View our September 2022 newsletter here.

View our June 2022 newsletter here.

Recently the WACE Global Challenge and the work of WACE member, Botho University were highlighted in an International Finance Corporation Webinar

How to Prepare Your Students for the Next Globalization Era

We are entering the next era of globalization. Following the pandemic, remote work has become commonplace, while environmental and social issues are earning greater attention. How is academia preparing students for this new global market? How are they engaging employers to provide students with the skills needed to remain competitive? What tools and programs exist to help educators in this process? In this webinar, we will explore these topics and discuss practical solutions for taking action within your institution.

SPEAKERS:

Judie Kay is the Vice Chair Programs and Partnerships and an Executive Committee member for the World Association for Work-Integrated Education (WACE); and a consultant on graduate employability at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT). Previously Judie was the Director, Employability & Career Education at RMIT. You can connect with her on LinkedIn.

Aravinda Ram is Deputy Pro-Vice-Chancellor at Botho University- a pan African on-campus and distance-learning institution based in Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia, and Eswatini. She oversees the University's employability strategy supporting students and alumni. You can connect with her on LinkedIn.

Isabel Dingler is Innovation & Sustainability Consultant at Sharkbite Innovation, a consulting firm based in Germany, where she assists businesses to take action toward achieving the UN SDGs to attain a sustainable future. You can connect with her on LinkedIn.

The session was moderated by Amy Refaat, Senior Private Sector Specialist, IFC.

Higher education institutions have an unprecedented opportunity to become more competitive by embracing the employability agenda. IFC’s webinar series on Employability in Higher Education shares lessons learned with educators intent on ensuring rewarding careers for their graduates. 

Link to Recording

Welcome to the first edition of the WACE newsletter for 2022. This newsletter is aimed at helping you stay connected to Co-operative & Work Integrated Education (CWIE) developments across the globe. WACE is the only international professional organization dedicated to developing, expanding, branding and advocating for cooperative & work-integrated education programs within industry and educational institutions.

The year has commenced with a surge of activity. Global Challenge #3 has just finished with 152 students from 18 institutions working in 21 teams presented their projects last week. Information about the next rounds is in this newsletter. Registrations for the International Research Symposium are opening soon, make sure you register for this symposium either in person or virtually and join colleagues to hear all the updates on recent WIL research.

WACE welcomes many new members who have recently joined the WACE community and a new Regional Office in Africa in partnership with SASCE. In this newsletter we profile a new Global Partner, UMass Lowell. There are also updates from a range of National Associations keeping us across all the developments in WIL globally and also information about upcoming conferences.

We welcome your feedback and any updates you would like to include in future editions of the newsletter and hope everyone is staying safe in these challenging times. Many thanks to all those who have contributed to this newsletter, and to Kylie Twyford for her ongoing support on the newsletter.

Judie Kay, Norah McRae, Nancy Johnston, and Jim Stellar
WACE Secretariat

 TABLE OF CONTENTS

In this newsletter you can connect with:

• the latest WACE News
• professional development opportunities
• the newest institutional WACE Member
• regional news from National WIL associations around the world
• research news from the International Research Community
• hot off the press publications in the International Journal of WIL

WACE NEWS

Global Challenge is a month-long WACE program involving students from universities across the world, working together in multi-disciplinary, transnational teams on projects for real clients to assist them progress initiatives aligned to the UN Sustainable Development Goals. The program is run by WACE, in partnership with Practera an educational technology company.

The Dates are:

• Global Challenge #4:  27 June to 22 July, 2022
• Global Challenge #5: 14 Nov – 9 Dec, 2022

Expressions of interest are now open for both programs

Information sessions will be held on 5th / 6th April. Details including times and registration for the sessions are available here.

Global Challenge has grown substantially since WACE first piloted the concept in 2020.  To date over 400 students from 31 institutions based in 18 countries have participated. Global Challenge continues to receive excellent feedback from students, clients and institutions alike.

Hear what recent student participants say about their experience with Global Challenge.

PROFESSIONAL

DEVELOPMENT

WACE INTERNATIONAL RESEARCH SYMPOSIUM 2022

The next WACE International Research Symposium will be held in Kanazawa Japan hosted by Kanazawa Institute of Technology from 31 August to 2 September 2022.

Registration will be opening soon. The conference theme “New industry – University collaboration initiatives to realize sustainable society contributions, and expectations of co-operative & work-integrated education to the UN Sustainable Development goals”. The conference will involve both face-to-face and virtual components.

Learn more about the WACE International Research Symposium here.

ONLINE GLOBAL WIL PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

The Global WIL modules have been offered since 2015 and have covered a variety of topics. This suite of professional development online modules have been developed for new or experienced WIL practitioners to provide the opportunity to collaborate with international colleagues around their practice. The modules are developed and delivered by representatives of four national associations: Australian Collaborative Education Network (ACEN); Co-operative Education and Work-Integrated Learning Canada (CEWIL formerly CAFCE); Work-Integrated Learning New Zealand (WILNZ, formerly NZACE); The Vilar Network (Sweden).

Expressions of interest are now open for Global WIL Modules occurring later in 2022:

October – December 2022

• Learning and Assessment in Work-Integrated Learning
• Industry and Community Engagement for Work-Integrated Learning

To find out more about the topics and to register your interest visit here.

INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE

THE UNCONFERENCE

Online: 1 July 2022 – 31 July 2023

Pearson College London is planning a yearlong international Work Integrated Learning online unconference starting on the 1st of July 2022, continuing until the 31st of July 2023, with an online day event on 27 July 2022. The theme will be ‘New Problems, New Solutions’ within the field of WIL.

Participants will engage in discussions throughout July using ‘Bubl’ challenges (an online forum App), podcasts, video profiles, digital reels and academic abstracts, polls and digital posters/reels. Discussions will culminate in a day event on 27 July. On the day we will have a region A day event 0900-1200 GMT (Australia region) repeated 1700-2000 GMT for region B (USA region). Confirmed speakers include Prof Tony Wall and a GenZ Talks panel. Discussion groups will revolve around WIL publications, industry, institutions and students.

For more information visit here.

To book your place visit here

WACE MEMBER

PROFILE

UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS LOWELL 

The  University of Massachusetts Lowell (UMass Lowell) is a national research university committed to preparing students for work in the real world— solving real problems and helping real people— by providing an affordable, high-quality education.

Throughout the university’s proud 125-year history, our students have pursued their purpose in the classroom and beyond. Through Career Connected Work and Experiential Learning opportunities (cooperative education and internships, student research and projects, service learning, entrepreneurship and creative endeavours, and global experiences) students connect what they learn in the classroom to the real world. Whether on campus, in the community, or across the globe, River Hawks learn how to find solutions to real world problems, advance humanity, and prepare for successful careers.

When students graduate, they will be more than ready for what’s next.

Hear from finance student, Thomas Strandburg, on his co-op with the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston.

REGIONAL NEWS

NEWS FROM WACE’S NETWORK OF PARTNERS

WACE is a network of networks and we were pleased to share news from national associations and strategic partners linked to WACE, and provide updates on developments and achievements in WIL from around the world.

AUSTRALIAN COLLABORATIVE EDUCATION NETWORK (ACEN)

Australian Collaborative Education Network (ACEN) Conference: Beyond 2022

Melbourne, Australia: 24-25 October, 2022

Register NOW to attend the Australian Collaborative Education Network (ACEN) Conference Beyond 2022: Creating the future with WIL, at the Melbourne Exhibition Centre on 24 & 25 October 2022. With a diverse range of sessions, this is a conference not to be missed. Presentations on Enhancing employability through WIL, Innovative, scalable and sustainable WIL, Delivering Quality WIL, Globalising WIL, WIL Leadership: shaping the future, Collaborative stakeholder engagement, Indigenous engagement: Building capacity through WIL, Diversity in WIL – Inclusive WIL Practices, and Service Learning and Community Engagement.

To learn more visit the conference website here

Register here

Associate Professor Franziska Trede
President, ACEN

CO-OPERATIVE EDUCATION AND WORK-INTEGRATED LEARNING CANADA (CEWIL)

March 2022 marks a full month of celebrations for co-operative education and work-integrated learning for CEWIL Canada. Throughout the month, under the theme “Inspired WIL”, institutions, educators, employers and community partners, students and government, will be sharing their stories. Follow @CEWILCanada or #inspiredWIL on all our social. Want to get involved? Our toolkit is available for download.

We are also pleased to share the recent publication of “The Practice of Co-op and Work-Integrated Learning in the Canadian Context”, edited by Drs. Ashley Stirling & Judene Pretti. The intent of the book is to highlight the body of research that is building in the field of WIL in Canada, to inspire researchers and practitioners in the field to apply research to their WIL practice, as well as to invite the WIL community at large to ask more questions and further propel WIL research across Canada. A series of webinars were hosted throughout February from the various contributors. Catch up on missed sessions on CEWIL’s Youtube channel.

CEWIL’s Innovation Hub (iHub) continues to bring together passionate WIL experts from across the country in dynamic ways. Join Dan Lonergan every Tuesday for all things WIL on CEWIL’s podcast “into the WILderness”. If you are interested in learning more about innovative WIL stories in Canada, you are welcome to drop by our weekly Ideas Cafés on Tuesdays at 2:30PM EST. Contact seane@cewilcanada.ca for more information.

It’s National Co-op and WIL Month in Canada!

Each year, CEWIL Canada celebrates the successes and promotes awareness of co-op and work-integrated learning programs across Canada. From March 1 until March 31, we will be sharing stories, events across the country, best practices, tools, partner information, and much more. Please join us in using #inspiredWIL throughout the month as we continue to build the capacity for work-integrated learning opportunities in Canada!

Learn more about Co-op and WIL Month and how you can get involved here!

CEWIL Virtual Conference 2022
Dates: June 13-14 & June 20-21

CEWIL will be hosting its first virtual conference on June 13, 14, 20, 21 (half days). This year’s theme is “Growing the Future of WIL/Cultiver l’avenir de l’AIT”. Registration is open in early March. Visit here to register. Hope to see you there!

Learn more about what’s coming up at CEWIL Canada here.

Charlene Marion
Director, WIL, CEWIL

SOUTHERN AFRICAN SOCIETY FOR COOPERATIVE EDUCATION (SASCE)

SASCE WELCOMES ITS NEW EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE

SASCE is proud to announce that it has elected a new Executive Committee that will serve from 2021 – 2023. The SASCE Exco membership combines individuals from various stakeholders from universities, Sector Education Training Authorities (SETAs) as well as independent members.

The new EXCO members are:

• President: Mrs Nombulelo Nxesi. Mrs Nxesi is the CEO at the Education and Training Development Practices SETA (ETDPSETA)
• Deputy President: Mr Rre Elijah Litheko. Rre Litheko is an independent member
• General Secretary: Dr Fundiswa Nofemela. Dr Nofemela is the Director for Co-operative Education at the Mangosuthu University of Technology
• Treasurer: Mr Sibusiso Dhladhla. Mr Dhladhla is the Executive Manager, Corporate Services at the Services SETA
• Ex Officio member: Mr Andile Sipengane. Mr Sipengane is SASCE’s past president and is the Chief Operating Officer at the Services SETA

SASCE BECOMES THE WACE REGIONAL OFFICE IN AFRICA

We are proud to announce that SASCE has signed an agreement to be the WACE Regional Office in Africa. As a WACE Regional Office, SASCE will be responsible for:

• Supporting the general promotion of WACE programs and services with African colleagues, an expertise that already exists within SASCE.
• Assisting with the development of business and industry partnerships and membership within the region.
• Co-hosting WACE projects or events within the region (e.g.  conference, institute, special event).
• Working cooperatively with other local CWIE associations in the region in support of local and global CWIE growth and development.
• Serving as a member of the WACE Global Strategic Council.
• Contributing to ongoing WACE communications and programs (e.g. WACE World Conferences, WACE International Research Symposia, Global Conversation Webinars, etc.).

Universities in the African region embrace online experiential learning through participation in the WACE Global Challenge

The year 2021 saw twenty-four students from universities in the African region, participating in the 2021 WACE Global Challenge. In total, 24 students from Mangosuthu University of Technology (South Africa), Namibia University of Science and Technology (Namibia) and Walter Sisulu University (South Africa) worked with students from other countries on online student-industry consulting projects. The three African institutions attract students from rural areas and as such the opportunity to participate in the WACE Global Challenge opened up their horizons with respect to the global community. Students were appreciative of their involvement in the challenge, the opportunity to interact with students from other countries as well as the experience of operating in different time zones. Participation in the Global Challenge was hailed as real-life experience as it gave students an opportunity to research and understand Sustainable Development Goals (Student from Walter Sisulu University, South Africa). For Namibian students, the program provided a platform to apply their training into practice and make positive contribution to selected industry while enhancing their employability skills. “The highlight of the WACE Global Challenge was a chance to engage with people from different backgrounds and got a little glimpse of international systems, both academically and professionally” (Student from Namibia University of Science and Technology). A student from Mangosuthu University of Technology (South Africa) appreciated the opportunity to understand different cultural backgrounds globally as well as the opportunity to practice project management and research skills. SASCE is proud of the participation by its member institutions and appreciates the involvement and the mentoring that Practera provided to our students.

Mangosuthu University of Technology adopts Student Consulting projects, as a Work-Integrated Learning modality in Management Sciences

For Mangosuthu University of Technology, Project-based Learning is one of the WIL modalities that is available as an option to students where placement opportunities are not available. The outbreak of the Covid 19 pandemic and the subsequent national lockdown, provided the university with an opportunity to explore various avenues to help students to complete their WIL.

The university explored the concept of student consulting as a form of Project-based Learning. Through this modality, Office Management and Technology as well as Public Administration students worked with external and internal stakeholders over 2 months to address real-life challenges. For Office Management and Technology, the projects entailed assisting clients to address administrative challenges such as using digital filing systems for operational effectiveness during the remote working as well as setting up home office layout for SMMEs.

On the other hand, Public Administration students undertook projects aligned to Sustainable Development Goals such as education on gender-based violence and teenage pregnancy as well as poverty alleviation and a ‘Keep the girl-child in school’ sanitary pads drive, at local schools.

In both instances, students reflected that the projects helped them to enhance their project management skills as well as graduate attributes such as working in teams, solving problems, managing time as well as their professional values relating to society.

Majuba TVET College (South Africa) launches an Entrepreneurship Unit to address youth unemployment

The unemployment rate for graduates in South Africa stands at approximately 10% of the country’s total youth unemployment. Of this figure, 8% is attributed to graduates from tertiary institutions such as Technical Vocational Education and Training (TVET) colleges.

In response to the graduate unemployment rate, the Majuba TVET College recently launched its Entrepreneurship Unit that will assist the youth that want to start their own businesses. Spearheaded by the Work Integrated Learning (WIL) Unit at the college, the key focus of this unit will be Entrepreneurship Education provided to the community and the college students to assist them in understanding business concepts, development of business plans, and more importantly to access grant funding.

The Majuba TVET College is situated in Newcastle, a rural area in Northern KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. The College creates access to education and training opportunities for local students and empowers students with the relevant knowledge and skills to become economically active citizens.

Work-integrated Learning preparedness and coordination embrace technology amid the Covid-19 Pandemic at Namibia University of Science and Technology

The Namibia University of Science and Technology (NUST) has embedded Work Integrated Learning (WIL) in all its undergraduate programmes. NUST has four faculties namely:

Commerce, Human Sciences and Education, Computing and Informatics, Engineering and Spatial Sciences and Health, Applied Sciences and Natural Resources. Work readiness and employability is at the heart of the institution, as it aims to strengthen the employability of its graduates. NUST, through the bilateral cooperation between the governments of Namibia and Japan, has extended its cooperation with the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) for the implementation of the Employability Improvement Programme (EIP). The objective of the EIP is to prepare university graduates with 21stcentury skills.

The extension of the EIP project was officiated at NUST. From the left to right are Deputy Vice-Chancellor: Teaching, Learning and Technology at NUST: Dr Andrew Niikondo, Mr Susaki Takehiro, JICA Namibia Resident Representative, NUST Vice-Chancellor: Dr Erold Naomab, and his Excellency: Mr Hideaki Harada Ambassador of Japan to Namibia.

The Covid-19 pandemic prompted NUST to shift gear from face-to-face Pre-WIL Readiness and Employability Improvement courses to an online mode of delivery for these interventions. The ePre-Work Readiness and the Employability Improvement Programmes are now on the Institution’s eLearning platform with a practical simulation aspect offered in person.

WORK-INTEGRATED LEARNING NEW ZEALAND

(WILNZ

The Work-Integrated Learning NZ (WILNZ) conference 2022 Opportunities for WIL in an ever-changing world welcomes either in-person or online attendance. (For people outside New Zealand online is still most likely). A two-day conference 27 – 28 April for practitioners and researchers from tertiary education, industry and community.

Our keynote presenter is Dr Jarrod Haar, speaking about training and development in firms. Dr Haar is a Professor of Human Resource Management at Auckland University of Technology and has Māori tribal affiliations of Ngāti Maniapoto and Ngāti Mahuta. His research focuses on wellbeing (especially job burnout), work-family-life issues (especially work-life balance), indigenous (Māori) employees, leadership, and innovation.

He is ranked a world-class researcher; has won industry and best-paper awards; and won multiple research grants. His current grants include Health Research Council (wellbeing and the precariat), a National Science Challenge (Science for Technological Innovation), and Ngā Pae o te Māramatanga (Māori and Work). He has over 400 refereed outputs (including 128 journal articles). He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of New Zealand Te Apārangi.

The conference fee is the same for either type of registration, due to the associated technology and catering costs unique to each mode. One day, student and other prices are on our website.

On registration, we ask for indication of likely attendance (in-person, online or unsure). In late March we will ask for confirmation of mode of attendance.

Dr. Jenny Fleming
President, WILNZ

WIL SOUTH AFRICA (WILSA)

We are delighted to announce the launch WIL South Africa (WILSA) at the THENSA International Conference entitled University, Business and Partnerships: A Driver for the 4th Industrial Revolution Post COVID 19. As a new member of WACE, we are excited to share our Vision and Objectives with our global partners.

Work-integrated Learning South Africa (WILSA) is a Network of Excellence (NoE) for WIL that is research focused and is established under the auspices of Technology Higher Education Network South Africa (THENSA). The aim of WILSA is to promote research, training capacity building and practice of WIL in the country and the continent by doing the following:

• Bringing networks of excellence together for benchmarking and strategic intervention design and implementation – to benefit the sector as a whole.
• Evaluating and designing WIL curricula that are fit for purpose through applied research.
• Tapping into existing expertise and platforms locally and internationally to benefit our members and the broader sector to gain international recognition.
• Informing WIL policy design and driving implementation around the development and application of WIL as an effective pedagogy.
• Designing, facilitating and gaining access for members to WIL training.

Extending the benefits of WIL to other HE and industry sectors that could benefit from its innate values and the establishment of a rotational WIL satellite office for Africa linked to WACE.

Dr Henri Jacobs (chair of WILSA) and Prof Roelien Brink (partner) are currently steering the WILSA project which was launched at the THENSA conference on 16 March 2022.

See this World University News item for more information.

Dr.Henri Jacobs
Chair WILSA

SCHOLARSHIP OF

WIL

WACE INTERNATIONAL RESEARCH COMMUNITY (IRC) NEWS

The International Research Community was excited to see such a strong international response to the call for abstracts for the upcoming International Research Symposium in Japan. Our executive committee members Dr. Jenny Fleming and Dr. Judene Pretti will be working with authors and reviewers over the next couple of months to coordinate the blind peer-reviewed process for the conference papers.

I am pleased to be assuming the role of Executive Chair for the International Research Community. A huge thank you to Dr. Judene Pretti for her leadership and commitment to the WACE-IRC over past two years as Executive Chair. She will continue to serve on the Executive Committee as Past-Chair. I would also like to express my gratitude to Dr. Norah McRae for her many contributions to the WACE-IRC which included a two year term as Executive Chair and a two year term as Past-Chair.

I look forward to taking this leadership role and continuing to foster and support a community of international WIL researchers.

Assoc. Prof. Karsten Kegwaard
Executive Chair, WACE IRC

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF WIL

The latest issue of the International Journal of WIL has been released the (Volume 22, 2021, Issue #4). The edition features nine excellent articles with an array of topics relevant to a wide audience.

Topics covered include:

• The contribution of social work field education to work-integrated learning
• Foundational-WIL for employability awareness: A faculty-wide approach
  ePortfolios as a platform for evidencing employability and building professional identity: A literature review
• Looking to GROW: The absence of goal setting in post-lesson mentoring conversations on work-integrated learning placements
• Industry facilitated case-based learning in accounting education
• The construction and testing of a framework to assure the institutional quality of work-integrated learning
• Social media mining to understand the impact of cooperative education on mental health
• Keeping students safe: Understanding the risks for students undertaking work-integrated learning
• Strategies for managing risk in work-integrated learning: A New Zealand perspective

These and past articles can all be accessed here.

IJWIL is excited to share that the Special Issue on Indigenous Perspectives on WIL will be published in the next month or so.

To receive notification of other IJWIL publications, please go to the IJWIL website, click on ‘notifications’ at the top right, and enter your details.

Assoc. Prof. Karsten Kegwaard
Editor-in-Chief

SHARE YOUR NEWS

Do you have something you would like to share? A resource, some news, an award Do you have something you would like to share? A resource, some news, an award or achievement? Would you like to sponsor a WACE event? If so, please contact Kylie Twyford, WACE IRC Chair Communications, with the subject line ‘WACE Newsletter’ to: wacecomms@gmail.com

WELCOME

Welcome to the seventh edition of the WACE Newsletter. This newsletter is aimed at helping you stay connected to Co-operative & Work-Integrated Education (CWIE) developments across the globe. WACE is the only international professional organization dedicated to developing, expanding, branding, and advocating for cooperative & work-integrated education programs within industry and educational institutions.

In this newsletter, we introduce our newly elected WACE Executive Committee members and provide information about the upcoming WACE Annual General Meeting (AGM). The call for abstracts for the International Research Symposium to be held in Kanazawa Japan hosted by Kanazawa Institute of Technology from 31 August to 2 September 2022 is open. We hope to see you in person in Japan or join us for this important symposium online.

In other news, we profile one of our members Central University of Technology, Free State, South Africa, and news from national associations. Information about the next WACE Global Challenge and Global WIL modules coming up in 2022 are also announced.

Judie Kay, Norah McRae, Nancy Johnston, and Jim Stellar
WACE Secretariat

 TABLE OF CONTENTS

In this newsletter you can connect with:

• the latest WACE News
• professional development opportunities
• research news from the International Research Community
• the newest institutional WACE Member
• regional news from National WIL associations around the world
• hot off the press publications in the International Journal of WIL, and
• shared WIL resources
• 
  

WACE NEWS

WELCOME TO OUR NEW EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE MEMBERS

We had two openings on the Executive Committee and received two applications to fill those roles. As such, we are honoured to acclaim our latest two members to this Executive Committee. Please join us in welcoming Dr. Patrice Twomey from the University of Limerick, Ireland, and Dr. Karsten Zegwaard from the University of Waikato, New Zealand. Their bios can be found on our website.
WACE Annual General Meeting (AGM) November 18 – Save the date!
You are all invited to the WACE AGM on November 18 from 8:00 am – 9:30 am (Eastern Standard Time North America). The AGM agenda is:

1. Land Acknowledgement & Opening Remarks (Norah McRae)
2. Call to Order
3. Approval of the Parliamentarian
4. Approval of the Agenda
5. Treasurer’s Report (Jim Stellar)2020/21
6. Financial Statements
7. Appointment of Auditor for 2021/22 Audit
8. Consent Agenda Items:WACE Secretariat Report
9. Approval of WACE Executive Council and Directors election results
10. Adjournment

Register now to attend!

If you are unable to attend the meeting and would like to vote, you may submit your proxy here.

GLOBAL CHALLENGE UPDATE

In the WACE Global Challenge student multi-disciplinary, multinational teams undertake online projects with real clients over 4 weeks to help business, government and community organisations. These projects help to identify practical ‘Shared Value’ initiatives to create social, environmental & economic value linked to the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

Over 200 students from 31 institutions and 24 countries have now participated in the WACE the Global Challenge programme with great outcomes. In addition to the great diversity of students, there is a broad range of companies from not for profits to large multinational companies from a broad range of countries involved.

Students’ feedback for the most recent Global Challenge #1 included:

• 90 % of students improved their employability skills
• 69 % increased their social and professional networks
• 84 % of students were successful at developing their chosen Global Skill

Register your institution to ensure participation in the next Global Challenge programmes.

Global Challenge # 3, January 2022:

• Programme dates: 31 January – 23 February 2022
• Expressions of interest by Institutions by 30 November 2021

Global Challenge

PROFESSIONAL 

DEVELOPMENT

WACE INTERNATIONAL RESEARCH

SYMPOSIUM 2022 CALL FOR ABSTRACTS

The next WACE International Research Symposium will be held in Kanazawa Japan hosted by Kanazawa Institute of Technology from 31 August to 2 September 2022.

The call to abstracts is now open. Start to develop your proposal that relates to the conference theme “New industry – University collaboration initiatives to realize sustainable society _ contributions, and expectations of co-operative & work-integrated education to the Un Sustainable Development goals”. The conference will involve both face-to-face and virtual components.

More information about the submission and review process is available here.

You can keep informed about the International Research Symposium by registering your interest here.

ONLINE GLOBAL WIL PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

The Global WIL modules have been offered since 2015 and have covered a variety of topics. The modules are developed and delivered by representatives of four national associations: Australian Collaborative Education Network (ACEN); Co-operative Education and Work-Integrated Learning Canada (CEWIL formerly CAFCE); Work-Integrated Learning New Zealand (WILNZ, formerly NZACE); The Vilar Network (Sweden).

Expressions of interest are now open for the Global WIL Modules occurring in 2022:

2 May to 29 June 2022

• Dimensions of Quality for Work-Integrated Learning
• Student Engagement

To find out more about the topics and to register your interest visit here.

October – December 2022

• Learning and Assessment in Work-Integrated Learning
• Industry and Community Engagement for Work-Integrated Learning

To find out more about the topics and to register your interest visit here.

WIL GLOBAL CONVERSATIONS

The WACE WIL Global Conversations are a series of webinars on internationally relevant WIL topics. The latest WIL Global Conversation (#5) is on the hot topic of  ‘Developing an entrepreneurial mindset through WIL’.

An entrepreneurial mindset is increasingly a requirement of contemporary workplaces. This webinar explored the role work-integrated learning (WIL) can play in developing and evidencing an entrepreneurial mindset and capabilities in students.

The speakers included Prof. Alon Eisenstein (Canada), Associate Professor Judith Smith (Australia), Associate Professor Sonia Ferns (Australia), Chris Jones (United Kingdom), and Professor Per Assmo (Sweden). The webinar was followed by discussions with colleagues from across the globe to explore and share ideas around enhancing students’ innovation and entrepreneurial skills.

Recordings of this and previous webinars can be accessed here.

WACE MEMBER

PROFILE

CENTRAL UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY, FREE STATE, SOUTH AFRICA

The Central University of Technology, Free State (CUT) is one of 26 public universities in South Africa that all belong to an organization named Universities South Africa (USAF). Universities are generally classified as traditional universities (offering theoretically oriented university degrees), universities of technology (offering career-focused diplomas and degrees, and of which CUT is an example), and comprehensive universities (offering a combination of both types of qualifications).

CUT has two campuses, with a total of 20,500 students, of whom 50% are enrolled in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM); 1,900 staff members; and an average of 4,500 graduates per annum. All new academic programmes comprise a compulsory WIL component, which is based on clear empirical evidence that WIL students are twice as likely to be employed and ready for the world of work as students in programmes with no WIL component.

CUT has had an average of 7,000 WIL students over the past five years, which necessitated the existence of a dedicated central WIL office, comprising of a Director, four WIL Coordinators, an Administrative Officer, and a Careers Office. The section for WIL & Industry Liaison reports to the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (DVC): Teaching and Learning. The average success rate in placing eligible students for WIL is 98.7%, which enables CUT to make a meaningful contribution towards addressing challenges such as significant gaps in the skills, knowledge, and readiness for employability of higher education graduates, as well as equitable access for all qualified students to meaningful, relevant, and productive education.

Read more about WIL and Industry Liaison at CUT here.

REGIONAL NEWS

NEWS FROM WACE’S NETWORK OF PARTNERS

WACE is a network of networks and we were pleased to share news from national associations and strategic partners linked to WACE, and provide updates on developments and achievements in WIL from around the world.

AUSTRALIAN COLLABORATIVE EDUCATION

NETWORK (ACEN)

AUSTRALIAN COLLABORATIVE EDUCATION NETWORK (ACEN)

ACEN Conference 2022
Register NOW to attend the ACEN Conference Beyond 2022: Creating the future with WIL, at the Melbourne Exhibition Centre on 24 & 25 October 2022.

Secure your early bird-priced ticket before 31 December 2021.

Share your innovative WIL practices and research, meet your colleagues and global WIL friends face-to-face – With a diverse range of sessions, this is a conference not to be missed.

Presentation themes include:

• Enhancing employability through WIL,
• Innovative, scalable, and sustainable WIL,
• Delivering Quality WIL,
• Globalising WIL,
• WIL Leadership: shaping the future,
• Collaborative stakeholder engagement,
• Indigenous engagement: Building capacity through WIL,
• Diversity in WIL – Inclusive WIL Practices and Service Learning and Community Engagement.

ACEN Critical Conversations
Watch recent recordings of recent ACEN Critical Conversations – a platform for discussion around current issues facing WIL practitioners.

Wellbeing in WIL
The transition between university and work contexts can be a time of great excitement but it can also conjure many challenges for students’ wellbeing. What do students, coordinators, or university systems do to manage and support student wellbeing in WIL? Watch

WIL Quality Framework
Ensuring quality WIL programs and processes has increasingly become a significant priority for higher education institutions. In this session, we hear from the authors of the Quality WIL Framework, a practical resource designed to assist institutions to evaluate and benchmark WIL curriculum, outcomes, policies, and practices. Watch

Associate Professor Franziska Trede
President, ACEN

CO-OPERATIVE EDUCATION AND WORK-INTEGRATED LEARNING CANADA (CEWIL)

2021 has certainly been a year of exciting changes and transition for CEWIL Canada. With nearly 1,400 members in 120 institutions, we have continued to see immense growth in our membership and interest in work-integrated learning in Canada. For the very first time in March, we celebrated a full month of WIL and a National Day of WIL on the 4th Wednesday of March. Through our 200+ dedicated volunteers on 14+ committees and councils, we have also supported advocacy efforts on a series of WIL issues, published a special Canadian edition of IJWIL, and grew professional development to learning and development to be more inclusive. We’ve also built original Canadian WIL content in our monthly newsletter, updated our definition of WIL, accredited 7 institutions in co-op, and continued to drive member engagement through our ten thousand coffee networking platform. We’ve appointed a Special Advisor to the Board in the area of equity, diversity, and inclusion. We look forward to being launching a WIL Practitioner Certificate in early 2022.

In January 2021, CEWIL solidified a $16.3M agreement with the Government of Canada to become a funding partner on the Innovative Work-Integrated Learning Initiative (I-WIL) and create the CEWIL Innovation Hub (iHub). Since that time, CEWIL has welcomed 9 new staff members to work on strategic initiatives within the iHub and general operations. In round 1 (January-April), we have supported over 9300 individual student IWIL experiences totaling over $6.7M. The inspiring projects created through the iHub will leave a lasting impact on the entire WIL community. Click here to view an Inspiration Story.

We’ve also partnered closely with 8 Student Work Placement Program (SWPP) providers to enhance relationships and collaboration with our post-secondary members. We launched an employer and community partner toolkit dedicated to demystifying our nine types of WIL. We look forward to welcoming all WIL colleagues to a virtual conference in June 2022 under the theme “Growing the Future of WIL”. Stay tuned for more details coming.

It is an electrifying time to be part of the CEWIL community and in the WIL space in Canada and globally. For those interested, CEWIL has also launched a new podcast called “Into the WILderness”, where we discuss all things WIL. If you are keen to learn more about CEWIL Canada’s activities, please have a look at our 2020-21 Annual Report, and check out these resources below:

• Panel: Innovative WIL to Remove Barriers
• iHub Inspiration Story
• COVID-19 Resources
• Employer and Community Partner Toolkit
• Podcast: Into the WILderness

Charlene Marion
Director, WIL CEWIL

WORK-INTEGRATED LEARNING NEW ZEALAND

(WILNZ)

Announcing WILNZ Conference 2022: Opportunities for WIL in an ever-changing world. 27-28 April 2022. Delegates will be able to attend either face-to-face in Auckland or fully online. Call for papers opening soon!

Check out our refreshed communication platforms:

• website
• LinkedIn #WILNZ
• Twitter @WILNZ_

Our events page showcases our Good WIL Dialogue WILNZ Webinar series and events. Register for our next webinar: Exploring the impact of WIL on the mental health of dietetics students on Tuesday 23rd November 2021, 12-1 pm (New Zealand time), facilitated by Reena Soniassy-Unkovich (Massey University).

Earlier webinars in the Good WIL Dialogue Series:

• Understanding and managing risks in WIL: A conversation on principles and practices Facilitated by Associate Professor Kathryn Hay (Massey University) and Dr. Jenny Fleming (AUT)
• Teaching Bi-Cultural Competency in a WIL Course Aukaha kia kaha” Facilitated by Professor: Jeanette King & Clare Murray, University of Canterbury
• Indigenous Employability – Facilitated by Dr. Patricia Lucas & Dr. Sally Rae, Auckland University of Technology

Congratulations to our Board member:

• Karsten Zegwaard – the new Executive Chair for the WACE International Research Community

2021 ‘Work-Integrated Learning on the Rise’ Conference proceedings are now available.

Dr. Jenny Fleming
President, WILNZ

THAI ASSOCIATION FOR COOPERATIVE

EDUCATION (TACE)

Thailand ready to reignite the CWIE Platform post-Covid
‘The CWIE Platform’, is the national grand initiative in Thailand for CWIE promotion, is a short name for the country’s roadmap for CWIE development called “The Manpower Demand-Driven Education Platform for Employability and Career Development through Cooperative and Work-Integrated Education: University-Workplace Engagement”. A brainchild of the Ministry of Higher Education, Science, Research, and Innovation (MHESI), this initiative was launched in January 2020 at an MOU signing ceremony to foster and strengthen commitment and collaboration among higher education institutions, public and private sectors as well as the community to promote CWIE implementation and raise CWIE standards.

The essence of the Platform is to ask and support all the parties involved to provide an opportunity for students to gain hands-on experience through working as full-time staff in actual workplaces. This CWIE opportunity will serve as a mechanism for the enhancement of their potential and competencies to effectively meet the rising and ever-changing demands of the workforce and labour market. One way among others to achieve the goals of this Platform is the new kind of CWIE programmes which are co-designed by universities and workplaces to achieve the student learning outcomes under the programme’s standardized management system that are mutually agreed by both parties.

However, the platform’s ambitious goal to increase the total number of CWIE students two-fold from 102,510 to 205,020 within a period of five years (2020-2024) has been hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic.  Although CWIE placements in the country have not been reduced substantially due to the pandemic, concerns of health safety and strict preventive measures have kept the quantity and certain aspects of quality of placements below the expected plan.

Now, the COVID situation has very much improved. Everyone in the country is ready for the acceleration of CWIE provision to achieve the CWIE platform target. The much-affected international CWIE plans and activities will be revived and re-energized for our students to become competent manpower for the world, too.

Professor Dr. Issra Pramoolsook
TACE

SCHOLARSHIP OF

WIL

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF WIL

A Special Issue (Volume 22, 2021, Issue #3) of the International Journal of WILhas been released. The edition is focused on the practice and research of cooperative education and work-integrated learning in the Canadian context. The lead editor for this special edition was Dr. Judene Pretti, in collaboration with guest editor Associate Professor Ashley Stirling.

There are 12 articles within the edition and they can all be accessed here. Topics covered include:

• Exploring diversity and inclusion in work-integrated learning: An ecological model approach
• Understanding barriers to engagement in an unpaid field placement: Applying the transtheoretical stages of behaviour change model
• Students with disabilities: Relationship between participation rates and perceptions of work-integrated learning by disability type
• Developing and delivering a culturally relevant international work-integrated learning exchange for Indigenous students
• Employers perspectives about hiring students from international pathways
• Improving engagement of interns and employers with the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals
• Letting your students fail: Overcoming failure experiences in undergraduate work-integrated learning
• Development and validation of a future-ready talent framework
• Re-designing work-study as work-integrated learning: Examining the impact of structured learning support in part-time on-campus employment
• Undergraduate research opportunities in Canadian higher education: An initial study
• Supervised entrepreneurial work-integrated learning
• Microcredentials and work-integrated learning

To receive notification of other IJWIL publications, please go to the IJWIL website, click on ‘notifications’ at the top right, and enter your details.

WIL RESOURCES

A new resource for WIL that may be of assistance globally is the recently released National Centre for Student Equity in Higher Education (NCSEHE) funded research conducted by The University of Sydney, Australia, in collaboration with the USA organization, Virtual Student Federal Service.

Participation in in-person placement forms of WIL by students from equity cohorts has been well known to be encumbered due to the students’ capacity time pressures, financial constraints, caring commitments, and geographical location. This report explores the benefits and challenges of online WIL for equity cohorts as a possible solution to leveling the playing field.

The full report is available here.

SHARE YOUR NEWS

Do you have something you would like to share? A resource, some news, an award or achievement? Would you like to sponsor a WACE event? If so, please contact the Judie Kay, Vice Chair WACE Partnerships and Programs via: programspartnershipsvc@waceinc.org

Updates, resources, conferences and research