2006 Annual Report - University of Salford

Shaping graduates – supporting society
Annual Report &
Financial Statements
Shaping graduates – supporting society
At Salford, we’re committed to producing graduates with the
skills, creativity, confidence and adaptability to succeed in the
workplace and make a positive contribution to society.
Salford graduates are prominent in business, industry and
non-governmental organisations worldwide. It’s no surprise
that over 90% of our graduates gain employment or go on to
further study within six months of graduating.
Employability strategy
Our new Employability Strategy is designed to consolidate and
enhance existing initiatives within the University and to ensure
that all our students have the opportunity to engage in
learning that enhances their employability.
The Strategy recognises how we have led the way in this
regard and consolidates our long-standing experience
developing opportunities for both work-related and
work-based learning opportunities within our degree
programmes. It also aims to ensure that all of our students
have the opportunity to engage in learning that develops their
key enterprise and employability skills.
In addition, the Strategy further develops and enhances good
curriculum design, informed by engagement with employers
and professional bodies, as well as access to careers education,
information and guidance; opportunities for volunteering; and,
through the provision of structured and supported processes,
personal and professional development planning.
The introduction of this Strategy therefore builds on existing
good practice at the University and demonstrates our ongoing
commitment to the enhancement of the employability of all
our graduates.
Personal Development Planning
All students at Salford are provided with opportunities to
invest in their personal and academic development through a
process called Personal Development Planning (PDP). This
provides a framework within which students are encouraged
to reflect upon their own learning, performance and
achievement and to plan for their personal, educational and
career development.
In the last year we continued implementing processes of PDP
in line with the University’s aim to make processes available to
all students. The introduction of PDP demonstrates our
ongoing commitment to ensuring our graduates are provided
with opportunities to develop the necessary skills required to
become successful ‘lifelong learners’.
Key Skills
Key skills are sometimes referred to as 'transferable skills'.
The ability to articulate, evidence and transfer the key skills
of communication, numeracy, information technology, team
work, problem solving and managing one’s own learning,
has been recognised by employers and universities as being
essential to improving employability and supporting personal
development and lifelong learning.
The Salford Key Skills Project initiated the development of
the curriculum to embed key skills in all aspects of teaching,
learning and assessment, to ensure our graduates will be
better prepared to succeed in a competitive and fast-moving
job market. This year, work undertaken through the Key Skills
project informed our Employability Strategy.
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