2017 Annual Report
In August 2017, the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences (HASS) created the Student Futures Team to help current coursework students build connections and enhance their employability through collaborative partnerships. The new team (which included four staff and 16 student partners) worked together to develop and implement student-facing initiatives that seek to enhance future opportunities for HASS students.
Building a sense of belonging
We aim to facilitate opportunities to build a sense of belonging and support for HASS students. In 2017, we focused on outreach to undergraduate students, and evaluation of current practice to determine how best to achieve this aim in future years. Our achievements included:
- Delivered 24 student-led HASS Crew events that reached almost 1,000 students.
- Worked in partnership with students to design a coordinated, student-led orientation program for 2018.
- Evaluated and recommended enhancements to the BA First Year Community Site.
- Funded innovative initiatives to enhance students’ sense of community within their programs.
Enhancing student employability
We help create more employability opportunities for students within and outside the curriculum. In 2017, we sought to gain a better understanding of the HASS graduate pathways, and started collaborations with academics and students to offer employability opportunities through programs, courses and extracurricular activities. Our achievements included:
- Engaged the Institute for Social Science Research to undertake a series of quantitative analyses capturing job destinations of HASS graduates.
- Co-developed a proposal for a new employability-focused minor in the Bachelor of Arts.
- Provided funding and initial planning support to develop exchange factsheets for undergraduate students.
- Funded 13 students to undertake activities to enhance their employability.
Working in partnership with students
We work in partnership with and build networks among students, student societies, staff, industry and alumni. In 2017, we focused on ensuring that our team worked in partnership with students to implement projects. Our achievements included:
- Worked with 16 student partners across a range of student-facing projects.
- Presented our work to over 100 attendees at the National Students as Partners Roundtable.
- Co-designed and facilitated the new UQ Students as Partners Community of Practice.
Supporting active and blended learning
We assist HASS leadership with areas of priority, particularly related to the Student Strategy. In 2017, we provided funding and support to academics to enhance active and blended learning within their programs and courses. Our achievements included:
- Provided funding to three projects on digital literacy, integrated musicianship, and political animation.
- Planned and commenced a project to support academics to migrate their courses to a new Blackboard template