Quantifying the benefits to collaborating companies of working with groups of students on UG projects > Update reports

Update reports

Project progress - November 2011

This period has been devoted to reviewing the group projects and analysing the results in order to inform the design of a brochure to encourage employers to engage students.

Work completed

A document has been written describing the characteristics of a good project and a suitable employer:

What makes a good project?

The structure of a draft brochure has been developed. The images have been sourced and a graphic designer has been briefed to assemble the document whilst conforming to the recommended style.

Next steps

A number of prospective companies have been approached and they are anxious to receive information on projects. The brochure will be sent to them just as soon as it has been produced. Their response will be scrutinised as to its effectiveness in transmitting the message and 'selling' the service.

The brochure will then be distributed for comment and amendments before being published.

Project progress - December 2011

This report describes the work undertaken since the last Interim report, comparing progress against the original plan.

December 2011 report

Project progress - March 2012

To recap: a number of projects were considered and evaluated in consultation with the collaborating companies. A notional value has been derived together with a description of other benefits that both the employers and students gain from such collaboration. The project was then extended to include a means of spreading the word and seeing how best other employers can be encouraged to engage students in real projects.

A brochure has been designed, printed and distributed to about 20 potential employers, none of which have used students for projects before. We are at the stage of communicating with these prospective collaborators and then to gauge their reaction to the opportunities presented. This will be done early next week and some sort of evaluation made urgently. It may be that a further mailing is done or perhaps the pdf sent electronically to a random selection of employers to assess an alternative means of awareness creation. The aim is to get some sense of what proportion of employers will follow up the opportunity.

The West of England LEP have developed material targeted at employers to promote Graduate Talent in the region and Summer Internships.

Staff involved

Graham Outram
Project lead, University of Bath

Christine Keenan
Bournemouth University

Penny Mitchell
Bournemouth University