Univative

Univative is a unique inter-disciplinary, inter-cultural student consultancy program designed for you to exercise your skills to devise innovative solutions to genuine business and community challenges. 

The program provides a unique opportunity for you to compete with other UOW students to gain employability skills in a range of different environments. You will experience what it's like to engage with real organisations and actual business problems!

While working in a team with other UOW students, you will solve a business problem or issue and compete with other UOW student teams to generate the best solution. Each team is made up of students from mixed disciplines and backgrounds, allowing you to demonstrate your unique skill set, and build on your employability skills. Team members have the opportunity to gain firsthand knowledge and experience about an organisation or business.

The program's main focus is on your professional learning and development, so that you can develop 2022 employability skills and knowledge such as:

• Working in a team with other students from UOW
• Fostering a positive and proactive work environment, and supporting your peers;
• Developing firsthand knowledge and experience of an organisation (your employer host); and
• Developing key professional skills such as: time-management, team building, business and customer awareness, problem solving, report writing, entrepreneurship and intercultural awareness.

APPLY FOR UNIVATIVE SUMMER 2021/22

Over the course of four weeks during Summer 2021/21 (24 January - 25 February), you will:

• Commit at least 25 – 35 hours per week to the program
• Collaborate in a multi-disciplinary UOW team and attend regular team meetings as required
• Be partnered with an employer project host and liaise with them online
• Compete against other teams of UOW students
• Write a business report
• Develop a presentation
• Represent the University of Wollongong in a professional manner
• Provide ongoing feedback on the program and alert the Univative Coordinator to any issues should they arise

Eligible students will meet the following selection criteria:

• Must be a currently enrolled UOW student (all disciplines, undergraduate or postgraduate, local or international), ideally in their penultimate or final year.
• Students from all campuses are eligible to apply
• Must have completed at least one semester of study at UOW and have at least one remaining semester of study
• Must be available to commit to all Univative related events, including the launch, training sessions, final presentation and closing event.
• Able to work under pressure
• Effective communication skills and confidence when speaking to others
• Effective organisational and time-management skills
• Ability to work effectively both independently and as a part of a small team
• Desire to improve professionally, and to support others in their professional and learning development 

Related information

• Univative key dates

Each team will be partnered with a project host (employer) and will compete against at least two other student teams from UOW.

Previous project hosts include:

• EY
• Accor
• Salvos Legal
• Clickview
• Spacer
• Amazon Web Services
• Australian National Maritime Museum and more!

Each project host will select a winning team to be announced at the Awards Ceremony. All Univators will receive a Certificate of Participation and can opt in to receive UOWx recognition.

Ultimately, your Univative experience will enhance the quality of your future job applications and will give you the opportunity to connect with prospective employers, thus building upon your career network.

Univative Summer 2021/22 will be conducted remotely.

Below are the key activity and dates for the program.

Learn more about the Univative program, what’s involved, how to apply and the experiences of previous participants by attending an online information session.

The Univative information session has now passed. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us via email.

"I enjoyed the program and its challenges; it was good to be involved in a multidisciplinary team with people from different backgrounds. I also enjoyed having to learn about a new industry and present a report in a compressed time frame."

"It made me realise that I can do a lot more than I thought and my skills are quite broad...the experience clarified and helped me put into words some of my skills."

"As a research student, my future career plan was to get a research position at university or institute. And now I am confident to work in an industry or company, or even start my business."