It's a firm foundation by degree for future leaders

Jun 12 2007 By The Journal

Jean Featherstone is a senior account manager with the North- East Chamber of Commerce (NECC) in Middlesbrough which she joined after spending most of her working life in the retail industry, including 13 years as a store detective with Marks & Spencer.

Her daughter, Rachel, 21, also works for the NECC. She's an international trade administrator at their headquarters in Durham. Now both find themselves on a new foundation degree in leadership and management which NECC has designed with the University of Teesside.

How come?

"I left school at 15 without any qualifications," said 51-year-old Jean.

"There was plenty of work at the time and after some secretarial courses I worked my way up in retailing without any bother and joined the loss prevention team at M&S. But I always felt the lack of qualifications could hold me back."

Likewise, Rachel went straight into work after leaving school. "I didn't want to go to university and started as a trainee with NECC. They helped to find me a job with Business Link, but now I feel the time is right to get some higher qualifications as I would like to become a manager one day."

She's already studied part-time for NVQs at Level 2 and 3, and says: "The foundation degree is ideal. I can continue working full-time and study at the same time. The idea that you have to one or the other is now out-of-date. You can do both if you want to progress your career. I want to stay with the NECC and develop my career here. So, I jumped at the chance of the foundation degree."

Both mother and daughter joined the pilot course in January which is being offered to 22 members of the Chamber's 240-strong staff. Other courses are now attracting participants from large and medium-sized organisations across the region such as Barclaycard, Darlington Building Society and the probation service.

The two-year foundation degree has 12 modules with most of the study taking place at the delegates' own speed between two-day residential Master Classes held every eight weeks with guest speakers. The rest of the course is delivered by a combination of work-based learning, the university's virtual learning environment Blackboard and distance learning and is taught by academics from Teesside University's Business School.

The programme, organised by the NECC with the foundation degree awarded by the University of Teesside, is currently seeking accreditation by the Institute of Leadership and Management.

As part of the course, Jean and Rachel have been on a two-day team building and effective mentoring and coaching session at Beamish Hall at which they met fellow delegates, as they are called rather than students. "I've met a lot of people from different departments that I didn't know beforehand," said Rachel.

Jean admits it can be difficult to juggle studying with work and home commitments, and says: "You have got to be disciplined, but you have a mentor and most of the work is done electronically over a web-based Blackboard system."

Rachel plans to top up the foundation degree with one further year's study to gain the BA in business management or corporate management and leadership at the University of Teesside and her mother is thinking of joining her.

Karen Brown, NECC director of training and workplace development, said: "The degree is designed to develop managers into leaders and will greatly benefit businesses looking to invest in improving their middle-management staff. It is fast gaining credibility for its flexible, work-based approach particularly as assignments are designed to address business needs.

"Groups of 22 delegates from different organisation will come together on courses in Newcastle, Durham and Middlesbrough.If any organisation has 22 delegates, the group can be run at their own premises."

She says effective leaders motivate and develop forward-thinking organisations and have a "knock-on" effect on a company's bottom line.

Adrian Evans, principal lecturer on the foundation degree at Teesside Business School, says: "The course is aimed at middle managers who are already working in business or other organisations or those aspiring to positions of leadership and management. It is a qualification fit for purpose in today's knowledge-based economy.

"We're definitely tapping into a market where there is a lot of demand. So far we have recruited two cohorts. That's 45 people and more courses will be arranged subject to demand. I think we got the balance about right between the academic input and making it appropriate to people who already work. Delegates can step on and off and we have already had someone who did the first module in the second cohort and their second module alongside the people from the NECC in cohort one. The people we are attracting have to be very flexible and so do we!"

Professor Cliff Allan, deputy vice-chancellor (Development) at the University of Teesside, says the foundation degree in leadership and management supports the objectives of the Government's Leitch Review. This wants to see more adults obtaining Level 4 skills and to encourage employers to take a lead into developing new higher level courses for their staff.

"We're ideally placed as Teesside has a long and successful history of developing part-time study and work-based learning, particularly with organisations such as the police and health service. In fact, around 12,000 our students are studying part-time, compared to 10,000 full-time. This includes everything from our shorter University's Certificates in Professional Studies right through to the two-year foundation degree."

For further information and an enrolment pack contact Karen.brown@necc.co.uk or phone (0191) 386-1133.