ANC Education with its collaboration with Northwood University is offering an Executive Development Programme (EDP) aimed at professionals who have partial or full professional qualifications in CIMA, CIM, Edexcel, BTEC, HND, ABE and ICASL and are seeking to obtain and fulfill their academic qualifications.
Under the Executive Development Programme, ANC offers the opportunity for students to earn a Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) in Management, International Business, Marketing or Finance. The BBA Finance is available to those who have a partial or full ICASL qualification. The programme of study can be completed in 12 months and lectures are held on Sundays between 9 am to 5 pm.
The reason the degree can be completed in 12 months is that after reviewing the student’s professional qualifications, Northwood University offers exemptions depending on the field of study that they will be pursuing.
“I don’t want students to come into this programme thinking it is a quick solution,” said Indy Chander, Academic Head of Northwood University programs at ANC. “There’s no such thing as a one year degree. Students are getting exemptions because their professional qualifications.”
Many choose to undertake The EDP in the hopes of migrating, furthering their career prospects or complementing their professional qualification with an academic qualification. As of now approximately 130 students have graduated from ANC via the EDP route and according to Chander, when asked from students by what percentage their salary has increased most of them have mentioned that it has increased by 30 to 300 percent. “There’s a reason as to why we are offering the programme,” said Chander. “Everybody who joins the EDP wants to move forward in their careers, have a decent job and be paid well.
The minimum entry criteria for the programme includes one of the following: CIMA Managerial Level, CIM Professional Diploma Level, HND Business Management, ABE Diploma Level and Strategic Level I in ICASL. Besides these requirements prospective students must have a minimum age of 23. Apart from the exemptions granted for professional qualifications, work experience could also earn some exemptions. Hence students are advised to create a portfolio reflecting their work experience.
The main focus of the programme is to develop and hone the skills of the students and therefore the classes are more interactive. The students are assessed through a combination of continuous assessments, exams, projects, presentations and most importantly through participation in class. “Each course or subject will be completed in five week blocks. Because of the sort of people admitted to the programme, our expectations are high,” said Chander reflecting on the student intake.
The lecturers on the EDP are carefully chosen industry professionals with a wealth of experience in the fields that they teach while they will also have at least a minimum educational qualification of a Masters degree. Faculty will bring a vast number of networking possibilities into the classroom, thus increasing the opportunities available for the students. Furthermore, as EDP students are internal students of Northwood University they will have access to the online library facility and the Blackboard portal, an online learning platform.
Chander further stated that “employers want to see competent, articulate and well presented individuals who have the right balance of knowledge and skills. And I am happy to say that our students have that and they have a very good reputation in the corporate arena.”
