The PROCSEE Expert Group that worked on Theme 3 – Organization and Monitoring of Student Placements in the World of Work, developed the following Recommendations for the Challenges identified:

  • T3 – Organize and Monitor Student Placements in the World of Work
    • Install / nominate a “manager” as an interface between the students, stakeholders and the world of work – in order to make him / her a “key-account manager” for the representatives of industries related to the study program and a “product manager” of the study program
    • Involve students in the process of obtaining / applying for work placement and competing for the best practical training – in order to simulate the conditions on the labor market and to give students the responsibility of their own training
    • Set up a committee structure at institutional level for strategy development, study programs and quality management, having regular meeting and a rigorous definition of roles – partners from industries related to the study program should be members in this committee
    • Provide a framework for learning outcomes tailored for the workplacement, as part of curricula (the learning outcome  are usually related to what students study inside the PHE institution, but it is needed to extend them, in order to include activities as the workplacelent as well)
    • Create practical and quality tools (handbooks, manuals, data base etc.) for stakeholders, students, mentors and tutors – it is important for mentors and tutors to become familiarized with  pedagogical skills and communication skills, in order to be able to pass their know-how; also, students need guidance for acting as team players at the workplacement
    • Establish alumni department with dedicated staff to manage alumni data base and keep in contact – Alumni could be instrumental in recruiting pool for future guest lecturer and in facilitating workplacement for current students
    • Implement a PR awareness campaign, targeting the employers, about the benefits of student placement
    • Increase work-based learning/teaching in PHE institutions by using practitioners as guest lecturers, on a regular base – this measure should become part of a strategy
    • Define policies for student’s engagement in companies in order to enable the student to work in different departments during the placement period and, thus, to discover what suits his talents best
    • To offer economic incentives (tax reduction, tax exemptions, mentor paying) for companies that are accepting students as interns

These Recommendations are explained in detail at the PROCSEE Report “Policy Directions for Professional Higher Education in Central and South-Eastern Europe”.