Cash awards to make courses more employer-friendly are now available as part of the University’s Learning and Teaching Enhancement Programme (LTEP).
The overall aim of the programme is to encourage new ways of supporting student learning, which can then be shared amongst colleagues, so that the benefits are felt across the academic community.
The Careers Service and Centre for Learning & Teaching are now offering awards of up to £500 to support individuals to develop and evaluate new employability approaches in their teaching practices. Funded employability projects will take place during academic year 2008/09, in either or both half-sessions.
Employability is key issue in the Higher Education agenda and covers areas such as career management skills, work-related learning, transferable skill development, employer engagement and personal development planning (PDP).
This scheme aims to support academics with thediverse opportunities in which employability can be embedded to enhance degree programmes. The LTEP funding is extremely timely as the Scottish Funding Council's new corporate plan includes a priority action 'improving the employability and skills of learners.'
The University's Educational & Employability Development Adviser Dr Joy Perkins said: "The programme is a great opportunity to raise employability awareness and work more closely with Course Co-ordinators and Programme Co-ordinators to embed employability in the academic curriculum."
Peter Fantom, Head of the Careers Service said: "We recognise the need to heighten our profile and purpose among the academic community. We hope this type of project will enable some interesting projects to get off the ground and will help colleagues gain a greater understanding of the support role provided by the University Careers Service."
Colleagues are invited to submit brief proposals, using the application form available from http://www.abdn.ac.uk/clt/ltep/. All applications must be received no later than Friday 4th July 2008. Successful applicants will be informed mid-August 2008.
To obtain further advice and discuss potential employability project ideas, all applicants are encouraged to contact Dr Joy Perkins (email: href="mailto:j.perkins@abdn.ac.uk">j.perkins@abdn.ac.uk</a>), or Dr Darren Comber, (email: href="mailto:d.comber@abdn.ac.uk">d.comber@abdn.ac.uk</a>) before submitting an application. Alternatively, phone the Careers Service (tel: 27 3601) or the Centre for Learning & Teaching (tel: 27 3030).