![Page 1: Accredited Training and Academic Education Oil and Water, or Perfect Complements? Working with Professional Bodies King’s College London – 17 th June 2011](https://reader030.vdocument.in/reader030/viewer/2022032707/56649e175503460f94b038a3/html5/thumbnails/1.jpg)
Accredited Training and Academic EducationOil and Water, or Perfect Complements?
Working with Professional BodiesKing’s College London – 17th June 2011
Helen Southall University of Chester
![Page 2: Accredited Training and Academic Education Oil and Water, or Perfect Complements? Working with Professional Bodies King’s College London – 17 th June 2011](https://reader030.vdocument.in/reader030/viewer/2022032707/56649e175503460f94b038a3/html5/thumbnails/2.jpg)
Background – The NTI
• 2 academic staff seconded from CSIS– Later, 50% share of 1 administrator
• Originally part of a national, government-funded scheme– Targets and focus for funding were on ‘skills gap’ re. low-
end ICT training. Brokered training delivered by FE colleges– Other targets related to contact with SMEs– Funding ended in 2006; most NTIs closed down
• Chester NTI chose to move to higher-level training – Accreditation is a slow process, so other funding sources
(e.g. JISC) and support from institution essential in interim
![Page 3: Accredited Training and Academic Education Oil and Water, or Perfect Complements? Working with Professional Bodies King’s College London – 17 th June 2011](https://reader030.vdocument.in/reader030/viewer/2022032707/56649e175503460f94b038a3/html5/thumbnails/3.jpg)
Background – The NTI
• Since May 2007 the NTI has trained in excess of 500 delegates at OGC & Apple accredited courses
• Delegates have included many from the NHS, Civil Service, local authorities, armed forces, Police, courts, H.E., and other public services
• Other delegates principally from banks and manufacturing, plus company directors and many freelance contractors
![Page 4: Accredited Training and Academic Education Oil and Water, or Perfect Complements? Working with Professional Bodies King’s College London – 17 th June 2011](https://reader030.vdocument.in/reader030/viewer/2022032707/56649e175503460f94b038a3/html5/thumbnails/4.jpg)
Becoming an ATO for PRINCE2®• PRINCE2 certification is frequently demanded in project management
(and other) job adverts– Also useful to organisations tendering for project management contracts
• ATO status is essential– Cannot legally claim to offer PRINCE2 training, use copyright materials, or book
PRINCE2 exams without it
• Badge of quality– Anyone can offer ‘project management training’– Only ATOs can offer ‘PRINCE2 project management training’ and be listed on the OGC
web-site
• Benefits including access to a pool of accredited trainers, ATO meetings and newsletters, BPUG, exhibitions, contact lists
PRINCE2® is a Registered Trade Mark of the Office of Government Commerce in the United Kingdom and other countries || The Swirl logo™ is a Trade Mark of the Office of Government Commerce
![Page 5: Accredited Training and Academic Education Oil and Water, or Perfect Complements? Working with Professional Bodies King’s College London – 17 th June 2011](https://reader030.vdocument.in/reader030/viewer/2022032707/56649e175503460f94b038a3/html5/thumbnails/5.jpg)
Becoming an ATO for PRINCE2• The accreditation process
– Slow, expensive and frustrating (especially if starting from scratch)
– Nothing is taken for granted. Being part of an HEI is (rightly) not an advantage. Management procedures and marketing materials are carefully vetted. Materials are accredited on a slide-by-slide basis.
– Trainers must all be individually accredited• High level of relevant hands-on experience is a pre-requisite• This means existing university lecturers won’t necessarily be
eligible• There are also significant timetabling issues
• Despite the frustrations, when we achieved accreditation we were genuinely ready to run our first course. Not always the case in HEIs!
![Page 6: Accredited Training and Academic Education Oil and Water, or Perfect Complements? Working with Professional Bodies King’s College London – 17 th June 2011](https://reader030.vdocument.in/reader030/viewer/2022032707/56649e175503460f94b038a3/html5/thumbnails/6.jpg)
Some Pitfalls (and Advantages)• The torture never stops...
– Not a one-shot deal; all ATOs (and trainers) are re-inspected annually• This is actually quite helpful, e.g. in providing justification for the required administrative
support
– Substantial annual fees relating to the ATO itself, and individual ‘products’ and trainers associated with the ATO
– Regular updates to PRINCE2 itself mean compulsory re-writing and re-accreditation of teaching materials
• High overheads– High course fees
• Lots of specialist commercial competitors– Large market
• Potentially, lots of hassle dealing with unusual or foreign administration and finance procedures– Potentially, lots of delegates, including new overseas markets
![Page 7: Accredited Training and Academic Education Oil and Water, or Perfect Complements? Working with Professional Bodies King’s College London – 17 th June 2011](https://reader030.vdocument.in/reader030/viewer/2022032707/56649e175503460f94b038a3/html5/thumbnails/7.jpg)
So.... Oil and Water?• Professional qualifications such as
PRINCE2 don’t plug comfortably into HE ‘levels’
• Differences of emphasis...– Academic courses
• Transferable skills, learning how to learn, critical thinking, flexibility, long courses, lasts a lifetime
• Coursework, short exams, support, presumption that students will pass until proven to fail
– Professional certification (e.g. PRINCE2)• Short, intense, high-pressure course• Learning (& retrieval in exam conditions) of
knowledge, jargon, standard methods, specific information on who does what and when
• Regularly re-tested; it is presumed that this ‘version’ will go out of date within 5 years
• Pressure from employers (and already-qualified) to make sure exams aren’t ‘too easy’
• Issues re. dyslexia, ESL etc
![Page 8: Accredited Training and Academic Education Oil and Water, or Perfect Complements? Working with Professional Bodies King’s College London – 17 th June 2011](https://reader030.vdocument.in/reader030/viewer/2022032707/56649e175503460f94b038a3/html5/thumbnails/8.jpg)
...or Perfect Complements?• What did delegates ask for?
– Ongoing mentoring and support with implementation– Complementary academic qualification
• What can we offer?– Difficult to compete head-to-head with commercial
training companies; our overheads are too high and short courses aren’t (yet) our core business
– However, continuing to offer only 3-year degree courses doesn’t meet delegates’ needs, and funding changes mean that it’s not a realistic option anyhow
• M.Sc Programme & Project Management– Based on Chester’s award-winning Work-Based &
Integrative Studies degrees– The missing link after (or before) the 5-day
professional course– Unlike training companies & non-ATO universities, we
can provide both professional and academic aspects in-house
![Page 9: Accredited Training and Academic Education Oil and Water, or Perfect Complements? Working with Professional Bodies King’s College London – 17 th June 2011](https://reader030.vdocument.in/reader030/viewer/2022032707/56649e175503460f94b038a3/html5/thumbnails/9.jpg)
Conclusions• Courses which command high fees are not a short cut to high profits
– Obtaining and maintaining ATO status is expensive• There is a lot to be said for belonging to an exclusive club• There is even more to be said for being unique in an exclusive club...
– ‘the only active ATO within a university’– We regularly get business because of this, even from clients who
aren’t particularly interested in academic courses• Quality is critical
– HR course bookers, business people, freelance project managers (i.e. typical delegates) are willing to pay high fees for good quality – but they will also complain loudly and effectively if they don’t think they’ve received it• An indication of what to expect from students paying up to
£9000 / year from September 2012?
![Page 10: Accredited Training and Academic Education Oil and Water, or Perfect Complements? Working with Professional Bodies King’s College London – 17 th June 2011](https://reader030.vdocument.in/reader030/viewer/2022032707/56649e175503460f94b038a3/html5/thumbnails/10.jpg)
Contact DetailsHelen SouthallBusiness & Curriculum Development ManagerNTI
01244 512191http://www.chester.ac.uk/business/nti