Graduate Employability Embedding CMS into Curriculum

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Graduate EmployabilityEmbedding CMS into
Curriculum
Dale Wache Lecturer, Academic Development Learning
and Teaching Unit Tony McAvaney Careers
Advisor, Career Services Learning and Teaching
Unit
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What are you?

• Who are you, anyway? Are you a god?
• No, the prince is said to have replied.
• Are you a saint? asked another.
• No, the prince replied.
• Are you a prophet?
• No, not a prophet.
• Well, then, all the pilgrims cried at once,
  what are you, then?
• And very calmly, the Buddha replied I am
  awake. Thats what the word Buddha means,
  literally to be awake.

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Overview

• Career Management Skills (CMS) what are they?
• Enhancing graduate employabilitycommon
  approaches
• Key drivers for embedding CMS
• Program level connections and needs
• Institutional framework
• Approach and outcomes
• Evaluation

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Career Management Skills?

• Described as including
• Self awareness in relation to interests,
  abilities, values, and constraints
• Opportunity awareness career opportunities that
  exist, and what is required to pursue these
• Career decision making skills
• Transition learning skills required to source
  jobs, prepare applications, perform in interviews
• (Watts 2006)

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Achieving graduate employability

• Three common approaches to developing CMS
• Extra-curricular - online learning, special
  careers events, workshops, face to face
  consultations
• Additional generic course modules - some of which
  may be assessable
• Integrated embedding CMS across whole of
  curriculum in existing courses
• (Watts 2006)

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UniSA approach to developing CMS

• Bolted on - voluntary student utilisation of
• Static resources - careers website containing
  self-help content, jobs board etc
• Extra curricular seminars, workshops, special
  career events
• Student disconnect between program/course
  content, graduate qualities and employability

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Key drivers for embedding CMS

• Graduate Destination Survey results
• and
• Fed Govt Teaching and Learning Performance Fund

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Needs/Drivers
GDS Employability
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Approach

• Consultative approach discussion involving
  academic developer, program academics and careers
  adviser
• Exploration of needs program, LTU, students
• Agreement on benefits of embedding CMS
• Implementation action plan agreed based on
  program level priorities
• Action plan might involve 2 3 year timeframes

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Institutional framework implementation

• Graduate qualities
• Student engagement
• Experiential learning
• Assessment

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Embedding content process

• Different needs at different year levels
• Unique needs within programs
• 3 streams self awareness, options awareness
  self-marketing
• Putting it together

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Evaluation

• Anecdotal feedback from students to program staff
  has been positive
• Decline in number of one-to-one career
  consultations in programs with embedded content
• Longer term commitments - examples

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Summary

• CMS can be embedded and integrated in courses
  within a program without major restructuring or
  effort
• The strength of the partnership approach between
  teaching staff and teaching and learning support
  staff
• Apparent benefits to all stakeholders students,
  teaching staff, teaching and learning support
  units and at same time working towards achieving
  broader institutional objectives

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Reference

• Watts, A.G. (2006) Career development, learning
  and employability. York The Higher Education
  Academy, Accessed on 03/05/08 at
• http//www.heacademy.ac.uk/resources/detail/id592_
  career_development_learning_and_employability