Supporting professional development
Working with businesses and organisations to offer employee development opportunities
Online learning for business
Supporting employees to develop their skills and knowledge through further education and training is one of the most meaningful ways to show you value their place within your organisation, have the confidence in their skills and ability to invest in them.
As an academic institution and employer of several hundred staff ourselves, we recognise the importance of providing development opportunities and training for employees. We also appreciate the challenges which come with employees taking time away from the workplace to study.
At the University of Sussex we’ve decided to meet this challenge head-on. In March 2018 we launched a portfolio of 100% online postgraduate courses. This gives employees the opportunity to study a master’s level qualification, without having to take time away from their career.
As an employer, the benefits of sponsoring staff to study whilst they work are endless. Providing professional development through continued education can be a key motivator for employees and enhance their commitment to their role and the organisation. Students are encouraged to use real-life examples from their workplaces throughout their studies. This helps them address the challenges they face on a daily basis, explore new solutions and bring not only new skills and ideas to their roles, but those of their colleagues and the wider organisation.
Our courses are designed to offer students truly flexible study options. Taught via our specially developed Virtual Learning Environment (VLE), students can study at a time and place which suits them; 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. The carousel model we use for teaching is flexible with modules starting every two months. If their professional, personal or financial commitments increase they can pause their studies and re-join the course once life allows.
Our online courses are open to students from every country in the world; meaning your employees will study in a truly global classroom. Students will be looking at subjects from an international prospective and exploring solutions and ideas on a global scale. This also means our courses provide global organisations with a distributed workforce a consistent offer for their employees, whatever their location.
We work with organisations who sponsor students, to ensure the curriculum and subject areas they study are relevant. This ensures the skills and knowledge they learn can be directly applied to their role. Our aim is to develop employees who meet the skills gap in your sector, who understand how to look ahead, and move your business into the future.
Although requiring some self-directed learning (like traditional on-campus masters) our courses are delivered via live lecturers and seminars, group discussions and course work. All lectures and seminars are recorded and available on demand on the VLE. Students are also fully supported by module, course and personal tutors, as well as our online study Student Success Team, who provide non-academic support from enrolment to graduation.
Students studying online with Sussex benefit from courses informed by our world-leading research, outstanding teaching and reputation as one of the UK’s most forward thinking universities.
