The University of Derby (UOD) programmes from the Department of Management Studies (DOMS) at HELP Academy launched its alumni association with its first batch of graduating students in April 2018.
Guests from HELP University, the University of Derby and Chartered Management Institute (CMI) were invited to attend the special occasion. The guests who were present at the launch were Dato’ Dr Zakaria Bin Ahmad, Deputy Vice Chancellor (Research) of HELP University; Dr Khong Kim Hoong, Deputy Vice Chancellor (Academic) of HELP University; Dr Peter Dewhurst, Director of International Recruitment and Collaborations at UOD; Ms Andrea Ellans, Partnership Liaison Manager at UOD; Mr. Brian Wilkinson, Senior Higher Education Partner Manager at CMI; and Mr Alex Foong, International Higher Education Partnership Manager at CMI.
HELP Academy and the University of Derby started its partnership in 2014. Together they have forged a relationship that helped build the UOD programmes into what it is today. Dr Zakaria said that he hopes that through the strong partnership between the two institutions, they will be able to produce a good batch of students every year.
Dr Peter Dewhurst addressed the graduating class and reassured that they have a family and a network they can build within UOD. “The family extends from Malaysia to Munich, from Singapore to Switzerland, from Botswana to Bangladesh, and most points around the world. And it’s important for you to know that this is a large and growing family,” said Dr Dewhurst in his speech. “[It’s about] being part of a family that nurtures and supports, because that’s what families do – [it] nurtures and supports through this period of enormous change.”
Mr Brian Wilkinson also talked about the strong qualification that the graduates will hold with their UOD degree along with an Advanced Diploma in Management and Leadership (CMI) and as Affiliate Members of CMI. This qualification will result in professional recognition from potential employers and improved performance in the workplace for the graduation in their future careers.
“We specialise in what we call real-world learning. We try to ensure that all of our students get some experience of what it’s like to work in the real world and CMI assists enormously in that. We’re working harder to extend that further. We have a network of partners around the world, and we’re looking to work with them to open up networks of employers that can talk to one another via our academic institution.” added Dr Dewhurst.
The launch ended with Dr Dewhurst presenting the Dean’s Prizes for Academic Achievement to two graduates: Wong Ker Er for the Dean’s Prize for Best Bachelor of Arts (Hons) in Accounting and Finance at HELP Academy, and Rasmit Singh for the Dean’s Prize for the Best Bachelor of Arts (Hons) in Business Management at HELP Academy.
