Student president attends conference in China

President Thomas Graham, of Edinburgh University's Student Association (EUSA), was in China from Monday 9 November attending the Universitas 21 Teaching & Learning Network Conference.

Universitas 21 describes itself as an international network of leading research-intensive universities from thirteen countries.

Mr Graham told The Journal that he wanted “to focus on getting jobs for our graduates in these tough economic times".

"My aim is to find out what we need to be doing to make sure our graduates have as good or better chances of those at the other world-leading universities when it comes to finding a job.”

A report published this week detailing the current state of the job market, showed that graduate unemployment had dropped 44 percent since last year.

In his election manifesto earlier in the year, Mr Graham outlined his proposals to improve the opportunities for students entering the job market for the first time. 

Edinburgh is one of only four British universities in the group, which includes students from as far afield as Mexico and Singapore.

The conference will run from 12-13 November at the University of Nottingham’s Ningbo Campus, near Shanghai.

EUSA are paying for Mr Graham’s flights, at a cost of £671.40. The University considers its role as a member Universitas 21 very important and has a specific fund for the trip.

Although EUSA has covered the general costs involved, Mr Graham is paying for his accommodation and internal travel when in China.

The main issue that will be debated will be ‘Teaching and Learning for Employability in a Global Economy’.

Another important aspect of the trip is internationalisation as it also formed part of Mr Graham’s election pledges. He laid out what he plans to achieve regarding this issue:

“I think we all recognise that the students' association doesn't do a good enough job at engaging all its members, particularly international students.

“I will bring back ideas about how we can begin to deliver a world-leading student experience not just for our home students but for every single member we have.”

The guest speakers at the convention include Richard Brown, former CEO of the Council for Industry and Higher Education in the UK, who will speak about the development of student global awareness.

David Brenemann from the University of Virginia will be speaking on “Employability: a view from North America”. Extracts from all the papers are to be posted online.