Student Lecture at Worcester University

A week ago I went to talk at Worcester University, it's the third year I've been invited and I always look forward to it. The director of creative media there is a wonderful chap named Andy Stevens, I met him whilst playing badminton at a local club and we got chatting about what it is we do.

Andy's background before he became an educator was in the commercial sector, at first in traditional publishing and then heading up the web division for the same company. I never went into higher education myself, I left school at 16 and stayed home for two years. I learnt everything from books and my father (who, luck would have it, is a programmer), I spent two months working in a factory packing cheap rubbish into plastic bags before I was offered a position as a web developer at a local agency (it was a tough choice but I took the web developer role).

As Director of Creative Media Andy oversees a lot of different disciplines, including illustration, photography, animation, infographics, web, and well more than I can recall. Keeping abreast of progress in each of these disciplines is a difficult task, so when possible he visits relevant companies to chat about what's new. He also offers companies the option to go and talk to small groups of students at the university, in the hope that we might provide insight into the commercial world - hence I get to talk.

There are also a number of other initiatives Andy, along with his colleagues, has introduced to try and give the students experience of commercial practices. In addition to talks, students are given projects to work on with real clients and, most refreshingly, real deadlines. Last year for example they designed and developed eco-friendly packaging for a mainstream brewery.

As I mentioned, I have little experience of higher education (and none outside the UK) so perhaps this is not that different to how most universities operate. What little exposure I have had through friends and family has often left me unsure of their present day value to employers. For example, my cousin took a course in Computer Game Design. In his first year one of his lecturers was a student who had graduated the previous year. I can't say if he was an effective lecturer or not, but I would think it difficult for him to prepare students for a commercial environment which he has never experienced.

I think what Worcester University and Andy are doing to try to prepare students is vital for both students and employers and I hope it's more widespread than I believe.