Successful Year for U.U Certificate in Mangement Practice Student

Continuing our case study feature on different aspects of the Community Leadership Programme, this month we focus on the University of Ulster Certificate in Management Practice.

We caught up with Ian Shanks from Braniel Community Association to find out why he decided to take on this additional commitment and how he found this experience.

Hi Ian, we know you are busy preparing to hand in your final assignment, so it is very good of you to take the time out to tell us what you think of the course so far.  
 

Although the course has been difficult at times, fitting it all in with my work and daily life, overall I have thoroughly enjoyed it and learned so much.  It’s been a great help especially when it comes to us having our meetings and setting agendas. We now split our group into several ‘project groups’, so we each can focus on our own management skills.  This has worked very successfully.

What has the course helped you understand about good management practice?
 

The main thing that I personally have learned is that while it is important to have project leaders - it is equally as important that the people in each group understand where you want to take the projects.  Also that by working together and acknowledging each others strengths and differences, it helps us achieve what we set out to do.   

What advice would you give the new Year 3 participants just starting out on their Community Leadership Programme journey about getting involved in the Certificate in Management Practice Course?
 

I would highly recommend it to anyone who is open to learning new skills.  I particularly enjoyed the networking aspects to the programme, meeting other groups and finding out about their rules and responsibilities within their organisations and communities.  

What is next for Braniel Community Association?
 

We will continue to work on building relationships within our community and hopefully grow our own association and attract new members all the time. 

For me, my graduation in June will one day help me make it into full time community employment as I’m really enjoying it and feel it’s something I’d like to do more of.

Look out for photos of Ian and the other CLP students’ graduation on the CLP website and Facebook page after the ceremony takes place in the Waterfront Hall.