Voluntary Sector Management

Voluntary Sector Management

1. 2016 Entry
2. 2017 Entry

• Overview
• Course structure and content
• Our course professionals
• Students
• Course fees and expenses

Overview

This course is designed as a complete development programme for managers in charities and not-for-profit organisations. The programme was carefully and expertly developed in partnership with nine leading charities.

The Voluntary Sector Management course is intended for highly motivated graduate-level staff with three or more years of management experience. It delivers immediate management benefits to the charity organisation while providing valuable personal career development for the individual.

Significantly subsidised and therefore excellent value for money, the programme delivers:

• A broad understanding of the full portfolio of major charity functions, as well as deeper direct experience in two specialist areas relevant to your organisation
• Up-to-date skills and techniques to apply directly to your day-to-day work with minimal time spent away from the office
• The opportunity to network, study and share ideas, with peers from different but related backgrounds, bringing deep and immediately relevant insights to charity management
• Recognition with a City University Business School Postgraduate Diploma or MSc degree in Voluntary Sector Management

Course structure and content

Postgraduate Diploma

The Postgraduate Diploma is offered on a part time basis and is taught over a period of 12 months. The Diploma consists of four core modules plus three specialist pathway modules. The core modules are shared by all five Centre for Charity Effectiveness postgraduate courses.

All courses are taught at Cass Business School and will require attendance one weekend a month commencing on the Friday afternoon at 13:00 to 21:00 and finishing on Saturday at 18:00.

Additional times of attendance will be required:

• On the Induction Day
• For Action Learning Set meetings (usually alternate months on the Friday morning of the teaching weekend)
• The Resource Management module exam

Term dates October 2016 intake

Induction

07 October 2016

Learning and Understanding the Voluntary Sector

07 - 08 October 2016

Strategy, Diversity and Governance

11 - 12 November 2016
09 - 10 December 2016

Marketing and Fundraising

13 - 14 January 2017

Resource Management

10 - 11 February 2017
10 - 11 March 2017
07 - 08 April 2017

Exam* 05 May 2017

Organisation, Leadership and Change

12 - 13 May 2017
09 June 2017

Managing People and Quality

10 June 2017
14 - 15 July 2017

Shadowing process to be completed by mid August 2017 Course Review Day 08 September 2017

*All other modules area assessed by coursework

Module outlines

Learning and Understanding the Voluntary Sector

This module represents the starting point for you and the opportunity to learn about the process of learning and establishing plans for learning on the programme. The vital 'Learning Contract' is developed on this module, and forms the basis of the learning throughout the Masters programme.

It also offers a perspective on leading public/voluntary sector debates within an historical context, alongside a more enduring understanding of scholarly approaches to the understanding of developments and changes in the relationship between government and the voluntary sector.

Resource Management This module aims to enables the student to:

• Provide students with an understanding of the principles of resource management within the specialist context of charities

Syllabus:

• Definitions and the legal framework of charities and voluntary organisations
• The role of the Charity Commission
• Sources of finance for the charity sector
• Introduction to general accounting principles
• Charity accounts and regulatory framework
• Understanding, interpreting and analysing charity accounting statements
• Costing and budgeting in voluntary organisations
• Risk assessment
• Outsourcing
• Appraising, appointing and dismissing auditors and other resource consultants and experts
• IT Strategic appraisal and implementation
• The nature of Human Resource Management
• Human resource and personnel issues including training and development, reward and retention and effective selection and recruitment

Marketing and Fundraising

This module aims to enables the student to:

• To provide students with the concepts, underpinning knowledge, skills and techniques to plan and develop marketing and operations systems
• Enable students to analyse marketing needs, evaluate marketing plans, in the context of applying marketing concepts to their own organisation

Syllabus:

• Effective Marketing Information Systems
• Development of a marketing strategy
• Product/Service policy and new product development
• Role of communications
• Branding
• Pricing as a value-added marketing tool
• Capacity planning - resources planning and allocation
• Total Quality Management
• Stakeholder/Customer care

Strategy, Diversity and Governance

This module aims to enables the student to:

• To develop a broad knowledge and conceptual base in the field of strategy development, diversity and governance
• Introduce practical tools to help improve the quality of an organisation's strategic response to the changing environment
• Introduce practical tools to help improve the ability of the organisation and its managers and leaders to build a diverse workforce
• Enhance appreciation of the constraints and opportunities offered by the changing governance and service-delivery frameworks which affect voluntary organisations

Syllabus:

• Improving an organisation's strategic response by use of strategy and diversity management and theory
• Approaches to developing strategy
• Approaches to managing diversity
• The changing environment of the voluntary sector
• Case studies on the application of strategic planning and diversity

Shadowing This module aims to enables the student to:

• Develop a different perspective on the role and environment at senior management level in a different organisation
• Consider the ethical and environmental issues faced by a senior manager
• Look at optional and compulsory roles when overseeing an organisation
• Provide the opportunity to study at close hand the way change is managed in another organisation
• Provide the opportunity to apply theory in practice

Syllabus:

• Design of Shadowing proposal linked to Learning Contract and negotiation with senior manager of shadowed organisation
• Five days shadowing senior manager or fieldwork consultancy exercise - observing and learning from the experience
• Reflections using all the theories and models learnt on the programme
• Preparation of reflective report containing analysis and recommendations for improved effectiveness

Organisation, Leadership and Change

This module aims to enables the student to:

• Develop a broad knowledge and conceptual base in the field or organisation analysis, leadership and change
• Introduce practical tools to help improve organisational effectiveness and individual performance in the management of change
• Foster the development of analytical skills, the ability to apply theoretical models, and skills to understand, synthesise and evaluate the complexity of organisation functioning

Syllabus:

• Theoretical models and frameworks for looking at organisations and management (macro and micro level, culture, structure, lifecycle, learning)
• Frameworks for looking at organisational change and learning, and improving organisation performance
• Leadership and management theory: trends, traits, definitions, skills and competencies

Managing People and Quality

This module aims to enables the student to:

• Develop a broad knowledge and conceptual base in the field of quality management, people management and the management of multiple stakeholder needs
• Introduce practical tools to help implement quality assurance systems which also reflect the importance of ethical issues underlying the mission of a nonprofit organisation
• Introduce practical tools and theories for managing individual performance
• Look at aspects of volunteer management

Syllabus:

• Different models and approaches to quality management
• Trends in human resource management - reflecting the importance of ethical frameworks in making the most of people resources

MSc conversion

Upon successful completion of the diploma, you will be given the option to continue to the MSc. This requires completion of the Research Methods for Managers module.

This can be followed by a further six months of personal, supervised research and the presentation of a 15,000-word dissertation.

Alternatively, you can opt to take a taught Masters which allows you to choose specialist modules from one of the other Charities programmes.

Term dates

Research Methods for Managers

January 2018

Dissertation or Taught Masters Option

completion by mid-September 2018

Our course professionals

The Course Director is Professor Paul Palmer, who is also the academic leader on the Charity Accounting and Financial Management course. The course team draws upon staff in the Centre for Charity Effectiveness like Caroline Copeman, and the wider Business School including Professor Jenny Harrow, Peter Grant (Grantmaking, Philanthrophy and Social Investment academic leader), Professor Stephen Lee (Marketing and Fundraising academic leader), Professor John Hailey (NGO Management academic leader and Atul Patel (Voluntary Sector Management academic leader).

The internal course team is supported by leading sector practitioners, past and current contributors include for example Geraldine Peacock, Stuart Etherington and Stephen Bubb who together with professional firms, bring their skills to each of the courses.

Students

Students for all five courses in the Charities Masters Programme will be highly motivated individuals who bring with them a wide range of professional competence, skills and experience from a wide range of charitable and not-for-profit organisations. Gender is evenly balanced across all the courses and there are no age barriers.

Students will normally have a good first degree, a related professional qualification or at least three years, wholly relevant experience. If you have more than three years relevant experience, two professional references are acceptable.

Course fees and expenses

Course fees

The course fees for all five courses are payable at the start of the academic year. The fee for the Postgraduate Diploma is £5,850. A deposit of £400 is payable on acceptance of a place. For self-paying students, the balance is payable in two instalments, the first during the registration process in September and the second at the end of January. For those converting the Diploma to MSc a further £3,150 is payable in one instalment at the beginning of the second year.

Students who are sponsored by their employer will need to complete a sponsorship form as part of the application process. An invoice for the full fees will be sent to the employer in October. If the employer is a charity, they can request payment in two instalments by contacting the person named on the invoice. This arrangement allows the charity to spread the fees across two financial years.

Fee Waiver Scheme in response to the current refugee crisis
Cass CCE has now awarded the three bursaries to individuals who, in addition to meeting the normal entrance criteria, can demonstrate they will use this opportunity to strengthen their organisation’s capacity to respond to the refugee crisis or contribute to the wider charitable sector’s response.

Please click here for more information

Other funding opportunities for Masters students

We recommend that you have a back-up source of funding in the event that you are not successful for any Cass scholarships. The below links might be useful as alternative sources of funding, and your home government might also provide scholarships for study abroad.

• PG Government Loan (UK students)
• Career Development Loans
• The Alternative Guide to Postgraduate Funding - contact fundsservice@city.ac.uk to request a free copy of this book

Salary Sacrifice Scheme

Please note that self-funded students are able to gain substantial savings on the cost of course fees if they participate in a 'Salary Sacrifice Scheme' with their employer. Students who set up a salary sacrifice scheme with their employer will also need to submit a sponsorship form as part of their application process.

Cass Business School cannot legally provide individual advice on how to benefit from this government scheme. For more information, see below.

Find out more about the Salary Sacrifice Scheme [pdf]

Course expenses

The weekend modules will incur additional accommodation and subsistence expenses for those participants living outside London.

Application deadline

There is no application deadline for this course. However, we advise you to apply well in advance, as competition for places is high and applications are considered on a continuous basis.