Southport College reaps the benefits of link-up with North West’s leading CPD provider
Staff at Southport College have been reaping the benefits of top class Continuous Professional Development (CPD) training from the University of Central Lancashire (UCLan).
New figures from the Higher Education Business and Community Interaction Survey (HEBCIS) reveal that UCLan is number one in the North West for the number of CPD training days it provides for businesses across the region.
The University, which has campuses in Preston, West Cumbria and Burnley, provides just short of 100,000 learner days to businesses per year. The results of the HEBCIS survey place UCLan in the top five nationally, alongside several leading business schools.
According to the results of the HEBCIS survey, UCLan provided £11 million worth of CPD courses to industry in the last year.
HEBCIS is an annual report published by the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) and the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS). It provides a comprehensive measure of how UK universities exchange knowledge with businesses and community partners, stimulate innovation, develop human capital and generate enterprise.
Bede Mullen, director of Knowledge Transfer at UCLan said: “It is imperative that we encourage the transfer of knowledge and skills from the academic environment to industry in order to develop businesses and the communities they operate in.
“It is important that the university is not only imparting knowledge to young people in full-time education, but also to business which are actively contributing to the UK economy.”
In September 2008, 15 members of the management team at Southport College enrolled on the Post Graduate Certificate in Management through CPD providers at UCLan, and all 15 are due to complete the course by Christmas 2009.
The intensive 18-month programme aims to provide delegates with a thorough grounding in all aspects of business management including management theory, human resource management and accounting and finance.
Staff from Southport College have attended four teaching sessions led by UCLan lecturers. In addition to the teaching sessions, one assessment clinic is held per module to allow students to raise any questions or concerns they have about assignments with the lecturers.
Alex Lang, quality manager at Southport College said: “Without a doubt the training we have received from UCLan has been beneficial to the organisation.
“Not only has it furthered the knowledge of our management team, but has allowed them to network with each other, improving relationships and understanding across the college. The staff now have a greater appreciation of the wide range of roles within the college structure.”
Dharma Kovvuri, Acting Dean of Lancashire Business School said: “Lancashire Business School at UCLan works closely with local businesses to provide flexible management programmes that are relevant to the delegate's own workplace. This is beneficial for the individual's professional development and ultimately delivers a return on the organisation's investment. We are delighted that the staff from Southport College have chosen to expand their skill set with Lancashire Business School.”
A number of staff currently enrolled in the postgraduate course have expressed an interest in joining Masters courses in the future, to develop their skills further.
“UCLan has been flexible and supportive throughout, they have adapted the course as much as possible to suit our ways of working and I would definitely recommend that other businesses, looking into CPD, consider UCLan as a provider,” added Alex.
In 2006, the independent Leitch Review of Skills undertaken by Sandy Leitch and commissioned by the Government stated that as a nation, we must develop training provisions to meet known skills shortages in the workforce.
Bede Mullen added “To compete in a global knowledge economy we have to focus on the existing workforce as well as those who are pre-employment.”
15 October 2009
