Continuing professional development/postgraduate professional development
(CPD / PPD)
CPD/PPD activities may be ‘accredited’ or ‘non-accredited’ and these may be distinguished as follows:
- ‘Accredited’ programmes or courses attract credit from the University in line with the Scottish Credit and Qualification Framework.
- ‘Non-accredited’ activities, whether or not they contribute to the CPD requirements of professional institutions, do not attract credit from the University in terms of the Scottish Credit and Qualifications Framework.
Accredited provision should be subject to normal levels of academic scrutiny and reporting although full programmes which have already been approved for delivery in the context of another award will not require separate academic approval for delivery as CPD/PPD. They will, however, require a different programme code to be allocated in order to distinguish them from full programmes.
Non-accredited provision does not require formal academic approval, although it may be useful to include such records in the PIP system in order that a transcript can be provided for students. A ‘quick-PIP’ route is available for the input of these programmes. Contact IT Services for details of this.
Course Completion Certificates
The Education Policy and Strategy Committee has approved a set of templates that may be used by Schools and Colleges when they wish to recognise student participation in CPD/PPD activity with an appropriate document. These templates are intended to be used for short courses, individual courses (accredited or otherwise), or groups of courses that do not add up to credit for the recognised awards for which parchments are issued through the Registry. These CPD/PPD certificates should not include reference to the specific credit and level of the course completed. All students achieving credit are provided by the Registry with an Academic Transcript which contains a record of credits achieved during the session, and students should be encouraged to use this as proof of credit achievement.
Costing
The University Court requires all Schools to conduct an analysis of projected costs in respect of proposed CPD/PPD provision, and to complete the appropriate financial approval form. The process of obtaining financial approval is governed by Court regulations implemented by the Finance Office. This process, which may be completed before or after the process of securing academic approval for the provision, should be regarded as separate and distinct from the requirements for academic approval.
It is recommended that, at an early stage, new accredited CPD/PPD proposals are discussed with the External Relations Office who can advise on fees and market potential.