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Vice-Chancellor addresses ACU Conference on USP
USP Vice-Chancellor and President, Professor Rajesh Chandra speaking at the ACU Conference on graduate employability at the University of Auckland (Source: ACU)
Vice-Chancellor addresses ACU Conference on USP
USP Vice-Chancellor and President Professor Rajesh Chandra with the ACU Secretary-General, Professor John Wood (Source: ACU)
The University of the South Pacific’s Vice-Chancellor and President, Professor Rajesh Chandra represented the University at the Association of Commonwealth Universities (ACU) Conference on Graduate Employability, held from Thursday 11 July to Saturday, 13 July, 2013, at the University of Auckland (UA).
The conference which was succeeded through the efforts of the UA and Universities New Zealand, was attended by a select number of international participants.
The ACU Secretary-General, Professor John Wood, two Directors of major divisions of ACU, and the Chairman of Universities New Zealand and the Vice-Chancellor of Waikato University, Professor Roy Crawford were among the participants.
The New Zealand Minister for Tertiary Education, Skills and Employment, Honourable Steven Joyce opened the conference.
Professor Chandra was invited by the ACU to respond to the Minister’s opening speech and to respond to two other papers submitted by Special Advisor on Education Policy to the Secretary-General and Deputy Director, Directorate for Education and Skills, OECD, Dr Andreas Schleicher, and Professor Crawford for discussion at the conference.
The Honourable Minister spoke on the role of tertiary education in development and shared his view that tertiary education in New Zealand is making a good contribution to the tertiary system, which is one of the most effective in the world.
He spoke about wider global challenges, especially the global financial crisis and the rise of China and India and the accompanying shift in economic power to Asia, and also outlined the major implications of these changes for New Zealand and for universities in general.
Professor Chandra delivered his responses to the Minister’s speech and the other speakers’ presentations, by giving comments on employability, and referring to USP's efforts towards greater graduate employability.
According to Professor Chandra, “one of the very important points of discussion at the conference (generic skills and learning to learn) came through strongly as the Minister related his own experience of University education and how his initial degree was hardly used in its technical sense—but he had benefited enormously from all the other skills he had developed”.
He emphasised the following in relation to graduate employability:
• While graduate employability for universities are generally good, they can and should be enhanced;
• Universities need to focus significantly on generic skills—an area in which USP has made considerable advancements;
• We need to think beyond employment: entrepreneurship has a strong role to play and universities will need to put into place formal entrepreneurship frameworks;
• We need to produce people for multiple jobs and careers because people have been found to change careers many times during their working lives;
• Universities will need to focus on future jobs as they are currently focused on current jobs;
• Future jobs will combine imagination and creativity with technical skills to lead new product and service creation; and
• ICTs and new pedagogies are essential in ensuring future employability.
Professor Chandra also spoke about the USP STAR project and the progress the University has made in terms of shaping graduate attributes, by embedding these into the curriculum, embedding research skills into courses, aligning with the Bologna process, setting up effective programme advisory committees designed to closely link the worlds of academia and employment, and setting up a careers advisory and job placement centre.
“There was considerable interest in our four university-wide courses that address generic skills, especially the course on ethics. Equally, the participants were impressed by the fact that entrepreneurship features so strongly in our Strategic Plan 2013-2018,” Professor Chandra said.
Professor Chandra also met with the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Strategic Engagement) of UA, Professor Jenny Dixon and the Director of Pacific Engagement, Mr. Walter Fraser, who is also a former Registrar of USP. They discussed the range of activities being accomplished under the MOU between the two universities, and agreed to continue to cooperate, but with a focus on specific targets.
Professor Chandra also met with Professor Wood and discussed the University’s engagement with the ACU and a possible visit by him to USP. Professor Chandra also had a very useful discussion with Executive Director of Universities New Zealand, Ms Penny Fenwick.
This kind of participation by the Vice-Chancellor in major international conferences dealing with crucial higher education issues is essential in raising the University’s performance and profile in light of its new Strategic Plan.
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