wiru.edu.au

CharlesDarwinUniversity//FlindersUniversity//GriffithUniversity//JamesCookUniversity//LaTrobeUniversity//MurdochUniversity

1

InnovationCaseStudyHorizonAward

“This award has been instrumental in motivating me to increase my employability and competitiveness, and to develop my professional brand.” (Student, Masters of Social Work)

VerityKingsmill:SkillDevelopmentCertificateProjectCoordinator

CONTEXTThe Flinders University Horizon Professional Development Award empowers students to access arangeofexperiences,participatefullyintheUniversitycommunityandunderstandandexperiencethevalueofenhancingtheiremployability. TheHorizonAward is focussedon improvinggraduateemploymentoutcomesandraisestheprofileofFlindersUniversitystudentsandtheirachievementswith industry, employers, and professional associations. The Horizon Professional DevelopmentAwardisstructuredtobestudentcentredanddesignedtoenhancethestudentexperience.Ithasbeendevelopedtoimproveexperiencesforstudentsandexpandopportunitiesforthemtoachievepositiveemploymentoutcomes.

The main goals for the Award are to continue to assist in the ongoing career development,employability, and transition to employment of Flinders students. This is achieved through abespokeprofessionaldevelopmentmodelcreatingpersonalisedprofessionaldevelopmentforeachstudent,and thecapacity for students tocreate their own, individually tailoredprofessionaldevelopmentexperience.

RATIONALEWith an ever changing workspace there is an ever increasing need to deliver more topicalprofessional develop sessions, better enabling our students to be equipped for the skills that areneeded to be successful in this changing workspace, especially in the increasingly competitivegraduatemarket.

Flinders University’s underlying ethos of being student centred combined with our values ofintegrity,courage,innovation,andexcellence,ismirroredintheHorizonAward,by:

• focussingonstudentsuccess• empoweringstudentsaspartners• providingmeaningfulfeedback,and• celebratingstudentachievement.

Differentiating students in a competitive graduatemarket is core to students successfullygaining employment.Aswell as academic abilities, employers prioritise graduates able tomakea real contribution fromdayone. Therefore, creatingopportunities for students todevelop the core skills needed across industries, while also formally recognising theircommitment to their development, is a key contributor for successful transition into thegraduateworkplace.

DESCRIPTIONProviding a tangible program that rewards and recognises individuals’ achievements,provides an attractive and proactive way for students to engage in university life andpersonalise their professional development, whatever their circumstances. This directlycontributes to their lifelong employability and opportunity for success in gaining,maintaining and transitioning in theirchosen occupations. This easily enablesthe engagement of a wide and diversestudentpopulation, includingcateringforstudents with varying levels of priorprofessionalexperience.

Students map their own professionaldevelopment, with every initiative having either a broad or targeted skill developmentfocus. Students earn points for different activities, and different activities earn differentpointvalues.Inturn,studentsworktowardsSilver,GoldandPlatinumlevelsoftheAward.Studentsself-enroll intheAwardandcanparticipateinactivitiesasquicklyorasslowlyasthey wish. There is no time restriction on earning points, as long as they are currentlyenrolled;theycanmodifyinvolvementdependingontheflexibilityinacademicload,aswellaswork,family,andlifecommitments.

TheHorizonAwardencouragesActivities,programs, initiatives,andopportunities thatareorganicandrespondtochanginganddevelopingindustryneeds.Collaborationonprogramdevelopment, and expansion and inclusion of broader internal and external initiatives isconsidered by the Award, with initiatives being designed, delivered, and modified forcurrentandfutureworkspaces.Inthepasttheseprojectshavetakentheformofmentoringprograms,leadershipprogramsandinnovationandenterpriseinitiatives.Someexamplesofprograms&activitiesincludedintheHorizonAwardinclude:

• Volunteeringinitiatives

• Internal volunteering & leadership programs piloted and/or implemented incollaboration with other service areas (e.g., student association leadershipprograms,accessunitsmentoringprograms,studentwellbeingculturalprogram.

“My participation has really broadened my horizon on the basic qualities and attributes that promote good working relationship, productivity, efficiency and effectiveness as an employee.”(Student, Masters of Gerontology)

wiru.edu.au

CharlesDarwinUniversity//FlindersUniversity//GriffithUniversity//JamesCookUniversity//LaTrobeUniversity//MurdochUniversity

3

• Futureskillsworkshops

• Lunchtimeexperientialworkshopsidentifyingkeyskillsforthecurrent&furtherworkspace.eg:working incrossgenerational teams,buildingresilience&GRIT,decision making in the workplace, cultural intelligence, teams in a globalworkspace,workplanningprofessionalsetting.

TheonlycompulsorycomponentoftheAwardisthe“TransitiontoEmploymentCapstone”,with varying requirements to be completed or undertaken at each level of the Awardachieved.Currentprograms,andnewprogramsforinclusion,arecontinuallyreviewedanddevelopedtoensureconsistency inachievingahigh levelofquality,andopportunitiesforengagementandconnectionwithcommunity.

In addition todevelopingprofessional skills, andprofessional identity, theHorizonAwardcontributesto:

• An enhanced university experience and as an optional component of our learningenvironment, encouraging student independence, resilience, resourcefulness andconfidence

• Extra-curricularactivitiesthroughinstitutionallyendorsedandsupportedprogramscancontributetostudentengagementbyassistingstudentstointegrateintotheuniversityanditscommunities.

• Valuable skills, attributes and talents developed through participation in non-creditbasedactivities,inadditiontotheformalcurriculum.

The Horizon Award rewards and recognises students’ achievement and commitment totheirownprofessionaldevelopment.Rewardandrecognitionhasaprovenpositiveimpactonstudents’buildingself-efficacy.Improvedself-efficacyhasadirectcorrelationtostudentretentionandsuccess(JournalofCollegeStudentDevelopment,Vol50,1,209,p19-34)

IMPACT• 1266studentsenrolled

• studentenrolmentsarecurrentlyfromwordofmouthpromotiononly• 52.16%Increasedstudentenrolmentfromendofpilot(June2016,789students

enrolled)tocurrent(January2017,1266studentsenrolled)• 28%internationalstudents• 72%domesticstudents(24%lowSES)• 70%undergraduatestudents

• 25%firstyearstudents• 30%postgraduatestudents

Tags:Employability,CareerDevelopmentLearning,Leadership,Flinders