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Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University

NMMU Business School expands to KZN

Thu, 16 Dec 2010 17:30

Business School takes NMMU to KZN through certification and accreditation agreement with management and business training company Business Development Unit

National business and management training company Business Development Unit, formerly known as Business Studies Unit (BSU) and associated with the Durban University of Technology, has announced that it has signed a new strategic cooperation agreement with the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University’s (NMMU) Business School.

The national training company has announced it will sever ties with its current certification and accreditation partner, the Durban University of Technology on 31 December 2010. It has signed a new agreement with the NMMU that will come into immediate effect on 1 January 2011.

Now, NMMU, the largest higher education institution in the Eastern and Southern Cape, will expand its footprint into KZN through Business Development Unit’s national outlets and training facilities in Durban, Pinetown, Pietermaritzburg, Newcastle and Richards Bay, and the two other offices in Gauteng and Cape Town.

“Our existing clients and students, facilities and infrastructures and personnel will be retained under the new company Business Development Unit. The NMMU will provide accreditation and certification of all our management and business certificate programmes and short courses, which have been quality approved by the NMMU and will award qualifications to students” said Claire Main, Business Development Unit’s Managing Director.

“Business Development Unit will operate as a non-subsidised self-funding company in partnership with NMMU Business School and will continue to deliver high quality education and training to its stakeholders in the private and public sectors".

"Our clients include South African Breweries, Telkom, Mondi, Eskom, Sappi, the Department of Education, Department of Sport & Recreation, Office of the Premier, Department of Social Welfare and Population, Department of Labour and Department of Housing".

“The impact on clients and students will be minimal, apart from the fact that enhanced and new programmes will be offered and backed by a leading and dynamic university.

Annual graduation ceremonies will be held in all main provincial centres, existing students will continue their studies as normal, and our branches, programmes and our fees will remain the same without out any adjustments except the annual fee increases.

The NMMU Business School, obtains accreditation for its qualifications through the Higher Education Quality Committee of the Council on Higher Education (HEQC of the CHE), and is a member of the South African Business School Association (SABSA) and the Association of African Business Schools (AABS).

The NMMU Business School offers formal qualifications for learners like the Masters in Business Administration (MBA) and the Doctorate in Business Administration (DBA), executive education that includes management, leadership, skills and short learning programmes as well as customised learning.

NMMU has approximately 25 000 students and 2 500 staff members, based on seven campuses in the Nelson Mandela Metropole and George. BDU has around 200 staff members and lecturers, 3 000 students, and seven offices nationally.

“We are excited to come onboard as the certification and accreditation partner for the BDU,” said Professor Piet Naudé, NMMU Business School’s Director.

“We have seen similarities between our organisations and identified unique synergies that will allow us to work together and to draw from mutually reciprocal relationships.

Business Development Unit and NMMU’s clients and students can look forward to an enhanced expansion of choice of learning programmes to develop themselves and further their careers.

We look forward to fusing knowledge, ideas and insights in our quest to the become trendsetter in management and leadership training and education on the African continent.

“Out of all South African business schools that were audited and evaluated by Markinor this year, NMMU Business School was placed in fourth position for volume of open enrolment on executive programmes and customised academic learning programmes – a testimony to the fact we are held in high esteem by the private and public sector for management & leadership training.

“In 2009, we were ranked as the business school with the top facilitators by the South African private sector. We will significantly increase our ‘share’ of open enrolment and customised programmes through the BDU agreement,” Naudé concluded.