What a couple of years it has been for offering work placements. The following provides a snapshot of the year that was for 2021. Thank you to all that played a role in achieving what we have given the circumstances we found ourselves in.
Accounting and Business
Our Accounting and Business students were largely unaffected by COVID-19, and for the most part placements were able to proceed as usual. A number of our host organisations were able to offer remote/flexible placements that allowed students to complete their placement, albeit a little differently.
The WPL Team introduced the InPlace “Self Placement” module into our student placement application process, seeing the end of paper-based electronic forms. Both students, academic staff and WPL Team are now able to lodge, approve and process placement applications online. This tool will be rolled out to other disciplines in due course, and Justice has already come onboard.
Engineering
Engineering cadets, for the most part, were not affected by COVID and their ability to undertake placements.
The WPL Team have implemented a documented duty of care process for Engineering cadets and Supervisors (via InPlace), that we will now be able to report on.
Management of Engineering cadet placements has also been changed up, mainly due to staff resourcing. Loren Edmanson has transitioned out of this discipline, with Kirrily Welsh managing the cadet side and Jenny Grainger managing the host organisations.
Justice Studies
Our Justice students were probably the most affected by COVID, with many placement sites, such as Correctional Centres and Court Houses no longer able to facilitate placements. This resulted in a number of students needing to defer placement. For those students who were due to graduate, a “special project” was made available to them in lieu of placement. An additional intake is planned for 202230 to allow other students to complete placement.
Psychology
Psychology placements have been relatively unaffected by COVID and placement has moved to a number of forms such as tele-health.
The contract with the Department of Education has commenced and is set to double in 2022, with enrolments already looking strong. The WPL Team has a dedicated person, Loren Edmanson managing the cohorts, but additional resourcing will be required in order to manage in 2022.
Some little known facts about WPL in 2021
Our students completed 126,684 hours of placement. At a rough estimate of $30 per hour, that equates to A$3,800, 820.00 to our host organisations
Our students undertook a placement in a variety of modes:
Overall, our students received great results for the Workplace Learning studies:
Thank you 🙂
Jenny Grainger