Becoming an Approved Learning Partner
Introduction
Edinburgh Business School has a unique approach to how students learn. Our programmes offer:
- Complete flexibility with respect to when and where study is carried out.
- Fully self-contained learning packages, including question and case solutions and practice final examinations with full solutions.
- Interactive web support, enabling students to assess their learning profile.
- Direct access to EBS faculty through the web Faculty Board.
- Simulations, interactive software and videos for certain courses.
- All assessment by written examination (examinations are held twice per year in 350 centres worldwide).
It is this approach that has made the EBS MBA programme one of the largest and most successful in the world.
Twenty years of research and development went into the creation of the core courses, primarily to ensure that students who want to study on their own – as 'distance learners' – can have all their learning needs met by a combination of the printed and web-based content, plus online interaction with faculty. This is how many thousands of EBS alumni have studied for and earned their degrees.
EBS has also developed a network of Approved Learning Partners around the world to support students studying the programmes who want more interaction with peers and faculty.
EBS encourages partners to focus on adding value in the form of case studies, simulations and practical seminars. EBS adopts this approach for its on-campus students, and insists that students master the content before coming on-campus to interact with faculty.
The partner can offer a variety of study modes:
- Advice to and non-academic support for self-learners as required.
- Revision seminars designed to help students prepare for their examinations.
- Occasional seminars of 1–4 days' duration.
- A part-time programme with regularly scheduled classes (one weekend day per fortnight, for example).
- A full-time programme with weekly scheduled classes designed for students who wish to study full-time.
Offering multiple study modes appeals to the widest variety of students – and means that the partner is not competing 'head-to-head' with conventional programmes.
Moreover, it is now possible for distance-learning students to apply to take one or more courses on campus in Edinburgh with the full- and part-time students.
How to apply
EBS takes care to approve only those partners who:
- Identify with the EBS approach.
- Present a convincing business proposal.
- Operate within the prevailing regulatory environment.
- Can deliver academic support to the high standards of EBS.
Please note that it is not EBS policy to appoint multiple partners in any given region.
All prospective partners should contact the Business Director at EBS in the first instance, with the following exceptions:
- Prospective partners from the USA and Latin America, who should contactEBS Americas.
- Prospective partners from the Arab world, who should contactArab International Education.
The application and approval process will involve:
- Commercial due diligence.
- A business proposal.
- Information on local regulations and approvals.
- Evidence that appropriate academic support can be provided.
These processes are detailed in the Approved Learning Partner Handbook.
Our experience at EBS is that it is often desirable for a new partner to contract initially to market the distance-learning, self-study mode (as this has proved successful in all the global cultures and economies). This can establish the profile of the programmes and the partnership in the region during the academic approval process, which normally takes up to 6 months.
Academic approval will require face-to-face meetings, normally involving at least one visit by the partner to EBS.
Support for partner faculty
EBS is often asked to provide faculty to visit partners.
The EBS approach is not dependent on EBS faculty travelling to the partner's centre to deliver teaching.
EBS will provide support for the partner’s own faculty through sample course management plans and the faculty-to-faculty web boards.
EBS also welcomes faculty from partners who want to spend time at EBS to see how EBS faculty members deliver their courses.
Occasionally, it may be possible to organise an EBS faculty member to visit a centre (subject to availability and travel plans) to address prospective students, interact with the partner’s own faculty or address a wider local audience, but this requires a clear justification and early planning. Contact either the Business Director or the Academic Director at EBS.
