The Hong Kong Polytechnic University

Department of Electronic and Information Engineering

Guidelines for Operation and Supervision of Work-Integrated Education

Starting from 2005/06, the requirements of Work-Integrated Education (WIE) are mandatory so
that all full-time UGC-funded degree programmes will include a credit-bearing WIE component.

It has been agreed by the DMC that Personal Tutors should be charged with the responsibility of
supervising the WIE activities of their students. This document which is prepared based on the
University’s policy on WIE (Appendix A) aims at helping Personal Tutors understand their roles and
providing guidelines for WIE operation and supervision.

Objectives of WIE

• To re-affirm the University’s positioning as a Univeristy offering academic programmes in a

professional context.
• To strengthen the competitive edge of the University's professional-based programmes.
• To help enhancing the all-round development of students.

WIE Requirement

Each full-time degree student must attain a minimum of one WIE training credit, i.e. completion
of every 2-week full-time training, or equivalent, within his period of study.

WIE activities should be structured and measurable. “Structured” means the type of tasks
undertaken by students should be well defined beforehand. “Measurable” means the degree of success
that students complete the activity should be assessed by the Department.

List of Approved WIE Options

WIE encompasses a variety of activities (which need not be highly related to the fields of EIE),
as long as students have sufficient opportunities to achieve the pre-set learning outcomes. Our existing
internship programmes (CES, Industry-Based Training, PGDP, and Industrial Projects) will all be
recognized as WIE activities.

Basically, WIE activities can be placements arranged by the University/Department, or

placements found by students themselves. The following “List of Approved WIE Options” are activities
recognized by the University as satisfying the WIE requirement:

• At least 10-month full-time placement in a suitable organisation as part of a programme, which

includes our Industry-Based Training and CES
• Summer placement (of normally 2-month duration) in a suitable organisation participating in the
Preferred Graduate Development Programme
• Any other placement in any suitable external organisation for a specified period of time
• Any collection of community service learning programmes of an acceptable aggregate duration
• Any jobs found by the student him/herself in an external organisation and deemed to be suitable by
the Department and the Dean in meeting the requirement of WIE. Such jobs must be declared by the
student in advance so that the Department can have an opportunity to assess their suitability
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• Relevant placement as student helpers in PolyU administrative departments and the Industrial Centre
• Assisting in PolyU activities that have an external collaboration or service component such as:
o Innovation and Technology Fund projects
o RAPRODs projects
o High-level consultancy projects
o Collaborative research projects that we undertake with external organisations
o Jobs undertaken by the Industrial Centre as a service for an external organisation
• Placement with IAESTE (International Association for the Exchange of Students for Technical
Experience) Programme in which the student is attached to a workplace abroad during the training
• The student works on his/her final-year degree project which involves an industrial partner or
external client. The student needs not be placed in the company, but makes frequent visits to ensure
that the project will meet with the specifications required by the company/client.

Roles of Personal Tutors

Design learning outcomes and monitor students’ progress

As mentioned above, WIE placements can either be arranged by the University/Department or

found by students themselves. For WIE placements to be arranged by the University/Department,
Personal Tutors are expected to design the learning outcomes for students to achieve upon completion of
the WIE placements, and monitor the progress of students in fulfilling the WIE requirement.

For WIE placements found by students, students should report to the Personal Tutors before
engaging in a WIE activity. Personal Tutors, in the first place, should recommend if the placements
proposed by students can be recognized as WIE activities based on the University’s policy. Personal
Tutors should design the learning outcomes to be achieved and monitor the progress of students in the
WIE activities approved.

Assess students’ achievement

Upon completion of the WIE activities, the WIE Employer/Supervisor will assess the students’
performance and the students are required to submit to the Personal Tutors a brief report with
endorsement of the WIE Employer/Supervisor at the same time. Personal Tutors may then assess the
students’ achievements in the WIE activities taking into account the WIE Employers/Supervisors’
assessments. Personal Tutors should recommend if the students have fulfilled the learning outcomes and
if the students should be considered as passing the WIE component. Personal Tutors should also state
the number of credits to be awarded to the students based on the students’ achievements and the actual
duration worked.

Report on income earned by students for LSFS

As advised by UGC, the Univeristy should report the income earned by students for the first 30
hours of work from the WIE placements to the Student Financial Assistance Agency (SFAA) for
consideration of the students’ grant and loan applications. For more details, you may refer to the email
from VP(AD) available from http://www.eie.polyu.edu.hk/prog/training_WIE.html. Personal Tutors
should advise students who have applied for grant and loan from SFAA and been paid for 30 hours or
more in the WIE placement to complete the form “Local Student Finance Scheme (LSFS) – Graduation-
tied placement income (GTPI)” (see WIE Form_LSFS) and submit the form to SAO for onwards
reporting to SFAA.

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Guidelines for WIE Operation and Supervision

While the procedures for supervising existing internship programmes will be kept unchanged,
Personal Tutors and students are advised to observe the following guidelines for WIE operation and
supervision. A workflow is also given in Appendix B for reference.

• The Department will announce job opportunities to students for their applications. Students are
supposed to report their WIE engagement to the Department using the form “Work-Integrated
Education (WIE) Activity to be Undertaken by Student” (see WIE Form A).
• If students want to undertake jobs found by themselves as WIE activities, they should first inform
their Personal Tutors of the job nature and seek their advice on whether the jobs can be regarded as
WIE placements. Students should obtain prior approval from their Personal Tutors for taking up the
WIE placement via completing the form “Work-Integrated Education (WIE) Activity to be
Undertaken by Student” (see WIE Form A). Personal Tutors may make references to the learning
outcomes stated in the same form when considering students’ applications.
• Once students are approved to take a WIE activity, Personal Tutors should design a set of learning
outcomes for the students to achieve (see WIE Form A, Part C).
• Personal Tutors should monitor the progress of students in fulfilling the WIE requirement during the
students’ employment period. Personal Tutors may liaise with the WIE Employers/Supervisors if
necessary or make regularly visits to the students in the workplace.
• Upon completion of the WIE activities, Personal Tutors should ensure a brief report on the tasks
done by students with signature of the WIE Employers/Supervisors and a copy of the “Assessment
Form for Work-Integrated Education (WIE) Placement by WIE Employer/Supervisor” (see WIE
Form B) are received respectively from students and the WIE Employers/Supervisors concerned.
• Based on the students’ reports and the assessments of the WIE Employers/Supervisors, Personal
Tutors should assess the degree of success against the pre-set learning outcomes and give the student
a pass or fail grade on the WIE component. Personal Tutors should also recommend the number of
WIE credits earned by students based on the actual duration worked (in principle, one WIE training
credit is to be awarded for a completion of every 2-week full-time training). The assessment results
will be collected in the form “Assessment Form for Work-Integrated Education (WIE) Placement by
Personal Tutor” (see WIE Form C).
• Personal Tutors should inform the students of the final assessment results on the WIE.
• Personal Tutors should advise students who have applied for grant and loan from SFAA and have
worked 30 hours or more with pay in the WIE placement to complete the form “Local Student
Finance Scheme (LSFS) – Graduation-tied placement income (GTPI)” (see WIE Form_LSFS) and
submit the form to SAO for onwards reporting to SFAA.
• All the WIE forms should be duly completed and sent to the General Office for record.

Reference

EDC Work-Integrated Education Resource Bank: http://158.132.100.104/wing/wie/

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Eie/WIE/forms/Guidelines for PT.doc

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