Why study the Global Central Banking and Financial Regulation qualifications?
Preparing a case for sponsorship
The Global Central Banking & Financial Regulation qualifications are a significant investment for you and your employer, both in financial terms and in the time needed to devote to study. Whether you are interested in pursuing a single Postgraduate Award, the Postgraduate Certificate or Diploma, or the full MSc programme, this document has been designed to help you negotiate support from your employer. This is likely to be in three areas: ■ Financial help to pay your tuition fees and other expenses ■ Giving you enough time to study at home ■ The opportunity to apply your learning in the workplace.
Are you looking to earn a formal accreditation to demonstrate your knowledge, gain insight or change focus into central banking or financial regulation?
Relevance & commitment Before you approach your employer, we recommend you spend some time researching: ■ Is this programme relevant to your career and future aspirations? ■ Have you considered the best time for you to undertake further study? ■ Will the programme you are considering interfere with your commitment to work, for example business travel commitments or study time allowance, or personal commitments? ■ Is there likely to be any conflict between the programme and company events (e.g. clashes between programme dates, timed assessments, financial year end, seasonal business activities)? ■ Will you have access to company ■ Is there a history of sponsorship in your organisation, and does the company have a preferred provider? ■ Who is your potential sponsor and what are their views on professional development? How much work will you need to do to convince them? ■ Have you considered other career development routes such as industry- specific qualifications (for example, zzACA or Institute of Banking)? Could your immediate needs be met by a short course or in-house training scheme? You may need to justify your course. information for assessments? Could this be a sensitive issue? The environment
Which school? ■ It helps if you have evaluated development opportunities from both your own and your employer’s perspective ■ What were the results of your research? Where else have you considered? Can you cite the advantages and disadvantages of different schools and programmes? ■ How much do you know about the school’s strengths (research, subject strengths, faculty and so on)? ■ Have you considered the reputation of the school and its programmes? Do you have the latest information on accreditations and rankings? ■ It might be useful canvassing the opinions of other people in your company who’ve undertaken an online programme. The investment & costs ■ Have you done a cost benefit analysis of full-time versus part-time study? ■ Have you collected the comparative costs of programmes at other institutions? ■ Do you have details of what is included in the fees? Are there any extras? ■ Are there any add-on costs associated with the programme (e.g. course materials)?
Why me? Before you start preparing your sponsorship proposal consider the following: ■ Are you a worthwhile investment? Can you demonstrate this with an up to date CV? ■ Have you solicited departmental or company-wide support? It helps if the proposal has come via appraisal, your line manager/director or a company mentor ■ Consider what expectations your sponsor might have and what benefits might be attractive to those who can influence the decision on your request for sponsorship ■ Remember that from any programme, they are likely to want to see a balance between theory and practice, a gain for both the individual and the organisation, and both short-term and long-term value added ■ Present a range of short-term and long-term benefits linked to current business activity. There are advantages to be gained from your involvement in the programme and your association with other participants. There are also possible gains from links with Warwick Business School and access to the wider University and its professional networks ■ Consider making proposals as to how you will transfer your new knowledge to colleagues and the organisation ■ How will the programme aid your professional development?
Making your proposal ■ Is there a procedure for requesting funding? Consult with your HR department or line manager ■ If possible, gain in-principle support from your manager in line with strategic business unit criteria ■ A business plan may be required as part of the procedure for funding, or you may wish to submit one unsolicited to demonstrate the seriousness of your proposal ■ Check if you need to use your company’s ‘house style’ and what length of proposal would be acceptable. The negotiations Prepare your case well before you open negotiations and be sure of your minimum negotiating stance: ■ Are you only prepared to accept sponsorship if it includes all academic fees, expenses plus generous study time and provision of computing facilities? ■ What will you do if none of these are forthcoming? Could you consider asking your company to fund an individual Postgraduate Award instead of a higher qualification level? This may help your company see the value in the programme which can be evaluated, leading to the funding of further Postgraduate Awards, building up to a higher qualification level. ■ The question of ‘golden handcuffs’ may come up so you need to have your answer prepared; most employers will expect you to agree to some sort of lock-in period post-graduation. You should bear in mind that it is not clear whether these are enforceable in law, but also that if you move to a new employer, part of your initial negotiations could include them buying you out of the lock-in by paying the forfeiture costs; after all, they will then be reaping the benefit of your knowledge.
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Global Central Banking & Financial Regulation
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