UCS Bury St Edmunds hosts business breakfast to discuss Foundation degrees

Jul 3 2008 4:00PM

University Campus Suffolk Bury St Edmunds hosted a breakfast for employers on Thursday [July 3 2008], to address higher level skills gaps and explain how Foundation degrees can provide a solution which meets employers' needs.

Representatives from around 20 companies, including Delstar Engineering, Grampian Country Food Group and Trox UK Ltd attended the event.

Breakfast in Zest the Restaurant, West Suffolk College, was followed by presentations on Foundation degrees from UCS staff, employers and degree students. 

Dr Ann Williams, Principal of West Suffolk College, took her guests outside to have a look at the new Leonardo House before delivering a talk on the College's £70 million plans to build a new campus over the next four years, completing in 2012.

Dr Williams said: "As part of University Campus Suffolk, it is important to have a Higher Education building, which has a different character to it. In part, this is because the students themselves, who may have been attending College for a number of years as FE students want to see this step change marked when they move on to do a university degree."

David Kent, UCS Bury St Edmunds Higher Education Manager, spoke about Foundation Degrees in relation to business and organisational needs.

He said: "A key component of Foundation degrees is that the learning is done using the workplace itself, so it produces a different kind of graduate.

"We are giving businesses the edge by focussing training. You can negotiate with the local College. You can incorporate bits of the curriculum you want, in terms of workplace learning. The student uses the workplace – your workplace – as a means of achieving their credits.

"One of the advantages of UCS is that we have a Virtual Campus which is a good one. It does have the facility to enable students to access materials and resources at any time, wherever they are.

"Evidence suggests that staff with the opportunity to develop professional skills will be more motivated and productive, leading to greater profitability."

Andrew Skinn from RG Carter Ltd and David Frost, Head of School of Construction spoke about the successful collaboration between the two organisations.

Kyle Power, who is doing an FdSC in Engineering, talked about higher level study and the workplace from an employee's perspective, before the event was brought to a close with a few well chosen words from Mr Kent.