Category Archives: Student Campus Partnership (SCP)

Employer Case Study: University of Exeter Lab Work

Name of Organisation: University of Exeter

Name of Employer: Robert Ellis

Job Title: Senior Lecturer

Internship Scheme used: Student Campus Partnership (SCP) | Employer Engagement & Student Employment | University of Exeter

Feedback:

“The intern specifically worked on developing a theoretical model for sex change in hermaphroditic aquatic species. This is highly novel and is contributing to a larger area of work our lab group are developing. This helped the intern familiarise themselves with the project, and set the foundation to develop a possible PhD project proposal together over the coming 12 months.

Their successful integration to the team and contribution to the wider goals of the team. The delivery of a comprehensive protocol to assess the content in the lab

This was a really positive experience, and also provided a highly beneficial development experience for a PhD student within our lab who was able to mentor the intern during their placement.

The internship scheme has been very straightforward and I would certainly use it again.”

Employer Case Study: University of Exeter – TQAE

Name of Organisation: University of Exeter – TQAE

Name of Employer: Craig McEwan

Job Title: Academic Developer

Internship Scheme used: Student Campus Partnership (SCP) | Employer Engagement & Student Employment | University of Exeter

Feedback:

“The interns worked as a team accross three main university projects:

Assessment Reimagined:
Interns mapped the assessment journeys of students on 16 undergraduate programmes that had been identified as priorities by the project lead; painting a detailed picture of what assessment consists of on these programmes. After gathering data module-by-module, the interns compiled reports summarising the assessment journeys for each programme, before zooming out and looking at any broader trends that could be identified accross HASS and STEM programmes. In addition, they conducted a survey of students about their assessment experiences at Exeter and incorporated their key findings and analysis into a final report. This work forms part of the university’s wider Assessment Reimagined project. The findings from both their mapping and student engagement work will help to influence proposals around potential assessment changes over the coming months.

Learning Landscapes:
The interns produced a report with their analysis of study spaces at Streatham campus. This included their views on what defines a good study space and examples of good practice that we currently have at Exeter. Their recommendations focused primarily on how the university could raise awareness of underutilised study spaces and better communicate them to students at Exeter. They created several mock-ups / prototypes of comms in a variety of mediums that the university could use or expand upon to get these messages accross. One of the interns also conducted a series of short interviews with students to better understand their study preferences and their awareness of the range of study spaces on campus. These findings were included in the final project report.

Development of a new chatbot with the Digital team:
Although the Digital team are working with external consultants to develop the technical elements of the chatbot, the interns played an important role in defining and articulating the chatbot’s ‘personality’ and communications tone. They compiled research on other chatbots, before creating a name for the new chatbot (Robi) and defining its personality traits and backstory (creating storyboards and promo materials to communicate this effectively). They drafted answers to a series of personality/non-support questions that can be used by the chatbot and created a Tone Blueprint, which will act as something of a style guide for the chatbot’s responses when it is up and running. This work has been gratefully recieved by the Digital team and complements the more technical work that they have been doing to develop the chatbot.

I think their biggest achievement was meeting all of their main project goals in what was essentially five weeks of work. Their ability work as a team and support each other was crucial and a big part of their success. I was blown away by their professionalism and their willingness to take on challenges and tasks that were out of their comfort zones.

This was my first involvement with Students as Change Agents, and was my first time managing SCP interns. While I was a little nervous about taking on six at once, it has been an incredibly rewarding experience. I was fortunate enough that they were an absolute dream group. I really couldn’t have asked for a better bunch. Their ability to support each other was so impressive and certainly made my job a lot easier. It was great to watch them develop new skills and interests that they didn’t expect, and to see their confidence build over the course of the internships. Based on the feedback that I’ve received so far, they have been positive about their experiences and some have even applied for other internships at the university. I also want to note the benefit that we had from adopting an agile working framework for the duration of the internships, facilitated and supported by colleagues in the Digital team. The use of agile working methods gave the interns a real sense of structure and was instrumental in them getting off to such a quick and successful start with their projects.”

Employer Case Study: Female Dignity

Name of Organisation: Female Dignity

Description of Organisation: Female Dignity’s vision and mission is to provide machinery to convert raw materials in the respective developing country to convert into sanitary pads using specialist machinery.

Name of Employer: Amanda Alexander

Job Title: Founder & Managing Director

Internship Scheme used: Student Campus Partnership (SCP) | Employer Engagement & Student Employment | University of Exeter

Feedback:

“The student we took on was a dream intern who understood and fulfilled her tasks on time and with excellence. Her pleasant demeanor and pro-activeness was great, she’s welcomed back to Female Dignity anytime. She created and took full responsibility for the e-commerce platform for Female Dignity’s website. It was truly a pleasure working with the SCP. I’ve offered her the opportunity to intern with us during her holidays.”

Employer Case Study: University of Exeter: Market Research

Name of Organisation: University of Exeter: Market Research

Name of Employer: Nick Long

Job Title: Market Research Office

Internship Scheme used: Student Campus Partnership (SCP) | Employer Engagement & Student Employment | University of Exeter

Feedback:

“The key output was supporting facilitating student focus groups as part of an ongoing University project, followed by contributing to a written report summarising key outcomes and insights from the focus groups. The report was shared with a senior leadership group within the University.

Our intern’s work on the written report; she provided a very detailed summary or insights that made up a big proportion of the final report. The report was reviewed by both myself (direct line manager) and our Market Research Manager and we both felt there was real quality in the work.

Overall, working with the student was a very positive experience; she was enthusiastic, engaged and produced high quality work. “

Employer Case Study: University of Exeter

Name of Organisation: University of Exeter

Name of Employer: Nicholas J. Moberly

Job Title: Senior Lecturer

Internship Scheme used: Student Campus Partnership (SCP) | Employer Engagement & Student Employment | University of Exeter

Feedback:

“Our intern worked as a research assistant on a psychophysiological experiment, helped to recruit participants to recruitment target, test them and also trained another intern to run the experiment and process psychophysiological data. Intern also processed, collated and archived all data.

The internship provided a very valuable experience in working with an enthusiastic and conscientious student to deliver a research project in a timely manner. This allowed me to complete work on a timescale that would otherwise have taken many more months, and therefore to deliver a research grant efficiently. The intern had already worked on the project (as an undergraduate) previously and so were able to continue where they left off and further develop their skills, while increasing their skills in people and time management. I hope that they have found the experience as useful and interesting as I have.”

Student Case Study: Ask An Alum (UofE)

 

Name of Student:  Emily Im

Degree Subject:  English

Job Title: SCP 5520 Ask An Alum Administrator

Company Name:  University of Exeter

Type of Internship:  Student Campus Partnerships (SCPs)  

What were your key duties and responsibilities during your internship?

My main responsibility was to manage and record Ask An Alum applications and then connect students and graduates with alumni who could give them careers advice. I also searched and inputted data from Raiser’s Edge onto Microsoft Excel, produced and scheduled social media marketing material to promote Ask An Alum, and wrote copy advertising Ask An Alum for the careers newsletter.

What was your biggest achievement on your internship?

I helped connect over 60 alumni with students and graduates who applied for Ask An Alum.

Skills Learnt: 

  • Ability to Work Under Pressure
  • Organisation
  • Customer Service

Attributes Developed:

  • Logical thinking
  • Confidence
  • Independence

Your message to other students considering a similar job role, organisation or sector?

I had a brilliant time as Ask An Alum Administrator for the University’s Employability team. My three lovely managers gave me support and guidance when needed but also welcomed my own ideas. There was a lot of data inputting involved but I had the opportunity to be creative too when working on the marketing side of things. The internship as a whole has helped me develop the skills I need for the future and boosted my confidence. Therefore, it was a worthwhile experience.

Employer Case Study: University of Exeter – DMLC, HUMS

Name of Organisation: University of Exeter – DMLC, HUMS,

Name of Employer: Isabel Santafe

Job Title: Lecturer in Hispanic Studies

Internship Scheme used: Student Campus Partnership (SCP) | Employer Engagement & Student Employment | University of Exeter

Feedback:

“The student contributed to the dissemination of our research project both through social media and conferences and our intern developed confidence in the creation of engaging and effective social media content.

It has been a great experience to have the student as part of our CartasVivas Research Project and has given us a very useful insight on student engagement. It was refreshing to have a younger team member with new creative ideas. We have supported her to develop confidence, new multimedia skills and a more proactive attitude to work.”

Employer Case Study: University of Exeter

Name of Organisation: University of Exeter

Name of Employer: Fabrizio Nevola

Job Title: Prof Art History and Visual Culture

Internship Scheme used: Student Campus Partnership (SCP) | Employer Engagement & Student Employment | University of Exeter

Feedback:

“Interns worked as part of the interpretation team as part of a RAMM pop-up exhibition on the High Street. These were public-facing roles and I thin they all developed skills in making the research in the show more accessible to audiences. They also ended up having to align to the objectives of the organisers – around a public consultation – more than they had perhaps expected.

It has been really good to be able to bring students into active roles in the dissemination of research through this internship opportunity. I think this was a valuable experience for them to work with our local community and museum and develop skills in working with the public.”

 

Employer Case Study: Department of Modern Languages & Cultures, University of Exeter

Name of Organisation: Department of Modern Languages & Cultures, University of Exeter

Name of Employer: Hugh Roberts

Job Title: Professor of French

Internship Scheme used: Student Campus Partnership (SCP) | Employer Engagement & Student Employment | University of Exeter

Feedback:

“Following an initial with Dr Lizzy Williamson (in Digital Humanities) and me, our intern produced a sample in TEI/xml (text encoding) of a poem and related trial record of a research project I’ve been working on. Subsequently, she also produced a style sheet that will allow us to develop a digital edition further and for Digital Humanities to produce a prototype website.

The student produced all aspects of the TEI/xml sample from inception to completion. This is highly specialized work and a significant achievement. It means she has proven herself as a programmer for Digital Humanities and other initiatives.

This was a great opportunity for our intern to learn more about TEI/xml following her introduction to it in Oxford in the summer. It will also allow me to demonstrate the viability of the digital elements of the research project in subsequent research grant bids.”

Employer Case Study: University of Exeter, Geography Department

Name of Organisation: University of Exeter

Name of Employer: Caitlin Kight

Job Title: Manager, Academic Development and Skills

Internship Scheme used: Student Campus Partnership (SCP) | Employer Engagement & Student Employment | University of Exeter

Feedback:           

“Our interns designed and implemented a research project involving both staff and student surveys. They analysed the data and generated two key outputs: a presentation, which they delivered at an education away day in Geography, and a set of analytical tools supporting future efforts in the department. They also made recommendations for additional outputs and provided us with a list of ‘next steps’ for the project.

The research project itself was phenomenal, but I think that even more impactful was the interns’ presentation at the away day. This was delivered to a roomful of staff, so it must have been very intimidating, but it was very powerful and impressed everyone. It provoked a lot of great discussion and will lead to genuine change in curriculum design.

They were not just a great addition to the project; they actually helped shape the project and drive it forward so that it could yield innovative and useful outputs that will make a meaningful difference to curriculum in the Geography Department. They worked creatively, independently, and rigorously, leading on surveys, focus groups, data analysis, and presentation of results. I have already used their project as a case study to recommend similar work in other disciplines, and the Geography academics will be using their data to decide next steps for future education research projects.

Both students steered the group towards a different but better method of data collection that ultimately provided a more insightful and meaningful snapshot of the situation in Geography. Specifically, they suggested that we collected both staff and student opinions on the same topic and then compare these in order to see whether the two groups perceived an issue the same way or perhaps in conflicting ways. What we found was the latter, which was unexpected but also very revealing; we would not have had this surprising result without the interns’ input.

I had a wonderful time working with our interns and I know I speak for the rest of the project team as well when I say that it was an enriching and inspiring experience. I felt that I learned more during this project than I would have without them in the team, and I am working hard to find ways of not only building on their legacy, but also giving them an opportunity to stay involved in our work over the long term.”