Academic staff testimonials
The Academic staff testimonials below were provided below in support of the 2010 Vice Chancellor's Award for Professional Staff Excellence.
- Sonya Arnold, Course Coordinator Academic Skills for IT Professionals (INFS 5073)
- Dr Andrew Davey, Program Director: Pharmaceutical Science and Pharmaceutical Science-Pharmacy (Hons) Double Degree
- Dr Andrew Allan, Senior Lecturer (Transport, Urban and Regional Planning) and Hans Pieters Lecturer, School of Natural and Built Environments
- Dr Luke Faulkner, Program Director - Bachelor of Management (Human Resource Management), Lecturer School of Management
- Dr Yousef Amer, Lecturer, Course Coordinator and Research Degree Supervisor, School of Advanced Manufacturing and Mechanical Engineering
I am writing to support the nomination of the Career Services Team for a Vice Chancellor's Award for Professional Staff Excellence. Academic Skills for IT Professionals (INFS 5073) has embedded career management skills within its curriculum since 2008. These skills are taught during the first three weeks by career advisors from the LTU. These sessions are fun, interactive and of immense benefit to my students.
The students in INFS 5073 are primarily international masters undertaking their first study period at UniSA. There is enormous benefit in preparing international students for the Australian workplace before they graduate. The career advisor sessions ready students for the Australian job market and focus on early identification of areas that they need to improve upon. This gives the students time to become job ready.
Most new international students have little to no Australian networks and many are unable to obtain Australian references. Not only is the importance of networking discussed, but the career advisors teach students how to network and suggest various networking events that they may attend. This is crucial towards obtaining work in their chosen field.
One of the main assignments in INFS 5073 is an application for employment that includes a cover letter and CV. The career advisors I have had personal contact with, have valuable work experience in recruiting. The students really appreciate the opportunity to discuss their CV in class, and receive excellent advice on tailoring their applications to the job. Australian CVs are vastly different to CVs that students have produced in their home countries. The career advisors are able to recognise and explain the differences and this results in many high quality applications being submitted.
In summary I cannot support this nomination enough. Embedding career management skills in INFS 5073 is invaluable to my students and the Career Services Team have done an outstanding job over the years. Students not only enjoy the sessions, but they gain skills that will help them obtain work in their chosen field upon graduation.
Sincerely, Sonya Arnold
Course Coordinator Academic Skills for IT Professionals (INFS 5073)
I wish to give my support for the Careers Services team in their Nomination for the Vice Chancellors Awards for Professional Staff Excellence.
Within my program, I have worked closely with several members of the team to embed career skills into 1st and 2nd year courses. This interaction has been vital in accelerating the development of key career skills within our undergraduates. Even at first year level, our students are developing the confidence and ability to network with industry representatives in both formal and informal settings. This enables them to make an early impression with potential employers and sets them apart from students at competitor universities. In addition, the CV and job interview skills that the students get as part of their 2nd year program reinforces the skills learnt in 1st year giving them an impressive awareness of how to find and secure positions in the pharmaceutical industry.
Indeed, as part of their program they are expected to undertake a placement at the end of their 2nd year with several of the companies selecting candidates by interview. The companies are always impressed by the level of preparedness of our undergraduates for this process.
Yours Sincerely, Dr Andrew Davey
Program Director: Pharmaceutical Science and Pharmaceutical Science-Pharmacy (Hons) Double Degree
We would like to commend the work of Mary Power, Career Advisor in the Learning and Teaching Unit at the City East Campus.
The Head of the Regional and Urban Planning Discipline consulted Mary early in 2010 regarding career management input into the Regional and Urban Planning Program. It was agreed that the third year Field Placement Course (ARCH 3044) was an ideal vehicle for providing students with career management input. Mary identified that an induction seminar scheduled in SP2 for students on placement in SP5 could be utilised for a presentation on organising and preparing for industry placement. Prior to the induction seminar we discussed the proposed agenda and Mary Power forwarded us a copy of a presentation she had provided at a similar event for students on field placement through a related course.
It was immediately obvious that the presentation would creatively address the key issues we had identified and we also agreed on some amendments to the content that would better suit this particular group of students. The importance of Field Placements for subsequent employment opportunities were clearly articulated in the presentation on the 16th June 2010 as were the set of skills needed to ensure that a placement would be successful from day one. The presentation was well received by the students and led to considerable discussion among the group.
In addition to the obvious skills that Mary has as a presenter it was clear to us that the content was based on a strong appreciation of industry needs and contained just the right mix of theory and practice for this group of students.
Regards, Dr Andrew Allan and Hans Pieters
Senior Lecturer (Transport, Urban and Regional Planning) and Lecturer, School of Natural and Built Environments
I am very grateful to Lynne Sowerby for the input she has given in the course ENVT 2001 Management Practicum in 2009 and 2010. Lynne prepared and presented the topic 'Workplace competence: Effective strategies for fitting into a working environment'.
Management Practicum students are required to find, research and fix a real and measurable HRM-related problem within an organisation of their choice. Assessment is comprised of a literature review, a formal, verbal, presentation before a group of senior managers from their sponsoring organisation and the submission of a written report of their findings. Lynne's presentation enables students to be able to apply their academic research to the needs of their sponsoring organisation and to understand the link between academic learning and industry-based problem solving.
I am pleased to say that Lynne's presentation was very well received by students.
Dr Luke Faulkner
Program Director - Bachelor of Management (Human Resource Management), Lecturer School of Management
Frederick Stokes-Thompson's input into the Masters of Engineering program for international students has been invaluable in better positioning the students for the Australian workplace. Frederick prepared and presented a two hour session on 'The Australian workplace culture' as well as covered the areas of preparation for placement and networking. As a result, it is anticipated that students will be more comfortable, interactive and productive in their work placement which will undertaken later in the year. Frederick's involvement with students has gone beyond a formal classroom presentation. He attended and interacted in an industry panel session I organised for the students, as well as accompanied the students on an industry visit to the Northern expressway project.
I am happy to report that Frederick's presentation and involvement with the program has been very well received by the students
Regards, Dr Yousef Amer
Lecturer, Course Coordinator and Research Degree Supervisor, School of Advanced Manufacturing and Mechanical Engineering