Engaging with Employers: Partnership and Collaboration in a changing environment

[Background] [Aims] [Audience] [Outcomes] [Programme] [Event Information] [Application Conditions]

Background

The wider higher education environment:

Most universities take seriously their civic engagement role but, often, in the past, this work has taken place in the margins of institutional activity. This has begun to change with HEIs starting to embed the work throughout their teaching and research activity, to reflect it in their mission statements and strategies, and to create space for it through their formal structures and in their systems of reward and recognition. A number of trends are responsible for closing the gap between universities and their towns, cities and regions, among them: 

• The introduction by the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) of social and economic ‘impact’ as part of its criteria for funding research;
• The widening participation agenda and the requirement on HEIs charging higher fees to submit Access Agreements, setting out what they are dong to attract under-represented groups into higher education, to the Office of Fair Access;
• The localism agenda and the expectation that university leaders will contribute to ‘leadership of place’ and local economic and civic renewal by helping join up a range of national policies and programmes at a local level;
• The context of economic recession which is, on the one hand, prompting universities to think harder about their potential role in wider society and the value of collaborative working with local, national and global partners; and, on the other, prompting government and other stakeholders to question the purpose of universities; and
• The pressure on HEIs to improve public understanding of what universities do and to engage the public more, particularly around science and technology, in order to make university research a more dynamic part of everyday life. 

The conference series will examine their different aspects of HEI partnership and collaboration, considering, in particular, engagement with: institutions – including schools, further education colleges and local authorities; employers; and communities more widely. It will give delegates an opportunity to learn about some of the best practice in the sector, to hear from a range of expert keynote speakers and to develop their own institutional action plans for civic engagement.

This partnership conference is brought to you by:
FACE  (Forum for Access and Continuing Education)
UALL   (Universities Association for Lifelong Learning)
AoA     (Action on Access)
NIACE (National Institute of Adult Continuing Education).

Background on engaging with employers:

The motives, cultures and institutional priorities of the more modern universities are likely to differ from those of the older ‘pre-1992’ universities, which tend to be more research-intensive, as well as more internationally focused. The newer, post-1992, universities recruit the majority of their students from the region in which they are located and are more extensively involved in vocational and professional training, consultancy work and applied research, giving them a strong interest in engaging locally, particularly with employers. The pre-1992 institutions, often motivated by the need to draw down funding for research, have also been working to revive a wider ‘civic’ agenda within these institutions – and many ‘civic universities’, such as Liverpool and Bristol, have maintained a commitment to their founding civic principles throughout their histories. HEIs of all sorts are forging strong relationships with employers, developing strong links which in many cases are helping shape curriculum design, providing students with critical work experience and routes to employment and giving researchers an opportunity to create new, innovative partnerships with business. This conference will examine outstanding examples of mutually beneficial partnership and collaboration between HEIs and employer partners, and consider the role of such partnerships in addressing the challenges facing the higher education sector. It will also look to make connections with other key agendas, such as mature and flexible access and widening participation. 

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Aims

The conference aims to:

• share some of the best practice in the sector around employer engagement;
• explore the role of employers in widening participation;
• provide insight into how employers are coping in the new environment and what their concerns are; and
• provide delegates with examples of good practice.

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Outcomes

• Delegates will be better informed about the relevance and potential impact of employer partnership and collaboration on their work, on the success of their institutions and on their partners;
• Delegates will have a better understanding of the common factors which contribute to successful HEI employer engagement; and
• Delegates should leave the conference with a first sketch of an action plan to improve institutional engagement with employers.

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Audience

This conference will be of interest to those working in a higher education setting whose work involves or could benefit from greater civic engagement and wider partnership and collaboration, particularly with employers. It will be of particular interest to those interested in improving levels of collaboration with business and in learning how to embed employer partnership throughout the life of an institution and, in particular, in its teaching and research activity.

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Programme 

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 Event Information

• Arrival, registration and networking are at 10:00am for a 10:30am start. The conference will end with tea at 3:50pm
• Event fee per person: £100
  Reduced fee for members of FACE, UALL, AoA and NIACE: £69
  (includes sandwich lunch, tea/coffee)
• NB: NIACE does not charge VAT on conference or course fees
• Only online application forms with the payments section completed will be processed.
• NB: If you wish us to invoice your employer we require a copy of the Purchase Order before the form is processed
• Places will be allocated in order of receipt of completed online application forms (one online application form per person)
• Video cameras may be in use at this event. If you do not wish to be photographed or appear on the video outputs please indicate this on the application form and make yourself known at registration
• Participants should be prepared to take their own notes as there will not be handouts for all sessions
• If you have not received an e-mail confirming your attendance and joining instructions 4 working days before the event please contact: events@niace.org.uk

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Application Conditions

• Event date: Thursday 14 November 2013
• Closing date: Thursday 31 October 2013
• Cancellations are non-refundable
• The full fee is payable prior to the event
• Substitutions are to be advised 5 working days prior to the event
• A 15 working days notice period is required for provision of electronic note-takers, sign language interpreters and transcription to Braille
• Places are to be reserved online – scroll up and click on Apply Now
• Reservations by telephone cannot be accepted
• Application forms are individually acknowledged by e-mail. Joining instructions, including map and directions, will be e-mailed out one week before the event
• NIACE reserves the right to reject applicants who are not from the target audience list. 

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