Sport and Recreation Management students secure work placements
Friday March 6, 2009
Getting hands on
experience is an important part of being at university. Bachelor of Sport
and Recreation Management students attended an industry forum on February 27th
at Mawson Lakes. Students met with local businesses at the event to organise
work placements. More than forty industry representatives participated,
selecting students to work within their organisations.
Businesses attending the event included the Adelaide Tang Soo Do Academy,
Events SA, Life Be In It, SANFL and Swimming SA. The Australian Council for
Health, Physical Education and Recreation (ACHPER), offered event management
placements for two of its major events: Physical Education Week and the
ACHPER SA Health and Physical Education Conference. ACHPER Executive
Officer, Matthew Schmidt, says that it was a difficult decision to select
those for the placement.
"Fifteen students registered significant interest on the day. We recently chose three students to undertake our placements in 2009."
Schmidt says that the organisation has been providing work placements to
UniSA students for fifteen years. This has benefited both ACHPER and the
students.
"Students gain experience and hands on knowledge during the placement, while we have an opportunity to identify suitable people for employment. Our last two employees have actually been students who undertook a placement."
Student, Steven Rypp, who attended the event, secured a placement with the
Australian Sports Commission. Rypp is eager to start working with the
Commission on its After School Active Program.
"I'm really looking forward to the placement," says Rypp. "It will give me an opportunity to do some sports coaching, which I'm really interested in. I'll also be doing some administration work in the office, which is an important skill to develop for working in a business."
Lecturer and Industry Placement Coordinator, Gavin Colville, says that the
practicum shows students where their degree may lead them.
"It is important in helping students to get jobs. It gives them a taste of what they can achieve after the degree. They look forward to it. They know that if they keep doing the hard work, there is light at the end of the tunnel."
Find out more about studying Sport and Recreation Management
If you are studying a Bachelor of Tourism and Event Management or Bachelor of Human Resource Management, you may undertake a work placement by enrolling in Management Practicum 1. Please contact Gavin Colville for more information.