With a mission to inform, empower, celebrate and advocate for British Columbia's current and aspiring business leaders, BCBusiness go behind the headlines and bring readers face to face with the key issues and people driving business in B.C.
Issue link: http://digital.canadawide.com/i/1484213
Register now for part-time classes. vcc.ca/cs Develop leadership skills, including decision-making, project management, ecommerce, and communications for success in the workplace. B E A L E A D E R V C C A P P L I E D L E A D E R S H I P & B U S I N E S S M A N A G E M E N T E D U C A T I O N F E A T U R E FLEXIBLE SKILL SET No matter what type of leader a student wishes to be, it is important to learn a diverse set of skills and recognize that the learning begins when immersed in an academic environment with everyone aligned for a common purpose—learning the material. "An educator's role is to model the behavior of an effective leader," Dalla- Tina says. "In essence, they are the leaders for their students. This can be accomplished by fostering a positive, inclusive classroom environment." She points to courses that teach integrated, flexible hard and soft skills so tomorrow's leaders can explore different avenues and discover what where they excel and what they enjoy. "To prepare future leaders, education needs to equip students with both hard and soft skills," Dalla-Tina says. "VCC's Applied Leadership and Business Management Certificate addresses essential hard and soft skills for leaders by offering courses such as, Project and Change Management, The Fundamentals of Leadership, Communication in the Workplace, Interpersonal Communication and Relationships, Sales and Marketing Fundamentals, Finance and Accounting, to name a few." Christopher Dennison, PhD PEng, Director of Biomedical Engineering at the University of Victoria, points to the biomedical engineering project management micro-credential as an example of a course that fosters leadership, innovation and hard and soft skills among students. This program is designed to provide skills in project management to those interested in practising biomedical engineering. The credential is broken into three main competencies— project planning and management; intellectual property and regulatory frameworks; and effective communication with stakeholders. "Leadership skills and innovation are spread throughout the credential because, as a project manager, one would need to work with a diverse range of professionals, each with different goals on the project," Dennison says. "To be effective, you need both a broad view and a procedural view to effectively bring a project through to completion." These skills transfer to several areas, which is why the biomedical engineering project management course is designed to be broadly applicable. "We've had learners from medical device companies, researchers and people studying at the undergrad and graduate levels," Dennison says. "The micro-credential can deliver up to 20 hours toward project management designations and a digital badge as well as catering to a broad range of skill levels and a wide cross-section of people." LEARN MORE AT: • University Canada West | ucanwest.ca • University of Victoria, Division of Continuing Studies continuingstudies.uvic.ca • Gustavson School of Business uvic.ca/gustavson • Vancouver Community College | vcc.ca/cs PHOTO: GUSTAVSON SCHOOL OF BUSINESS