Members host employability workshop

Two Members have hosted a workshop at a recent conference.

Professor Sam Allwinkle MCIAT PPBIAT, CIAT Education Board Chair and Paul Laycock MCIAT of Birmingham City University presented a workshop entitled 'The challenges in developing employability skills for students in preparation for roles and functions as built environment professionals in a rapidly changing industry.' It formed part of the  IBEE 2016 Conference for academics in the built environment, held last week at Liverpool John Moores University. 

Based upon the extensive experience of CIAT  University Accreditation the workshop explored how various stakeholders, including academics, employers and professional bodies within the built environment understand and expect higher education to prepare learners for employment by equipping them with an adequate level of both generic and discipline-specific skills.

The workshop touched upon the need for generic employability skills, together  with specific skills, such as the use of specialist software  and communicating information according to industry standards.

The workshop provoked discussion by sharing experiences and challenges faced within built environment education and enabling adequate preparation for employability. It also included a presentation of data based upon accreditation visits and professional assessment by CIAT providing a cumulative account as to how well-equipped students and graduates are on Accredited Architectural Technology degree programmes and what strengths and deficiencies are repeatedly identified.

The presentation also provided critical insight into CIAT Accreditation visits, along with evidence and observations from CIAT Accredited Universities.