Computer Science Department Industrial Year

Neal Snooke nns@aber.ac.uk is the Industrial Year Coordinator and Myfanwy Cowdy is the Industrial Placement Administrator. Please direct all enquires, employer assessment forms, placement job adverts etc to cs-iy-admin@aber.ac.uk and Myfanwy or Neal will deal with your enquiry).

This page contains information for :

• Students looking for an industrial year job
• Students out on placement
• Current and potential Employers
• Academic Supervisors

Finding a placement

• Induction week talk pdf / powerpoint slides
• Student guide to the industrial year process.
• All 2^nd year students on schemes with a compulsory industrial year are invited to attend the Gregynog employability Half-Weekend in November.
• The Careers service provides several elearning modules that will be useful when preparing for job interviews and also the Gregynog weekend. Refer to the links on 'How to Read a Job Advertisement', 'Matching Yourself to a Role' and 'Understanding the Recruiter's Perspective' at the elearning website.
• Jobs we hear about will be sent to second years by email, and also placed on the Your Future web pages (accessible only within the Aberystwyth university network).
See also the YES website
• The careers service provides `drop in' each weekday between 10:30am and 1 pm in their office in the Students' Union.
• Second year students who have not secured a placement by 1st September will normally be required to change scheme, and return for their third year, instead. Please contact us at that time, to arrange this. However, note that a few placements may come up in the summer. So do keep in contact with us if you're still looking at that time!
• Students intending to go abroad for their placement should consider the Erasmus scheme. To quote one previous student "The grant is is quite substantial considering you just sign a few forms." (It will help with the additional expenses incurred when going abroad.) The deadline for applying is usually around the end of Feb. The Study Abroad Office (Room S11 Cledwyn Building) erasmus@aber.ac.uk has more details.
• Once you accept an IY job offer please complete and return the IY Confirmation form. Do not delay returning this form if you do not know all the information- fill in as much as you can and send an updated form later.

Information for students out on placement

• The assessment for the year comes equally from the report you write (see below) and the employer's questionnaire (end of this page). The year counts as 120 credits, weighted 1/4 on the cascade system. Fuller details are given on the IY Assessment page. The report should be submitted via TurnitIn and is due at the start of semester 1 teaching following completion of your IY. You should look for module CSS0060 and use the link in the Assessments Tab where the exact deadline will also be specified. Please contact cs-iy-admin@aber.ac.uk if you have any difficulties. You can submit (and resubmit) anytime over the summer and it is probably worth checking you have access to the submission page if you intend to submit near the deadline.
• Assessed report guidelines (please do use these!)
• See the student handbook to find out how the year contributes to your degree
• Supervisor allocation for 2015-2016 (updated 23/9)
  Supervisor allocation for 2014-2015 (updated 25/9)
  
• You may find the following tax information useful.
• Sandwich year students (assessed year) can pay their fees directly to the University or can apply for tuition fee support via Student Finance(listed under 'sandwich' because Finance uses slightly different terminology then the dept). The university will receive electronic confirmation from the Student Loans Company for all students who have applied for tuition fee support and will contact those who haven't applied for funding and provide them with instructions on how to pay. It is important to ensure fees are paid promptly to avoid network facilities and email being locked which in turn makes it difficult for your academic supervisor to maintain contact during the year.
• Proof of student status. Please contact the Academic Quality and Records Office http://www.aber.ac.uk/en/student/ug-issues/academic-office/certification/ for documentary proof of student status if required for council tax purposes etc.

Information for (potential) Employers

• Employer assessment questionnaire, as MS Word (.docx) or MS Word (.doc) or pdf. It is important that employers complete and return this form to cs-iy-admin@aber.ac.uk with a copy to the students Academic Supervisor (who will have visited) when the student finishes their placement. 50% of the assessment for the year is derived from this mark. If possible please export/save the completed form as a pdf file before sending via the email. Employers are welcome to provide alternative assessments or apprasals if more convienient, however an indication of the final grade to be awarded selected from the list on the form would be extremely helpful. Employers are welcome to allow the student to see the completed form particularly if it contains information or feedback that may be of benefit to the student, however they may choose not to do so, and the department will not normally provide the contents of the form to the student.
• Information for prospective employers

Information for Academic Supervisors

• IY Supervisor Guidelines and visit checklist appendices.
• IY Visit form to be completed following each visit. Return to the IY Administrator.
• IY Supervisor responsibilities from the Staff Handbook.