Why did you decide to do this course?
I had been working in the sector for six months and found the work interesting and enjoyable. In that short space of time, I could see that there were good career opportunities for someone with the correct qualifications.
In the first instance, I wanted a qualification that would enable me to become a Housing Officer. Having studied the job adverts, I also knew that the post-graduate qualification would be a vital pre-requisite for a move to managerial level jobs which I want in the future.
From a business point of view, the course was attractive because the syllabus was very varied. There were modules on providing housing services, finance, organisational structures, regeneration and community capacity building. To someone who was new to the sector, this has been very helpful in developing my skills.
I found that the post-graduate diploma course was good value, especially as it included the C.I.H. Apex qualification.
I chose distance learning as that is my preferred way of learning and it would have had the least impact on the small team I was part of at the time. Northern Counties funds professional development courses such as these so even though distance learning was more costly, my application for funding was still successful.
What was distance learning like for you?
Personally, I liked distance learning because it meant not having a rigid weekly schedule of attending lectures
It was a very 21st century learning experience, other than one visit during my induction at Leicester, I did not physically enter a library in the 2 years. This was not a barrier to success as all the housing journals and information I required were available electronically via the internet. The only contact I had with my tutor was via e-mail.
The key to success via this approach is discipline. You have to be sufficiently self-motivated to do the reading, research and assignments.
The course administration was well planned and effective. Modules were always sent out on time and the assignment briefs were clear. More importantly, assignments were always linked to a business situation rather than pure theory.
I believe the main benefit to the distance learning approach was that the student was in control of the whole process. I decided when and what I wanted to study.