Placement Support Guidance Notes for Academic Staff
The Role of the Placement Tutor1 The purpose of the role is to provide support to the student throughout their placement until their reintegration to academic life. All students who have secured a placement will be allocated their Placement Tutor during the summer vacation following their 2nd year.
Aims of the Placement Unit Insert programme specific placement aims: insert placement unit code: insert web link to placement unit
The placement unit is worth 60 credits. As it is credit bearing there is a requirement for a Pass/Fail assessment to be made. See the checklist at the end of this guide for a summary of what is required to pass the unit.
Students’ obligations: 1. Stay in touch with the Faculty via the Placement Office/Tutor. 2. Provide contact and placement details within 2 weeks of starting and keep them updated. 3. Use their University email address and keep inbox cleared. 4. Agree content of ‘Personal Objectives & Learning Outcomes’ (POLO) form and complete any other documentation as required by their programme of study. 5. Arrange and facilitate a visit from your Placement Tutor.
Academics’ obligations: 1. Provide feedback on Personal Objectives & Learning Outcomes (POLO) and other assignments as required by the programme of study and assess whether Learning Outcomes have been met for award of credits. 2. Visit students on site or via Skype if overseas. 3. Provide support to students and maintain contact. 4. Debrief returning students about their experiences.
Personal Objectives & Learning Outcomes (POLO): As required by QA6 the student will set objectives based on the Learning Outcomes of the placement unit to be agreed in writing between the student, the department and the employer. To support this we have created a straightforward document which the student uses to set objectives with their supervisor and review at the end of the year. This will also act as an end of placement report by the employer. Placement Tutors will discuss the objectives and student’s progress during their visit.
The visit Every effort will be made to visit students at their placement company. The Placement Team, in consultation with academic staff, will assign a visiting tutor from across the Faculty and this may reflect their academic/research interests or may be based on location. Students on placement abroad can arrange for a Skype call in lieu of a visit.
The visit should be made ideally between 3 to 6 months into the placement giving the student time to settle in. The student will contact the nominated visitor to arrange a suitable date and time, ensuring that their supervisor/mentor will be available. It is also advisable for the student to let the company’s HR Department know you intend to visit on that day. When organising the visit the student should arrange to show you around the site or facilities. You
1 Terminology varies across Departments/Faculties/Schools but ‘Placement Tutor’ refers to the individual assigned to you to provide support during placement; this may be an academic Placement or Personal Tutor or a member of the Placements team. 1 can learn a great deal on how the student is progressing from this but equally get to meet a number of other people who could be useful contacts for the University for next year’s placement, projects, research, Knowledge Transfer Partnerships (KTPs) etc. Having copies of the Placement Guidelines, undergraduate and postgraduate prospectuses, KTP brochures could be useful. Make contact with the HR team or in the case of small companies, the MD or equivalent, to let them know you are there.
POLO, Reports, Logbooks etc. Prior to meeting the student, the nominated visitor should review any documentation submitted by the student to date.
Feedback required for visiting students on placement The purpose of the visit is to assess whether the student is having a good placement experience, with good quality work/projects that contribute to the company and the student’s development. Do they have good support from their supervisor and are they happy? We also want to build relationships with the companies for future placements and projects.
University of Bath placement students have stated that the matters determining placement quality are as follows:
1. The nature of the student’s work or activity 2. Their placement environment, its language and culture and the nature and level of support for learning/understanding. 3. The student’s perceptions of and emotional reactions to their placement experiences. 4. The learning outcomes resulting from placement, as reported by the student.
The meeting between the Placement Tutor and student should be in a location where the student can speak freely in case there are any issues they need to raise. It normally lasts for around an hour. Allow students to reveal their thoughts and feelings during their placements, through open questions and open dialogue results in feedback that is rich and varied.
The student’s supervisor should be invited to join the meeting, although this should be after the Placement Tutor and student have met. The supervisor may also ask for an additional private meeting with the Placement Tutor.
During the meeting, the Placement Tutor and student discuss how the placement is going and review the POLO. It is advised that the Placement Tutor takes a copy of the Tutor Visit form to the meeting as this can be used to guide the discussion. After the meeting, the Placement Tutor is required to complete the Tutor Visit form.
Students become important ambassadors for the university and many do really well with offers from the host company to join graduate schemes, receive financial sponsorship and support with Final Year Projects. The visit is not only to monitor student progress/welfare but is a means of registering the University’s “presence” with the company for continuing and future placements, projects and research. Time and effort by both the company and the University has been invested to arrange the placement and usually a good relationship has been developed during this process which can be further developed.
Returning to the University At the point the student returns to the University to complete their studies, there are several events/occasions to help them ‘reintegrate’, as detailed in the table overleaf.
2 Requirements to Pass the Placement Unit Populate as appropriate for your Faculty/Department
Useful Links QA6 Placement Learning, Work-based Learning and Study Abroad http://www.bath.ac.uk/quality/documents/QA6.pdf
Populate with further links as appropriate for your Faculty/Department
3 Faculty of <
Please tailor table below to your Faculty specific needs
Compulsory aspects of the Action What the Placement Tutor Time of placement to be needs to do year completed
Personal Agree with supervisor Comment as appropriate and Before Learning during first month of the email back to Placement XXXX Objectives Form placement Administrator, this will be (POLO) available to the student via Placement Administrator Moodle emails Placement Tutor the Moodle link Goals, Employer to complete Identify and relay any issues Due XXXX Objectives and to the student Learning Form (GOLF) Tutor Visit Form To be completed by As soon as Placement Tutor following possible visit after visit.
Tutor emails/uploads document to XXXX Final Personal Student completes and Placement Tutor reads Learning submits prior to re- before Post-placement Objectives Form commencing studies meeting (POLO FINAL) Student uploads to Moodle Post-placement Placement Tutor meets with As early as meeting student to review report and possible in supervisor appraisal. first semester of Placement Tutor completes returning Post-Placement Meeting year. Form Reintegration Attend event Event
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