Student engagement, externality and collaboration

Within arts, design and media departments in the uK, a common approach to providing students with experience of working beyond the confines of the university is to offer live projects where students may work on a project with a company or industry partner to provide creative solutions to set problems. I have been involved in many such projects during my time as programme leader and curriculum manager where students get the opportunity to deal directly with a client and pitch to them and to present their final outcomes. During my role as curriculum manager, there were many such projects taking placer which I was responsible, one example involved students working with Techub, a space for tech entrepreneurs in Manchester where students were asked to design the organisations co-working space with designs that communicated the company's core values. Students gain valuable professional practice experience with such projects and at the same time develop the skills needed to work in the industry environments. Such projects helped establish a collaborative partnership with our creative industry partners and the courses I was responsible for, it also encouraged companies to recognise a need to engage with the department and develop educational awareness in their business. Many such collaborations resulted in student internships and employment. On the course I currently teach on at MMU, students are encouraged to independently engage with the broad spectrum of professional activities related to their subject area of photography through a professionalism and employability (PE) unit. student engagement is recorded in a PE portfolio which evidences their engagement with the industry outside of the university and their independent initiatives and activities. The unit is supported with