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Postgraduate Certificate in Shared Services
Canterbury Christ Church University The Business School
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Course Summary
- Type: Postgraduate Certificate
- Location: Canterbury, Kent
- Duration: 6 months
- Deadline: Ongoing
Course Description
Postgraduate Certificate in Shared ServicesGain a Postgraduate qualification in just six months, with the potential to save your organisation and its partnerships thousands of pounds. Canterbury Christ Church University, in partnership with Shared Service Architects, has established the UK’s first postgraduate qualification for developing Public Purpose Collaborations (for example LEPs, Local/Place Based Budgeting) and back or front office Shared Services.
This course (Postgraduate certificate in shared services) will provide the knowledge and skills to initiate and develop public purpose collaborations and shared service projects, whilst giving you a valuable postgraduate qualification. You will become a skilled and valuable in-house resource, who will be able to cascade your learned skills across colleagues in collaboration activities and reduce or negate the necessity to pay for external consultancy on projects.
What is it?
The Postgraduate Certificate in Shared Services is a 60 credit, level 7 postgraduate award. It consists of three 20-credit modules and is expected to be completed across a six month period. It is for public sector managers and consultants who wish to study the effective development of collaborations and shared service initiatives in the public sector and gain a qualification.
What are the entry requirements?
Our normal entry requirement for study at postgraduate level is a good honours degree, however consideration will be given where applicants have a professional diploma, or equivalent, at an appropriate level in a relevant subject discipline, or can demonstrate significant professional experience at an appropriate level, together with relevant qualifications.
What skills will I learn?
The programme will develop your skills in managing the initiation and development of business cases in diverse partnerships in collaborative public sector settings. You will understand how to apply change management principles to front and back office collaborations and how to create effective roadmaps for use by your employer.
How will it help me?
The programme provides an ideal base from which to develop a career in shared services and partnership working in the public sector.
What is the benefit for my organisation?
Value for money - potentially saving thousands of pounds by building in-house capacity and thereby minimising external consultancy fees. These savings can be gained by applying a range of the 100 tools, techniques and templates, provided to each graduate, to create in-house reports, assessments, risk registers, stakeholder group analyses and action plans, and business case reports.
Traditionally these are undertaken by external consultants at standard fees of between £750 and £1,000 per day. By developing and using in-house managers this could realise many thousands of pounds in tangible savings for shared service partnerships.
What is the cost?
The fee for the six-month Postgraduate Certificate in Shared Services is £2,850 for each student.
Are there any discounts?
Almost 1,000 senior managers from local councils, FE colleges, fire and rescue, police and central government departments have already attended a “Highway Code”, “Collaboration Toolbox” or “Collaboration Business Case Toolbox” one day seminar. Qualifying applicants who supply the University with their CPD certificate will receive a discount of £250 per completed seminar.
Where is it taught?
The taught seminars will be available in various locations across the country with good travel connections, and the self-learning sessions will be managed through distance learning techniques.
What will I study?
This is a part-time, three module, programme starting in February and October each year and lasting six months. It comprises a mix of taught modules, the development of an evidence portfolio demonstrating how students are applying their learning and written assessments. Each module carries 20 Masters level credits.
Taught modules
Module 1: The Essentials of Shared Service Services
The first module consists of three taught units that provide the building blocks for the whole programme and introduces the concept of reflective practice as a method of work. The three units are one day seminars:
The Shared Service Architect’s Highway Code Of Public Sector Collaborations And Shared Services: What are the regulations and constraints that narrow or enable the choices in public purpose collaborative settings?
The Shared Service Architect’s Collaboration Toolbox: 40 tools, techniques and templates for building strong trust and absolute clarity of shared vision between public sector partners in collaborations and shared services
The Shared Service Architect’s Collaboration Business Case Toolbox: 50+ tools, techniques and templates for developing elements of a collaboration or shared service business case in-house
As a result of these taught units students will have a sound and systematic understanding of collaboration strategy. They will be asked to demonstrate how they intend applying the learning to a current workplace collaboration activity, or shared service, through an evidence portfolio and written assessment.
Module 2: Change Management and Analysis
In the second module, students develop a more conceptual understanding enabling them to identify and critically evaluate current research and practice in the field of change management and its impact in public purpose collaborations. This involves a written literature review and a written critical appraisal of 2-3 existing collaborative initiatives. The appraisal will identify what can be learned from them and applied to the workplace setting of the student.
Module 3: Developing a Shared Services Roadmap
Through this module students will apply their deeper understanding of collaborations and shared service initiatives to their own organisation and construct a detailed plan or ‘road map’ to take their organisation forward along the collaboration or shared service route.
