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Developing Curricular Activities for Graduate Employability

Readiness

Wednesday December 20, 2017

German Jordanian University – Main Campus

Hosted by

Dr. Ziad Abuelrub

Industrial Relations Committee

German Jordanian University

Workshop Report

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Table of Contents Seminar Programme ................................................................................................................................ 3

Participants ................................................................................................................................................ 4

Welcoming and Opening ......................................................................................................................... 4

Session 1: A Strategic Framework for Graduate Employability Readiness .................................... 4

Session2: The HEAC National Strategy, Framework and Guidelines. ............................................ 6

Prof. Ziad Alanbar; Vice president for Academic Affairs, Higher Education

Accreditation Commission. ..................................................................................................................... 6

Session 3: Engaging Industry in for Graduates Employability Readiness, German Jordanian

University ................................................................................................................................................... 8

Session 4: Planning and Designing the Employability Embedded Academic Programme ......... 13

Participants’ feedback............................................................................................................................ 18

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Seminar Programme

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Participants

Welcoming and Opening

The Seminar started by a welcoming speech by Professor Manar Fayyad, President of

the German Jordanian University, followed by welcoming from Nour Al Jumaili,

Contracts and Partnerships Manager at British Council. Then Dr. Haya Al- Dajani;

Associate Professor (Reader) in Entrepreneurship, Plymouth University, gave a brief

about the Entrepreneurial University programme and NEED 1 Seminar.

Session 1: A Strategic Framework for Graduate Employability Readiness; Professor

Nikolaos Tzakos

Dr. Nikolaos started his session by defining the employability skills and the factors drive

the employability in higher education. Then he moved to the importance of finding what

the skills needed from the employers’ perspectives.

39 Academics

from public and

private

Universities

8

Representatives

from Industry

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Then Dr. Nikolaos presented the Effective strategies for employability:

embedding employability in the curriculum and ensuring that students are able to make a connection between employability outcomes and their discipline

providing a range of co-curricular and extra-curricular opportunities for students to enhance their employability

building links with the labour market and encouraging students to do the same. The literature finds value in a wide range of connections between HEIs and employers. In particular, there is evidence of the impact of providing students’ with real connections to employers and actual experience of the labour market

supporting students to increase their confidence, self-belief and self-efficacy through their studies

encouraging reflection and increasing students capacity to articulate and communicate their learning to employers; encouraging student mobility and fostering a global perspective

using institutional career guidance services as organising and co-ordinating structures for HEIs employability strategies. However, in order to achieve this, the role of the services need to be broadly conceived

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Session2: The HEAC National Strategy, Framework and Guidelines.

Prof. Zaid Alanbar; Vice president for Academic Affairs, Higher Education

Accreditation Commission.

Dr. Zaid started the session by sharing the vision, mission, aims and brief about the

commission, then moved to the main quality assurance’s criteria

Also Dr. Zaid has shared the development of the National Qualification Framework in

line with the National Human Resources Strategy for Development 2016-2025, and he

showed the statistics for the number of students in the Jordanian Universities, the

employability challenges and steps to address the employability challenges.

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AQACHEI “Accreditation and Quality Assurance recommends Commission for Higher Educating Institutions” is building the Employability

Readiness Platform which will allow employers in Jordan to identify and develop interrelated processes, policies and procedures that will enable the

easy development of employability skills and attributes as well as access of information by students and graduates.

Employers need to design a

system that will enble to

Having accurate

undersanding of

employability challenges &

needs

Develop the right

employability skills among employees

Access Employability

information

Educators' responsibilties

Development process

Equipping student with employability

Skills

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AQACHEI Strategy

Group discussion:

- AQACHEI need to do regular review on competency exam and develop skills to meet the

updated needs.

- We as Higher Education institutions need to focus on the students in order to have the

knowledge, personality and the required skills.

- We need to provide good quality “having the technical knowledge is essential in addition

to other skills”.

- Equip our students with the required skills for the international market.

- We should move from teaching to learning and from institutions to students.

- The entrepreneurial skills are essentials for students, not only to be employed but also to

become entrepreneurs.

- The importance of not only having the knowledge but also how to apply it in the field.

- Universities should develop the curricula and develop the faculty members to be able to

transfer skills to students.

- The quality of the academics should be within AQACHEI standards. Number of

publications and training should be within their standards.

Session 3: Engaging Industry in for Graduates Employability Readiness, German

Jordanian University Dr. Ziad Abuelrub, Head of Industrial Relation Committee, started the presentation with brief

about the German Jordanian University. The university has two main strategic dimensions to

provide graduates with employability skills to the labour market:

To ask universities to justify to what extent their programmes can meet the labour market needs and hwo to address possible skills shortages in particular area of industry

•Encourage universities to use new teaching and learning paradigm that makes the learning environment a true reflection of workplace.

Consider embedding employability in the Curricula

•Recommend to terminate some programmes with low employability opportunities

The Geraman Dimension

The Industrial Dimension

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The German Dimension includes: German wide network of 111 partner universities, German

Jordanian Faculty, German language compulsory for all bachelor degree students and one year

compulsory in Germany for all students.

The Industrial dimension: strong links with industrial partners in Jordan and Germany, GJU has

special units and schemes to promote collaboration with industry and special programmes to

expose students to the real world.

GJU Implementation Strategy

GJU Goals

Industrial Relation Committee strategy

Linking the theoretical education with the practical application through a strategic partnership with

the industry and linking an entrepreneurial and start up culture at GJU.

Office for Industrial Links (OIL) facilitating sustainable university-industry partnerships

Ms.Britta Kahler, Director, Office for Industrial Links, presented the OIL services

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Career Services: offers internship preparation seminar and consultation for the 5 months

internship in Germany, CV writing and interview training sessions, implement annual GJU career

fair and provide job and internship offers through GJU career portal for students and graduates

Project Services: Supports the cooperation between study departments, students and industry

to enable practice oriented teaching and research.

Company Services: Enhance close cooperation with companies on a national, regional and

international level.

GJU PIE (Programme Innovation and Entrepreneurship)

Eng. Jamil Alkhatib, Manager GJU, and PIE, presented the below entrepreneurship services

which offered at GJU:

- Create and Entrepreneurial system at GJU

- Encourage graduates to establish their own business.

- Participate in competitions

- Transfer research into business.

- GJU alumni entrepreneurship award

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Establishing Dual Studies Programme

Mr. Randolph Galla, Dual Studies Advisor (OIL), shared the dual studies programme in GJU

GJU’s approach: Integrating vocational and academic approach

Workshops with Jordanian Companies and GJU Academics, survey on needs and expectations:

Dual BSc programme enriched with practical phases in companies, up to 40% training at

workplace, practical training graded and 1 academic degree.

Example on Training Locations

Getting Industry on board: The GJU conducting: continued site visits to companies, planned

study tours with companies to discuss exchanges in dual studies with various German actors,

various measures to improve training in partner companies and companies to take part of

advisory board.

The Aqaba logistic village (ALV)

Mr. Hakam Abul Feilat, General Manager, Aqaba Logistics Village, presented brief about

the ALV and their role as prime partner in the dual studies project and their motivations to

participate in the dual programme. Also he shared the benefits and challenges behind

the dual programme.

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Dual Programme mechanism

Programme duration & details Exams Grades

4 full weeks practical training,

supervised by ALV staff

2 written exams at GJU in

theory

40% for the written exams

in theory

2 intensive courses delivered by

GJU lecturers on the spot

Practical evaluation on

ALV according to mutually

agreed criteria

60% on practical

evaluation

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Lessons Learned:

Session 4: Planning and Designing the Employability Embedded Academic

Programme

Dr. Haya Al Dajani shared some examples on in-curriculum and co-curricular

employability skills and example of employability skills in a unit

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Also, Dr Haya has shared the “Employability Audit tool”:

Step 1: Action plan

Step 2: Determining and Justifying the In-Curricula Employability Skills for Your

Programme

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Step 3: Mapping In-Curricula Employability Skills across the Programme

Mapping Employability Tool: The participants worked in groups on 1-2 of the eight

employability tools to identify the needs for their institutions, below are the outcomes for

the working groups

Group1

Career Path Development

Qulaifications need improvement to compensate the lack of human

Career services to work together for career development

Engaging academics

Grdauate Employment

Career Development Point

Regular presentations by careers developmet during courses (1st years)

Invite career service for curricular development

Resources/constraints: Limimted human resources, qulaification of people at career services and using tools/apps to compensate lack of resources

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Group2

Group3

Group 4

Career Path Development

Engage recent and senior graduates to share success stiries

University to enhace curricula depending on grdautes feedback

Create a tool to engage draduates "social media"

Resources

Identifying employability skills and embed in curricula

Students to know the management skills not only operation

Relationship with the employer

Mutual visits between universities and industry

Researches and feedback from industry in our local market

Internships

Career Path development

Job fairs

Employability skills such as English language , communication skills

Career path development

Employment advisor for each department linked with academics, students and industry

Options for work experience

Shadowing

Training

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Group 5

Group 6

**At the end of the session Dr. Haya asked the participants to fill the reflective

workshop evaluation and share it with British Council

Career path development

To improve employability in universities

Industrial speaker from time to time

allocate one hour to discuss how we can improve employability

Relationships with the empoyer

Invite speaker from industryto talk about the needed skills in the market and update curricula accordingly

Relationship with the industry

Create employment advisor and employment hub

Encourage industry speakers to give updates about the needed skills in the market and try to embed through course work and projects

Graduate employment

Embedding employment needed skills through teaching modules

Encourage cooperative education by engaging students in their final year (real life career day)

Provide students with the employment skills

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Participants’ feedback