Loughborough University London
Enterprise Through the Curriculum
Loughborough University, London (LUL) is an exciting and innovative postgraduate campus opening on the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in September 2015, as part of London’s new innovation quarter, Here East.
Here East brings together world-class education, innovative business and cutting-edge technology to drive forward creativity and entrepreneurship. The vision for our new campus has strong synergies with this ideology. Students will benefit from a rich and innovative melting pot of diverse backgrounds, skills and knowledge developing across the park. The cornerstone of our new campus will be ‘Enterprise Through the Curriculum’, which aims to take the classroom into the work place and develop entrepreneurial learning by working in partnership with organisations in private, public and third sectors. These collaborative partnerships will help shape the programmes and produce graduates that are highly employable with the skills required to meet business needs.
Welcome from our Deans Our campus in London is all about delivering key, in-demand skills, experiences and opportunities to our students to accelerate their career. Our learning experience, looks and feels like work, engages real employers and delivers an unmatched workplace advantage for our graduates. Professor Mike Caine, Dean of Loughborough University London
Enterprise Through the Curriculum is designed to be beneficial to students, academics and organisations. It will allow the opportunity to co-produce and innovate in the practice-theory space. Students and academics can build competences, capability and skills providing organisations with the opportunity to build capacity, test new ideas and be surprised! Professor Zoe Radnor, Associate Dean of Loughborough University London
Five Institutes and one Academy, launching 2015 Institute for Media and Creative Industries Institute for Sport Business ● Institute for Digital Technologies ● Institute for Design Innovation ● Glendonbrook Institute for Enterprise Development ● Academy of Diplomacy and International Governance ● ●
Thread throughout every course are teaching synergies which include innovation, creativity, management, research and ‘real-world’ engagement which will develop strong levels of economic, social and commercial awareness in all of our students. The content and design of our courses will also ensure our students have a common ground to foster collaborative working and generate entrepreneurial thinking to facilitate the creation of commercially viable ideas. All of these aspects and more will enable our students and graduates to develop the cutting edge skills, knowledge and abilities to succeed globally in the buzzing, complex and demanding 21st century.
Join us The doors are now open for organisations to be part of this exciting initiative. The new campus will provide the unique opportunity to develop and showcase best practice of HE and Industry partnerships that help shape the curriculum and produce highly employable ‘work ready’ graduates of the future. Listed within this brochure are some of the initiatives in which organisations can collaborate with us and interact with our students. In addition to these options we can also accommodate specific requests and develop bespoke activities based on the needs of the organisation.
Interdisciplinary Collaborative Projects Interdisciplinary collaborative projects provide organisations with the unique opportunity to become Project Champions. Organisations will set a problem linked to their activities that project teams, consisting of students from various disciplinary backgrounds, will engage with. Students will draw on expertise from their respective disciplines and the project team, in collaboration with the Project Champion, will explore innovative and new ways of thinking to tackle a given challenge and provide viable solutions. The projects will enable students to develop entrepreneurial skills, such as problem solving and strategic planning, as well as commercial awareness, communication and team working. By working together and in partnership with the organisation’s Project Champion they will also learn from each other whilst tackling a real business and/or social issue.
Guest Lectures Guest lectures offer the opportunity for professionals to share insights and anecdotal accounts of their career journey to date, providing students with a unique and valuable insight into the complex and interesting journey that career paths can take. These presentations can also be a useful recruitment tool by providing organisations with a platform to give an overview of their company, talk through the application process and listen to questions from students.
Networking Events Networking events, for example careers fairs, are a great way to network face-to-face with motivated and engaged students and to increase brand awareness as an employer. Throughout the year we will be organising networking events for our industry partners to interact with our students and staff. Our networking events on the main campus are extremely successful, our Autumn Graduate Fair is the largest in the UK with over 190 exhibitors and over 6000 students. The high number of employers attending the fair year-on-year is a real testament to the employability of Loughborough students and graduates. We aim to build on this success with our new campus and have networking events that are unparalleled by any other University, capitalising on the innovative vision of our new campus and the modern and inspiring environment and cutting edge facilities.
Skills Sessions Organisations are invited to deliver employability skills sessions on a variety of topics that are relevant to the needs of the LUL students and the world of work. These sessions benefit students immensely as they get to learn first-hand from professionals who can share and impart knowledge gained throughout their own careers. Skills sessions benefit the organisation by providing the facilitator with the opportunity to develop personally by practicing, or learning, new skills in designing and delivering workshops with key learning outcomes. The sessions can also act as a great profile raising activity and provide recruiters with the opportunity to see candidates in a more natural environment and spot potential future talent.
Site Visits Site visits are incredibly useful as they enable students to put into context how a company operates and to see the working environment in action. Opening premises to a group of students, guided and managed by University staff, would be a valuable opportunity to showcase an organisation’s operation and working culture to encourage future talent to join a company. This activity for students is priceless and greatly improves their employability and career planning for the future.
Mentoring
Work Shadowing
Mentoring allows students the opportunity to gain valuable insight into potential career paths and to receive personalised guidance from successful professionals. Organisation representatives and Loughborough University alumni are invited to become mentors for the students at the London campus and there is a multitude of benefits for both parties.
Work shadowing provides students with the opportunity to shadow professionals for a short period of time which will help them learn about the realities of the career they are interested in and provide first-hand experience and advice from those already working in their ideal job.
Mentees can benefit by: ●
●
● ●
●
Gaining an insight into different roles, organisations and sectors Developing skills (communication, relationship building, organisation) Building confidence & commercial awareness Discussing expectations, anxieties and concerns in a confidential environment Networking and making new contacts
Mentors can benefit by: ●
●
● ●
Engaging in CPD by developing new skills, such as coaching Giving back to the undergraduate community, sharing knowledge & expertise Talent spotting for future recruits Raising their profile as a supportive and accessible organisation
The opportunity provides students with the chance to apply learning from their courses into a practical, working environment whilst experiencing the culture of an organisation. In addition this will enable the host organisation to have the perfect environment to spot future talent with the skills, knowledge and cultural fit for their organisation.
Volunteering
Our graduates…
Volunteering can play an important role in developing students’ community awareness and integration into communities outside the university and it is an important way for students to burst out of the ‘bubble’ of university life.
The vision of our campus, along with the support of our external partners, will ensure our graduates are prepared to succeed in their careers and benefit the wider economy. According to research by the Association of Graduate Recruiters (AGR), graduate’s ideas and skills can make a huge difference to a company’s bottom line and contribute approximately £1 billion of added value to the UK economy on an annual basis.
Generating and offering volunteering opportunities for our students will provide them with the chance to increase their employability by undertaking work experience, improving their CV and preparing them for a professional level role. Organisations can benefit by accessing a pool of talent, without the commitment of a contract, which can help support key initiatives and provide resource to ensure success of any new endeavours.
Placements / Internships Placements and internships provide the opportunity for organisations to recruit students for flexible periods of employment, as part of their educational course, from one month to a year. Work opportunities such as these can provide students with the essential professional experience needed to succeed as graduates in their chosen fields. There are also multiple benefits to an organisation, including: ●
●
●
An enthusiastic and fresh approach to your business needs: students can offer up-to-date, specialist knowledge in their subject area. An excellent solution for delivering short and long term projects: for which dedicated resources may not be available. A route to support future recruitment: a placement within an organisation can be viewed as an extended interview and helps companies to create a talent pipeline for future vacancies.
Our students will not only have an undergraduate degree, and therefore a wealth of knowledge and transferable skills, but also a postgraduate degree gained from a top ranking, innovative and forward thinking tnstitution. This will culminate in generating graduates with fundamental key academic skills and knowledge acquired during their educational journey, along with highly employable skills such as: Innovation Entrepreneurial mindset ● Commercial awareness ● Social responsibility ● Advanced written and oral communication ● Problem-solving ● Advanced research abilities ● Organisation and data analysis skills ● ●
Our technical graduates will also have up-to-date specialist or technical skills gained from studies which are complimented through applying academic knowledge in their work placements, possibly at a competitor company! We are currently engaging with representatives from all sectors to generate mutually beneficial collaborations and if you are interested in becoming a partner to benefit, engage and interact with our students we would be delighted to hear from you.
To discuss any area in more detail and/or to arrange a meeting please contact: Louise Donaghy Head of Employer Engagement l.donaghy@lboro.ac.uk
Talk to us... Louise Donaghy, Head of Employer Engagement l.donaghy@lboro.ac.uk (01509 222091) Diana Gormley, Employer Engagement Assistant d.gormley@lboro.ac.uk (01509 222907)
Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, London, E20 3BS T: +44 (0)1509 263171 www.lboro.ac.uk