Saturday, 7 September 2013 00:00
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ANC Education, the premier education institute in Sri Lanka has, since its inception, partnered with prestigious universities around the globe to provide internal degrees to Sri Lankan students in the hopes of nurturing the future generation of the country. As such, ANC’s collaboration with Northwood University, apart from delivering traditional route undergraduate degrees, is offering an Executive Development Program (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 fulfil their academic qualifications.
Under the Executive Development Program, ANC offers the opportunity for students to earn a Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) degree in Management, International Business, Marketing or Finance. The BBA Finance is available to those who have a partial or full ICASL qualification. The program of study can be completed in 12 months and lectures are held on Sundays between 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
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. These exemptions are awarded in the form of credits, units earned to complete a degree in USA, and the students will only have to complete the remaining number of classes at ANC to earn the equivalent of a four year degree.
“I don’t want students to come into this program thinking it is a quick solution,” said ANC Academic Head of Northwood University programs Indy Chander. “There’s no such thing as a one year degree and this is an important point to understand. Students are getting exemptions because Northwood University has recognised the validity of 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%. “There’s a reason as to why we are offering the program,” 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 program 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 program 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 program, our expectations are high,” added 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. The 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: “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.”
Northwood University Dean of International Programs Mamiko Reeves was in Sri Lanka to take part in the ANC Education awards evening; she said: “We define ourselves as a boutique school; we are a specialised business university that offers BBAs and MBAs. We have over 49,000 graduates and about 35% of our graduates start their own business within 10 years of their graduation. They are very entrepreneurial.”
