University helping teenagers get a grip on student life

4:42pm Tuesday 9th September 2008

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Hundreds of teenagers across the district are eagerly preparing for three years of full-on student life this month. And as the beginning of the university term looms closer, reporter Emma Clark takes a look at how our own local university is doing.

THOUGH the majority of university applicants opt to move away to gain a degree, one in five A-level leavers in St Albans and Harpenden actually go on to study at the University of Hertfordshire (UH).

With more than 23,000 students studying there, the two main campuses in Hatfield will be busier than ever.

To encourage growth, the university is constantly upgrading or introducing facilities and, apart from Oxford and Cambridge, it spends more annually on them than any other.

This year it was voted one of the most improved universities in the country by The Complete University Guide league tables. Located on the De Havilland Aircraft Company site, a technical college was built in 1952 focusing on structural engineering because of its location. Finally in 1992 the University of Hertfordshire was founded, still offering courses in aircraft studies.

The entrepreneurial university is one of the country’s first “business-facing” institutions in England, meaning that every course from nursing to teaching has a business-like angle to prepare students for the real world.

As the pioneering centre for sandwich courses, half of students currently complete a year in industry between their second and third year but by 2010 the university hopes to increase this to 80 per cent. It is one of the county’s largest employers with a turnover of £205 million a year, so it understands the importance of passing on business sense.

Ross Renton, the university’s head of UK and overseas recruitment, helps people progress on to higher education and organises work at 185 schools across the region.

He said: “We want to help students get into jobs and support them all the way through.

“We aim to really make our students stand out. The ones who have an idea about how a business works and operate are the ones who get the jobs. Whether you’re a teacher of a chemist, you can always be a manager in your line of work.

“Everyone – no matter what you want to do – will do better with that knowledge and can expect to gain that from UH.

“We have done a lot of pioneering work with business and a lot of universities are looking at what we have done and realised it works.

“We want to continue being one of the leading business-facing universities. A student who comes here can be assured of very high quality teaching where the student is at the centre of what we do. You will have some of the best facilities, student support and teaching in the country.

“But most of all you can have confidence that your degree will mean something in the real world.”

The university is proud to offer a different type of learning that prepares its students for lifelong work and shows them how to respond to business needs. Entrepreneurial Wednesdays gives students a chance to listen to an inspirational talk and take part in workshops and if it sparks an idea they can take it forward with its Flare competition where the best ideas are invested in.

The real-life experience gained from sandwich courses means students can expect improved results because they have hands-on knowledge of how the industry they are studying really works.

Students from the Law School, based in Hatfield Road, St Albans, also operate a pro-bono law clinic for the public.

Every single course at the university is designed with the help of professional bodies and companies; for example Sony Broadcast assisted the university in developing its BSc digital technology course.

Many lecturers and teachers across the departments also run their own businesses. Connected with 50,000 businesses, the university encourages students to become student consultants, helping businesses out with research or project ideas.

Amongst the top facilities is the Learning and Resource Centre with a 24-hour library, the largest in the country, a sports village where Saracens rugby team train, an auditorium open to the public, a media centre with millions of pounds’ worth of equipment and the latest addition is The Forum.

Currently being developed, The Forum will be based on the College Lane Campus to accommodate student needs and interests. It will include a bar, a small club, restaurant, coffee shop, convenience store and a nursery for staff and student’s children. The project, due to be completed in September 2009, is a joint venture between the Student Union and UH.

Alice Philippson, 22, a business student from Hitchin, has just finished a placement year working in the university’s marketing department and is about to go into her final year.

She opted to go to the university on the recommendation of a friend after first briefly attending Sussex University to study history.

She said: “I hadn’t really thought about going to Herts before but my friend began there a year before me and she had a fantastic experience.

“I knew it had a great reputation for business and after being at Sussex and I realised I wanted to do something more vocational and be serious about my course.

“I wanted practical experience so I could get a job and I knew there was a placement year, which I was really attracted to.

“You can have all the knowledge but if you can’t apply it it’s no good. At Herts we’re taught how to use it.

“Today’s job market is really competitive with lots of graduates but I feel like I have the edge by going here.

“It’s so modern and I love the vocational approach because I feel like have the confidence to go out and a get good job now. I need to be at the top of my game and I’m in the right place.”

During her placement year Alice did data analysis, spent time in Turkey recruiting students and worked with advertising agencies, the side of business she now wants to pursue.

In her final year she will now be living with a group of girls in a house in Hatfield to get the “proper university experience”.

She said: “The social side of it is also important to any student. I want to get really involved this year with all the clubs and everything that’s going on.

“The nightlife is all on campus so it means we’re all together or we can travel to St Albans or London. I love it and can’t wait to be close to campus now.”

Last month the university helped thousands of students through the clearing process, offering help to any student whether they were hoping to study with them or not.

Mr Renton emphasised how the university has a responsibility to all younger students to encourage them in to higher education and work closely with schools and colleges.

He added: “We are a leading, 21st century university and we want to be at the heart of the community with staff helping local businesses, schools and our students carrying out community projects.”