Course Data at the University of Salford (CDUS) The Challenges for Managing Non Credit Bearing CPD Courses Different Business Model to Credit Bearing: Short timeframe from idea to delivery Commercial focus System solution must be end to end Set up of courses must be fast and simple Flexibility is key – must be able to easily add/change/remove courses based on demand and feedback
Where we started CPD managed locally in Colleges and Schools Ideas for courses not always driven by market need Costs often carried by or shared with credit bearing courses so difficult to identify commercial viability of CPD courses No central repository of CPD course data, information was in local spreadsheets and Access databases No central CPD course website so information hard to find for prospective delegates (17 entry points!) Approval process timescales too long
Where we are now (Jan 2013)
Policy on staff payments not consistent across the institution HEBCIS reporting difficult and time consuming No knowledge of XCRI-CAP
CPD management centralised and a subsidiary company created – Salford Professional Development Courses offered focussing on higher level skills training on academic themes and strengths found within the University which meet market demand Detailed business processes and procedures in place Approval process for new courses covers commercial viability as well as academic aspects Marketing activity co-ordinated and targeted New system for all course data in place that is linked to the website and supports the end to end processes from course creation through to delivery and evaluation Course data more accessible to learners via from home page of University website – Book Now option in 2 clicks Learners able to access course schedules, training history and course evaluations online Consistent payment policy for University academic staff with centralised accurate data available for HEBCIS reporting XCRI-CAP feed being developed
Enterprise Architecture model of non credit bearing CPD course lifecycle: creation through to delivery
The aim of the CDUS project was to create a centralised repository of non-credit bearing CPD course data and make that data more visible for prospective learners. Outputs and outcomes from the project include business models, a course management system interfacing to the University website and an XCRI-CAP format feed to the aggregator services. The project team are grateful to JISC for the funding and support provided throughout the project. Project Manager Sandra Macpherson s.e.macpherson@salford.ac.uk | Salford Professional Development Stuart Wells s.wells@salford.ac.uk | 0161 295 3000