Minding Business Matters – the Online Way!

BA business distance learning course gives the choice and opportunity to those who are
already working and to want to make a progress in their career and personal development and to
advance their educational qualification without putting a hold to their career, an ideal scope to
continue both education and job without disrupting their current lifestyle.

This course is perfect for those who:

• Started working immediately after their school, either due o financial reasons and now aspire to strengthen their educational qualification with a proper degree so that when they take the plunge and change their career they are better qualified to do so.
• Wish to pursue higher advanced studies and without a proper undergraduate degree they will not be able to apply for further studies. This course acts as a proper launch pad to further studies.
• Are not currently employed and wish to make the most of the available time so that when they reapply for any job, they can show a proper utilization of the unemployed span.
• Being an online course, the classes are imparted via audio, video clips as a result even if the candidates miss any class they don’t need to worry; they can log in anytime,download the clips and go through the class.

Course Details:

The online ba business distance learning course comprises of 3 modules, each of which has been sub divided into different sub topics.
The module is mentioned below:

Level 1

• Business Environment
• Organisational Behaviour
• Personal Development
• Principles of Marketing
• Introduction to Finance
• Decision Making

Level 2

• Business Law
• HRM
• Business Planning
• Management Accounting
• Advertising and Promotion
• e-Business

Level 3

• Project Management
• Emerging Business Themes
• Managing Self and Others
• Financial Decision Making
• Strategic Management
• Strategic Marketing

Course duration:

The course is normally studied over duration of 3 to 4 year period, but the course is flexible and can be extended over duration of 10 years. Each module is of 6 months duration.

Entry requirements

Image courtesy: mdx.ac

For the full degree:

• Two ‘A’ levels passes or equivalent.
• GCSE English and Mathematics or equivalent.
• English language ability equivalent to IELTS 6.0, where the medium of schooling wasnot English. Or, for the final year top-up:
• BTEC Level 5 HND Diploma in a relevant subject or equivalent.
• English ability equivalent to an IELTS score of 6.0

Image courtesy: mountbatten.org

How to Apply 

In addition to a completed application form:

• Copies of your relevant certificates and transcripts.
•  Proof of English language ability (IELTS or TOEFL), if English is not the first language or if the candidate has not studied English earlier.
•  One suitable reference. It can be either academic or professional.

Job Prospects:

The job prospects of business majors are generally quite good, but then which domain the candidate will work on depends on their area of specialty.

Some of the emerging Jobs in Business:

• Sales Manager
• Actuary
• Budget Analyst
• Financial Examiner
• Management Analyst
• Market Research Analyst
• Accountant and Auditor
• Cost Estimator
• Personal Financial Advisor

An Online Business and Accounting Course that helps you shape your Career!

Accounting is an age old tradition. Since the time, coins became a part of lives; accounting came as its subsidiary. In fact the basis of maths is based on adding, subtraction, multiplication and divide. And we use all these as a part of our daily lives. Knowingly or unknowingly we do accounting of our finances on a regular basis.

Today, accounting is called "the language of business" because it is the vehicle for reporting financial information about a business entity to many different groups of people. Accounting that concentrates on reporting to people inside the business entity is called management accounting; is used to provide information to employees, managers, owner-managers and auditors.
{Source: www.ifrs.com, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Accountancy}

However knowing where to pursue the course from solves half of the problem. There are many well known UK Universities that offer online courses in Business and Accounting. The only thing that the candidate’s need to be sure of is that the University is accredited and the degrees offered are universally acknowledged and known. One such course is HND in Business accounting course online.

Having completed this course, I can now vouch for its credibility and benefits. This course has opened up new avenues for me in my professional sphere. Following are some of the benefits of HND in Business accounting course online:

·         Being an Online Course, the biggest benefit I had was I could pursue the course anytime from anywhere, as long as I had access to a computer along with internet connection.  I could schedule my classes according to my convenience and comfort. There were times when I scheduled my online class in the morning and sometimes even in the afternoon. My comfortability was the key factor here.

·         Moreover the faculty was very helpful. I could access the online tutors and professors anytime even 24X7 and ask questions and get answers to my queries.

·         The best part of this course was the classes were conducted via audio video clips which in turn improved my software skills and made me tech savvy.

·     I learned how to operate different softwares like blackboard learner+ and iNoodle amongst many others.

·         As everything was done online. I could submit my projects and even my dissertation paper online, just at the click of a button. 

·         Furthermore as the exams were conducted online, I did not have to worry about the test venue and reaching the examination hall on time.

·         And the best part is that the course opened up various job prospects like business analyst, financial analyst, accountant in different firms and corporate houses. 

Enlighten your career path with a diploma in IT

Information technology is the study of implementing, developing, designing, applying, managing and supporting computer based information systems. Over the decades the industrial revolution has transformed the lifestyle of people worldwide. The global educational system has also undergone a major change.

 With time many kind of new subjects have been introduced that suits the individual’s needs and interests. In fact the subjects have been designed in such a manner that it is basically influenced by the technological advancement worldwide. Thus Information Technology currently is one of the most popular subject in which students specialize.

Course overview of IT in UK

Some of the universities in UK offer online programs in this subject and the best known among them is the diploma in IT. This particular subject can be studied as a standalone program or as a part of a three year degree course. This program provides useful knowledge and skill to a person that later helps to build a successful career in the IT sector. In the field of business IT essentials is very much required thus this diploma helps business professionals to sharpen up their working techniques.

The student who specialises in this online Diploma in IT course from UK  has to complete 16 modules which comprise:

·         Business potentials for e-Commerce

·         Computer systems

·         Employability and vocational progress

·         Database Design theory

·         Network Technologies

·         Quality Systems in IT

·         Routing Concepts

·         Internet Server Management

·         Networking Infrastructure

·         Information Systems in Organisations

·         Local Area Networking Technologies

·         Project Design, Implementations and Evaluations

The whole module provides the students informative and weighty knowledge on core IT areas that is concerned with business and commercial industry. Each module topic teaches the person how to make use of technology in their workplace. In fact this is such a useful subject that it adds to the value of a person’s working skill and potential.

Duration of the program

The diploma program is generally studied for a period of two years but it can be stretched for a period of four years. Each module is allotted maximum 6 months time.

Enrolment Criteria for the course

A student has to fulfil certain formalities so that they become eligible for the course. The standard requirements are as follows:

•          Should have an A level pass
•        Proficiency in English Language that should be equal to IELTS 5.5
•          For those who cannot fulfil the above mentioned criteria they must have working experience of two years

Procedure for applying:

Apart from perfectly filling up the application form online the student has to produce some documents which include:

•  Transcripts and certificate Xerox
• A suitable reference by an academic or a professional worker
• Xerox of your CV that must contain your working experience details

Career or vocational progress in IT

On doing a diploma in IT a student has wide career scope as these days IT industries are blooming to the fullest. In fact they are the highest earning industries and are always in a dire need of employees. There are numerous IT sector jobs available one can therefore become an IT analyst, IT teacher, System administrator, System engineer, programmer and the list goes on. Thus an IT course promises the most advanced kind of jobs to people.

Source: Online Education: Learning Made Easy - The Online Way via Infographic File: Infographics and Data Visualization

Recent HBCU Accreditation Wins and Losses

Nowadays the final bankruptcy of U.S. colleges and universities is usually proceeded by loss of accreditation because students cannot obtain federal grants and loans if they attend colleges and universities that are not accredited by federally recognized accreditation bodies. Accordingly, the location of the vast majority of HBCUs in the nation's southern states makes the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS) Commission on Colleges the ultimate arbiter of the survival of the HBCU community.

As noted in recent entries on this blog, all but the wealthiest U.S. colleges and universities are now facing existential threats from the prolonged financial aftermath of the Great Recession and from the sudden emergence of powerful, disruptive technologies that raise fundamental challenges to traditional teaching methods.  

Fifty years ago, HBCUs enrolled over 90 percent of the nation's black college students; today their enrollments are closer to 9 percent. And total black enrollments at the 105 HBCUs declined in the last ten years from over 300,000 down to 275,000. As the least wealthy segment of U.S. higher education, the HBCU community is the most vulnerable to these powerful financial and technological forces, forces that are likely to greatly accelerate downward enrollments trends in the coming years. We should therefore be particularly concerned by all of the decisions rendered by the SACS Commission on Colleges that affect the accreditation status of southern HBCUs, including warnings and probations.

According to a report in Inside Higher Education (Headline-Driven Accreditation, 12/12/12/) SACS recently made the following changes in the  status of eight HBCUs:

• Removed from "warning"
  ++ Edward Waters College (FL)
  ++ Fort Valley State University (GA)
  ++ Grambling State University (LA)
  ++ Virginia Union University (VA)
   
• Placed on probation
  -- Florida A&M University (FL)
  -- Fisk University (TN)
  -- Jarvis Christian College (TX)
  -- Southern University and A&M College at Baton Rouge (LA)

____________________
Recent Notes:

• FAQs About HBCUs
• Seven HBCU Strategies for Survival and Success

Pros of online bachelor degree in Business studies!

Business studies or Business Administration is an apt professional course that many people take up to build a career in the future. The technological improvement has now transformed the way people engage in their learning activities. Most of them take greater interest in doing their bachelor degrees the modern way i.e. via online rather the age old tradition of going for campus classes.

The online bachelor degree in business is best provided by the UK universities who are authorised to take classes through online. The credits that the students receive on completing these courses are 100% genuine and thus they have a prosperous secure future. There are numerous advantages that make this online course stand out among the regular business program.

10 benefits of studying BA business online course  

• The online business faculty has the best set of tutors and instructors who help the online candidates in their studies. The tutors are well qualified and experienced so the students do not have any trouble in understanding their lessons.

• Since a course in business studies is generally expensive many of them are not able to enroll into the course but the online business course is comparatively very much reasonable.Thousands of students are able to do this course at a feasible fund without much hassle.

• The students have access to study materials 24X7. They can download and take out print out their study materials or they can upload the files and save them in their desktops or laptops. And this has become all easy because of internet facility. At one click students have their studying notes in front of them and hence save a lot of money as they are not required to buy expensive business books.

• The student can study at their own pace and own place hence they neither have to compromise with location nor with time. They follow a more lenient routine as they do not have a four walled classroom where a teacher or professor would keep an eye on them.

• You have access to various online tools that enables you to connect with people globally and exchange ideas. The latest use of emails, video conference and chat rooms allows the students to interchange their concepts and expand their newly gained knowledge.

• You can enhance your learning skills by interacting with thousands of students all over the world. Studying for your course this way becomes much easier. You have stronger grip over your concentrated area.

• The business class offers virtual classes so that the students can make use of both video and written instructions easily. This gives them a much clear vision of the lessons that they learn or practice.

• It is ideal for those candidates who have very active lifestyle. They are able to keep up their studies and work at same length without hampering any of it. In fact the course enhances their professional intelligence and skill.

• The students get the opportunity to indulge in various recreational programs as well as socialise as they do not have that much study pressure.

• The online program grant them accredited university credits and certificates that helps them in the long run to pursue a promising career in the future.

Get reckoned for top designations in big multinationals

Information technology is an ever spreading industry with lots of career opportunities in the segment. With new inventions and evolutions, this industry is on the threshold of reaching at its pinnacle. A course pursued as Master’s degree provides quite a large number of opportunities to the students.

It’s a dream for almost every undergraduate student to fetch a job promising decent salary and better future prospects. Oftentimes, they fumble in realizing their dreams in absence of a higher degree. Similarly it happened with me when I saw my career getting stuck in between and growth was nowhere in sight.

A master degree in IT is the right solution

Then I came face-to-face with the importance of higher studies in career building. As I was a working professional, so found getting admission in universities to pursue higher studies quite tough. After much diligence on Internet and views from friends and colleagues, I came to know about UK universities and career prospects after finishing the course with them.

I got enrolled in a UK University’s e-learning study programme to pursue master degree in IT. Hereafter the benefits I garnered were simply unimaginable and never possible from other platforms.

Benefits of the MSc IT course with UK Universities’ online medium

You receive several benefits in terms of

• Flexible approach towards study
• Means of technology to pursue the course
• Online tutor support
• Online library
• Globally recognised degree
• A complete know how on every subject matter
• Worldwide students’ network
• A member of International Management Academy
• Affordable tuition fees

Tools and techniques to strengthen personal and professional skills

During the course of study, I was made available with certain tools and techniques which proved a big helping hand in honing up my personal and professional skills. Always remember that, after the completion of course from here, you are not going to be an ordinary executive but holding a far more responsible designation.

Following skills were focussed in order to prepare an able and efficient IT professional:

• Programming and Application Development
• Project Management
• Help Desk/Technical Support
• Security
• Business Intelligence/Analytics
• Cloud/SaaS
• Virtualization
• Networking
• Mobile Applications and Device Management

Developing such skills eventually helped me in acquiring higher designation at the work place.

Research and Management projects are encouraged

Such universities encourage research and managerial project works, helping you a lot in devising out better career prospects. Every opportunity to put these project works into real world’s eyesight is provided to you that certainly add volumes to your curriculum vitae.

Job Opportunities after completion of MSc IT course

Once you complete entire course of study, some of the high fly job opportunities are knocking on your doors. Most of the times students after completing the course from UK universities become the target point of some of the big multinationals.

Prospects are underlying:

• Software Engineer
• Interface Engineer
• Project Manager
• IT Consultant
• Web Developer
• Security Expert/ Tracker
• Computer Programmer
• Java Developer
• Information Security Analyst
• Network Administrator, et al.

Eligibilities to enter the course study

There are certain eligibility criteria to get enrolled in MSc IT study program, which are being mentioned below

• Bachelor in a computing subject from an approved university
• IELTS score of 6.0 proving your English prowess
• Extensive industrial experience, in case of non-availability of academic eligibility

Course studied from UK University did wonders for me

Once I completed the masters in IT from UK University, I was simply perplexed by the job offerings. The big multinationals, for which I could only dream of, offered jobs with handsome salary packages, one of which readily accepted by me. I am really overwhelmed by the decision to take admission in such university that has an international presence and helps students realize their dreams.

A Proposed Agenda for the WHI-HBCUs in 2013-2017 ... Part 1

The complex agenda for the White House Initiative for HBCUs (WHI-HBCUs) during President Obama's first term (2009-1013) can be found HERE. Its mantra was "Advancing Creative Interventions and Disruptive Innovations."

The following two-part essay proposes a new agenda for the WHI-HBCUs during President Obama's second term that that would make the most of the President's reelection victory by building on the achievements of the WHI-HBCUs during the President's first term. Its new agenda would be guided by two mantras ==> "Teaching with More Technology" and "Leveraging Our Networks." The first epitomizes the proposed agenda's most important goals; the second embodies its most important strategy.


A. Existential Threats
Institutions of higher education in the United States are threatened by the convergence of two powerful forces: the financial aftermath of the Great Recession and IT-based disruptive innovations. For many HBCUs these threats will pose overwhelming challenges to their continued existence. Fortunately, President Obama's reelection provides the HBCU community in particular and black higher education in general with a reprieve from a hitherto unimaginable catastrophe that would have ensued had Governor Romney been elected in 2012; but this reprieve has a four year time limit. 

Four years is only a long time for the very young, e.g., for our students. But those of us who are old enough to know better should regard President Obama's narrow popular election victory as a call to arms. If we don't mobilize our limited human, physical, and financial resources to overcome the long-term threats posed by the Great Recession and disruptive innovations, an election victory in 2016 by a comparably hostile political regime will become an instantaneous disaster.

And a word about "disruptive innovations." These fundamental challenges to the status quo provide incredible opportunities for institutions that are wise enough to adopt them, but imperil the survival of those that don't. (See Christensen and Eyring's discussions in The Innovative University, Jossey-Bass, 2011.) Unfortunately, as things now stand, the persistence of a shifting "Digital Divide" makes it likely that many HBCUs will become victims of these imminent upheavals. Hopefully, the next four years will provide sufficient time to reposition most, if not all of them.


B. Functions of the WHI-HBCUs
Three of the most important functions of the WHI-HBCUs are as follows: 

• Advocate for more support for HBCUs from the participating federal agencies.
   
• Publish an annual report of the financial support provided by the participating federal agencies to the 105 officially designated HBCUs
   
• Host an annual conference of the leadership of the HBCU community and high level officials of the participating federal agencies

The proposed agenda for 2013-2017 would reconfigure these three functions so as to place the WHI-HBCUs at the center of a national movement anchored in the HBCU community, a movement whose mission would be to greatly enhance the quality of the opportunities for higher education currently available to all black students, not just those enrolled in HBCUs. This agenda will be developed within the following framework:

• Black higher education is likely to have access to fewer resources in the coming decades than in the past; more specifically, state support for most public HBCUs is likely to decline as part of a broader decline in state support for most institutions of higher education.
   
• It is therefore imperative that we embrace innovations that will enable us to make more productive use of the resources we already have;
   
• The most productive innovations are likely to require the greatest disruptions to our current operations;
   
• To be specific, the most disruptive/productive innovations are likely to require the application of Intenet-based information technologies, a/k/a "eLearning" to our core teaching processes as well as to our administrative processes;
   
• HBCUs and other minority serving institutions (MSIs) should accelerate their efforts to achieve economies of scale by greatly intensifying their current efforts to collaborate and share their limited resources; and most importantly
   
• HBCUs and other minority serving institutions (MSIs) should greatly intensify their use of social media and Internet clouds to leverage their overlapping student, alumni, faculty, staff, and administrative networks to achieve more effective sharing and collaboration.

C. Specific Components of the Proposed WHI-HBCUs' Agenda for President Obama's Second Term -- Part 2
(in process)

________________________
Related Notes:

• Making the Most of the Next Four Years
• But What About the Other 91 Percent ???
• Why are HBCUs Still Needed? -- Part IV

Making the Most of the Next Four Years

Late last night a friend sent me a link to a story in the Palm Beach Post that began with the following headline:

Former Florida GOP leaders say voter suppression was reason they pushed new election law

Readers who click the above headline will find a report that Charlie Christ, the former GOP governor of Florida, and Jim Greer, the former chairman of the GOP Party in Florida, have both admitted that the so-called election "reform" laws recently advocated by the GOP had nothing to do with their declared purpose to suppress voter fraud. The GOP passed these laws for one reason -- to suppress black and other minority votes for President Obama's reelection in 2012. Early voting in the 2008 presidential elections enabled record numbers of minorities to vote for the election of the nation's first African American president; so beginning in 2009 the GOP plotted to prevent these minorities from supporting the president's reelection.

Of course, the only thing that's really surprising about this story is that key officials in the Republican Party would have admitted that their party perpetrated such a cynical, racist fraud so soon after their historic defeat, a defeat that they suffered in large part because millions of blacks and other minorities all across the country overcame the racist roadblocks, returned to the polls in unprecedented numbers yet again, and thereby ensured the reelection of the nation's first African American president. In other words, the racists lost because our system of representative democracy still works ... for now.

So what are we going to do with our victory during the next four years? To be specific, what are we going to do to empower HBCUs and other minority serving institutions to provide more effective learning opportunities for black students? Despite escalating tuition costs, a college education is still the best ticket for blacks and other minorities to obtain economic, social, and political equality ... and thereby realize Dr. King's Dream. But if we don't make the most of the opportunities we just won during the next four years, the nightmare we escaped in 2012 will have merely been delayed.

__________________________
Related Notes:

• A Proposed Agenda for the WHI-HBCUs in 2013-2017 ... Part 1
• Why Are HBCUs Still Needed? -- Part 4
• But What About the Other 91 Percent???

An Online Psychology Degree that opens up a Brand New World of Careers!

A degree in Psychology opens up a wide gamut of opportunities with high paying remuneration.
It is a common scenario for psychology graduates to have a variety of “stepping stone” jobs
after the completion of their under graduate courses. Psychology deals with the study and
understanding of human mind and their different interpretations over the course of a human life.

Those who want to go into a more specialised domain in psychology like say Forensic
Psychology should look for a career in the forensic settings such as the service. Since the
candidate is looking for jobs in the psychology domain; prior work experience or voluntary
services before the completion of the undergraduate course is highly valued and in great demand
and it greatly increases the candidate’s career prospects.

A degree in psychology enables one to apply for management training schemes, so that they
can pursue higher education in case they want to in the future. Here also, voluntary work is
highly appreciated though it is not necessary. Below some career prospects are mentioned for
psychology students:

Image courtesy: rdi.co.uk

Jobs directly related to Psychology degree:

•Clinical psychologist – As a clinical psychologist, the candidate will be able to use his skills and expertise learned to reduce mental distress of the patient to reduce psychological difficulties. This practise depends on using evidence based practice and research.

•Educational psychologist – A specialised angle of psychology, educational psychologist tries to identify the problems a student faces in the school settings so as to deal with it and cure the student in order to improve his learning abilities.

•Further education lecturer or higher education lecturer – After completion of your
course, you can join any academic institution to teach psychology to students above 16
years. Or they can go ahead and pursue higher advanced education, so that in the near
future they can do research work on the topic of their choice.

•Occupational psychologist – You can apply, as an occupational psychologist the
skills and expertise acquired in solving organisational problems including recruitment,
selection and assessment, training, work design and dealing with change.

•Sport and exercise psychologist – As a sport and exercise psychologist you can apply
the psychological principles with athletes and sportspersons to improve their overall
performance or as an exercise psychologist to increase their participation in exercise.

Jobs where Psychology degree would be useful:

•Psychotherapist – As a psychotherapist you can work with a group to treat and develop
mental and physical disorders through various psychological treatments.

•Counselor – As a counselor, you can counsel the patients and play a role in relieving
their pain and mental stress and give them mental relief.

•Careers adviser/personal adviser – As a career adviser you can advise students
regarding their career orientation and job prospects. Or as personal adviser to famous
personalities, you can tell them how to conduct themselves in public and create a positive image amongst the fans.

•Human resources officer – Implement policies with regard to human resource
management, their recruitment, training, promotion – as a human resource office you can
do all these.

•Retail manager – As a retail manager, you would be responsible for the management of
the whole store. You will have to oversee that everything functions smoothly.

Don’t be under the assumption that your degree determines your options. Keep in mind that there
are many careers which one can opt for irrespective of their degree. So don’t restrain yourself to
the career prospects that we have mentioned here.

Make a Fruitful Career with an M.Sc IT degree

I had done my graduation in Information Technology as I was aware of the fact that this course would
provide me with broad range of career prospects. And it is very obvious that the present generation
faces tough competition in the job market. So, I had to make a witty decision before enrolling for a
graduation degree.

Though there are various other courses available in which I could have done my graduation but
somehow my instinct pushed me to specialize in an IT bachelor degree. Now am working in one of the
top IT companies and earning pretty well. But then to improve my professional skill and become more
efficient in my field I wanted to pursue higher qualification.

Image Courtesy: broadviewuniversity.edu

My professional life being very hectic prevented me from enrolling for a regular course. But the high
technological improvement is proven to be a blessing for many of us. Therefore, I decided to do M.Sc in IT (Information Technology) through online distance mode.

It is a convenient way of obtaining higher qualification in spite of remaining stable in your professional life. It does not create any kind of hindrance in your career path but rather enhancer s your vocational life. You tend to become sharper among your colleagues and you feel a sense of superiority.

So, let me tell you about what this particular course covers and how it helps you to grow in your career.
I have really gained immense knowledge about information technology after I had done this online
course. The flexibility of the program even allowed me to keep up my pace in my professional life.

Brief detail on the course

The MSc in Information technology is basically designed for computer graduates who wish to specialize
in core areas of computing related to society and business as well as computer networking and web
developments. In different modules all the details of the course are covered.

Finally when you reach the final year of your MSc degree you are made to plan and carry out a large
scale IT project work. So basically you not only gain theoretical knowledge on the subject but also you
are involved in practical task. This in return equips you with advanced techniques and skills.

Duration of the MSc degree

The online program is generally allotted time limit of one year, but if you feel you need more time you
can extend the course for almost five years.

How does this online master degree help you to enhance your career prospects?

After I completed my master’s degree in IT, I was eligible for better job prospects. In fact I got promotion
to a higher rank in the company where I worked. So there are always better possibilities when you
upgrade your qualification. With an MSc in Information Technology you are entitled to hold profound

Positions in several multinational companies and firms.

Hence, you can become a software engineer, a programmer, professor of IT, IT researcher, System
Engineer, Client technologies analyst. So you see there are various reputed designations are available
for MSc IT students. You are assured to have a bright future on doing this fruitful course.

Zoom into big corporate world in no time

In today’s world where everything comes to you at speed, how come education fare at slower pace? Students, around the world seek to touch heights in minimum possible time. Oftentimes,receiving higher education is the mantra that paves the way for a flourishing career ahead.

People as young as in their early twenties start their professional career in order to grow bigger, from the basics. Most of the time their qualification remains only up to graduation level when they start leading a professional life. With only a graduate level qualification, they might witness a fumbling career where growth is not to be seen by miles.

In such circumstances, the only need is to keep holding up until you acquire a better and higher qualification. And if it comes from some of the most prominent institutions, a high growth rate is assured to you.
UK Universities are the perfect platform for giving a required boost to your professional career. The e-learning program provided  in their academic curriculum is the only medium through which one can dream of going miles ahead.

Image courtesy: edudemic.com

These universities, by the means of online distance learning provide numerous courses to the students which help them for better career prospects. A master degree earned in business administration has yielded desirable results repeatedly over the times. But it comes with minimum two years of study period.

As time factor remains innuendo for making it big in the industry, so anything that assures a highly  competitive degree in less possible time is sought after by the students. For a postgraduate student, MBA Degree top-up course is a wise choice.

This course could be pursued after completing graduation studies, plus who are graduate professionals, they can go for such courses at any point of their professional career. Nature of the medium of course, online distance learning, wouldn't hamper their working life also.

Degree at par HND Diploma is provided to the students, which holds its significance in the corporate world of today. A MBA top-up degree pursued in Strategic Management &Leadership program opens the floodgates for several lucrative job opportunities.

Benefits of the course pursued through MBA Top-up program

• As the duration of a top-degree is limited to one year, so receiving a highly competitive degree in fewer time frames is possible. This way, you can earn a better reward from your organization in the form of growth and more responsibilities relatively at a younger age.
• As this degree is equivalent to BTEC Diploma, so it is validated by all the big players in corporate world. It paves the way for a lucrative job prospect.
• Enhancing analytical and decision making capabilities is done under the course of study, so it makes you efficient enough to meet the challenges of today’s business environment.

Good news for associate degree holders as well, now you can get your bachelor degree by studying for one more year only. There is a wide scope for you, the associate degree holders,under undergraduate degree top-up courses.

From different UK Universities, you can seek a top-up course of study in your respective chosen field and complete the graduate degree in one more year. You also have an option of pursuing a full time MBA course after getting an associate degree, provided minimum five years of work experience.

Degree top-up courses for Undergraduates

• BA (hons) in business
• BSc (Hons) in Business Computing
• BA (Hons) in Business Finance
• BA (Hons) in Business Marketing
• BA (Hons) in Business and Management
• BA (Hons) Accounting and Financial Management

Hence, in this tough and competitive world, UK Universities have come up with solutions which prove crucial for obtaining high success rate in lesser time period.

As a wise person once said, “Time and tide waits for none”, so go for a top-up degree from UK Universities before time bids adieu to you and leave you alone in this never ending sea.

Hospitality Industry offers you the best career opportunities

Hospitality Industry is one of the most profitable and popular industry in the contemporary world. There
are various courses that can be studied to fit yourself in the hospitality industry. Hospitality generally
means the relationship between the host and the guest. A degree in hospitality is sure to open up many
prospective job offers for you.

These days there are various colleges and universities that offer specialisation in hospitality in
undergraduate and post graduate level. Hence the degree that helps you to get the best job in
hospitality industry is Hospitality Management Degree.

Image Courtesy:http://www.rdi.co.uk/

Role of Hospitality Industry 

The hospitality industry is an extensive group of fields within the business industry that comprises accommodation, restaurants, event planning, theme parks, transportation, cruise line, and more fields within the tourism industry. It is an expensive industry well to be more specific it is a million dollar industry that is relied on the accessibility of free time and non refundable income. A unit of hospitality industry such as hotels or amusement parks also comprises of several groups. Management, Marketing,Human Resources, facility maintenance, and straight operations i.e. servers, bartenders, housekeepers,porters, kitchen workers all are a part of the big hospitality industry.

If you want to own a reputed job profile in the hospitality industry, an authentic degree in hospitality is
must. You must enroll yourself in one of the recognised university and acquire the required degree.

So let me furnish you with some important roles played by the hospitality industry employees:

Hospitality manager: A hospitality manager holds a supervising or managing position. He or she looks
after the work that is carried out on a daily basis in a hotel or a motel. He or she even looks into the
various facilities whether it is functioning well at the customer’s expense. All over you can say he or she
is endowed with huge responsibility.

Customer Relationship Manager: The Customer Relationship Manager is in charge of chalking out plans
and carrying out a successful implementation of different kinds of customer maintenance campaigns.
He or she also involve in the task of pioneering complicating projects, analyzes data to improve fund
related issues.

Hotel sales Manager: The hotel sales manager is responsible for bringing in customers or guests to the
hotels. The manager therefore helps to make profit in the hotel. He or she may also work with senior
sales manager to sponsor or sketch sales promotions.

So, give it a thought and gear up to take up a hospitality course to find the best job available in this
industry. It is indeed one of the most flourishing industries of the 21 st century. There are abundant job
opportunities always waiting for you in this field.

Black Enrollments in High STEM Colleges and Universities -- Part 2

The findings/data are reported in the first part of this note ==> HERE

 
D. Conclusions and Comments

This note reports the results of a small exploratory study; therefore no firm conclusions can be drawn from its findings. At best they will be consistent with the results of more systematic investigations. One large statistical research program will be referenced: Bowen's Crossing the Finish Line (2009). A second recent effort, M. Beasley's Opting Out (2011), an intensive exploratory investigation with extensive links to the statistical literature, will also be cited.  

1. The "Overmatch Hypothesis" vs. Affirmative Action 
As per Crossing the Finish Line (2009), the "Overmatch Hypothesis" 

"... is often made by opponents of affirmative action who claim that race-sensitive admissions policies harm the very minority students they purport to help by stigmatizing them and forcing them into harmful competition with white classmates of greater ability."  (p. 209)

The study goes on to note that when Bowen and Bok conducted a previous study of 28 mostly private colleges and universities (The Shape of the River, Princeton University Press, 1998), they "concluded that there was absolutely no support" for this hypothesis. The results displayed in Table 1D and Table 1E of the first part of the current study also suggest that black students do better when their classmates have higher math aptitudes, which is consistent with Bowen and Bok's conclusion.

Crossing the Finish Line goes on to recommend (p. 210) that the "evidence available strongly suggests that students in general, including black students, are generally well advised to enroll at the most challenging university that will accept them" [Italics in the original text]. Based on the extensive analysis of the massive data sets that authors had assembled, they concluded that "black men should be encouraged to 'aim high' when deciding whether and where to pursue educational opportunities beyond high school." Again, the data displayed in Table 1D and Table 1E of this study support this recommendation.

Indeed, the only thing that readers familiar with Crossing the Finish Line might find surprising about the results in Table 1D and Table 1E is the extent to which this pattern is displayed more sharply in Table 1E for the private Non-Research Institutions than in Table 1D for the Research Institutions. While the black students at the Higher Non-Research Institutions are doing better than black students at the Lower Non-Research Institutions, they are also doing much better than the black students at all three types of research institutions. Why? A small, exploratory study like this one can't provide conclusive explanations of this pattern, but it can suggest some credible insights:

• The ultimate explanations certainly won't relate to the resources available to these institutions because, for the most part, research institutions are much larger and wealthier than non-research institutions.
   
• A more plausible hypothesis leaps to mind -- if only because it's bannered in large fonts on all the Websites and in all the printed catalogs of these small, but highly esteemed colleges and universities. The fact that they don't conduct extensive research programs enables their faculty and staff to enhance their teaching with maximum TLC (tender loving care)  ... which is the same "secret sauce" that HBCUs, most of which are also smaller institutions, have traditionally lavished on their students ... :-) 

2. Dilemmas of Giving Back
That more than 60,000 black students are now attending the nation's most esteemed institutions of higher learning came as a pleasant surprise for me. To be honest, I wasn't expecting half that many. 60,000 represents two percent of the 3 million black students currently enrolled in accredited U.S. colleges and universities. I was surprised because, like most educators, I have been focused on the 98 percent, most of whom have not been receiving an education that adequately matches their aptitudes and requirements.

Although Dr. DuBois referenced a talented 10 percent, I am sure he would agree that it's more important to enhance the constructive impact of this elite than its  percentage. So no matter what the Supreme Court decides about affirmative action, we have to maintain our focus on the grand challenge that Dr. DuBois posed in the opening and closing lines of his classic essay:

• How can we encourage our black elite to provide the leadership that will enable their less fortunate brothers and sisters to obtain better educational opportunities and to make better use of the opportunities they already have???

Fortunately, as per Dr. Maya A. Beasley's extensive exploration of the attitudes of high achieving black students at Stanford University and UC Berkeley, Opting Out: Losing the Potential of America's Young Black Elite, a strong desire to "give back to the community" is still deeply ingrained in their DNA:

"African Americans have a lengthy tradition of activism and community service that predates the founding of the NAACP at the turn of the twentieth century. This heritage is reflected in the success of the civil rights movement as well as the subsequent expansion of black professionals in racialized occupational fields like education, social services, community relations, and politics. The desire to improve the fates of African Americans is truly an enduring legacy. The majority of black students in this study articulated a strong desire to aid in black social mobility, and many students believed their career choices were closely tied to their desire to decrease black inequality" (p 127)

Dr. Beasley uses the term "racialized fields" to denote well-integrated occupations wherein blacks have already gained substantial access and prominence.  Unfortunately, our knowledge-based, globalized economy is now allocating the biggest rewards to STEM, finance, and other high tech occupations wherein blacks are still grossly underrepresented. 

• Therein lies the dilemma for talented black students. On the one hand, not being rich (and probably carrying extensive tuition loans), they are attracted by the higher paychecks provided by non-racialized careers; on the other hand it's easy for them to see how their success in racialized fields will have substantial immediate impact on the Black Community.
  
  Faced with their perceptions (real or imagined) of prejudice in non-racialized fields, plus a sense that these fields have limited relevance to the immediate needs the black community, some of these talented black students "opt out" of the higher paying, high tech job to pursue "careers that matter."
   
• But therein also lies the dilemma for the Black Community. Of course it still needs to develop new leaders in the racialized fields that have become such a significant part of its traditional economic base; but it will incur far larger, long-term economic losses if its elites do not gain access and prominence in the STEM, finance, and the other high tech occupations that have become the higher reward sectors of the global economy.

3. Ineffective Connections
Opting Out reports that a major factor that influencedthe decisions of black students to transfer out of STEM and high finance majors was their limited access to persons who were knowledgeable about these non-racialized fields. As consequence, the students didn't know much, and much of what they thought they knew was suspect.

• Although their parents and the friends of their parents might have helped them navigate the procedural obstacles that had to be overcome in order to gain admission to Stanford or UC Berkeley, they could not provide hands-on guidance with regards navigating the barriers to entry into STEM and high finance. By contrast, the white students in the study had parents or had access to the friends of their parents who were practicing professionals in these fields.
  
  For example, "... Jason, an aspiring banker (and eventual CEO), was hindered by the limits of the social networks with which he had been brought up. He had no clear concept of how to break into that field. Although supportive, Jason's parents had little education and no understanding of what his options were, nor did anyone from the community in which he was raised. So Jason was left puzzled, wanting to go somewhere, but unsure how." (p 146)
   
• It's also likely that the black students had limited access to, or even awareness of the existence of the black alumni of their esteemed institutions who had become practicing professionals in these fields a few years earlier. Whereas HBCUs can celebrate the achievements of their alumni who are the "first blacks" to become a this or that, elite non-HBCUs long ago graduated hundreds if not thousands of (mostly white) alums who had become eminent practitioners in all segments of STEM and high finance. So a few more entries wouldn't become the stuff of headlines on their Websites or announcements in their alumni newsletters ... and it would be awkward for esteemed non-HBCUs to ballyhoo these latest entries just because these accomplished alums were black.

4. Workable Responses to a Focused Challenge
The pressing need to get more highly talented blacks into STEM, finance, and other high tech careers translates into the need for a strategy that will enable them to overcome the substantial hurdles to entry and subsequent success in these non-racialized fields while satisfying their desires to "give back" -- in other words, a strategy that will simultaneously finesse their dilemmas as individuals and the dilemmas confronting the Black Community as a whole. Fortunately, such a strategy already exists and is already in practice; so it's just a matter of stimulating its diffusion and more widespread application ... :-)

Traditional Version 

Talented black men and women pursuing non-racialized careers should be encouraged to understand that the most potent ways they can "give back" right now is to share what they have learned about how they got to wherever they are with younger black men and women who aspire to get to where they are; and they should consciously measure their success in this effort to contribute to the Black Community by how many younger black men and women they successfully mentor. What does all this mean? It means the same things, but it looks different at different levels:

• Black students in their freshmen and sophomore years at elite colleges and universities should volunteer to assist their institution's efforts to attract more talented black high school juniors and seniors by participating in recruiting trips wherein they answer questions about application forms, what courses to take before the students apply, how to prepare for SAT exams, etc, etc, etc   ... and the all-important underlying question: What's it really like to be a black student majoring in STEM, finance, or some other high tech field at the world-renowned University of XYZ???
   
• Black students in their junior and senior years should participate in high school recruiting drives, but should also volunteer as tutors and mentors for the black freshmen and sophomores.
   
• Black alums should participate in their alma mater's placement programs wherein they act as career counselors, role models, and mentors for juniors and seniors to facilitate their successful entry into the job market, graduate schools, and professional schools.

As I said, this strategy is already in place in many elite colleges and universities, but it needs far more extensive and intensive application, an expansion that can now be easily achieved

through the appropriate use of social media, e.g., Facebook, Twitter, Google Plus, and LinkedIn.

Powerful Networks
The Black Community long ago recognized the value of good connections for professional success.

• Its fraternities not only accept members while they are in college, but throughout their subsequent careers, a practice that makes them more akin to the Masons or Chambers of Commerce.
   
• A recent survey by the Pew Foundation ("Who's On What) reports that black Americans make far more intensive use of social media than white Americans.
   
• Given that there are at least 60,000 black students currently enrolled in America's most prestigious colleges and universities, there must be at least an equal number of alums at various stages of their professional careers.

Combining these factors with social media should fuel the rapid development of powerful, overlapping national and local networks that could greatly enhance the size and the impact of the high tech segment of the Talented Tenth. Just as online courses are revolutionizing higher education by enabling students to learn any subject from the comfort and convenience of their dorm rooms, offices, and homes, so too appropriate applications of social media will revolutionize the potential impact of the Talented Tenth upon itself, upon the rest of the Black Community, and upon the entire nation because tutoring, mentoring, and career counseling can now be provided and received from smartphones and tablets. When Dr. Beasley conducted the interviews for her study ten years ago, "Jason" didn't have any black colleagues who could help him figure out how to get to the next phase in his career. That shouldn't happen today.

5. The Talented Tenth, HBCUs, MSIs, and Black Higher Education
During the initial phases of this mobilzation, current students and alums will probably focus on serving as mentors, role models, tutors, and career counselors for the black students who are enrolled in their own alma maters. But as quickly as possible, these intramural subnets should be expanded to provide intercollegiate support networks for the much larger populations of black students at HBCUs and other minority serving institutions (MSIs) having high black enrollments. Alums of America's most prestigious institutions should also consider teaching online courses at HBCUs and MSIs as adjunct instructors from time to time.

And those who are committed to pursuing full-time careers in academia should seek one or two-term appointments as assistant professors at HBCUs at early points in their careers and become visiting professors from time to time at later points should they obtain tenured positions at more prestigious institutions. During both appointments they should focus their energies on helping HBCUs to develop innovative technology-based teaching procedures that will enable all colleges and universities to provide more effective learning opportunities for all black students.

"The Negro race, like all races, is going to be saved by its exceptional men."

W.E.B. DuBois, The Talented Tenth, September, 1903

_______________________

References

• Beasley, Maya. 2011. Opting Out: Losing the Potential of America's Young Black Elite. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
   
• Bowen, William G., Matthew W.  Chingos, and Michael S. McPhersonn. 2009. Crossing the Finish Line: Completing College at America's Public Universities. Princeton: Princeton University Press.

Related Blog Notes:

• But What About the Other 91 Percent???
• Affirmative Action Strategies -- 1
• Affirmative Action Strategies -- 2
• Fight or Flight
• The Best HBCU