Imogen Harris-McNeill

Imogen Harris-McNeill

Engagement Officer - Office of the PVC Health and Medicine

Imogen will visit the National University of Singapore, a number of universities in the UK and attending the UK Council of Deans of health students leadership programme's networking event in London aiming to benchmark best practice in the development and implementation of innovative co-curricular employability, mentoring and leadership programs.

“My learnings from this trip will influence my work on a number of projects, they will allow me to improve our Faculty’s orientation offerings and transition programs and strengthen my ability to develop an innovative new co-curricular program for the Faculty’s undergraduate students, with the aim of producing capable, empowered students who can map their own student and employment journeys, and thereby increasing the employability of our graduates.”

Imogen travelled to the UK and Singapore to explore student engagement and preparing them for the workplace. Her time in the UK was spent consulting with a number of institutions, including the University of Leeds, the University of Bristol and the UK Council of Deans of Health. She also attended the European First Year Experience Conference at the Cork Institute of Technology.

Imogen sought opportunities to learn about best practice within health and medicine, across other STEMM fields, as well as institution-wide approaches, in two main areas:

• The development and implementation of innovative co-curricular employability, mentoring and leadership programs;
• The development of transition and orientation programs, as well as co-curricular support and extension programs for first year student retention and success. And in particular, strategies for the successful transition of students from non-traditional backgrounds and ‘at risk’ cohorts such as first-in-family, low SES, and students from disadvantaged communities.

At the National University of Singapore she learnt about their Think Tank Series – which brings together students with members of Faculty to discuss programs (academic and co-curricular) and provides an opportunity for students to be co-creators of their University experience – and Industry Sharing Series – organised for students and staff to dialogue with industry practitioners, who share their insights on trends, challenges and opportunities in their respective sectors.

“As a Faculty, we have had feedback from our students that they want opportunities to engage with new graduates in their health profession, to gain career advice and guidance from them, and to be mentored by health professionals. They also want opportunities to collaborate inter-professionally (across health disciplines), leadership training and leadership opportunities in order to learn how to work together as leaders in the health work place,” commented Imogen.

“The opportunity to visit other institutions and organisations and learn from (and be inspired by!) what they are doing is so valuable, not to mention the opportunity to build networks with others doing the same work as you the world over,” she said.