1. School of Sport, Performing Arts and Leisure Walsall, United Kingdom

2. The Challenges of Employer Engagement A critical comparison of innovative course development Peter Robinson: Course Leader for Work Based Learning Caroline Wiscombe: Principal Lecturer/Head of Department Department of Leisure Industries University of Wolverhampton p.robinson@wlv.ac.ukp.robinson@wlv.ac.uk; c.wiscombe@wlv.ac.uk;c.wiscombe@wlv.ac.uk

3. Aims of the session Critical analysis of the term Employer Engagement Critical review of Employer engagement in FD Development in the department With you to debate workable solutions to the challenges that face HE in achieving successful Employer Engagement

4. Employer Engagement Definitions Importance of Employer engagement Employer engagement in practice Issues in Employer engagement Employer engagement in FD development Russell, 2007; DIUS, 2008

5. Leisure Department, University of Wolverhampton; our FD journey First FD Lessons learned Challenges for the LI team FD Professional Licensed Retailing (Banks and Turner, 2008; Russell, 2007; Robinson, et al, 2007; Wiscombe, 2005; Lynch, R. 2003 )

6. Employer engagement

7. Lessons Learned Needed employers to commit rather than approve the development Partnerships in HE or FE would spread delivery load and offer greater accessibility Block delivery not working; include more distance and e-learning Needs to be integral part of curriculum development to create ownership and drive for success

8. A Foundation Degree for the Travel Industry The challenges from previous development Employer engagement Challenges and the culture shock The finished product University partnerships National development (Wiscombe, Robinson & Wale 2007)

9. Conclusions and recommendations Clarity of systems, cultures and dialogues Study the paradigm to open their networks to a wider employer audience. Business development managers give an additional barrier between the employer and the academic. Impact of difficulties in one are of dialogue, culture and resulting frustrations The academics focus on their current task in hand Developing an internal matrix of university relationships and inviting employers to contribute to discussions on organisational structures The maintenance of quality is paramount and curriculum must be congruent with ensuring parity, levelness and progression for all learners. Reduce the frustration of employers in the duplication of offerings and differences in content and standard. Open dialogue between universities to ensure productive curriculum developments As the FD TOM has illustrated the development of large markets between wide partnerships of universities enables economies of scale and accessibility. Standardisation in industries of knowledge, skills and abilities can only benefit all organisations.

10. References Akerman, K. & Cott, M. (2005) The Review of Foundation Degrees in England 2004/05. in LINK 13 Foundation Degrees (May 2005), Hospitality, Leisure, Sport and Tourism Network Ball, S. (2008) The Sheffield Area Restaurant Forum (SARF). LINK 22 Employer Engagement (Autumn 2008), Hospitality, Leisure, Sport and Tourism Network Banks, A. & Turner, R. (2008) Use of realistic environments for teaching foundation degrees in the management of licensed premises. LINK 22 Employer Engagement (Autumn 2008), Hospitality, Leisure, Sport and Tourism Network Beech, J. & Dewhurst, H. (2008) The Foundation Degree in Travel Operations Management. LINK 22 Employer Engagement (Autumn 2008), Hospitality, Leisure, Sport and Tourism Network Birmingham and Solihull LSC (2004) Review of Education and Training within the Hospitality and Catering Sector in the West Midlands. LSC. March 2004. www.lsc.gov.uk/shropshire/documents/subjectlisting/research. accessed November 2004. Black Country Knowledge (2008) Black Country Observatory Data. www.blackcountryknowledge.co.uk/Economy/BusinessDevelopment. accessed October 2008.www.blackcountryknowledge.co.uk/Economy/BusinessDevelopment. accessed October 2008 Dale, C. and Povey, G. (2009) Learner Generated Content and Podcasting, Journal of Hospitality, Leisure, Sport and Tourism Education, (submitted, under review) Dale, C. and Povey, G. (2008) Podding Through the Ages: Student Experiences of Developing Podcasts, Association of Tourism Teachers in Higher Education Conference, Canterbury Christ Church University, 3rd - 5th December 2008 (abstract accepted, forthcoming) Dale, C. and Heitmann, S. (2007) Using images to support the assessment of online discussion forums in tourism, Association of Tourism Teachers in Higher Education Conference, St Marys College, Oxford, 5-7 December 2007 DIUS (2008) Higher Education at Work High Skills: High Value. 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