Establishing Industrial Advisory Boards using a Practice Transfer Adoption

Model

Samantha PughUniversity of

Leeds

Michael GroveUniversity of Birmingham

National HE STEM ProgrammeEstablished by HEFCE & HEFCW in autumn 2008£21million investmentTen core Partners + 90 other HEIs

Mission Statement:The National HE STEM Programme supports Higher Education Institutions in encouraging the exploration of new approaches to recruiting students and delivering programmes of study within the STEM disciplines.

Enables the transfer of best practice across the sector;Facilitates wider adoption, and encourages innovation; Collaboration and shared-working;Sustainable activities to achieve long-term impact.

Practice Transfer Adoption (PTAs)A structured approach to dissemination (uptake):• Identification of proven effective practice;• Costed/Packaged model for roll-out.

• Competitive call for ‘Adopter’ HEIs;• Implementation funds and access to a mentor/advisor.

• Undertaken as a ‘community of practice’;• Other similar ‘uptake’ models implemented with HE STEM.

Industrial Advisory Board Objectives:• Exploring ways in which students and staff can increase

their understanding of how the external environment operates;

• Exploring the possibility of stakeholder input in terms of placements and externally-led sessions in the curriculum;

• Exploring collaboration for research projects.

IAB Benefits:• Improving student employability and higher level skills; • Increasing student awareness of career options;• Obtaining external input on the future direction for the

School.

Setting up the IAB:• Choose/appoint a proactive and senior figure as chair

(external or internal chair);• Recruit members from existing contacts within the school

initially.

• Decide on what you want to achieve internally before you start. This can evolve over time;

• Establish draft terms of reference, but keep them simple.

• Find a small group of “reliable members” to ensure the board establishes itself;

• Recruit members who have sufficient subject knowledge to comment on the curriculum.

• Build in opportunities for student interaction;• Employers should see where their input is being used.

ChemistrySpeed Networking Event

ChemistryNew industrial practical investigation

MathematicsIndustrial Lecture as part of a module

MathematicsPhD Case Award

Physics Summer Student Research Interns Symposium

PhysicsGroup Industrial Project

Impact of PTA approach:“This HE STEM project has clearly demonstrated that it is possible to introduce teaching initiatives into HE so as to achieve changes in practice that have national impact and the potential for sustainability with modest units of funding”