Multiple campus operation - challenges and opportunities in implementing Work Integrated Learning (WIL).

This project Building Capacity for Work Integrated Learning (WIL) was funded in part by a small portion of an Australian Learning and Teaching Council (ALTC) grant under the auspices of the James Cook University (JCU) Curriculum Refresh process. JCU academics from the Faculty of Law, Business and the Creative Arts visited key WIL academics and practitioners in other Queensland and Victoria universities in order to understand their commitment and approaches to WIL. The overall purpose of this research was to provide workable recommendations to the Faculty on how it could increase capacity to develop and sustain a range of WIL programs that meet the needs of a multi-campus university.\ud \ud The Faculty of Law, Business and the Creative Arts offers programs at various locations including Townsville, Cairns, Brisbane and Singapore. Each location has its own unique challenges in delivering WIL programs; Townsville and Cairns have regional economic constraints; Brisbane has a high proportion of international students; and Singapore is constrained by a legal system that restricts certain WIL programs that impacts a large proportion of its student cohort. The WIL working team is endeavouring to share knowledge, align practices and develop a strategy to formally integrate WIL practices into the curriculum that is consistent across the Faculty yet still meets the unique vagrancies of each campus location.\ud \ud The project has explored a diverse range of both placement based and non-placement based approaches to WIL. Comparative baseline data focusing upon Work Integrated Learning has been gathered to support strategic and tactical decision-making relating to teaching practices, student engagement, assessment and curriculum renewal. The final recommendation made to the Faculty was to adopt a hybrid version of the Victoria University‘s WIL model of assessment targets and findings of other universities visited during the project that suit the challenges facing JCU as a multi-campus operation