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Good afternoon, everyone, and welcome to our event here today. This is the University of Southampton's Future Proof Your Career, Why Study Management online session. We're joined here today with a couple of faculty members from the university, and we can move on to introduce, them just in a moment. Just before that, a little bit of housekeeping from our side. I'd really encourage anyone to ask as many questions as they can during this. It's a really good opportunity for you to engage with faculty, in a way that you wouldn't usually be able to. And so yeah, we really encourage you to take advantage of that opportunity and ask as many questions as you would like. We'd like to encourage you to do that through the q and a section that you will see at the top. You can ask a question. One of my colleagues will be there to respond to any specific questions, but I do hope that we will have time to address all of them live in the session today. If for any reason that we're unable to, your student recruitment consultant will get back to you, as as soon as possible with any specific answers. I'd also like to say that using, Microsoft Teams for this event, you will have the opportunity to go ahead in the presentation. I'd very much just recommend that you, stick with the presenter view, and kind of go along at the same pace as us. Feel free to obviously go back if you want to look at any of the other questions that we've gone through, and there will be the option to sync with myself as the host, as the person who's presenting it. If you're having any technical difficulties at all, please just ask one of the questions, and we will try and get that resolved for you. So without any further introduction, I'd like to introduce the panel today. So my name is Declan, I'm going to be hosting the session today. I'm one of the student recruitment consultants here at the University of Southampton and my role is really to take, you know, interest from prospective students who are at the early stages of their journey and walk them all the way through to the application process, answering any questions that you have, and finally to the point in which you enroll in the program. So I may be the student recruitment consultant of any of the attendees today, and we're also joined by my colleague, Miriam. She'll be here specifically to help manage the questions being asked, and she will do her best to, get back to any specific, specific questions as quickly as possible. We are also joined by two members of the faculty today, Rokina and Tapos. Rokina, can I hand over to yourself an introduction? Of course, you can. Thank you, Declan. Hi, everyone. And thank you for taking the time to be with with with us today. My name is Rokina. I am the program, leader for the master in management, at, the Southampton Business School. I am also, teaching a couple of modules, in person in the Southampton Business School. So I teach accounting, introduction to accounting and finance and management accounting three. But I also have a professional background. So before joining, academia, just to give you a little bit of myself, before joining academia, I had, over ten years of experience in practice and industry. So I am a chartered accountant, ICA qualified as well. And I joined, academia, a few years ago, driven by the, you know, the the desire to help students and to transfer knowledge into students. I hand over to my colleague Taposh just for an introduction. Thank you, Rokina. Hi, good afternoon, everyone. UK time. I'm Taposh Kumar Roy. I'm working as a PG program director in Southampton Business School. I have been working in Southampton since two thousand sixteen. I'm also also involved in leading a number of UG and PG modules. Looking forward to responding, to questions if you have anything, to ask, and we'll discuss some of the questions from the panel as well. I'm handing over to Declan. Fantastic. Thank you both for your introduction. And as Taposh mentioned just then, if you have any specific questions directly for Regina or Taposh, please just put that in a little note in your question, and we'll make sure, that we can ask them directly. So moving on to the first set of questions, Rokina. We're gonna be going through these together. So, what makes the online MIM at Southampton a conversion course, and and who is it for? Thank you, Declan. Yes. This is actually a very interesting question because the idea behind this program is to, for the program to be a conversion course. What does it mean? The online mastery management at the Southampton Business School, qualifies as a conversion course because it's specifically designed for individuals who do not have a background in business or management and actually wish to develop expertise in these areas. The MIM or mastery management, is a conversion course designed for individuals looking to transition into the world of business management regardless of their academic or professional, background. So for you that you are attending this, this, this webinar, whether you are coming from, for example, arts, history, or engineering, or even health care, this program is built to equip you with the core principles of management. For example, accounting, strategy, operations, or marketing as well and apply them in practical real world context. It is ideal, for career changes, early career professionals, for anyone looking to build leadership skills or explore new new opportunities or in in business or in different industries. And it's delivered a hundred percent online. So, it offers that flexibility that many of you might be looking for flexibility to study from anywhere in the world, while balancing personal or professional, commitments. I did myself a few years ago, a course online and I can say that it it this type of you know courses are designed to give flexibility to professionals or to you know people that have other type of commitments personal commitments. The program has tailored pathways in areas as you probably already know business sustainability, logistics, leadership and lets you essentially shape your learning around your career goals while at the same time gaining kind of strategical, ethical, or practical insights that are very important nowadays especially in the business environment. That's fantastic. Thank you so much. And and definitely, I think that we've we've seen over the five last five years in particular, the kind of the the the move to working remotely and things like that. So it's great that we can offer this program that kind of complements, I think, what is a new age of working style and, you know, give access to those who, you know, don't necessarily have the opportunity to commute to the University of Southampton's campus directly. So, yeah, I I really feel that, you you know, the the program's gonna offer a lot of that, you know, accessibility too. So no. That that's absolutely brilliant. So let's, move on to the next question. So how does the programme prepare students for leadership and decision making roles in particular? Another interesting question. Thank you. The this programme, is is designed to prepare students or professionals for leadership as you as you mentioned for leadership, decision making roles in a range of industries. There are many type of industries are out there. Many of you are already working in different type of industries. I worked in in the past. I worked in audit. So I also financial audit. So I also I've also seen different type of industries going from waste management company to property management to accountancy firm, lawyers, all type of industries. And this program does tease by blending academic rigor with real world, application. So from day one, when you start the program, you and general, everyone enrolled in on this program, you know, students are introduced to key areas like, the first module you will have academic and professional skills for managers or accounting for management or strategic management, operations, marketing, giving practical a practical lens, to give you an idea if you are already working or you intend to, you know, open a business, for example, in health care or whatever is your passion, why why knowing a little bit of accounting is really is is really important because it's important for you to understand your business. How to read your your financial statements. So in my view you know having my view and the view of everyone working on this program it is it is very important to to know this type of topics to be prepared for leading the business or whatever whether the business is yours or is of, someone else leadership, decision making. These are very important skills when it comes to, management, whatever industry we are, looking at. The program places a strong emphasis on critical thinking in on ethical leadership, on sustainability, hot topic, nowadays as we know on, encouraging you to consider, the impact of your decisions on, on, on, on, on the environment, for example, when it comes to, sustainability. Or on any other type of on financial financial impact for example. So through interactive learning such for example case case studies or simulation or group projects or of industry linked assignments as well you can gain you know confidence on you know complex business challenges as well as, you know, simple, skills that, you know, we might need for your professional development and, you know, to to to escalate, in your next, your next, role, if if that makes sense. Yeah. No. Absolutely. No. That's a a great kind of in-depth explanation around that. And we've actually had a question come in from a student, and I think this is, it was kind of leads on really nicely. So, the prospective student is an experienced marketing and business manager, and potentially considering transforming their career to logistics and distribution management. Do you feel, that this course would be appropriate, or would there be a more suitable one? And I assume this is directed at the the MIM, with logistics specifically. Yes. If you, you have to consider that this program has three pathways. One is the general, mastery management pathway. The the second is, logistics, which includes, two modules, specifically on, on on on logistics. We have international logistics or integrated, integrated logistics. So you could consider to, to, you know, join, and, decide to, enroll on the logistics pass pass pathway. So the program will give you essentially, you know, the fund the foundation, fundamentals of management, and then specialize in your preferred, on on your preferred, you know, pathway, which is in in in your case logistics. Of course, between the two type of modules, so I just mentioned international logistics and integrated logistics, you will be looking at supply chain, type of topics. You will be looking at total quality management when it comes to reducing, you know, error, errors in, manufacturing, for example, and so to enhance efficiency throughout the process of of the business when when it comes to management, when when you you think about international logistics, you will be thinking about, you know, things like freight international transportations and stuff like that. So definitely, I would, I would say that can be suitable. And also having a marketing background, will, will help you. You are already working in marketing, as a manager. So you you you you you there is a module on, on this program, so on a marketing practice and, and ethics. So you will add you know some skills on your you know already existing background but there are many other content and topics that you can can add value to your, to your, you know, profile essentially. Yeah. Fantastic. Thank you so much for going through that question. And then again, I would encourage anyone else that does have any questions, even if they are specific, to ask them in the q and a box. So, thank you so much for that. So, we can move on to the next slide then. And, obviously, we've had an introduction into a little bit about what the logistics side of things contains already. But what would you say are the core differences between the, you know, the core MIM, and potentially now just the business sustainability pathway? Okay, so we we know we have the core master in management pathway. This core master in management pathway provides broad a broad foundation in essential business and management disciplines. As for example strategy operations marketing as we mentioned just earlier or or managing people, leadership, essentially. This pathway, it's ideal for those seeking a generalist route, into leadership roles or across a variety of sectors or industries. Now if you want to specialize and you wish to you know specialize in a specific field, the program also offers two two focused pathways as you know business sustainability and logistics and these are essentially designed to tailor and meet specific industry needs. The business sustainability pathway, in this pathway students dive into critical challenges of what are the leading the challenges in leading in an environmental and socially responsible way. We know that there is a lot of focus on sustainability nowadays. There are two modules, modules like sustainable business operations and sustainability accounting and reporting. These two modules, focus on how organizations can embed sustainability into their core strategies, and decision making. So this pathway is, I would say, ideal or would be great fit for tours, of you aiming to for roles like, environmental social governance or, sustainability consulting, or anyway, purpose driven businesses, type of, business. Don't forget that even for chartered accountants now, we are required to to, gain skills, in in this in this way in sustainability reporting. So, you you probably aware that there is a lot of focus on sustainability and that's the main reason for why you will see this pathway, in this program. Having said so though, the logistic pathway in my view is also very interesting, particularly if we think about the global scale. Now we are operating within in terms of industries and all sectors. So in the other hand, the logistics pathway, propels you, for roles in supply chain, operation, operations management and on a global scale, essentially. So you will have, as I mentioned before, modules like integrated logistics or international logistics and, they will explore, you know movements of goods, global sourcing, very important nowadays as well, supply chain strategy, and this pathway, I would say is ideal for careers in, logistics or procurements, procurement or distribution as well. Just to give a little bit of my experience, I have a friend that works in supply chain. It's a very, very important role within the organization. If we think about a manufacturer, they will have to, supply all the material for the manufacturing process for the operations, right? So, you know, his role as a director of supply chain is is one of the main role when it comes to efficiency or reducing cost or looking for the best options out there and that requires specific skills. So whatever you want, as a generalist business education or to specialize in two of the most I would say dynamic areas of today's economy of today's scale global scale. These programs essentially gives you the flexibility, to tailor your learning, to your specific, goals. Yeah. Fantastic. No. I I think it's really interesting. I mean, we speak to lots of prospective students who are interested in all three of the pathways, and it's really it's really nice to see kind of all the different types of backgrounds and, you know, the the places that all these students want to end up. So I I think that that kind of journey really really fits in well. So, we have had a second question come in, which is about kind of industry links. So, does this course have specific links with organisations who provide work placements for students while undertaking this online programme? We, we don't provide, placements. Within the Southampton Business School, we have, you know, our undergraduates programs, that come, with in in four years, with one year of placements. But that's a completely different program. But what I can say though, we have a lot of connections in terms of industry connections within the business school. There is a team, that is specifically dedicated to, you know, to support students, in, for for example looking through their cv, finding internships and so on. And and and this team is always happy to you know support in terms of guiding our students in how best to prepare for you know, achieving their goals, when it comes to CV preparations or, industry connection. And that's one matter. So there are student advisers as well that can help out on this on this respect. When it comes to each individual module, all our colleagues are working on this specific expertise because of course, the module leader is is mainly, the individual, the academic that has the expertise in, each topic. They they will they will prepare, you know, real case studies. They will prepare a real view, and they will embed in the module, you know, you know, real world, scenarios, and sometimes can involve, also industry speakers. So to answer you know your question, yes, we have connections. Yes, all our module leaders will be embedded within their module within their module, an element of, you know, real world scenarios. Because what we want to do is essentially to, you know, to transfer all our theoretical knowledge into practical skills. So to make sure that theoretical knowledge you will be gaining will be, also applicable in the real, in the real world. Yeah. Fantastic. And and just to add add to that, I think one of the kind of the key benefits of this programme and we'll cover this definitely in the next slide as well but is that it's it's online it's distance learning and it's and it's flexible so we don't necessarily build in elements like work placements because then, actually, for quite a lot of people, that then takes away that flexibility, that takes away that kind of distance learning. And we'll find that the majority of the programs joining these, joining these online courses are working professionals who have full time jobs and probably, in most cases, are slightly more than full time. And so, you know, the the way in which we deliver these programs really allows, for for those to run concurrently, as opposed, sorry, as opposed to them leaving their role to take on study and additional placements and internships and things like that. So I, yeah, I hope that that that covers that in-depth. So, the last question for you today then Rokina, how flexible is the online format and how do students manage studying alongside work and other commitments? Well, one of the standout features of the online Master in Management is its flexibility. It's been specifically designed to you know, with busy professionals in mind. So the program is delivered, as you might know, a hundred percent online, part time, over two years allowing you to fit you know your studies around work, in most cases around family or around other any other commitments. So most of the learning is asynchronous, meaning that you can access material, you can access, you know, a recording or you can access videos, simulations, all material provided by the module leaders on the specific modules wherever you are. So at any time that suits you. You are not tied to fixed class, schedules. So it's not like I'm on an an in person, delivery. So an in person, you know, type of education delivery, which makes essentially it is perfect for for people for, in different time zones or those with, you know, different type of routines or different type of commitments. Having said so, the to complement this, there are also live webinars. These are optional, but they are optional real time, sessions where, students, can can ask questions, can interact with tutors, can connect with their peers and and that's also another very important aspect elements of the program because although you will have, you know, the possibility to access all the material and your learning, you know, needs in your own time, at the same time, you also have the possibility to engage directly with, you know, a tutor, ask questions. Or with your peers you know to have that that environment where you can also exchange knowledge. You can also exchange opinions with you know with your peers or other other individuals and students you know or learning studying on these these programs. So students will always be encouraged to to engage regularly because that's a very important part especially I would say when it comes to an online program because because you want to you want to make sure to be on track and by engaging and by, you know, having this type of, study model, I would call it, will help you to be on track with your, with your with your, you know, studies. So whatever you are trying to balance a full time job or or parenting or just a busy life, this this program, is built to work around around, other, other commitments. Yeah. Fantastic. No. That that's really great, and I appreciate you you going through that in such depth. So, we can move on to the the next slide. Well, we have had a question come in, and I think that I can answer this one myself. So, in terms of the entry requirements for the program, so, you will find that these have been posted in the chat. The standard route of entry is, a student having a two one, honors degree or above, or a minimum of a two two with at least three years, employment in a recognized graduate role. So if you're unsure as whether your, kind of graduate role is recognized, it's a question that you can ask your student recruitment consultant directly. And the second part of the question, is really about the, kind of, you know, continuation of study post doing, this master's degree. Now just to clarify for anyone who's here today or watching this back, these master's degrees are full master's degrees. So even though they're delivered online, your certificate is still from the University of Southampton. It won't indicate on the certificate itself that the program was delivered online, and it will give you access into, potentially for, you know, level eight qualifications, as if you were to have done this on campus. So really, really important to just remember that this is a, you know, a full master's program. So I hope that helps answer those questions. But, yes, so is that a level seven study, currently? So in terms of this question then, it's something I'm going to be going through. So in regards to pastoral support, available throughout the course, as many of you will know, you'll have engaged with your student recruitment consultant through, kind of, the inquiry process and support for the application. Once you're enrolled, we hand you over directly to our student adviser team. Now they're there, to kind of run alongside the academic staff on this program. So whilst the academic team will be able to help you with anything specific to your module and your learning, the student advisers will be there for everything else. So they have lots of experience in dealing, with different situations students go through. They're I I think, you know, we're very understanding that sometimes life can very much get in the way. So there are processes such as intermittent your studies, requesting extensions, even things like withdrawing and rejoining onto programs too. So you'll have the student adviser team there to guide you through any processes that you need to follow. If you need to make new requests to other teams, disability support teams, for example, they'll be there to, you know, make sure that you have all of the right information, give you any guidance that you need to complete it, and be there for you throughout the whole process. So we will have that dedicated team. They'll be available for you, for the whole time throughout your study. And, yeah, should you need to engage with them, they'll be at the end of the phone, or they do have a a general mailbox as well. So, hopefully, that kinda gives you some reassurance, for anyone who's got any concerns about that that kind of support throughout the program, that, you know, it absolutely is something that we're very, I think, very passionate about making sure that it is there. So, brilliant. Well, let's go on to the next slide. And and just in regards to the questions again, if if you can use a question and answer box just instead of the chat, more than anything, it just appears slightly clearer on our presenter side. So we can see everything that is put into the chat. But, yeah, again, if you can use the q and a box, that would be great. So Tapos is going to be going through the next set of questions, with me today. So Tapos, how do students engage with academics and peers in an online setting? Hi, Declan. This is a very interesting question. I think some of the part was already covered by Rokina. It's a this is a online program, so it offers a lot of flexibility. But we do have some kind of a live sessions every week, for the more, for each modules. So we call them weekly webinar, and this a live session. So in this kind of a live session, there will be lot of works linked with the group activities, breakout rooms, where students will be given to different sort of activities like a case study. They need to solve the case, and they need to respond that. So this is one. The other one in Blackboard, there is a kind of online discussions where students can engage with other students. If they do have any kind of a questions, they can raise their questions. Sometimes what we see in the discussion board when one student raise a question, then the other student respond rather than they get a response from the, tutors. Also, the other important part of webinar that students will get a chance to directly contact or directly engage with the module tutors, which is very important for them. One of the important part for I will say this is this should be a kind of a motivation for, for for studying in the university. It's like building network relationships with students. So, I I always suggest all my students to attend all the lectures, feminist, build your network, engage with other students. When If you look at the key skills that employers look, and I was checking even what are the key skills that future graduates need to demonstrate. And one of the skill is group work. So it's it's still important, and I was checking what are the key skills, are important in two thousand twenty seven, and you will find group work is fairly important. In the group work, they also need to understand how people share, their experiences, their views, which might be very different. So active listening is very important part, and engaging with a different view is very important. So student when students, will attend all this kind of webinar, they will get a chance to learn this kind of skills. Fantastic. Thank you so much. And just to note that, Tapos, referred to Blackboard. Now for those who aren't for those who aren't familiar with it, Blackboard is our virtual learning environment, and it's the place where all of your online learning will be sent to. So all of the weekly learning material is all accessed through there, and it's definitely the hub of online learning and how we deliver you the weekly learning. Just touching on part of the discussion that's happening in the chat, we definitely have had a lot of students question, the kind of validity of online master's degrees. Now what I would say is that, actually, I think especially in the the recent years, We've seen employees even encourage their, their employees to attend an online, you know, kind of online distance learning program. And the benefit is is that, you know, as I think specifically when we we're referencing Southampton, is that we have a great reputation. We have fantastic faculty. You know, we're widely recognized and very well ranked in the UK. And the the benefit of having the program like this delivered to yourselves online is that you don't have to leave work, you don't have to relocate, and then for the most cases, that isn't possible. So it's a benefit to the majority of employers and hopefully future employers, that you are able to access this quality of learning, you know, through this distance learning method, as as opposed to anything else. And and I definitely wouldn't be hiding it, you know. And and I think that, you know, we don't include online on our certificates, but I don't think we're we're not doing that on purpose, if that makes sense. It's not something that we're, you know, we're ashamed of or, you know, think that it doesn't it doesn't need to be there. But it's actually because the programmes are so close to the on campus programmes that it simply just doesn't appear because we are delivering an MIM, a Master in Management, and I think that's that's the important thing in terms of the content, in terms of the quality of teaching and delivery, that's all you know the same as if it was an on campus programme. So I definitely think, you know, it's an understandable concern to have, but I would, you know, be I'd be encouraging you to be, you know, very forward and proactive about discussing the fact that you you took the opportunity to, you know, achieve a high level qualification, from, you know, a fantastic, fantastic university even though it was delivered online. So there should be no no difference there. We've had another question come in, regarding the logistics pathway. Will potential employers recognise this favourably for roles in procurement and distribution? Rokina, I don't know, obviously you've touched on this previously, if you can just jump back in to go through that one. So, I would say that employers will consider that, because, because you, you, you, you will be choosing a specific, pathway in logistics. So, master in management, pathway logistics. It it it sometimes I cannot to upon to your question is it's also the way you present, the you know, your master or your studies, to the employer, the way you, I would say you sell yourself, that's, unfortunately the truth, because when we, when we, present, you know, our studies, we present our backgrounds. You know, when I joined academia, I didn't have, you know, previous experience and I just had that very strong feeling that, I could be good in academia in terms of transferring knowledge because that's what I love to do and it is been confirmed, you know, after a few years in academia. But when I did my initial interview, I had to find the way to sell myself, to sell my guard background, to sell, you know, what I had done to up to that point and link that to how beneficial was going to be for, for the, for academia, for the university, for the business school. So my personal view is, if you are interested in, in logistics and a career in logistics, then you would have to choose the logistic path pathway, of course, and, and present yourself to the employer, you know, in in in in that in a way, you know, showing the employer that you have an interest in logistics. Yeah. You have studied those specific topics when it comes for example to, you know, quality management, you know, reducing errors across improving efficiency on the manufacturing process and so on. You know, you really want to show them that, you know, you have an interest and you know that, you know, the the key points of of this specific topic. Yeah. I know. I think that's that's really it's it's a really interesting approach, isn't it, as well? Because I think, you know, when we think about, you know, maybe some of the assignments that we'll be doing throughout the, the program as well, and we take the basic point evidence explain rule. And when you're when you're kind of going through this learning and, say, you know, you're you're on the program, you're currently going through one of the logistics specific modules, you'll actually be learning, things that you're gonna be able to present to these future employers. And and I suppose that the unsurety is that you don't necessarily know those things now because you're not on the program. That's completely expected. But I think what we'd really hope is that, you know, when you're, you know, when you're on that journey, when you're really engaged with your learning, and you're attending an interview, and they say, you know, I can see on your CV that you're kind of, you know, partway through your your master's degree with the University of Southampton in logistics. Could you tell me more about it? And it's the opportunity to go, yes. Actually, only in the last couple of weeks, I learned this. And I think this is really good because and I think this could be relevant for me moving into this role because and and I think that's the really important thing. It's gonna give you the tools and the skill set that you need to help promote your experience, promote your understanding, you know, I I think demonstrate your ability to take theory and put it into practice. And I think that's one of the key things about level seven study as a whole is that you, you know, you're taking these concepts and you're understanding how are they how are they put in the real world? What what does that look like in this industry? How does that change when you look at it in this industry? So when you're looking at, you know, UK logistics versus global logistics, for example, being able to make those comparisons. And I think the benefit of these programs too is that because they're delivered online and we have such an international cohort of students, you're gonna be able to understand from other professionals during your online webinars and your networking opportunities throughout the program, where you can have those discussions, build those relationships, and really be able to kind of test that theory and practice. So I hope that I hope that gives some sort of, you know, further explanation on it. And and, Papos, did you have did you have something to say too? Yeah. Thank you, Declan. And just to add a few things, we like, few years back, we had a kind of a traditional MBA. And then there was a requirement for pathways because of the demand from the industry. So we started introducing pathways for MBAs, and it's well recognized across the globe. So I don't think students, if they select a pathway within our program, they will experience any problem, because now a growing number of industry really gives importance to this kind of a path related programs. Yeah. And I I think that really attest to kind of Southampton's reactivity to kind of industry requirements too. Yeah. And even it's not something very new. If you look if we look at even undergrad programs in many universities, they do have a pathway in undergrad programs. So, it's not we are reinventing something new. It's very traditional, I will say, at this moment. If I can add, something upon this, it is it is very true industry needs. We are kind of meeting industry needs. I had just recently, unexp my unexperienced. I was inquired by, a company, an Italian company that wanted to move goods from Italy to the UK. And they didn't because the we're talking about big, big machines. They didn't know how to all the documentations they had to prepare and, you know, all the, involved, all all involved in that, in in in that operation. And they asked me, if I knew someone that, that was, you know, really dealing with freight road rail or sea rails, stuff like that. So definitely another hot topic and this, is something that, NASA Taposh said was already coming most, you know, already in our, in our, across our programs because of the importance. Yeah. No. That's really really fantastic to hear. Brilliant, well let's move on to our our next slide, and Tapos you're gonna go through this one with me again, so what are the typical career outcomes or roles graduates move into after completing the MIM? The this is interesting, in the context of our program. Our program is very new. We we're just launching this program, so we do not have any graduates at this moment who have completed the program. But, it's a kind of a journalistic pathway. And we do have a similar kind of a program, in Southampton. Like, one is a MSC international management. And if we look at the structure of this program, we have lot of modules from different department. It's very similar to our, online program. And when I looked at the carrier trajectory and some of the graduates outcome outcome for that program, I noticed the students who finished that kind of a program, they, this, after completing their graduation, this work as a marketing ex marketing executive, operational management consultant, banker in a large companies like KPMG, Bank of China, and Unilever. So if we look at the learning outcomes and more, program contents, this is very similar. So I'm expecting that our many of the graduates can work in a large companies or local companies in their own countries. The other thing is probably, some some people are already working, and they are probably thinking to to select this program because they want to change their career pathway. One, they because one of the one of the comment was, the the potential student is now in, marketing profession. They want to move to logistics. So there are more kind of a option. This kind of a program will give that kind of a pathways to the people who are already in a job if they want to switch, if they want to move to another kind of a professions, like from banking to consultancy, this kind of a program will give them that kind of opportunity. Hope I answered the question. Yeah. Absolutely. And we do get a lot of, do get a lot of questions, about careers and and things like that and specifically moving into consultancy so you know it's really interesting that you mentioned it but yeah no fantastic so moving on then. So, Tabos, could you, explain what does the assessment process look like, and are there exams? No. We did not include any exams for this program, intentionally because it's very difficult to organize or handle exams in the online platform. So we intentionally we removed, exams. But we do have a lot of, individual coursework. Individual within individual coursework, there is a variations, like individual reports, essay writings. Essay writing is a diff essay writing is a different kind of a craft that many student, particularly international students, struggle. So they need to follow the structure. They should attend the webinar. They should look at the assessment brief to understand what they should do and what they should not do. And we do have a group work, for this program as well in, in number of modules. They then at the end, they have to do a kind of a dissertation. This is a big one, like a ten thousand word. I think there was a question relating to placement, placement here, whether the program includes play placement here. We intentionally did not include placement here because we expected that people who have an experiences, they will do this kind of a program. So if they do this kind of a program, for example, if they do dissertations, when they select a topic, they can select a problem their companies are experiencing. And they can do a research on their own companies, try to find out what is the problem, why the companies is experiencing this problem, how they can overcome. So they can write their they can do their own research on that kind of a topic, and they can learn, and they can tell the company this is the things I have done. This is the research I have undertaken, and this is the outcome. And, that will help them to learn and share disseminated information with colleagues from their own organization, and they can share those information with, with their friends who are doing the similar modules. So this is a good learning space for them. Yeah. Brilliant. No. It's, it's really interesting here. We we get a lot of questions about kind of the the lack of exams. I think, traditionally, people don't like exams, but that's, I think that's kind of as a result of our, you know, our education system. But I know that the, the kind of yeah. We get lots of positive responses about, you know, having the opportunity to, I suppose, organize themselves to prepare for written assignments, and, you know, with the variation in those assignments that it keeps it quite interesting going throughout the the the two years. Yeah. The the, what we ensure that the within the assessment of sorry. Can you hear me? Yes. Yeah. We can hear you. Yeah. Yeah. We ensure there is a variation, in our assessment. So we do not, use essay in all the assessment because then there is no variation. So we ensure, although we use, individual coursework within that individual coursework, you can see a kind of a variation, in, like, in terms of the structure of the work. Reflective essay is a different sort of essay. Although this is essay, but it is a different form of essay. So we ensure that there is a variation within the assessment. And we provide enough support, to the students so they can understand what is the expectations and how they can tackle the assessment. Yeah. Fantastic. Oh, Regina, was there something you wanted to add there? Yes. Yeah. No. I just so so so so Tapash has highlighted, you know, all everything. But, yes, of course, just to, you know, stress the points that, we have a a mix of, type of assessments or there are a mix of type of assessments because they we want to make sure that you know, all all students on this program, gain, the right skills, to be able to achieve what they want. So essentially there will be a mixture of reports and projects, for example, incorporating also case studies, or incorporating, you know, projects type of works within the assessment to, to, to, to, to make sure that, you know, students are facing, real world challenges, or and developing all those, you know, critical thinking. We are, we hear a lot about critical thinking nowadays, but it's true. It's really important. We want to, you know, be able to analyze, data to analyze context or scenarios as well as, presentation can be another way of, assessment. You know, question could be why a presentation could be a way of of, you know, assess, our, our learning is is because, you know, these type of skills are very important when it comes to, to moving, you know, up the ladder and particularly when it comes to management because we want to be able to, to present a piece of research or to present our findings when it comes to a particular analysis, or, another way of assessment is, for example, the reflective reports, meaning, you will be asked or students, will be asked to to to to to maintain or to prepare reflective reports, and discuss how the course, content, for example, relates to the, to their, to their, to their work experience. So there are different ways of, assess, you know, depending on the module, depending also of the module leader, what, you know, they they think is the best way to to to to assess a particular learning outcome. Yeah. Fantastic. Thank you so much for for that addition too. So we're moving into the last six minutes of the session. I would encourage anyone, who's watching live to ask any final questions that they have now. We'll go through the next two slides on the on the presentation, and we'll tackle those right at the end before we finish up. So, Tapos, what are employers looking for in candidates today, and how does this course help you meet that demand? Thank you, Declan. In our program, we ensure that we embed some form of soft skills. And this is, like a program level learning outcome. So once the student finish the program, they will learn those kind of skills from the program. One of the one of the one is analytical thinking, problem solving skills, leadership skills, interpersonal skills, creative and critical thinking, empathy, and active listening. So these are a kind of a soft skills. And if we look at the assessment, we also try to embed those skills within the assessment. So when students do those kind of assessment, they can learn those kind of skills or they get a chance to demonstrate those skills. For examples, we do have a group works. So in the group work, the students needs to demonstrate definitely met some of them can demonstrate leadership skills. And then, when we look at essay writing, it's very important they need to demonstrate critical thinking. Then the other important part is a dissertation where we talked about independent, how people can work independently. Then they need to deal with a large level of data, how they can analyze those kind of data and interpret those kind of data. So it's all these skills are embedded. And if we look at the employer's requirements, as I mentioned earlier, employers are also seeking those kind of skills. There is another skills and which is which is becoming a more imminent in coming years that is AI related skills. Artificial intelligence. So, within within the school, we are growing the embedding AI skills within the program and within different modules. So it will appear soon in different modules. How we are how we encourage students to use AI to develop, to write their coursework, okay, to prepare for their dissertations. Yeah. Fantastic. It's really interesting, to to have AI in there as well. I think it's definitely, you know, a hot topic through all industries at the moment, and I'm sure something that, you know, prospective students are interested in how they can use. So, brilliant. Well, let's move on then to the final, the final question. So this, this slide is something that I'm going to be walking through in terms of the application process. So as a student recruitment consultant here at the university, again, my role is really to kinda help and guide prospective students, and that includes the application process itself. So the application process itself is in some ways far easier than people think. First off, there isn't an application fee for studying with the University of Southampton. I know that is something that you might find for, other Russell Group universities, but isn't something that we have implemented at this time. So for making the application, I definitely recommend speaking with your student recruitment consultant. They can send you out what we call the application pack, and that's going to give you the kind of the guidance and information that you need specifically on what you have to upload. So the first part of the process is filling in a short application form, just some general information about yourself, where you're based, and, some information about your kind of academic and professional history. So we like to gather that in a few formats. First of all, if you have a bachelor's degree, master's degree or PhD, we would ask for a copy of your certificates and your transcripts. We do ask for both in this case, to be uploaded. We would also, in most cases, request a personal statement, which is three to five hundred words, not too long, but really an opportunity for you to, you know, demonstrate exactly why you're passionate about this subject, why you'd be a good fit for the program, and touch on some key important, bits about, you know, critical thinking, organizational skills, but again we'll include a guide for that. We'll also always encourage students to upload a copy of an up to date CV as part of their application. More than anything, it just helps solidify some of the experiences that you've got. We'll ask for a copy of any professional qualifications too. So typically, these are just in certificate format, but if you have them, we'd love to see them. For English language qualifications, there is specific guidance on which ones we'll accept and whether you may or may not need them, and professional references. Now not all students will need all of these in all cases, so it sounds like quite a lot but it isn't isn't too bad in, in kind of reality. But I'd really encourage you to speak to your student recruitment consultant to, kind of gain an understanding of what you would need. If you have a a two one or above in an honours degree, the the kind of the amount of information we need is is quite small. So, do reach out. Have that conversation. Roquina, is there anything you'd like to add in terms of maybe, you know, what if you were reading through a prospective student's personal statement? You know, what would you be looking out for? Just one one key thing that you'd hope to see. Motivation. Yeah. I think, I think that, always had adds, value for to to any personal statements, because, because it's key. You will be, you will be studying with us. You know, it's a both ways relationship. So you will you will be also we we we we commit to deliver the best, education and, you know, to to to we commit to deliver it to make sure that we you have the best learning experience with us at the same time you want to you have to commit your time and and motivation is, is one of those key aspects when it comes to enrolling on a program like this, especially because it's a part time, by itself for two years part time. So that's, that's what I would add up upon what you just said. Fantastic. Really appreciate that addition there too. So, we are now at the end of the session. Those who have joined us live, thank you so much for being here today. For those who are watching this on catch up, I hope you have enjoyed it. And if you have any questions that you weren't able to once, ask live, please feel free to reach out to our team. We'll be more than happy to go through them. Just want to say a massive thank you, to Rokina and Tapos, for answering all of the questions, both on the presentation and the ones asked in the chat, which I think, you know, absolutely does make a session like this. So thank you so much. And, yeah, for anyone who's watching, I hope that this helps you, make an informed decision, hopefully, to choose to study with us, and, you know, gives you the empowerment that you need to take your next steps, within higher education. So thanks so much again, for for watching us today, and we hope to hear again from you soon. Thank you. Thank you, Declan. Thank you.