UCF Talks Business Development

May 4, 2012 - PRLog -- niversity College Falmouth is developing a new range of industry-focused professional development and career development courses in response to employers’ and individuals’ need for flexible, industry-focused learning.

The new Professional Development Unit ( http://air.falmouth.ac.uk/cpd) aims to build on the success of UCF’s existing portfolio of Art, Design, Media, Performance and Writing degrees  and its business writing and Skillset Media educational programme.

The course development team is in the process of consulting with industry partners and colleagues to gain insight, data, and case studies around the areas employers consider current and relevant.
The first raft of courses from its professional development course offering includes business writing and journalism as well as software skills.

For employers, investment in the workforce increases competitiveness in the global marketplace through ensuring they have up-to-the-minute skills. For individuals, courses and qualifications that build on what you know and have done.

The course development team worked with industry, gaining insight, data, and case studies around the areas the creative industries deemed current and relevant.  The courses that have been created cover business writing and journalism.

Whether a business needs to communicate internally with precision and impact, deepen relationships with existing customers, or find creative ways to attract new clients, language is the primary tool - and the Introduction to Effective Business Writing course will show how to use it confidently and effectively.
Introduction to WordPress will get businesses up and running in the business blogosphere with confidence or significantly improve an existing business blog.

Our BA Journalism (online) journalism course is aimed at journalists who want to progress in their field.  Delivered entirely online, it is designed to fit flexible learning into busy professional lives, enabling people to learn wherever they live. The course will help journalists gain the skills needed to work in newspaper, online and magazine journalism.  This includes the essentials of writing for a digital global marketplace, developing multimedia publishing skills, story concepts and development and building a professional online profile.

Short courses in Indesign, Wordpress, Photoshop and Social Media Marketing have been developed and will be available later in 2012.

Industry said that time was money and staff attendance at courses lasting for days wasn’t an option. UCF listened.  UCF offers flexible routes to successful career development. Whether it’s learning online, blended learning or a 1 day intensive on-campus session, UCF has developed a successful intensive short course delivery format with a quality instructional design that will upscale employees and have them using their newly acquired skills in short order.

What makes CPD at Falmouth unique?  It views CPD as a process where learners plan and own their own learning.  It’s not a product.   “We deliver courses that make learners reflect on their experiences and improve their ability to articulate and demonstrate their newly acquired skills,” said Christina Bunce, Head of CPD,  “They leave/finish with an understanding that these skills are ‘transferable’ and can be applied to thinking in new situations and addressing new tasks and challenges.”

Businesses and technologies change rapidly.  The result is a need for people to continually learn and be able to move within companies. CPD and associated skills are needed just to keep in touch with changes in working lives, let alone staying ahead of them and developing future plans.  Through the process of lifelong learning and professional development, professionals can manage their own careers, enabling the widest possible contribution to performance improvement in organisations.

Supporting continued learning benefits employers too.  It helps motivate staff and improves employability, both within and outside a particular organisation.

For more information about UCF’s CPD courses, please visit: http://air.falmouth.ac.uk/cpd or email cpd@falmouth.ac.uk


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