The Staffordshire Graduate

Rosy CrehanExecutive Pro-Vice Chancellor

Dr Steve Wyn WilliamsDirector of Academic Policy and Development

Structure of Presentation

• Graduate Attributes: the context• Implementation of the Staffordshire Graduate Attributes

(SGA) across all level 4 undergraduate programmes being delivered in 2012-13 and the mapping of the SGA at levels 5 and 6 for delivery in 2013-14 and 2014-15 repsectively

• The Staffordshire Graduate Employability Programme (SGEP) –the innovative pilot programme that forms a key part of the delivery of the Staffordshire Graduate

Graduate Attributes: the context

What are Graduate Attributes?

Graduate attributes are commonly understood as an articulation of

“…the qualities, skills and understandings a university community agrees its students should develop during their time with the institution. These attributes include but go beyond the disciplinary expertise or technical knowledge that has traditionally formed the core of most university courses. They are qualities that also prepare graduates as agents of social good in an unknown future.” (Bowden 2000)

What’s New?

John Henry Newman(1853)Idea of a University

A University training…is the education which gives man a clear conscious view of his own opinions and judgments, a truth in developing them, an eloquence in expressing them, and a force in urging them…It teaches him to go straight to the point, disentangle a skein of thought… It prepares him to fill any post with credit and to master any subject with facility.

It shows him how to accommodate himself to others. He is at home in any society;…he can ask a question pertinently;…he knows when to be serious and when to trifle, and he has a sure tact which enables him to trifle with gracefulness and to be serious with effect…

Graduate Attributes: some current trends

• An increased interest in the development and embedding of Graduate Attributes (GAs) within Universities

• GAs are deemed to be important insofar as they should make clear to a range of stakeholders what are the core learning outcomes of a university education

Graduate Attributes: some current trends

• Universities have always endeavoured to develop desirable qualities in their graduates. BUT in recent years there has been an increased focus on articulating graduate attributes explicitly rather than implicitly

• For many universities, however, GAs have been viewed as a set of additional learning outcomes rather than learning outcomes inherent in core university learning and teaching experiences.

• “Such responses, while making such outcomes more explicit, typically focus on a limited range of decontextualised skills and are consequently perceived by students and educators as having little to do with the type of learning normally associated with higher education” (Hughes and Barrie (2010))

Graduate Attributes: some current trends

• Increasingly recognised that there is a need to demonstrate the achievement of these important GAs through assessment.

• If GAs are not assessed they will not be taken seriously by students or teachers, in addition:– Employers value GAs and often seek information on these

achievements from applicants– Governments expect evidence of GA achievement because of

links made with the knowledge economy, innovation and national well-being

– Assessment of GAs supports students and teachers in their monitoring and development

Implementation of the Staffordshire Graduate Attributes

The Staffordshire Graduate

The Staffordshire Graduate represents a set of

qualities that the University passionately believes

is necessary for success in the 21st century. The

Staffordshire Graduate is a reflective and critical

learner with a global perspective, prepared to

contribute in the world of work.

  

Knowledge and UnderstandingKnowledge and Understanding

ProfessionalismProfessionalism

Reflective and Critical LearnerReflective and Critical Learner

Lifelong LearningLifelong Learning

Global CitizenshipGlobal Citizenship

Communication and TeamworkCommunication and Teamwork

Employability, Enterprise and Entrepreneurship (the 3Es) 

Employability, Enterprise and Entrepreneurship (the 3Es) 

Reflective and Critical Enquiry for Lifelong Learning

Reflective and Critical Enquiry for Lifelong Learning

Developing Global CitizenshipDeveloping Global Citizenship

Extra-Curricular support for 3Es and recording of achievement

Extra-Curricular support for 3Es and recording of achievement

The Staffordshire Graduate will:

Discipline Expertise: •Have an understanding of the forefront of knowledge in their chosen field

Professionalism:•Be prepared to be work-ready and employable and understand the importance of being enterprising and entrepreneurial

Global Citizenship:•Have an understanding of global issues and of their place in a globalised economy

Communication and Teamwork:•Be an effective communicator and presenter and able to interact appropriately with a range of colleagues •Have developed the skills of independence of thought and (when appropriate) social interaction through teamwork

Reflective and Critical Learner:•Have the ability to carry out inquiry-based learning and critical analysis •Be a problem solver and creator of opportunities

Lifelong Learning:•Be technologically, digitally and information literate•Be able to apply Staffordshire Graduate attributes to a range of life experiences to facilitate life-long learning and life-long success.

Implementing the Staffordshire Graduate

Academic Board decided in October 2011 that all undergraduate programmes:•should be structured normally on the basis of modules of 30 credits with normally no more than two 15 credit modules per level•should demonstrate in detail at each level how the Staffordshire Graduate Attributes would be addressed through the curriculum.

Implementing the Staffordshire Graduate• A University Standing Panel (USP) considered proposals

made by Programme teams. The Programme Specification, approved by the Faculty, included a detailed mapping of where in the curriculum the SGAs are located and assessed

• Most staff teams felt they had already facilitated to some extent the SGAs in their programmes, many felt this had previously often been only implicit; they welcomed the opportunity to consider in some depth precisely where the SGAs sat in their programmes of study and, in particular, how they were assessed.

The Staffordshire Graduate Employability Programme

‘Staffordshire Graduate Promise’

• Marketing Materials/video/prospectus

• Mantra – VC, staff, stake holders

• Open days

• Leaflets

• Film (Advertising Standards Agency)

• University USP

Staffordshire Graduate Curriculum

• Subject relevant - some consistency • 6 Champion UG Programmes• 15 credits of subject related curriculum• Level 4 and Level 5 – generic outline.• Embedded in a year long module (15/30 credits)• Core to UG Programme

Student Opportunity

• Develop a key set of employability skills• Develop reflective practice• Undertake work experience/work integrated

learning within the curriculum so as to develop vocational identity and build job-related networks.

• Develop skills and attitudes that can enable a culture of identifying opportunities, creativity, risk taking and innovation.

Level 4

• Employability Skills/Reflective Practice– Interactive student centered skills workshops– Attendance at internal/external co-curricular events– Teamwork presentation exercise– CV development– Personal development statement as part of a

reflective portfolio

Level 5

• Engaging in work related study

• Skills workshops

– Working in the workplace

– Enterprising/Entrepreneurial/Intrepreneurial mind-sets, behaviours and Innovation and Risk-taking

– Developing Citizenship, personal and corporate responsibilities

– Further CV development

Level 5

• Attendance at internal/external events – negotiated in teams

• Group presentation on learning relating to aspirations & development of career skills.

• Engage in and reflect on a work related experience. – Work placement– Volunteering experience– Social enterprise project– Existing part time work– Organising an event or series of events– Setting up a new club/society

Assessment

• Staffordshire Graduate ePortfolio– Pebble pad– Records learning Experiences– Uses Badging and Tagging to Identify Staffordshire

Graduate Attributes– Assimilation and accumulation of learning

experiences as evidence of attainment is achieved automatically and incrementally.

– Used to self-direct personal development whilst providing evidence for seeking employment upon graduation.

Where we are now

• Pilot - 70 staff, 700 level 4 students • Structured Induction Programme• Staffordshire Graduate Experience (STAGE)

– Resource bank

• University Calendar of Events• Programme Coordination

– Professor of Enterprise

• Staffordshire Graduate ePortfolio– eLearning Facilitators

– Student employability ambassadors-advisers

Developments - 2012/13

• Sharing of good practice/problem solving during the Pilot – Staffordshire Graduate Forum

• Workshops for partner organisations• Level 5 – bringing together Unitemps, SU,

Creative Communities Unit, volunteering• Level 6 – development of Staffordshire Graduate

module on Entrepreneurship

Why are we doing it?

• New phase in University’s development • Commitment to excellence and improving the

student experience• Increasing costs of a degree• Meet/counter a period of unprecedented change

- fierce competition for students/growing student expectations

• Improve standing in NSS/League Tables