SEE Student Enterprise & Employability University of the Arts London Dr Shân Wareing Dean of Learning and Teaching Development 14th April 2011

Background to UAL visual arts, communication & performance 20,000 students 40% students from outside the UK 26% international; 13% EU (non-UK) 6 Colleges: Camberwell, Central Saint Martins, Chelsea, London College of Communication, London College of Fashion, Wimbledon 15 central London sites

How things were Central careers service Hotch potch of other central provision, funded by UAL, HEIF, & the Arts Council College based provision - e.g. the Fashion Business Resource Studio at LCF Activity at course level – e.g. links to major corporates in beauty & fashion/self-employed practitioners – leading to awards, placements and industry input in validation, teaching and assessment

The problems Lack of equity of offer to students – extent and effectiveness of provision varied depending on College, specific disciplinary area, and course team Impact of central provision not proportionate to cost - not tailored sufficiently to needs of UAL students, not dynamic enough Ineffective use of resources – duplication of provision, marketing & admin; silo-ing of knowledge, contacts and ideas Confusion about provision - barrier to uptake Inability to shape strategic direction e.g. regarding fairness, internationalism

Approach taken We drew on an extensive body of research commissioned specifically to support the change internal, commissioned for other reasons national Internal publications The impact of business engagement on learning and working Kate Oakley 2010 Review of Mentoring and Work Placement Opportunities for Student and Graduates of the University of the Arts London Rowan Drury 2007 Bold resourcefulness: re-defining employability and entrepreneurial learning – Linda Ball 2008 Supporting Employability Valerie Rowles 2008 UAL Employability Report: Student-facing services Nancy Turner 2009 A New Employability Service for the University of the Arts S.Llewellyn, F. Sandford and K Dugdale, 2010 UAL-led, externally published reports Creative Interventions – Catherine Smith et al 2010 Creative Graduates, Creative Futures Linda Ball et al 2010

Art & Design Graduates Slow start Portfolio careers Success conceived primarily in terms of creativity of work, autonomy & work/life balance Higher proportion of UAL students in creative work than UCL science graduates in science High proportion arrive at University with clear career goals; careers support needs to help them realise their goals, not form them Employment more from networks – placements and contacts – than CVs and job applications

Graduates rated most course activities as fairly or very useful, with Personal and Professional Development (PPD), teamwork and teaching by practitioners as the most useful in relation to their careers Ball et al 2010

Self-confidence and self-management were considered to be the most important to careers, yet they were felt to be less well- developed than core creative skills Entrepreneurial skills were the least well- developed and also perceived to be the least important for career development

Just over half of the graduates (52%) felt their course had prepared them very or fairly well for the world of work. Respondents would have liked a better appreciation of what creative employment would be like, improved understanding of client needs, training in IT/software, business skills and the practicalities of working freelance

Changes Bring disparate central units together: Creative Careers (Careers Service) Art Quest (support for practicing artists) Own It (IPR service) ECCA – Enterprise Centre for the Creative Arts (business start up advice) Arts Temps (employment agency for casual work) Increase online provision (including Creative Living; PPD coach)

Student Enterprise and Employability Organisational Chart

Changes Co-location of Student Enterprise and Employability with Learning and Teaching New title & acronym: SEE Equity and effective use of resources – implement through curriculum change, small grants, taught professional development provision, online provision, community and RLO Confidence/agency/efficacy: core to e&e, academic success, and retention

Challenges Leadership and management of change: bringing disparate teams together with new vision & ways of working CLTAD/SEE – generate value-added Recruitment Communicating change to university Obtaining buy-in

Challenges Revision of online provision – branding, consistency, fitness for purpose, maintaining currency, dynamics Discourse; e.g. enterprise and employability – which first? Which is more encompassing – more life-wide? Baggage with both terms