University of Cumbria Graduate Certificate Course content 

the University of Cumbria Graduate Certificate is designed to take delegates to the highest level of practical application by introducing a full range of techniques across the range of programme and project management disciplines and procedures.

The course is specifically designed to address the gap where there is no development between the generic best practice qualifications and higher education.  The materials in this course are also used in our degree courses, and although the assessment models are different, Delegates will gain the same knowledge.

All the materials take the practical concepts from the Practitioner level and general best practice and take a deeper dive into the key methods and techniques, offering solutions to common problems that are faced by individuals and organisations as You seek to enhance their performance.

The Graduate Certificate  primarily views the world through the programme management lens, whether that means the world of multiple projects or business transformation programmes as both are complex and often fail through the inability of individuals to recognise and manage this aggregating complexity. 

Features

The course is specifically aligned to help you to achieve the Level 4 and 5 competence for each of:

1.  APM Competency Framework
2. Project Delivery Competency Framework (PDCF)
3. P3M3 Competence Framework

Target Audience

Anyone with an interest or involvement in a project will benefit from the course content. The stage 3 course is designed for leaders and managers who have a practical knowledge of the practices and wish to develop a deeper understanding because:

• You are leaders and managers who have responsibility for the delivery of a portfolio of projects or programmes working in the portfolio environment.
• You own a key process or professional discipline and wish to have a deeper understanding of the associated techniques to improve business performance.
• You are a business sponsor (or SRO) for a major initiative and wish to gain the depth of understanding needed to achieve major change.
• You are a senior business owner or business change manager and wish to be fully equipped with the range of skills needed to deliver a major change.
• You have a management role in a PMO (Portfolio, Programme or Project Office) and want to support and improve the performance of their organisation.
• You are a senior project manager with responsibility for delivering a capability and wish to move into a programme role and gain the depth of understanding required.
• You are a programme manager who wishes to accelerate their development by applying the concepts in the real world. 
• Your organisation is using a competency framework (e.g. PDCF or APM) and you wish to prove you have achieved the competent and proficient levels.

Course Content

This course is made up of a range of modules that generally follow  the following structure

1. Introduction
   • Preparation for Learning
   • Video Briefing
2. Overview
   • Context
   • Roles and Responsibilities
   • Key Information
3. Topic Related Components
   • Overview and Reminders
   • Core Process Models
   • Suggesting Techniques
   • Example Applications
4. Bringing it to Life
   • Nightingale Hospital case study
   • Putting it into Practice workplace assignments

Course Objectives

The objectives for the Stage 3 course are primarily:

1. The course will be completed within 2 years
2. To provide a detailed knowledge across a wide range of best practice methods that are common to programme and project management
3. Provides the competence to develop new and improved working practices for their organisation and manage the implementation across their programme and project management environment

Learning Outcomes

Delegates will:

• Develop a deep knowledge about programme and project management techniques that enable them to deliver performance improvements in their working environments
• Gain the ability to use models to analyse and implement improvements to performance
• Have the confidence to design, evaluate and implement improvements to an organisation's working practice and performance
• Develop structures using the key roles within a project and programme environment and their responsibilities within a variety of governance models
• Be prepared for higher education professional qualifications and development
• Be able to select and use appropriate assurance tools and techniques to assess performance

Modules

The following Courses  are built into the delivery framework, the primary difference with the advanced modules is the focus on the use of techniques to deliver improved performance

• Benefits Management Professional
  • Scoping and designing benefits management
  • Context and designing outcomes
  • Benefits Identification and Analysis
  • Target Operating model design
  • Profiling and planning benefits
  • Target operating model delivery
  • Transition and Delivery
  • APMG Managing Benefits
•  
• Risk and Value Management Professional
  • Risk Management Context and Design 
  • Scanning and Identification
  • Effective Control
  • Management of Risk core materials
  • Management of Value core Materials 
•  
•   Stakeholder and Change Management Professional 
  • Stakeholder Context and Design
  • Stakeholder Planning and Delivery 
  • Developing the vision 
  • Stakeholder and Governance 
  •  Change Management Practitioner 
    •  Change and the organisation
    • Change and the individual 
    • Change readiness and change impact 
• Programme Planning and Controls Professional 
  • Programme Plan Design
  • Designing Controls and quality
  • Establishing programme controls 
  • Managing Programme performance 
  • Resource Management practitioner
  • Competent Planner
    • Defining requirements
    • Designing the outcomes
    • Developing the plan
    • Delivering the plan
• Programme Governance and Assurance Professional  
  • Governance Design and interfaces
  • Designing Governance Structures and Roles
  • Building Capability
  • Delivering and Managing Governance Models
  • Decision making structures 
  • Assurance and review practitioner
  • P3M3 fundamentals
  • Better Business Cases 
•  

Delivery Methodology

The course has been designed so that all the knowledge you will need is available through the eLearning modules, so this gives you the choice to:

1. Study will be primarily online
2. Blended approach with na number of trainer led online workshops

Upcoming Professional Courses

Here are some of our upcoming professional courses. If you are interested in any of these courses please fill out the enquiry page on the pages or via the Contact Us page.