The National Center for Professional Education Quality Assurance tests a new model of university-employer dialogue. Within the experiment, meetings are being held with the employers of the YSULSS Chair of English Communication and Translation. Meetings have already taken place with the management team and young employees of the Gaudeamus translation agency and The Translation Center of Ministry of Justice.
The meetings are chaired by ANQA director Ruben Topchyan and head of the YSULSS Chair of English Communication and Translation Kristine Soghikyan.
The aim of the meetings with the employers is to reveal the main skills and capacities that the employers expect from university alumni. Then the lecturers will be informed about the employers’ expectations and needs, which will help them to enhance the teaching and assessment methodology. The new model of university-employer dialogue implies a mediated communication through the head of chairs or experts. The mediated communication will help to focus on the employers’ requirements.
According to the employers, the translator alumnae should be able to orientate quickly, should be open minded and have critical thinking, should be able to set up new communication and cooperation, and should be highly responsible. They also emphasize the importance of the knowledge of a sectorial vocabulary as well as a basic knowledge of the sector. Employers agree that students should make much more practical translations in the context of the employer while studying. They should also learn to debate and should be able to attend lectures from native speakers of the studying language.
After analyzing the needs and requirements of the employers a meeting will be held with the YSULSS lecturers. And after the enhancement of the teaching and assessment methodology, there will be meetings with the students.
Note that this experiment is the continuation of the successful practice of forming a university-employer dialogue in 3 sectors: IT, pedagogy, and law. The promotion of the university-employer dialogue in these 3 sectors has been implemented within the TEMPUS ARARAT project.
ANQA will present the results of the experiment and its best practice at the 12th European Quality Assurance Forum.