which is due to be released in April 2019. In addition, employability has become a major focus for UWA for several reasons including:
- response to student feedback both internally and from QILT scores
- increasing news from the Australian Government around funding based on graduate employability
- unmet student demand for WIL placements
For these reasons UWA has embedded employability throughout the new Education strategy focussing on WIL as the main mechanism to drive the strategy, as well as including employability as a graduate attribute, fortifying the Careers Centre offering and ensuring that there is a WIL component in every major.
The Victoria University Strategic Plan (2016-2020) “ The University of Opportunity & Success, clearly articulates the prioritisation of employability skills, knowledge and capacities for its graduates. One of the key elements introduced in the Plan is the pursuit of a transformational agenda with a view to investing in enhancing the quality and outcomes of the students experience to support their successful careers as employees and entrepreneurs, through contemporary career-based vocational and higher education.
The establishment of VU Polytechnic was the first big step in the Transformational Agenda. The Polytechnic offers contemporary vocational education and applied industry relevant programs. It works collaboratively across the university to ensure strong pathways from vocational to higher education as well as offering a wide range of vocational programs that lead to skilled occupations.
Another key initiative of the Transformational Agenda was the move to reinvent the first-year experience of students began with the implementation of the First Year Model. This aspirational undertaking successfully transformed the first-year experience of all HE students by enabling students to complete one unit at a time in an intensive block mode. New student support services were also created through the Learning Hubs which provided academic and career support to students whilst also facilitating the delivery of co-curricular learning through the delivery of complementary activities.
Strong student retention rates (88%) combined with high satisfaction rates (82%) demonstrate students embracing the First Year Model experience. As the block model is extended to all second-year units in 2019, ensuring that course redesign will incorporate career development learning and employability concepts are a key priority.
Another key initiative in the Transformational Agenda was the creation of an Employability Strategy to enhance graduate success. VU's Employability Strategy sets out a 3-year plan to improve graduate employment outcomes for both Higher Education and Vocational Education students. The Strategy aims to significantly improve the ability of VU graduates to gain and retain employment and to build a rewarding career regardless of their personal background, qualifications and professional experience.
To further enhance student experience and student employability, the Employability Strategy sought to develop and implement a systematic, embedded and scaffolded WIL curriculum. VU has a strong history of working with Industry to provide students with practical learning experiences and in 2010, the University committed to a program of Learning in the Workplace and Community (LiWC) that mandated for 25% of all assessments to be in undertaken in the Community or Workplace. There are 829 units of study at Victoria University that utilise Work-Integrated Learning. These range from internships-in-industry to simulations undertaken in campus laboratory.
To ensure that student transition from university to the workplace was also supported, the Employability Strategy initiated the Talent Connect program. This program supports students in their final year of study to get job-ready through a series of recruitment masterclasses and career coaching. Upon graduation, these students are matched with VU alumni and undertake a 6-month mentoring program to support and guide them during the first few critical months of leaving university.
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Supporting Documents:
VU Transformational Agenda
VU WIL Framework
Yes, but with more linkages being formed under new structure. Since its inception in 1996, ICMS has been an industry leader in work placements for students. As a result, the historical focus has been on the Industry Training Program and securing students a Placement. ICMS has done this very successfully to the mutual benefit of students and the industry.The alignment of the WIL area under the DVC (Learning and Teaching) in 2018 reflects the intention to integrate WIL under the broader Faculty structure and L&T processes; and better strengthen the Placement experience as an integrated and cohesive piece in the students course outcomes (graduate capabilities) and learning experience. The Industry Training Program (being an academic subject) is benefiting from a closer link to the broader governance processes such as the Learning and Teaching Committee, Subject Review cycles and the L&T strategic plan. This process of alignment has begun and will continue to better link employability to other key strategic priorities including retention, attrition, progression and student experience
Yes. Employability is linked to the student experience and student engagement priorities. This has been indicated in the UWA Education Strategy which is due to be released in April 2019. In addition, employability has become a major focus for UWA for several reasons including:
- response to student feedback both internally and from QILT scores
- increasing news from the Australian Government around funding based on graduate employability
- unmet student demand for WIL placements
For these reasons UWA has embedded employability throughout the new Education strategy focussing on WIL as the main mechanism to drive the strategy, as well as including employability as a graduate attribute, fortifying the Careers Centre offering and ensuring that there is a WIL component in every major.
This is another area of emerging focus. Currently, there are links between employability and retention that can be seen by both areas being a key focus of the University's Students and Education Strategic Plan. Additionally, key staff involved in employability-related work, including the Careers Service Manager and Work Integrated Learning Manager, are represented on committees / task and finish groups with a focus on working towards a shared responsibility for student retention and the development of a student success strategy.
Recent employability-related initiatives, such as the Career Learning Spine and attempts to make work integrated learning opportunities more accessible, have been portrayed as initiatives that will improve the overall student experience.
Swinburne has recently undertaken some modelling of the national student experience survey. The analysis found that the skills development scale is a key driver of the overall education experience (see attachment 1). Accordingly it is expected that the Transforming Learning strategy will impact on two important strategic measures “ full-time domestic undergraduate employment and overall education experience.
One of the Key Performance Indicators in the Strategic Plan is: A baseline of 90% of all HE and VET graduates secure employment in their chosen industry within six months of completion, across all LCBA HE and VET coursework programs. The institution participates in the QILT survey, which measures student experience and employability through QILT Graduate Outcomes Survey, 4 months after graduation. However, low response rates impact on the reliability of the data.
The Industry Engagement Disciplines strategy connects employability to student experience through the provision of a range of activities and opportunities such as volunteering at events, tours of organisations or guest speakers.
Further development of the strategic plan to link employability to strategic priorities such as retention, attrition and progression or student experiences are required.
A new Student Success Framework Green Paper has been developed and is out for review by Macquarie university staff and students. The Framework focuses on consolidation and alignment of best practice, including co-curricular programming that supports the employability agenda, as part of improvements to the overall student experience. An interrelated/interdependent project will be a re-focus/translation of the priorities in the Learning and Teaching Strategic Framework for 2019. Student retention, attrition, progression, experience and success will be overtly used as indicators for benchmarking and quality assurance purposes across both priority areas.
The Securing Success strategy lists 'Graduate outcomes based on employment and further study' as a measure and with the implementation of the Employability strategy, there is opportunity to link outcomes further. To this end the Office of Quality and Performance has a dashboard that is under development to supply metrics based on retention, attrition and progression and overall student experience that could link to data on student's employability outcomes based on for example engagement in WIL units or 21C accelerator units, or internship and placements.