BSc Human Resource Management

Program Overview

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The BSc (Hons) Human Resource Management program at the University of Lincoln provides a practical and academic pathway into the field of HR management for professionals seeking recognition of their skills and experience. Through work-based learning and a focus on professional skills development, the program aims to enhance students' leadership, management, and decision-making abilities. The program is designed to be flexible and adaptable, allowing students to complete it within two years while balancing their work and personal commitments.

Program Outline

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Degree Overview:

The BSc (Hons) Human Resource Management is a work-based distance learning program designed to provide a distinct academic and practical route into the specialist area of human resource management. It aims to provide an opportunity for academic recognition to those who are already employed within the discipline of human resource management, or one of its specialist areas, but who have yet to gain academic and professional recognition of their skills and experience. The program is informed by the latest CIPD intermediate level professional standards and emphasizes professional skills development and the application of knowledge in practical situations. The teaching team utilizes the 'student as producer' concept, encouraging students to develop their own approaches to assessment tasks through the application of theoretical concepts to their own working environment.

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Outline:

The program is structured over three years, with a foundation year, first year, second year, and third year. The program is designed to be flexible and dynamic enough to reflect and absorb change and encourage the development of a range of skills and knowledge that may be needed to rise to the challenges of the contemporary workplace. The program presents a distance-learning framework to enable individuals to complete the program within a two-year period, with the duration reflecting personal circumstances, accredited experience, prior learning, and work commitments.

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Modules:

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Foundation Year:

• Introduction to Academic Study Skills (Core): This module introduces students to the various tools and techniques of study, providing them with a basic toolkit to draw on throughout their academic journey.
• Managing People (Core): This module explores the development of staff within an organization, outlining the theory, practice, and individual experiences of supporting and managing people to deliver the operation.
It reviews the principles of HRM to understand how people can be developed to meet their own needs and those of the organization.

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First Year:

• Academic Study Skills (Core): This module focuses on more advanced academic skills, particularly research skills, equipping students with the tools and techniques they will need for the capstone module and the Operations Challenge.
• Leadership and Management Development (Core): This module moves past basic management skills and looks at the role of the individual in leading and managing a team within the operational context.
It draws on level 1 study to review the role of the manager as a leader within a team within the operations setting.

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Second Year:

• Critical Enquiry Skills (Core): This module aims to equip students with the knowledge and skills to engage critically with their studies, particularly the Independent Research Project.
• Employee Engagement and Communications (Core): This module enables students to develop and demonstrate an understanding of the knowledge, skills, and behaviors required by HR professionals and people managers, specifically relating to developing and maintaining employee engagement and managing effective employee communications.
• Evidence-based Decision Making (Core): This module aims to give students the opportunity to develop and demonstrate an understanding of the evidence-based, decision-making skills and knowledge required by human resources professionals and people managers.
It supports the CIPD concept of the Thinking Performer, a practitioner who is knowledgeable, competent, and forward thinking, and adds value through continuous challenge and self-imposed improvement goals. Students can explore the range of evidence and data available within organizations by applying their learning to their own work-based professional knowledge and experience. This will give them the opportunity to consider the relationships between human resources professionals and data specialist roles.
• HRM Professional Impact (Core): This module explores and critically analyzes the impact that HR professionals have on the organization in the achievement of its goals.
It focuses on ways in which proactive, skilled people managers and HR professionals can develop business acumen, behaviors, and skills that contribute to and demonstrate HRM's value to organizational health. The module also critically evaluates how HR practices contribute to a healthy, thriving workplace, ethical management, internal communication, and collaboration. Students will apply their learning to their workplace environment and experience to contextualize the academic discussion.
• Integrating Leadership and Management Experience (Core): This module is designed to develop and assess students' ability to reflect critically on leadership and management professional practice and experiences.
The expectation is that academic theory and literature will be critically reviewed and applied to the professional experience and organizational context to allow for personal development planning.

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Third Year:

• Independent Research Project (Core): This module allows students to conduct independent research on a topic of their choice, culminating in a written dissertation.
• Communication and Professional Practice (Optional): This module provides students with the opportunity to develop their communication and professional practice skills.

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Assessment:

The program centers around work-based learning, which emphasizes reflection and learning from experience. Application to context and evidence of application are central to the learning process, as learning is seen as arising from action and problem-solving within a work environment, centered around live projects and challenges to individuals and organizations. Assignment briefs will detail the intended learning outcomes and requirements relating to assessment. The work-based focus of any project or assignment will involve negotiation and agreement between the student and the module tutor.

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Teaching:

The program utilizes a range of digital and technological learning tools to support student learning. Students are supported throughout by a module tutor and a range of resources. The teaching team actively encourages and expects students to develop their own approaches to assessment tasks through the application of theoretical concepts to their own working environment.

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Careers:

This program is designed to help students advance their careers by furthering their management competence and general employability. It enables students to extend their skills, knowledge, and vision and to provide them with opportunities for personal and career development.

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Other:

The University of Lincoln is a member of AACSB, a global nonprofit association connecting educators, students, and businesses to achieve a common goal: to create the next generation of great leaders.