Cranefield College Qualifications

DESIGNATION OF QUALIFICATIONS
The College offers the following accredited qualifications:
9.1. Advanced Certificate in Project Management – AdvCert(PM)
9.2. Advanced Diploma in Project Management – AdvDip(PM)
9.3. Bachelor of Business Administration in Project and Supply Chain
Management – BBA (PM & SCM)
9.4. Postgraduate Diploma in Programme Management – PGDip(PM)
9.5. Master’s Degree in Programme Management – MCom(PM)
9.6. Doctor of Philosophy in Commerce and Administration – PhD
All Cranefield qualifications are accredited by the Council on Higher Education, and all courses and modules are presented in English. Cranefield College has positioned its academic qualifications to serve the leadership and management needs of organisations best, in both the private and public sectors. Its academic qualifications focus on value chain management, including the organisation’s supply chain activities, its project management portfolios, and the appropriate leadership behaviours for strategic success. In the current economic climate, employers rightly prefer job-relevant education and training for improving the competence of employees and for providing them with the necessary skills to be of immediate benefit to the organisation. What students learn from Cranefield today, they are able to implement in their work contexts tomorrow. The design of Cranefield’s learning programmes is indeed such that work and studies are mutually enhancing: the learning content is closely relevant to practice and can be immediately applied at work, and the experience at work promotes practical insight into the information gained in class and deepens students understanding of applied concepts and principles. In this sense, students’ learning by
reinforcing their knowledge and developing their skills through practically applying design continues beyond the virtual classroom and into their daily in expanding and what they have learnt in class.In terms of time away from work for the purpose of studies, students need to spend
only fifteen hours during office hours in a three-month period (the duration of a
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standard module). There is no need for additional time to be taken to travel, since
each live three-hour lecture can be accessed from the office or home via a stable
Internet connection. The live classes are from 9h00 to 12h00, which leaves a
reasonable amount of time before and after class to attend to matters that might be
pressing at work.
As evident from the above, Cranefield’s approach is such as to facilitate the
the interweaving of studies with work responsibilities, in a mutually enhancing manner,
without the need to spend a large amount of time away from work. Between class
days, student syndicate teams can meet (in person or virtually) outside work hours to
discuss their practical case studies.
3.1.2 Qualifications through Technology-Enhanced Distance Learning
Cranefield College offers all its academic programmes through flexible and
convenient distance learning (as already briefly discussed above). With Cranefield’s
virtual learning environment (VLE), which combines the technology of Blackboard
Learn with that of Blackboard Collaborate, the entire process of programme delivery
is enhanced in various ways, from live online classes and team collaboration to
online assessments and personal feedback.
Students can use the Blackboard Learn app on their smartphone/tablet to access the
study material. The Blackboard Learn app can be downloaded from the appropriate
app store. All content can then be available via the app to make learning even more
readily accessible. Students are also able to meet in their online collaboration rooms
for case discussions in student teams, using the Blackboard Collaborate system.
For most modules, there are five online classes of three hours each, and students
are generally expected to participate in all of these live sessions. However, if a
student must miss a session due to work commitments, for instance, he or she still
has the opportunity to study the online recording of the live session. A student who
is based in a time zone that makes the online live class participation difficult may
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complete any of Cranefield’s programmes on the basis of a special arrangement that
he or she study the recordings of the classes instead of participating live.
As per 2.5.3 of the Rules, Regulations and Code of Conduct (Section 2 above),
studying such recordings is still also compulsory for students who participated in the
live class. Students who did not participate at the time, however, will inevitably need
to invest more time into studying the recorded lectures. It is important for such
students to note that the lecturer is also available to answer students’ questions in
between the live classes and a virtual appointment may also be arranged to discuss
any such specific questions that a student might have.
Where a student might miss participating in any or all of the live online classes, it
must be noted that he or she is still required to participate fully in team activities,
including appropriate contributions to the compulsory team assignments. It is further
important to note that it remains imperative for all students to adhere exactly to all
the set dates and assignment deadlines for all modules, regardless of whether they
missed participating in one or more of the live classes on the dates that these were
presented.
All academic programmes, including Cranefield’s modular BBA and MCom degrees,
are available to students in all areas with Internet access nationally and
internationally. Exceptional students may advance all the way to the PhD degree,
which signifies the highest level of academic attainment.
Apart from Cranefield’s full academic programmes, selected short courses are also
available through the Cranefield Academy (see www.cranefieldacademy.com for
more information), which courses do not involve any live class participation or
compulsory team collaboration. The short courses are available to students in any
country provided that candidates are adequately proficient in English and have basic
Internet access.