The global economic crisis of the past decade and the accruing shifts in labour market policy, coupled with the rapid advances in technology have resulted in a far less certain future employment horizon than ever before [1]. In response, Higher education institutions (HEIs) are best positioned to advance knowledge and produce work ready graduates with the requisite skills for the future economy [2]. In this paper, the current understanding regarding the role of HEIs, the academic-student partnership, graduate employability, industry collaboration and research led teaching are merged into a framework entitled P-PAC (Partnership in Pedagogy, Accreditation and Collaboration). This framework encourages and embeds a partnership approach between academia, students and industry with the goal of promoting collaboration, facilitating relevant curriculum and pedagogy practise and accrediting achievement in order to effect deeper and more engaged learning and teaching, so that students are better equipped with the necessary skills for both employability and global citizenship. The P-PAC framework is validated using a 5 ECTS Lean Systems module. The authors also define Threshold Concepts-major as those concepts (identified by the academic) which are inherent in a module and which need to be achieved by the student, in order to attain mastery of the subject matter. Threshold Concepts-minor are defined as those intermediate concepts identified by the student in their mastery of Threshold Concepts-major. Examples of both concept types are presented in this paper.

Higher education institutions (HEIs) typically generate income from two main sources; student

fees and research income. In contrast, the predominant waste streams in HEIs tend

to include; (1) assignment/examination mark submission process, (2) photocopying process

and (3) the funding application process. Unintended internal process complexities and barriers

typically aggravate the challenges already inherent in the research grant application

process. Although Lean Six Sigma (LSS) has been adopted by a number of HEIs in Ireland,

very few have adopted an integrated LSS approach for waste reduction in the research grant

application process. To identify barriers and waste in the research grant application process

within an Irish HEI in an EU environment, the authors used an online survey deployed to

240 academics and researchers. The survey response rate was 13%. The participating HEI

in this pilot study generated an annual income (including student fees and research income)

exceeding e240 million for the academic year 2017/2018. Using an LSS lens, this paper identified

the primary waste in the research grant application process from an academic and

researcher perspective to be; editing and revising applications, liaising and communicating

with collaborators and waiting for information. Organised thematically, the main barriers

were strategic thinking, collaborator identification and co-ordination, eligibility, process,

time and support & mentoring. The results from this study can be used to inform the next

stage of the research where empirical studies will be carried out in other HEIs to develop a

practical roadmap for the implementation of LSS as an operational excellence improvement

methodology in the research grant application process.