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Frequently Asked QuestionsGlobal Challenge is designed for tertiary institutions to engage with the program and nominate students to participate. The program is not available for students to apply directly and participate; they must go through their tertiary institution.
Institutions recruit and select the students to participate in the Global Challenge based on local contexts, funding criteria and priorities. It is expected that students participating are self-motivated, able to juggle competing commitments, are good communicators, interested in a global experience and are able to be flexible. As this program operates in English, a good standard of written and verbal English communication is expected. The program has been successfully undertaken by both undergraduate and postgraduate students. Once selected, the institutions need to provide the student details to Practera 4 weeks prior to the commencement of the programme. Global Challenge projects are not focused on any specific discipline knowledge but are more generic in nature and aim on developing global skills. Students who have successfully participated in previous Global Challenge programs come from a broad range of disciplines including business, engineering, economics, public management, arts, humanities, architecture, law, information technology, medicine, nursing, dentistry and science. Using the diverse skills of the student team members, students take on different aspects of project tasks based on their skill sets while investigating the client’s problem and presenting a solution. Global Challenge replicates the multidisciplinary nature of current work environments and therefore provides students the chance to develop skills and an appreciation of the benefits of working with students from a range of disciplines.
A wide range of institutions participate in the Global Challenge with students from previous programs located in 21 countries and from diverse linguistic and cultural backgrounds. Countries to date include China, Australia, United Kingdom, Ghana, Ireland, Canada, Afghanistan, South Africa, Namibia, Japan, India, Brazil, United States of America, Kyrgyzstan and Germany. The aim of the Global Challenge program is to form global student teams from diverse cultural backgrounds to work together on industry projects. As long as this is able to be achieved within each program there is no limit on the number of students an Institution can put forward. However to optimise student engagement and increase the operational efficiency of the programme we are seeking a minimum of 5 students from each participating institution.
The program will take place over 4 weeks with an expectation that students attend approx. 3 hours of sessions including induction, cultural intelligence and meeting the client in the first week. Over the next three weeks approximately 25 hours of project work and then in the final few days an hour and half presentation and reflection session. The total time commitment will be approximately 30 hours over 4 weeks. Practera has an industry engagement team who recruit, qualify and help collate the client project briefs. They ensure that the briefs are suitable for the student program timeframe. Clients do not pay to have their project completed. Clients include start up’s, Government and NGO (Non-Government Organisations), small to medium companies through to large global companies. Clients involved in previous Global Challenges have been from the following industry sectors: health, manufacturing, education and training, arts and recreation, innovative technologies and retail and are based in many countries. There is a wide variety of projects which vary depending on the clients involved in each Global Challenge. Some examples from previous Global Challenges include: recommendations to enhance an organisation's social impact, benchmarking an organisation's services, identifying funding models and/ or funding sources for startups or not for profits,development of communication strategies or social media strategies,membership analysis with recommendations for growth, competitor analysis, exploring new geographic markets for organisations, designing a learning dashboard and environmental impact investigations. The Practera web-app is the leading platform to power high quality experiential learning programs. Learners are guided by content delivered through the Practera mobile interface. Pre-defined milestones, activities and tasks ensure that learners know what to do and when to achieve the best possible outcomes. Students go on a journey as an individual as well as a team from Getting Started, Orientation, Meeting their Client, Completing the Draft Report, Final Report then Program reflection and completion. Team360 Throughout the program students will also conduct an individual reflection on 6 Global Skills before completing Team360 assessment enabling them to access an automated peer feedback loop then completing a self-reflection at the end of the program to see how much they have improved. Examples of topics in the WACE Global Challenge on Practera include:
There are a range of induction and preparation activities in the Practera platform that students will work through. Students will also attend a detailed virtual orientation in order to set them up for successful participation. However, it is expected that students will also undertake the regular preparation process that all work integrated learning students undertake in their home institutions. In addition, it is expected that institutions brief their students about the expectations and commitments of their participation in this global program. Several universities have included the Global Challenge towards academic credit for students. Arrangements for including Global Challenge for credit rest with the institution involved and their own academic processes. However, WACE and Practera are keen to support institutions wanting to achieve this. Operating across the globe including managing time zones is one of the skills of working in the 21st Century. Therefore, participating in the Global Challenge is the perfect opportunity for students to begin to acquaint themselves with this concept and develop this skill. Students will need a flexible approach to undertaking their project and working with their other team members. In preparation for Global Challenge, we recommend that institutions brief students on the real possibility that students will need to sometimes work outside their own countries’ business hours (approximately 7am-8pm as a guide) in order to accommodate students in other time zones. Students are guided on the Practera platform with tools to assist managing time zones and achieving this. Practera provides a range of support to assist students to function at their best including weekly reminders to keep them on track, digital pulse checks, follow-ups and coaching calls where required. Despite all the support available, teams in the Global Challenge all operate differently based on a range of factors including individual differences, skills, and contexts. It is good to remind students that you learn and develop skills from involvement in both a high performing team as well as one that isn’t performing quite as well. The reflection session will give students the opportunity to consider what went well, what could have gone better, what they have learnt from their experience and the skills they can apply in the future. WACE and Practera have designed the program to optimize the student experience and minimize attrition from the program as much as possible. WACE strongly recommends that students receive a briefing by institutions prior to students committing to and starting the program about the benefits of participation as well as the challenges involved. In addition Practera provides a range of support mechanisms during the Program such as weekly reminders to keep them on track, digital pulse checks, follow-ups and coaching calls where required. Students need to raise any concerns or issues quickly with their Practera contact so they can, if possible, be addressed. If for particular circumstances a student is unable to continue and needs to withdraw from the program they should contact both their institution and the Practera contact. In these instances, the student will not receive the Global Challenge Certificate. Increasing the numbers of students who have access to quality global experiences forms part of WACE’s mission and is a Call for Action in the WACE Global Charter. Therefore, Global Challenge is designed to ensure it is as low cost as possible by utilising volunteers with expertise from the WACE community in conjunction with resources from Practera. Fees recognise the varying economic circumstances of OECD and Non-OECD countries and WACE membership.
Institutions are invoiced directly once Institutions have committed to a programme and provided student details. As WACE has a policy of not allowing students to apply directly for this programme all participation and payment is done through a tertiary institution.
WACE as a global organization is committed to inclusion and diversity and therefore has introduced a scaled approach for fees for all programs and activities to enable participation from as many institutions from as wide a range of countries as possible. Fees are scaled therefore for OECD and Non-OECD countries to achieve that diversity. You can find a list of OECD countries here. To optimise student engagement and increase the operational efficiency of the programme we are seeking a minimum of 5 students from each participating institution. From time-to-time WACE is able to offer limited complimentary student places to institutions from non OECD countries for some Global Challenge programs.Contact Judie Kay programspartnershipsvc@waceinc.orgOnce tertiary institutions have committed to participate in a specific Global Challenge and provided student details an invoice for the associated fees is generated. In instances where students withdraw before the commencement of the program, Institutions are able to substitute students up until the orientation session of that Global Challenge program. Cancellation of student places once student details are submitted is not possible due to the planning and resources already expended in developing the program. For queries in relation to this policy please contact Judie Kay programspartnershipsvc@waceinc.org |
