Kelaniya Uni breaks new ground with Certified Professional Marketing Graduates degree

Tuesday, 19 August 2014 02:53 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

By Waruni Paranagamage The Department of Marketing Management (DMM) under the Faculty of Commerce and Management Studies (FCMS) of the University of Kelaniya (UoK), last week officially launched their new curricular degree titled Certified Professional Marketing Graduates (CPMG) with the intention of producing not just a graduate but a job market ready graduate. The CPMG degree includes a Bachelor of Business Management Degree and two other diplomas which focus on skill development. Due to expired and non-practical syllabuses being taught at government universities, the demand for the graduates and the supply of market relevant graduates have become a considerable need in Sri Lanka. According to the data of the World Bank, the lack of soft skill training in government universities have created the mismatch of graduates with the job market needs. The arts faculties of the government universities face the problem of supplying poor skilled labor to a competitive job market.

The shift away from teaching to an emphasis on learning has encouraged power to be moved from the teachers to the students. Due to this, there is a need for a holistic approach to students’ education, one that provides a complete education of the mind as well as skills. Providing a practical solution for the skill mismatch of Sri Lankan graduates, DMM of UoK has introduced the CPMG degree that allows students the chance to follow two diplomas in skill development, which enhances the undergraduate’s soft skills, while reading for a special degree in business management. Under the previous degree program, the department offered a Bachelor of Business Management (Special) Degree in Marketing, but now students can also follow two other diplomas in People Skills and Enterprise Resource Planning. The department allows all DMM first year undergraduates to follow both diplomas but it won’t be compulsory to continue with these diplomas in the second year. DMM Senior Lecturer Wasana Jayawickremaratne said that the lack of connectivity, the lack of confidence and the poor attitudes of the students have pushed them away from the job market. “We hope a student can become an associate, an analyst and a specialist respectively as they go into their second, third and fourth year under the program. But after becoming a graduate they are confused about what they learnt, why they learnt it and what they can do with it,” she stated. She said the new curricular targets the particular job roles suitable for the students’ knowledge and skills. “We have included workshop programs, different types of learning techniques for each subject topic and practical learning outcomes,” Jayawikramaratne said. The teaching techniques of the CPMG includes using LMS vodcasts and podcasts, recording case studies and classroom discussions, workshop activities, field trips as well as industry visits. The examination system will also be different. The examinations will be held along with assignments that are relevant to the syllabus while the structure of the question papers will also be changed. DMM is one of the leading departments under the FCMS in UoK and is the only ISO 9001: 2008 quality certified business management department in the country. The Faculty consists of five departments, 100 academics, and ten undergraduate programs. The DMM takes in 80 to100 students annually from the A/L commerce stream. Each level of the four-year degree program is structured into eight learning pillars (Business Environment, Management, Accounting and Finance, Quantitative Aspects, Digital Marketing and IT, Branding and Communication, Consumer Behaviour and Research, Applied Marketing). The Dip PS is based on industry-university collaborative research-led behavioural outcomes and comprises seven course units structured in a progressive manner. The highly regarded industry-based training faculty takes students on a journey of discovery and transformation. Dip ERP is designed to support and automate the business process or information systems which help in identifying and planning the resources needed to make, account for and deliver customer orders. DMM has tied up with SAP to provide students with the knowledge of foreign universities, learning via SAP, the understanding of how business functions integrate in creating values to its customers and other facilities. CPMG is a combination of the previous Business Management Degree and the other newly-introduced diplomas. FCMS of UK Dean D.M. Semasinghe said that apart from the medical faculty of the university, the DMM has recorded the highest employability. “The research and internships are compulsory to complete the degree. We offer CPMG lectures in English medium. So the CPMG will produce a competitive bachelor for the current job market.” He added that the department has conducted lectures in the night to accommodate graduates who are employed. Minister of High Education S.B. Dissanayake, UoK Vice Chancellor Prof. Sunanda Madduma Bandara and other distinguished officials from the UoK, ISO and SAP were also present at the event. Pix by Lasantha Kumara