One of the most important institutions for understanding and recognizing scientific development, as well as empowering and training a skilled workforce tailored to the needs of society, is the university. It must redefine its goals and mission in line with global changes, the discourse of science and technology, and the transition to a knowledge-based economy.
Despite the existence of various fields and specializations in universities and the increasing specialization of job requirements in organizations and industries, organizing and developing skill enhancement and empowerment courses for students, continuously tracking graduate employment, and establishing career guidance centers and specialized job placement services in universities can be significant steps towards reducing the gap between industry and academia and creating opportunities for higher education graduates to enter industrial, commercial, and job markets.
The “Career Guidance and Specialized Job Placement Center” is a scientific-executive center established in 2020 under the framework of the regulations of the Ministry of Science, Research, and Technology (MSRT) and as a subset of the Office of Industry and Society Relations at the University of Isfahan. This center closely collaborates with the university’s Vice-Presidencies for Research and Education and other relevant units, including the Office of Industry Relations, the Growth and Entrepreneurship Center, the Student Counseling Center, the Center for Open and Electronic Education, the Career Development Center, and other related entities both inside and outside the university to achieve its set goals.
Due to the numerous centers with career and entrepreneurship objectives at the university, a High Council for Employment Policy was established in November 2022, centered around the Career Guidance and Specialized Job Placement Center at the University of Isfahan. This council includes four additional centers (such as the Counseling and Lifestyle Center, recognized as a national hub for career counseling, the Career Development Center (CDC), the Center for Open and Electronic Education and Specialized Services, and the Innovation and Technology Zone at the University of Isfahan). Representatives from each vice-presidency (Student Affairs, Education, Research, Finance, and Legal Affairs) serve as ex officio members, along with one or more faculty members specializing in career fields and several talented students in this area as individual members. The council was formed to synergize, coordinate, and facilitate career and entrepreneurship activities, avoiding isolated and redundant efforts among the university’s career centers.
Objectives:
- Facilitate the process of employment, job placement, successful transition from university to the workplace, and skill training for students and graduates.
- Train specialized, skilled, and efficient human resources in line with the current and future needs of the job market, combining education, skills, and collaboration with economic enterprises to utilize their capacities.
- Establish continuous and reciprocal connections between the university and industries and organizations.
- Sign cooperation agreements with industries and organizations to expand the university’s relations with industry and society.
- Send students to visit organizations and industries and complete internships (Rahian-e-Pishraft (“Progress-Seekers”) tours).
- Implement internship and apprenticeship regulations.
Innovation Center for Entertainment Industries
The University of Isfahan started its serious investment in the field of computer games in 2013 and started to hold continuous classes and courses on game development training with the help of successful people in the game industry. On the other hand, the specialized computer games center of the University of Isfahan was launched in 2016 with the support of the Vice Presidency for Science and Technology, which prioritized strengthening the infrastructures for education and entrepreneurship in this field by organizing the training courses and also providing the establishment space, as well as specialized amenities and equipment for New game-maker teams, that became an "Innovation Center for Entertainment Industries" by developing activities and the renewed support of the Vice Presidency for Science and Technology, whose task is defined as developing an ecosystem for the entertainment industry in Isfahan and neighboring provinces.
This center is currently a unique pole for education, research, and entrepreneurship in the field of game development in Iran, and its laboratories have a brilliant research history and equipment that are rare or unique in the country.
Duties and goals:
This center has focused its activities on three areas:
A. Developing educational infrastructures
Holding dozens of game-making workshops and training courses at different levels on various aspects of this industry-art-media, such as technical, art, psychological, sociological, medical, economic, etc., and holding five game-making summer camps.
B. Developing research infrastructures
Holding the country's only international article-based comprehensive conference in the field of computer games for seven consecutive years (from 2015 to 2021) as well as setting up the leading laboratory of serious entertainments in Iran, which has more than 50 products in the field of serious objective-based games (therapy, education, making culture, etc.), which is an important trend in interdisciplinary research, are two of the most important research activities of this center.
C. Developing entrepreneurial infrastructures
Dozens of events and challenges have been organized by the center since its inception, with the aim of developing networking among those who are interested in game-making, which has resulted in the formation of dozens of teams and individuals specializing in this field who are currently known at the national and international levels.
Services:
Everything needed for developing the games has been prepared in the Entertainment Industries Innovation Center of the University of Isfahan:
• Active and dynamic shared workspace
• Board games laboratory
• Motion recording laboratory
• Virtual/mixed/augmented reality lab
• Animation production studio
• Sound and music studio
• Training classes
• The space for providing sports-movement games services for children
• Computer-equipped site
• Conference room