14 education & business
Preparing students for life in the global village
With the start of the Chinese New Year on February 19, Southampton Solent University has been busy making inroads of its own into the Far East. The Business Magazine’s Alison Dewar reports
Recently, the university hosted two delegations from China as part of its internationalisation strategy of encouraging strong links with education institutions and businesses across the world.
At the same time, it is also further cementing ties with Malaysia and Hong Kong as it strives to give students a head start on the global career stage.
Professor Mike Wilkinson, deputy vice-chancellor for external engagement at the university, says having the opportunity to gain international experience is a vital ingredient in the employability stakes.
“Whether you are a large corporation or a small business, it is increasingly important to be part of the global village, which is why we are actively working to bring people with an international outlook into the university and create new partnerships,“ he said.
“Our international programme is very much about a two-way flow of people and ideas, enabling our students and staff to gain first- hand experience of working in different cultures, and for students from our partner universities to have the opportunity to study and work here, improving their language skills and understanding western business culture.
“We’re very focused on the international employability of our students and developing the right eco-systems between ourselves, students and nearby employers to ensure they work for everyone.“
Wilkinson says although many other universities are involved in exchange projects, what makes Southampton Solent’s programme different is its emphasis on employment.
“Our USP is the work-related element; the fact we are working with external businesses and are focused on securing work
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model within Huaiyin Institute of Technology to help increase employability opportunities for the rapidly rising number of Chinese university students.
Elsewhere, Southampton Solent has established a partnership with a creative university in Malaysia, Limkokwing University, and there are ongoing discussions with a Hong Kong institution which is keen to draw on Solent’s expertise in the marine and maritime sectors.
Wilkinson’s next challenge is to attract interest from companies throughout the Solent region who either have parent companies or subsidiaries in the Far East, and who would be willing to support the internationalisation programme by offering work placements.
Visiting delegates from China’s ministry of education’s National Academy for Education Administration were invited by mayor Sue Blatchford to experience taking a seat in the city council chamber
placements for students both here and overseas. Ultimately it will be worth the reward, because it will provide a much better experience for the students,“ he continued.
Wilkinson says his goal is to ensure every student has some sort of exchange interaction – whether that means travelling overseas, or working closer to home alongside visiting overseas students.
Southampton City already has strong links with China, thanks to its twin town of Qingdao, and in early December, the university hosted a delegation of 23 Chinese university presidents and leaders from China’s ministry of education’s National Academy for Education Administration.
They took part in training, workshop and knowledge transfer sessions and were keen to find out more about the university’s areas of specialism, such as marine engineering, the creative industries and sport.
Professor Chen Hong, president of Hunan University of Science and Engineering, said how impressed the visitors were with Southampton Solent’s cutting- edge facilities and professional courses, together with the
academic provision and real-world work experiences.
As a result of the visit, an understanding was reached between Southampton Solent and five educational institutions in China including Suzhou University and the Hunan University of Science and Engineering.
In November, the university welcomed a delegation from China’s Huaiyin Institute of Technology, a multi-disciplinary engineering institute with 18,000 students based in Jiangsu Province.
Dr Zhang Yue, chairman of the council, who led the delegation, praised Southampton Solent for its impressive inter-disciplinary courses and employment initiatives and the two institutions signed a memorandum of understanding to allow them to explore joint programmes, including student and staff exchange and international projects.
In particular, the delegation was impressed with Solent Creatives, the university’s creative agency, and Zhang announced plans to introduce a similar
THE BUSINESS MAGAZINE – SOLENT & SOUTH CENTRAL – FEBRUARY 2015
“We know that work experience for students or new graduates really improves their overall employment prospects and, by linking with relevant employers, we hope to be able to offer UK placements for incoming students or identify opportunities for Solent students who will be going overseas,“ he said.
“It’s also good for businesses as they have the chance to select the students who best suit their requirements and, during their placement, see how they work and consider if they are able to offer them a position in the future.“
It is hoped that a pilot for the internationalisation programme will be paid for in part by the Government’s Higher Education Academy through a bid to its strategic enhancement programme. This is in line with the European higher education area’s mobility target of one in five of graduating students with international mobility experience as part of their studies by 2020.
Wilkinson says as well as enabling the expansion of the exchange programmes much further afield, new funding will also help support some students with travel costs to ensure that expense isn’t a barrier to participation.
Details:
www.solent.ac.uk
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