CONFERENCE PROGRAMME 2009

Swap Shop
Enhancing Learning and Teaching
Through Employer Engagement
University of Chichester
13th January 2009
www.chiuni.ac.uk/swapshop

University of Chichester2 www.chiuni.ac.uk/swapshop
Welcome
Employer engagement is now regarded as an integral element of the student experience in Higher
Education, and the aim of this ‘swap-shop’ is to showcase examples of current practice in using
employer engagement to enhance learning and teaching from across a wide range of subject
disciplines.
The focus of the event is on the demonstrable utilisation of employer engagement in indicative areas
such as learning and teaching, course and module design, work placement, work-based learning,
guest speakers, research and consultancy, and assessment.
Key Note Speaker
Professor Brian Chalkley
Director of the National Subject Centre for Geography, Earth and
Environmental Science
Since January 2000, Brian’s principal role has been that of Director of the Higher Education
Academy Subject Centre for Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences (GEES). His academic
background is in urban geography but in recent years he has come to specialise in aspects of
curriculum innovation both in Geography and more widely across the Higher Education spectrum.
In 2002, he was awarded a National Teaching Fellowship, followed up in 2008 by being granted
a Senior Fellowship of the Higher Education Academy. Brian has published extensively both in
urban geography and in various aspects of teaching and learning. His interests currently focus on
enhancing the student experience through enriching the CPD provision for academic and support
staff. Brian has also been instrumental in forwarding work on employability, employer engagement,
and education for sustainable development. In January 2009, Brian will take up his new post of
Director of Teaching and Learning at the University of Plymouth.
Additional Information and Booking
• For more information on this event please contact: Dr Andrew Clegg, Principal Lecturer for Learning and
Teaching: email: a.clegg@chi.ac.uk / Tel: 01243 812017
• To book a place at the event please complete the accompanying booking form and return to Kevin Botto
in the Personnel Department. Alternatively book via the event website: www.chiuni.ac.uk/swapshop
• Please visit the University website for directions and local accommodation information. The event will be
held at our Bishop Otter campus in Chichester.
• All materials from the swapshop will be available online after the event.

3www.chiuni.ac.uk/swapshop
Programme Outline
9.30am Coffee and Registration
Venue: Cloisters
10.00am Welcome and Introduction
Venue: Mitre Lecture Theatre
10.10am Key Note Speaker
Professor Brian Chalkley, Director of the National Subject Centre for Geography,
Earth and Environmental Sciences
‘The Story So Far - Reflecting on Employer Engagement in Higher
Education’
11.00am Session A
Venues:
Group 1- Mitre Lecture Theatre
Group 2- E124
Group 3- H144

12.00pm Refreshments
Venue: Cloisters
12.15pm Session B
Venues:
Group 5- E124
Group 6- H144

1.15pm Lunch
Venue: Cloisters
2.00pm Session C
Venues
Group 8- E124
Group 9- H144

3.00pm Refreshments
Venue: Cloisters

3.15pm Plenary
Venue: Mitre Lecture Theatre

Dr Andy Dixon, Head of the Research and Employer Engagement Office,

‘Employer Engagement - The Way Forward’
3.45pm Summary
4.00pm Close

Session Outline
Session A: 11.00am to 12.00pm
Group 1: Mitre Lecture Theatre
• Working Together: English Departments, Careers Advisors and Employers
• Developing Employer Engagement in a Foundation Degree in Literary Studies - ‘To Dream the Impossible Dream’
• “I’m afraid your project sponsor can’t meet with you today; he’s been called to New York to work on the takeover of Bear Stearn”:-
Project Management for Real
Group 2: E124
• Engaging in Education: Employer Involvement and the Work of ESCalate
• ‘Speed-Dating your Music Career’ – A Report on Our Industry Event
• Staff Development for the Delivery of Blended Learning in a Partnership Programme
Group 3: H144
• Resources to Support Employer Engagement in Hospitality, Leisure, Sport and Tourism Programmes
• Employer Engagement – Academic Staff Professional and Industry Body Involvement and Added Value to the Student Curriculum
• SWAPshop on Employer Engagement
Session B: 12.15pm to 1.15pm
• Engaging Employers & Engaging Students: Work-related Learning in the Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences (GEES)
Community
• Enhancing Employability for Destination Management: Integrating the ‘VICE’ Model into an Undergraduate Tourism Management
Degree Programme
• Graduate Contributions to Undergraduate Teaching - Recent Students Sharing with Current Students
Group 5: E124
• Self-Employability in Theology and Religious Studies
• Enter the Dragon: Reality Television, Employer Engagement and Transforming Student Assessment
• Building an Employer Perspective at Programme and Module Level
Group 6: H144
• Future Proof: New Engagements in Art, Design and Media Education
• Inspiring Teacher Development Through Collaborative Partnerships
• Unknown Heroes...Tapping into the Enormous Career Knowledge held by Graduates, Staff and their Contacts
Session C: 2.00pm to 3.00pm
• Creative Industry: Not an Oxymoron. Three Case Studies of Employer Engagement from a Humanities Employability Enterprise
• Open Day Forums for Employer Engagement
Group 8: E124
• Who Benefits from ‘Live’ Projects?: Banco Santander and Graphic Design Student Case Study
• The Creative Fellow and the Creative Engagement
Group 9: H144
• Thinking, Fixing, Delivering: Planning and Delivering Student-Led Creative Projects
• A Design Studio Goes Back to College: A New Model for Collaboration?

Session A: Group 1
Title: Working Together: English Departments, Careers Advisors and Employers
Contributors: Jane Gawthorpe, Manager of the National Subject Centre for English
Institution: Royal Holloway, University of London
Contact: jane.gawthrope@rhul.ac.uk
This session is a chance to hear about some of the innovative projects the Higher Education Academy English
Subject Centre has supported in Careers Advisory Services. Examples include podcasts about commercial
awareness, employer-led workshops for creative-writing students, seminars focussed on enterprise potential
and projects involving alumni. These projects have been an incentive for Careers Services to work with
academic departments and employers in new ways, and to develop enhanced services for a group of
students that is often reluctant to engage in career planning. Whilst projects were focused on students of
English, most of the ideas are transferable to other disciplines.
Title: Developing Employer Engagement in a Foundation Degree in Literary Studies -
‘To Dream the Impossible Dream’
Contributors: Andy Lancaster, Higher Education Development Leader
Jackie Harding, Programme Leader for Applied Literary Studies
Institution: Truro College
Contact: jackieharding@truropenwith.ac.uk / andrewl@truropenwith.ac.uk
This presentation looks at devices and strategies for (a) incorporating employer engagement within course
structures and (b) the experiences of different engagements. We have for the past four years run the
Foundation degree in Applied Literary Studies with some interesting employer experiences in an area where
it is hardly traditional to even discuss employment let alone attempt to engage employers. This has meant
some radical redefinitions of certain key terms, like ‘employment’, ‘employer’ and ‘engagement’ to name
but three. However, we would argue that we have been very successful in delivering the aims of employer
engagement by being forced to take these steps towards redefinition, indeed perhaps more successful than
those which have more traditional approaches. The first aspect of this was programme design, and how we
could ensure that work-related learning was incorporated within the programme. The second was to link to
the outside agencies and individuals who could support this. The presentation finishes by looking to the future
and how to continue to develop relationships and build on our successes and failures.
Title: “I’m afraid your project sponsor can’t meet with you today; he’s been called to New
York to work on the takeover of Bear Stearn”:- Project Management for Real
Contributor: David Cooper, Senior Lecturer in Information Systems and Management
Institution: University of Chichester
Contact: d.cooper@chi.ac.uk
This session is based on the experience of the presenter in running an undergraduate module on project
management and information systems development. Good project management is just like good
management, it is focused on managing people and dealing with uncertainty (solving problems). Although
the principles can be taught, real learning has to be experienced. Although it would be possible to create a
case study based project, this is still comfortable and lacks the edge of working for a real customer. At the
beginning of the module, students are placed into project teams and given a real IT development project for
a local employer. They have to visit the customer, specify the requirements for the system and subsequently
deliver it. This typically involves a good deal of interaction with the customer in terms of providing updates on
progress and gaining feedback on prototype developments. The module is very successful and the external
examiner has described it as a model of best practice. Students are highly motivated, challenged and
achieve excellent results. They experience all the emotions, politics and frustrations of management together
with the highs of delivering something of value. Customers also find it a rewarding experience.

Session A: Group 2
Title: Engaging in Education: Employer Involvement and the Work of ESCalate
Contributor: Susanna Dammann
Institution: University of Bristol
Contact: susanna.dammann@bristol.ac.uk
This presentation will look at the guidance, services and information ESCalate offers in the area of employer
engagement, both from the point of view of the student looking at potential employment and of the employer
looking to understand and possibly influence strategy and planning in Education.
Title: ‘Speed-Dating Your Music Career’ – A Report on Our Industry Event
Contributors: Louise Jackson, Senior Lecturer in Music and Musical Theatre
John Gallally, Head of Careers
Contact: l.jackson@chi.ac.uk / j.gallally@chi.ac.uk
In February 2008, the Music department hosted a ‘speed-date your career’ event that enabled students
on our music programmes to meet and discuss aspects of the different routes of working life in music.
The fundamental aim was to provide subject-specific employer engagement and to provide students with
a platform to discuss issues relating to their future working life with industry specialists. Music, as a multi-
faceted discipline, lends itself well to many different career paths and this event sought to highlight this to the
students. Our ‘swap’ will detail both information regarding what we did from the discipline’s perspective, how
this may act as model of employer engagement for other subjects and detail testimonials from both industry
guests and students who attended the event.
Title: Staff Development for the Delivery of Blended Learning in a Partnership
Programme
Contributor: Vivien Martin, Principal Lecturer in Management
Institution: University of Brighton
Contact: v.f.martin@brighton.ac.uk
This presentation focuses on staff development issues in a partnership programme with Sussex Police,
which seeks to develop 300 new police officers each year through a Foundation Certificate. This complex
programme, delivered across two universities, included developing 18 experienced police trainers from
their FE/NVQ professional standards to become student-centred Associate Lecturers able to deliver an HE
learning experience (QAA, 2004) through blended learning. Research undertaken sought to address issues
such as: How can workplace trainers be developed to enable them to support learning appropriate in an
HE environment? How can the formal requirements of academic and professional quality standards be met
through partnership working? How can we deliver the blend of ‘on the job’, classroom based and distance
learning?
The research used a mixture of methods including individual interviews, focus groups, workshops and
collection of naturally occurring data from the academic management process. Many of the issues identified
were common to any partnership programme deliveriing both HE and occupational qualifications. Issues
included aligning frameworks and values (Martin, 2001), developing the whole team of staff from an early
stage, accommodating the employer’s needs and expectations and using work-based development. In
addition, this programme was expected to contribute to culture change within the police (Elliott, 2003) to
accommodate the changing needs and expectations of society.

Session A: Group 3
Title: Resources to Support Employer Engagement in Hospitality, Leisure, Sport and Tourism
Programmes
Contributor: Nina Becket, Assistant Director, National Subject Centre for Hospitality, Leisure, Sport and Tourism
Institution: Oxford Brookes University
Contact: njbecket@brookes.ac.uk
This session will outline relevant resources available from the subject centre. Of particular interest are two
publications; one completed with the People 1st, Skills Active and Skillsmart Sector Skills Councils which
summarises career profiles of industry professionals and is suitable for using with students, and the other is
a book of case studies of work relating to employability in academic departments in the enhancing series.
Title: Employer Engagement – Academic Staff, Professional and Industry Body
Involvement and Added Value to the Student Curriculum
Contributors: Ian Harris, Acting Head of School of Sport, Tourism and Languages
Martin Skivington, Academic Leader and Programme Manager for Health Exercise and Sport
Science
Institution: Southampton Solent University
Contact: ian.harris@solent.ac.uk / martin.skivington@solent.ac.uk
Ian Harris and Martin Skivington are both actively involved in a range of industry and professional bodies
relevant to their subject expertise - Outdoor Industry for Ian and Health and Fitness Industry for Martin.
Their involvements include links with SkillsActive; Register of Exercise Professionals (REPS); Institute
for Outdoor Learning (IOL); British Activity Holiday Association (BAHA); Royal Yachting Association
(RYA). These relationships provide two-way commitments, with the staff working with employers and
providers to help shape the future of the industry, whilst also enabling staff to step out of the University
‘Ivory Tower’ and ensure that course design and delivery matches industry needs, whilst also providing
material that is not only current, but shaping the industry for students in class. The session will provide
the opportunity to expand on the way the links shape the courses at Southampton Solent University.
Title: SWAPShop on Employer Engagement
Contributor: Rebecca Johnson and Martina Johnson, Learning and Teaching Advisers, Social Policy
and Social Work Subject Centre
Institution: University of Southampton
Contact: m.t.johnson@soton.ac.uk / r.johnson@soton.ac.uk
In this session the Social Policy and Social Work Subject Centre (SWAP) invites you to explore
with us the meaning of the term ‘employer engagement’ to the social work community. Examples
of current practice will then be showcased. There will be an opportunity for you to find out
how you can get involved with SWAP’s activities and how SWAP may be able to support you.

Session B: Group 4
Title: Engaging Employers & Engaging Students: Work-related Learning in the Geography,
Earth and Environmental Sciences (GEES) Community
Contributor: Sharon Gedye, Project Co-ordinator, National Subject Centre for Geography, Earth and
Environmental Science
Institution: University of Plymouth
Contact: sharon.gedye@plymouth.ac.uk
Research by the GEES Subject Centre indicates that employer engagement is presently an important concern
in our community. Our findings indicate that much new activity is taking place, and that departments are
planning additional employer engagement for the future. This workshop will briefly highlight these research
findings and will also showcase two GEES examples of employer engagement:
Example 1 - Embedding employability and employer engagement into postgraduate teaching: a case study
from ‘environmental management systems’.
• Postgraduates work in consultancy teams to conduct an environmental audit for a real company with the
goal of producing an environmental management system manual.
• The entirely ‘real’ nature of the task and the opportunity to visit the company and liaise with its employees,
gives the students valuable professional experience, the opportunity to directly apply their theoretical
knowledge and the chance to practice skills such as teamwork.
[Based on work undertaken by Simon Kemp, School of Civil Engineering and the Environment, University of Southampton.
For more information please contact Simon at: s.kemp@soton.ac.uk]
Example 2 - ‘The Coastal Conference’: high-stakes, skills rich learning and assessment.
• Undergraduate students conduct research projects which culminate in presentations of their findings at
a day-long ‘Coastal Conference’ attended by a range of employers, who give presentations, alongside
those of the students.
• The students are questioned by the employers on their research, the employers contribute to assessing
the student work and the students get the opportunity to network with the employers.
• The conference is also attended by ‘coasts’ students from a nearby university, thus adding a competition
element to the proceedings and therefore raising the stakes still higher.
[Based on work undertaken by Ann Worsley, Department of Natural, Geographical and Applied Sciences, Edge Hill
University. For more information please contact Anne at: worsleya@edgehill.ac.uk]
Title: Enhancing Employability for Destination Management: Integrating the ‘VICE’
Model into an Undergraduate Tourism Management Degree Programme
Contributor: Andrew Clegg, Subject Leader for Tourism Management and Principal Lecturer for Learning and
Teaching
Contact: a.clegg@chi.ac.uk
Since its initial publication in the joint English Tourism Council and Tourism Management Institute (TMI)
Destination Management Handbook (DMH), the VICE model has been regarded as an integral element
of sustainable destination management. The VICE model, an effective ‘quadruple bottom line’, covers
the interaction between visitors, the industry that serves them, the community that hosts them, and their
collective impact on and response to the environment where it all takes place (Partners for England, 2008).
Significantly, the DMH now provides a national framework for destination management and it is therefore
critical that potential graduates seeking employment in this sector are well-versed with the content and
application of this handbook. The aim of this paper is to illustrate how the principles and practices outlined in
the DMH have been successfully integrated into an undergraduate Tourism Management degree programme.

Session B: Group 4
Title: Graduate Contributions to Undergraduate Teaching - Recent Students Sharing
with Current Students
Contributor: James Derounian, Principal Lecturer in Community Development and Local Governance and
National Teaching Fellow
Institution: University of Gloucestershire
Contact: jderounian@glos.ac.uk
This session will highlight the simple and effective mechanism of recycling graduate experience back in
to undergraduate teaching and learning. In particular it will demonstrate benefits for students, practitioner
contributors, staff and communities. For students this straightforward technique provides them with up-to-
date, detailed case studies of use in assignments; it also presents students with potential role models (‘I could
do that job when I graduate…’); work placement opportunities; independent studies, and dissertations. For
graduates they have the opportunity to test out ‘lecturing’, gain kudos and validation, and have the chance
to renew contact with their ‘old’ university.

Session B: Group 5
Title: Self-Employability in Theology and Religious Studies
Contributor: Jan Sumner, Self-employability Consultant, National Subject Centre for Philosophical and
Religious Studies.
Institution: University of Leeds
Contact: jan@prs.heacademy.ac.uk
The aim of this session is to provide a brief overview of the project on ‘Self-employability in Theology and
Religious Studies’ that was commissioned by the Higher Education Academy Subject Centre for Philosophy
and Religious Studies in May 2008. The aim of the project is twofold: firstly to carry out an audit of existing self-
employability facing elements within the curricula of Theology and Religious Studies Schools and Departments
throughout the UK. The purpose of the audit was to establish whether self-employability facing elements
exist within in the current curricula of these schools and departments; that is, whether these schools and
departments are engaged in activities aimed at the development of subject-specific skills (such as empathy
with other people with other religious viewpoints to one’s own), and generic skills (e.g. presentation and
interpersonal skills) which are important for students who wish to become self-employed. The second aim is
to contact national funding bodies to ascertain the availability of business start-up funding for students who
wish to become self-employed, and to gather intelligence on how these students can apply for such funding.
The presentation will also highlight a range of resources and materials related to employability and employer
engagement which have been produced by the Subject Centre for Philosophical and Religious Studies.
Title: Enter the Dragon: Reality Television, Employer Engagement and Transforming Student
Assessment
Contributor: Ian Worden, Principal Lecturer for Learning and Teaching
Contact: i.worden@chi.ac.uk
This presentation discusses experiences of employing entrepreneurs in assessment processes and the effect
this has on the student experience. It examines ways industry practice and imaginative assessment ideas
might come together to enhance student achievement in assessment, provide students with a range of skills
and afford opportunities for knowledge exchange between a number of parties. The assessment detailed
here not only simulates the world of work but draws on the popular television programme Dragons’ Den
which involves entrepreneurs pitching ideas to a panel of business experts that they are seeking to secure
investment from.
Title: Building an Employer Perspective at Programme and Module Level
Contributors: Ivor Perry, ICT Programme Tutor and Programme Developer
Institution: De Montfort University
Contact: iperry@dmu.ac.uk
This session centres on the need to change the way we approach higher level education in ICT by adopting
a business-facing perspective at all levels. Feedback obtained from a business focus group in creating a BSc
ICT degree was that the majority of jobs in IS going forward were unlikely to be ‘technical’ in the sense of
low-level programming, and that a much higher reliance would be placed on skills like communication and
problem-solving. The second year contains a module on The Management of ICT. This is grounded in the
feedback we have had from business, and addresses a wide number of topics, some of which are rarely
taught in Computing Faculties. The module is underpinned by talks from senior business managers. So
far, five talks are planned, and at least one question in the exam will be around of these talks. The module
coursework is built around a visit to a financial services company. The company will see the results and will be
able to provide feedback. Further business-facing activities are planned for students during their placement
year. It is our intention that these ICT students will graduate, not only with the normal range of skills that
one would associate with the title, but with an enhanced awareness of the needs and functions of business
organisations, and with the skills to make an early contribution to them.

Session B: Group 6
Title: Future Proof: New Engagements in Art, Design and Media Education
Contributor: David Clews, Manager of the Art Design Media Subject Centre
Institution: University of Brighton
Contact: d.clews@bton.ac.uk
The Government’s commitment to a better-educated workforce means that over 40% of the population
will be participating in higher education by 2020. This will only be achieved through recruiting from the
estimated four million potential new HE students in the existing workforce. The challenge is to turn this
alleged demand into fee-paying students on programmes co-purchased by employers. A significant
proportion of this demand is driven by personal rather than strategic development. The scale and diversity
of the creative and cultural sector presents unique challenges to art, design and media departments
quite different to those providing workforce development to say the NHS or the police service. The
small scale of many businesses and organisations means that resources for workforce development
are limited but there is also little evidence that businesses see higher education as a credible provider
of development needs. Finally, new educational programmes have high marginal costs for the HEI.
However, there are a large number of projects based on personal and local networks, these may have
poor impact on strategic planning but they are often highly valued by participants. The creative and
cultural sector contributes significantly to HE education and there is new initiative funding to build on
innovative and collaborative practice for learning. The creative and cultural sector is one of the most
graduate rich in the UK workforce; individuals already understand the value of HE experiences. Finally,
the core pedagogies, grounded in studio work, problem creation and problem solving through project
work, learning in teams and through social interaction, and learning-through-doing are typical in all
practice-based art, design and media programmes. This presentation will describe the policy landscape.
It will outline some of the research and development in this area being undertaken and by the Art,
Design, Media Subject Centre and others and it will offer a view of directions that may offer the best
opportunity for development of collaborations across education and the creative and cultural sector.
Title: Inspiring Teacher Development Through Collaborative Partnerships
Contributor: Alison Clark Wilson, Programme Co-ordinator for MA Mathematics Education
Contact: aclarkwilson@chi.ac.uk
This session will describe the outcomes of a year-long research evaluation project which introduced a new
ICT resource for secondary mathematics, TI-Nspire with professional development to 14 teachers in seven
UK 11-16 secondary schools. The qualitative study reported many examples of how teachers used TI-Nspire
with the goal of enhancing students’ mathematical understanding. This session will focus on the way in which
the research design enabled the interests of the researchers, resource developers and schools to be retained
and how the outcomes of the project have informed subsequent developments for each of the partners.

Session B: Group 6
Title: Unknown Heroes....Tapping into the Enormous Career Knowledge held by
Graduates, Staff and their Contacts
Contributors: Beth Green, Careers Adviser
Joan Whibley, Volunteer Co-ordinator
Contact: b.green@chi.ac.uk / j.whibley@chi.ac.uk
Already some 64% of graduates get their first job through contacts. In this chilly recessionary climate we
are going to see the number of advertised vacancies go down and it will be increasingly important for our
graduates to tap into this underground job market to have a competitive edge. Our graduates and staff all
have varied career experiences and expertise that can be shared with students. We also all have contacts
with employers, who may have vacancies but are also willing to offer advice and help on how to approach
the job hunt and application process in their own particular sectors.
Our project is looking to harness all this valuable information and make it easily accessible to students across
both faculties. This engages employers with our university and gives our graduates a very fair advantage.
Students will have a very real and up to date insight into the employability skills that businesses are looking
for. As well as providing students with an edge it also assists with student satisfaction and the destinations
of our students when they leave us.
As well as this employer and job related information this approach will enable us to provide mentors and role
models for our students, stage networking opportunities and run workshops, talks and other careers related
events. The conference provides a valuable opportunity to get feedback from departments on how this could
benefit their students and also generate the information we are seeking.

Session C: Group 7
Title: Creative Industry: Not an Oxymoron. Three Case Studies of Employer
Engagement from a Humanities Employability Enterprise
Contributors: Anna Richardson, CETH Research Associate
Helen Day, Senior Research Fellow for CETH and Senior Research Fellow for the Centre for
Research Informed Teaching
Institution: Centre for Employability Through the Humanities, University of Central Lancashire
Contact: acrichardson@uclan.ac.uk / hfday@uclan.ac.uk
The Centre for Employability Through the Humanities (ceth) at the University of Central Lancashire is a
Centre for Excellence in Teaching and Learning dedicated to enhancing the employability of students in the
Humanities and related areas. Ceth delivers a suite of modules through Realistic Work Environments (RWEs)
that offer students practical experience within a range of potential careers, whilst fostering reflective learning
and personal development. All of these RWE modules are informed by input from employers, although the
strategy for employer engagement differs across the range of courses on offer. The focus on Humanities within
ceth demands a creativity of approach in developing employer relationships, as the benefit to employers is
often tacit, embedded within the diverse subject knowledge of ceth students. This session presents three
case studies of employer engagement from the experience of ceth teaching staff, representing a flexibility of
approach that in turn reflects the diversity of opportunity available within the rapidly expanding creative and
cultural industries sector. Beginning by considering the specific demands posed by fostering relationships
between Humanities students and employers within this sector, this session proceeds by presenting one
example of ceth employer engagement that is highly organic and dependent upon personal relationships;
one example that is heavily strategised, with an employer as stakeholder providing input into the development
and outcomes of the module; and one example that falls somewhere in the middle, challenging traditional
notions of employer engagement and explicitly revealing the creative, dynamic process that lies at the heart
of employer engagement within ceth. We conclude by considering the challenges posed by the potential
development of a universal strategy for employer engagement across the Faculty, and the implications of
such a strategy for the creative dynamic that ceth has nurtured between employers and students of the
Humanities.
Title: Open Day Forums for Employer Engagement
Contributors: Suki Clayer, Manager, Industrial Placement Unit, Faculty of Technology
Tugrul Esendal, Lecturer, Department of Computing Technology
Institution: De Montfort University, Leicester
Contact: sclayer@dmu.ac.uk / the@dmu.ac.uk
This session focuses on our experiences of running open-day forums, as a means of engaging employers
to co-operate with the university in activities like work placement, research and consultancy, and guest
speaking. We find that the benefits of open-day forums, over other means of engagement, are clear in
most cases and the results often rewarding. These benefits will be summarised, as appropriate, for each
stakeholder. However, there are also implications that organisers must be aware of, in order to maximise
their chances of a successful forum. Universities’ understandable enthusiasm for the potential benefits may
obscure from view these implications, even though they are part and parcel of organising and running open-
day forums. Our material will draw attention to these implications, which may have financial, managerial, or
academic dimension, and the necessity for contingency planning.

Session C: Group 8
Title: Who Benefits from ‘Live’ Projects? : Banco Santander and Graphic Design Student
Case Study
Contributor: Finola Gaynor
Contact: f.gaynor@chi.ac.uk
The benefits to students who work on live projects are well documented and are encouraged by Design
Futures, the Design Council and Higher Education Academy. The benefits to academic staff in supporting
students and clients are less well documented with limited case studies available for review. This paper,
describes the client, academic staff and students expectations from initial briefing methodologies, processes,
deployment, delivery and assessment in order to evaluate the benefits and cautions to be considered of ‘live’
student projects within a vocational ‘studio’ environment, through the case study, Banco Santander and BA
(Hons) Graphic Design Students.
Title: The Creative Fellow and the Creative Engagement
Contributor: Julia Smith, C4C Project Manager
Steve Watson, Senior Lecturer, Business Management and C4C Team Fellow
Institution: York St John University
Contact: j.smith1@yorksj.ac.uk / s.watson@yorksj.ac.uk
The C4C (Collaborating for Creativity) CETL at York St John University has supported the development
of over forty projects and at the heart of each has been a view to the outside and the engagement of
external partners from many different areas of the worlds of business and the public sector. This presentation
discusses one particular type of C4C project; the Creative Fellow, and illustrates how project working can
be used to test new ideas on collaborating with external partners, potentially leading to module innovation.
The Creative Fellow is an external creative professional commissioned with a year long ‘residency’ at York St
John, providing the opportunity for their expertise and professional process to be explored with students and
staff. One such current Creative Fellow is Lonely Planet guide writer John Noble, author of guides on Spain,
South America and Russia. John’s project is sited directly within the Faculty of Business & Education, here
at York St John University.
The project has enabled students to participate in the “real world” of tourism and destination management by
providing a context within which they engage with local businesses by conducting research and negotiating
with them about the production of a back-packer’s guide to York. Nothing like this has been attempted before
at YSJU, and the involvement of a professional travel writer has introduced a strong element of practical,
employer-related, experiential learning into what would otherwise be a largely theoretical module.

Session C: Group 9
Title: Thinking, Fixing, Delivering: Planning and Delivering Student-Led Creative
Projects
Contributor: Roy Hanney, Senior Lecturer in Media Production
Contact: r.hanney@chi.ac.uk
The paper will explore a real world example of a ‘live project’ undertaken by level one media production
students for Music Fusion in spring 2008 and will provide evidence of enhancements to student learning
and engagement with businesses and employers. The project utilised a project-led, problem-based learning
pedagogy that draws heavily on common project management frameworks to provide a mediating discourse
between the students as learners and the business client as an enterprise with real world business needs. A
review of a range of existing project management methodologies such as PRINCE2 and related approaches
such as Agile, Extreme and Experimental techniques offers a conceptual, process driven scaffolding that
allows for a flexible and reflexive approach to small-scale project management. Specifically the paper will
consider the optimum level of documentation for a ‘live project’ that supports student learning and enhances
the quality of the project process. This methodology enables the student project team to gain transferable
skills, enhances employability and offers tutors a clearer insight into the process of student productions. It
provides a language through which the different participants can communicate while embedding critical
thinking and creative problem solving at the heart of student activity.
Title: A Design Studio Goes Back to College: A New Model for Collaboration?
Contributor: James Corazzo, Lecturer in Graphic Design
Institution: Stockport College
Contact: james.corazzo@stockport.ac.uk
This “swap” will report on an ongoing investigative project that is examining an alternative model the for work
placement on an undergraduate graphic design programme. Many institutions use the work placement, like
the live brief and the visiting practitioner, to augment the graphic design curriculum. But the traditional model
for the work placement has a number of limitations: investment in placing students (resources), regional
competition between institutions (territory), the make-up of creative enterprises (predominantly small or
medium sized) means the opportunities for formal placements is limited, the student’s experience whilst on
placement (quality) and that the benefits rarely extend beyond the individual who undertakes the placement.

Bishop Otter Campus, College Lane, Chichester, West Sussex, PO19 6PE
Bognor Regis Campus, Upper Bognor Road, Bognor Regis, West Sussex, PO21 1HR
Tel: 01243 816000
www.chiuni.ac.uk

CONFERENCE PROGRAMME 2009

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