Postgrad qualifications for faith-based leaders

Monday, September 17th, 2018

Starting in 2019, leaders in faith-based organisations will be able to gain postgraduate qualifications at Otago University.

The Department of Theology and Religion is offering two qualifications

a Postgraduate Diploma in Faith-Based Leadership and Management and
a Master of Faith-Based Leadership and Management

Describing the qualifications as “much-needed” the Salvation Army Principal Adviser, Dr Greg Coyle says the University needs to be congratulation on the innovation.

He says it will help the Salvation Army and many other faith-based organisations in career development for their staff.

NZ Council of Christian Social Services Policy Adviser Paul Barber says he believes the new programmes will make a significant contribution to building capability in leadership and management in the faith-based social services.

“The social services of the six member churches in NZCCSS employ nearly 12,000 people and 16,000 volunteers. These new programmes look ideal for people working in such organisations as well as other similar religious and community-based services,” he says.

Offered in conjunction with the Otago Business School’s Master of Business Administration (MBA) programme, the postgraduate diploma will consist of four MBA courses and three Theology courses.

Pro-Vice-Chancellor Professor Tony Ballantyne believes the courses will have wide appeal.

He says the University’s programme has a long history of providing top-quality content for students and he expects no different from these programmes.

“It is very pleasing to be in a position where Theology at Otago can draw upon the outstanding expertise of its teaching staff and their relationships with communities of faith to expand its offerings to meet clearly identified needs in the sector”, says Ballantyne.

The programmes will all be available via the University’s distance learning programme, and can be taken part-time.