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Online Staff Development Programme
COVID-19
The safety and well being of our members and staff continues to be our highest priority. We are adhering to the UK government and Public Health England advice concerning COVID-19, and continue to deliver support and training to our members online.
Our professional development events programme includes half day (09:30-1:30) Workshops and 90 minute (10:00-11:30) ASET Insights. See below for details of course content and click on titles to find out more about each workshop from our Learning and Development Advisor, Nicola.
Staff Development Workshops 9:30 – 1:30pm £125 ASET members £275 non-members
- An Introduction to Work Placement Management (IWPM) Thursday 27th January 2022
- Managing Health, Safety and Welfare for Student Placements (HSWP) Tuesday 8th February 2022
- Employer Engagement (EE) Wednesday 23rd February 2022
- Enhancing Engagement in Student Sessions (EESS) Thursday 10th March 2022
- Supporting International Students with Placements (SISP) Wednesday 23rd March 2022
- Resilience and Placements (RAP) Thursday 7th April 2022
- Widening Participation and Placements (WPP) Thursday 28th April 2022
- Freelancers, Entrepreneurs, Enterprise Placements (FEEP) Tuesday 10th May 2022
- From Placements to Employability (FPTE) Tuesday 24th May 2022
- Student Wellbeing and Placements (SWP) Tuesday 7th June 2022
- Equality, Diversity and Inclusion for Placements (EDIP) Tuesday 21st June 2022
- Placements for Postgraduates (PGrad) Wednesday 6th July 2022
ASET Insights 10:00-11:30am £50 ASET members £100 non-members
(scroll down for session details)
A – Approving international placement for home students – Wednesday 16th February 2022
B – Influencing Stakeholders – Monday 14th March 2022
C – Building resilience – tools of the trade – Thursday 19th May 2022
D – Time Management – Tuesday 14th June 2022
E – Recording, tracking and reporting placement activity within your HEP – Wednesday 13th July 2022
Workshop content:
1. An Introduction to Work Placement Management (IWPM)
Thursday 27th January 2022 09:30-13:30 ONLINE
This introductory session on the broad topic of work placement management will provide guidance for the support of work placements by practitioners. Participants will be furnished with a basis from which they can develop their own plans and manage the day-to-day challenges likely to be faced in their jobs. This is aimed at work placement managers, officers, administrators and academic placement tutors, particularly those with little experience, who are new to their role, about to be appointed, or those simply wanting a refresher course. This session is designed to introduce all the fundamental aspects of working in the placements field. The workshop is intended to be flexible and responsive to participants’ needs and interests and therefore emphasis may vary between topics. As well as creating opportunities for discussion and dialogue, workshop facilitators will also support mechanisms for online networking amongst delegates.
2. Managing Health, Safety and Welfare for Student Placements (HSWP)
Tuesday 8th February 2022 09:30-13:30 ONLINE
Formerly entitled Risk Assessment and Due Diligence, this workshop builds upon and develops these themes. Having an involvement in or being responsible for the process of risk assessing placements can feel daunting. The majority of placement practitioners are unlikely to be experts in the field of health and safety law or student welfare.
- Are you confident in your risk assessment processes before placement?
- Do you know what you should be doing in terms of due diligence in approving placements?
- Do you know what insurances are required or advised for placements in the UK? Overseas?
- Do you realise the extent of the university’s legal liability for all of this?
- What paperwork and proformas can support your processes and help ensure legal compliance?
This workshop focusses on establishing manageable, proportionate and appropriate risk assessment and due diligence processes for placement provision. Here, we draw upon the ASET Good Practice Guide for the Management of Health, Safety and Welfare of Student Placements, as well as the QAA Quality Code. It is aimed at university staff who work with student placements/work-based learning, whether new to the position or experienced and wanting a refresher/update, academic or administrative. Our experienced workshop facilitators will share both knowledge, as well as creating opportunities to encourage delegate participation.
3.Employer Engagement (EE)
Wednesday 23rd February 2022 09:30-13:30 ONLINE
Employers, providers, placement hosts – call them what you like, we need them more than ever before, in this challenging economic environment. They’re vital to our placement offerings and yet can pose a number of challenges for Higher Education providers and placement professionals.
- How can we reach out, successfully, to those organisations we aspire for our students to work at?
- What can we do to engage employers with our work based learning programmes and aims?
- What is feasible when building and strengthening relationships?
- What do employers expect from us (and can we deliver?)
This workshop will focus on sharing ideas and tips for bringing about more supportive relationships with placement employers. In a participatory style, our trainers will facilitate discussions on good practice and thriving initiatives.
4.Enhancing Engagement in Student Sessions (EESS)
Thursday 10th March 2022 09:30-13:30 ONLINE
- Do your online and face to face student preparation sessions need a fresh injection of ideas or energy?
- Are you keen to increase student engagement within your placement workshops?
- Would you benefit from hearing about innovative ideas to liven up your delivery and generate more interaction in sessions?
ASET’s experienced workshop facilitators will help you enhance and increase student engagement in your workshops, seminars and preparation sessions, sharing a range of #ASETTopTips, practices, and tools. From high-tech to no-tech, synchronous or asynchronous, online or face to face delivery, working with small groups or large groups, in restricted or flexible spaces, the session will equip you with ideas for all these scenarios. The workshop will be, naturally, participative in style and we will encourage you to share your ideas with others too. You can expect to take away a rich array of ideas to use in your day-to-day practices at work.
5.Supporting International Students with Placements (SISP)
Wednesday 23rd March 2022 09:30-13:30 ONLINE
International student participation in placements is high on the agenda at many UK Higher Education Institutions. For some international students, studying in the UK is a highly desirable means to support their future employability prospects. International students’ participation in placement remains low in some areas, with students citing obstacles – both perceived and real – to successfully securing a placement. International students’ support requirements can differ from UK domiciled students and can be greater. This workshop, facilitated by experienced placement/careers professionals, will examine strategies to help prepare international students in securing placements, as well as ways to support them whilst on placement. It will also look at the advice and guidance that can be provided for employers to persuade them of the value of offering placements to international students, as well as aspects of the legal framework e.g., Visas. The workshop will be interactive, and you will be encouraged to share your experiences and examples of good practice from your institution.
6.Resilience and Placements (RAP)
Thursday 7th April 2022 09:30-13:30 ONLINE
In this practical and participatory session, the salient topic of resilience will be explored by our facilitators in the context of placements and work-based learning – and a world where the future of work is both changing and challenging. How does resilience (or a lack of it) manifest itself? What can placement practitioners do to support the building of student resilience whilst they navigate the choppy waters of recruitment and selection? What techniques can be put to use to strengthen resilience whilst students embark upon the start of their professional working lives on placement, in these difficult times? How can we reflect upon our own capacity for resilience and how can we utilise this to inform our work in HE? Drawing upon a range of perspectives which include growth mind-set theories, mental health and wellbeing support, ideas and tips will be shared and discussed to enable delegates to create a tool kit of suggestions and approaches to take back to their day-to-day roles.
7.Widening Participation and Placements (WPP)
Thursday 28th April 2022 09:30-13:30 ONLINE
Discussions surrounding widening participation and the social mobility of our students are perennially on the agenda, nationally, in the HE sector. For those of us on the ground, what can we do, practically, to increase the take up of placements by students from a range of disadvantaged (or less well-served) backgrounds? How can we reach out to and better engage students with employability in a difficult economic climate and to support the development of their social capital? Furthermore, what suggestions can we share to engage employers in order to further these broad aims? In an interactive session of participation and dialogue, our course leaders will facilitate discussions on ways to support the employability of disadvantaged student groups and ways to potentially overcome challenges and barriers to participation in placements. Delegates will have the opportunity to network online, and to build their own toolkit of practical ideas and top tips to take away from the workshop.
8.Freelancers, Entrepreneurs, Enterprise Placements (FEEP)
Tuesday 10th May 2022 09:30-13:30 ONLINE
- Do you have students who are expressing an interest in setting up and running their own businesses for their placements?
- Maybe they are already freelancing/working as a sole trader outside of university and alongside their studies, and want to expand upon this for their placement?
- If this isn’t currently an option which you have open to them, what might you need to do next?
This may be something you haven’t previously considered or were cautious about and are now keen to explore this route more thoroughly as the wider employment and economic landscape changes. This interactive workshop will highlight some of the key points to be taken into account when approving these types of placements, as well as looking at what University support could be provided for placement student entrepreneurs to foster success. Our facilitators will encourage discussion and dialogue, networking, as well as the exchange of ideas and good practice.
9.From Placements to Employability (FPTE)
Tuesday 24th May 2022 09:30-13:30 ONLINE
- Perhaps you have expertise in supporting placement students but are now being asked to become involved in curriculum design and development more broadly associated with employability?
- Or you have experience in your subject-based curriculum but are new to placements and employability?
- Do you know what you might do differently if you were assessing a first-year undergraduate placement compared to a Masters level placement?
Single interventions, like the sandwich placement, are no longer sufficient in terms of determining employment success on graduation – we must consider the whole student experience. We will contrast employability in the curriculum with employability through the curriculum i.e., how broader teaching, learning and assessment strategies throughout a programme can impact on employability. The intended outcome of the session is to enable you to use your experience and expertise from placement activities to work with your colleagues in your own institutions to appropriately embed placement and other employability related activities in the curriculum. Workshop facilitators will help encourage the sharing of good practice amongst delegates and will help to equip you with ideas and top tips to utilise in your roles.
10.Student Wellbeing and Placements (SWP)
Tuesday 7th June 2022 09:30-13:30 ONLINE
The wellbeing of the workforce should be an essential thread running through organisations’ HR strategies. With the wellbeing of our students rising in importance during the COVID-19 pandemic, organisations, including our own Higher Education Providers, have given focus/renewed focus to student wellbeing.
The challenging set of circumstances created have included working remotely, needing to switch to a virtual placement, a changing job market, feelings of isolation and overall uncertainty about what the future of work might look like. In this workshop, our experienced facilitators will explore wellbeing in the context of work based learning and placements. The challenges your students may be faced with, as well as approaches to how to tackle these issues practically, will be delved into and delegates can expect to learn #ASETTopTips and take away practical ideas to aid their student support mechanisms. Participative in style, delegates will be invited to join discussions in the workshop and to share their experiences and insights.
11.Equality, Diversity and Inclusion for Placements (EDIP)
Tuesday 21st June 2022 09:30-13:30 ONLINE
This workshop will look at equality, diversity and inclusion for placements. No need for any prior EDI experience, this session will introduce you to the reference points, sources, key duties and themes that are relevant to offering student placements. There will be an introduction to the equality legislation and our responsibilities, also to raising awareness about specialist sources of EDI information for the sector. We will talk about why we need to focus on particular protected characteristics, minoritized communities and those often excluded. This will include taking a look at how employability or placement performance is judged, and why in some cases, we might need to think again.
We’ll move onto a positive approach to inclusion, including the need to have an intersectional mindset, and how to get your practice right from the start. We’ll create a safe space for discussion, addressing direct issues and making plenty of space for contributions from delegates on the day.
12.Placements for Postgraduates (PGrad)
Wednesday 6th July 2022 09:30-13:30 ONLINE
Placements are traditionally rooted at undergraduate level. However, placements and internships are now more widely available and increasingly embedded in the employability agendas and strategies of HE providers. This interactive workshop will look at ways to engage those audiences – postgraduates (and to a small extent PhD students too) – as well as prospective employers. Challenges around this agenda will be explored too, and good practices and success stories shared, including practical tools to be taken away. Our facilitators will create opportunities for discussion, for networking and for the sharing of good practice from all delegates’ institutions.
ASET Insights are 90-minute interactive sessions looking at broader, complementary professional development themes, led by our experienced Trustees. Designed to provide short, impactful updates to your professional toolkit, ASET Insight themes are selected to enhance your confidence in practical skills that contribute to work success.
These 90-minute sessions are available for booking now. £50 ASET members and £100 non-members.
Session A – Approving international placement for home students
This ASET Insight session aims to alleviate the concerns faced when a student chooses to pursue an international experience as part of their studies. Using a risk-based approach with example administrative documentation and case study, during the session we will critically reflect on what the institution could do to support all students through changing circumstances.
Session B – Influencing Stakeholders
“Influencing” has a shiny new interpretation these days, but the ability to connect with and nudge people towards your way of thinking was a helpful skill long before there were Instagram filters. Placement work typically involves working with students and placement providers, but what about professional services? Senior leaders? Who else has the power or interest to make an impact on your work? This Insight session explores your key stakeholders and the basic principles of how to invite them to see things your way.
Session C – Building resilience – tools of the trade
Resilience is simultaneously a hot topic, and also a tricky proposition. How do we build resilience in ourselves, and in others? What tools can we identify and internalise in our practice? This informal and introductory session focuses on boundaries, self-care and the power of effective signposting as a method of retaining the integrity of these important themes. For more in-depth exploration of the breadth of resilience in placement work, see our Resilience and Placements workshop.
Session D – Time Management
Time management is one of the biggest challenges of our current working lives. This Insight session will provide #ASETTopTips, tools and techniques to help you to manage your time effectively.
Session E – Recording, tracking and reporting placement activity within your HEP
Demonstrating the impact of placements and experiential learning can be critical in raising the profile of activity and levering investment and resource. This insight session explores how Trustees record and track activity in their own institutions and demonstrate some of the ways the data from a more systematised approach can provide rich management information.
General Information
- Workshops run from 9.30am-1.30pm, ASET Insights from 10 – 11.30am
- The delegate rates for workshops are £125 for each attendee from ASET member institutions, and £275 for those from non-member institutions. All rates are inclusive of VAT. Fees include all materials.
- The delegate rates for ASET Insights are £50 for each attendee from ASET member institutions, and £100 for those from non-member institutions. All rates are inclusive of VAT. Fees include all materials.
- Once your booking has been received, you will receive email confirmation of your reservation and will be required to complete and return a pre-course assessment form
- Payment is due before the event. There are no refunds for cancellation, although substitutions will be accepted. Please see Terms and Conditions stated on booking form
- If you have a disability that means that you would get more from our events if we make some adjustments, please let us know how we can help
- Have you recently restructured, centralised or decentralised your Placements Team?
- Do you have a specific training need you would like to address?
- Are you just too far away from ASET training venues ?
A bespoke training session can address all these issues and more. We are delighted to be able to offer Online Bespoke training for this academic year. Please contact the ASET Office to discuss your requirements either from the list of workshops below, or tailored to your needs. Sessions will be bookable according to availability on weekdays from 9.30 am – 1.30pm.
Some of the core topics we can offer include:
- An Introduction to Work Placement Management
- ASET and QAA Codes of Practice for Work-Based and Placement Learning
- Marketing for Placements
- Equal Opportunities for Work Placements
- Health and Safety for Work Placements
- IT Systems to Manage Placements
- Working with International Students
- International Placements
- Assessment and Accreditation of Placement Learning
- Disability, the DDA and Work Placements
- Foundation Degrees and Work-Based Learning
- Innovation in Placement Assessment
- Wikis, Blogs and Podcasts (New Placement Technologies)
- Reflective and Experiential Learning
Please feel free to suggest any other relevant areas for staff development training you would like.
Costs
ASET member institutions
Fees for online bespoke sessions are fixed at a daily rate of £100 per delegate (with a minimum fee of £1000 per day).
Non-member institutions
Fees for online bespoke sessions are set at a daily rate of £200 per delegate (with a minimum fee of £2000 per day).
If you would like to talk about ideas for a bespoke workshop to suit a specific requirement at your institution, contact Debbie at the ASET Office [email protected] .
