Academic Champions
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Interview with Pat Wilkinson
- School of Social and International Studies, PJ.Wilkinson@Bradford.ac.uk, 01274 235295
My role in the Escalate project is the Champion for School of Social & International Studies and I act as a bridge between the project and my School in terms of sharing information and encouraging new development.
My role in the Escalate project is the Champion for School of Social & International Studies and I act as a bridge between the project and my School in terms of sharing information and encouraging new development.
I enjoy supporting colleagues to think more clearly about employer engagement, in particular in some of the subject areas where it has not been a tradition, such as, for example Creative Writing.
In terms of specific projects, I have been involved in the development of the MA Mental Health Practice, MA Criminal Justice Studies, FD Working with Children, Young People and Families, MSc in Public Policy, and I have also been looking at the use of stand-alone modules and developed a new Consolidation Module, and the Best Interest Assessor module for social work professionals.
I got involved in the Escalate project because the particular department I belong to already had a tradition working with applied disciplines and employers. For example, we are in touch on an annual basis with 250 employers and planning 250 placements across the whole department. Escalate will further assist us in building on this existing strength.
I am hugely enthusiastic about Escalate. One of key elements is to raise awareness in general within the School of the importance of engagement with employers. Escalate has also begun to have an impact on the way in which we teach and deliver our service ¿ we have recognised and increasingly adopt more creative and flexible approaches. The nature of disciplines is slowly changing with employers helping us with module content, how we deliver, assess and monitor teaching and learning.
Working closely with employers is both challenging but also exciting. We are forced to re-think some of previous ways of working.
Escalate will also help create a partnership network which can also facilitate research and knowledge transfer.
From academic point of view, Escalate is valuable in relation to highlighting some of the quality assurance mechanisms within the University which need streamlining to respond more flexibly, such as Course Approval and Review (CART), module catalogue system, registry, employer contribution mechanism.
It is crucial for students on work-related courses, within this current economic climate, to be reassured that their programme of study is directly relevant and useful.
Being an Escalate Champion, I am meeting new people, developing my knowledge base, learning lots of skills, changing my way of looking at higher education, benefiting from cross school working. I also enjoy working with employers.
As to the challenge, it would be the sustainability issue. I deem Escalate as a long term project rather than short as it takes a while to develop these skills, and to develop trust with employers. Therefore it is essential to build and maintain a meaningful relationship and find out what their changing needs are.
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