HR Pulse

Resolution Circle drives employability of UJ students

The boundary between university and business needs to become more porous as new graduates grapple with the increasingly complex demands of a changing workplace. This is the result of a baseline study on South African graduates from the perspective of employers, carried out by the South African Qualifications Authority (SAQA) in partnership with Higher Education South Africa (HESA).

The study showed that before graduating, students need to have a clear idea of the expectations of their future employers. Presentations from business, companies building relationships with universities and dual appointments where higher education and business can 'share' expertise are all ways of allowing for a greater interchange between business and higher education.

Professor Ihron Rensburg, Principal and Vice-Chancellor of UJ, says that ensuring that the university's graduates are fully equipped to join the workforce, is one of the institution’s main focus areas.  With many UJ students being first generation students, these students are often financially supported by their extended families or communities, but carry the weight of the community's expectation of being able to return the favour upon completion of their studies.

"Over the last eight years UJ has made tremendous strides in this field, culminating a year and half ago in the launch of the Resolution Circle, a UJ-owned research and development ecosystem for technology that bridges the gap between student and industry and significantly impacts on the employability of graduates."

Evidence of the success of this approach is the university's latest Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) World University Rankings for 2013/2014 which placed UJ in the top 4% of global universities and the only comprehensive South African University to reach the top 650 ranked institutions.

Prof William Clarke, CEO of Resolution Circle, says the centre has been enormously successful in bringing together various disciplines and preparing graduates for real life business challenges.

"It provides work integrated learning (WIL) - which is a requirement of engineering diploma students at UJ - by partnering with industry on projects, utilising learner-employee teams under supervision of experienced professionals and using industry grade equipment."

The WIL is conducted through a number of programmes learner employees participate in. In the Skills Development Programme they receive hands-on training in the basic trades, such as carpentry, fitting, welding and sheet metal work, electrical, and industrial automation and control, as well as training in Health and Safety and First-aid.

Through the Experiential Programme they work on industry projects in interdisciplinary teams under the guidance of experienced industry supervisors. Team members are assigned different roles and rotate every month, with regular evaluation being based on their performance and technical ability as team members in the different roles. In addition, the Workplace Readiness Programme provides learner employees with training around various workplace issues. This includes aspects such as soft skills, general behaviour and etiquette, basic office survival skills, entrepreneurship, introduction to common company policies and procedures and employment contracts. Finally, in the New Technology Practice Programme they are introduced to the new and exciting technologies they may encounter in industry, such as 3D printing and scanning, CNC machines, and robotics.

"What's especially beneficial about this WIL is that Resolution Circle is so strongly focused on innovation, and that the students get to chance work in interdisciplinary teams as one does in 'real life,” concludes Clark.