Advanced Synthesis of Joint Developments
If you look at business education programs in Ukraine, they appear similar on the surface. But for a student, it is important to know what exactly lies behind these programs. What they are filled with determines whether students will gain the new experience that will help them rethink their practical activities.
In 1999, within the framework of interstate cooperation between Ukraine and Canada, the Canadian Business Management Program in Ukraine was launched. On the Canadian side, Grant MacEwan College (Edmonton) participates in the project; on the Ukrainian side, the International Institute of Business (Kyiv).
Grant MacEwan College was not chosen by chance for such a responsible project: this educational institution, founded in 1971, is among the top five colleges in Canada. Every year, more than 50,000 students from different countries study here. They receive an education in one of 60 diploma or certificate programs in the humanities, natural sciences, social sciences, management, and accounting.
The Canadian Business Management Program in Ukraine includes subjects such as financial mathematics, managerial accounting, organizational behavior, applied computer programs, international business, financial accounting, human resource management, strategic management, auditing, business law, computers in business, marketing, and others. Students at Grant MacEwan College study the same set of subjects. Thus, a Ukrainian student gets a unique opportunity to complete the full course of study at a Canadian college without leaving Ukraine. Instruction is conducted in Russian and Ukrainian. Over the four years of the Canadian Business Management Program, more than a hundred people have received the original Grant MacEwan College diploma. About 30 more students are currently studying in Canadian programs.
Close cooperation with a leading Canadian college allowed IIB specialists to develop a human resource management program unique in its content and practical orientation. The demand for this program predetermined the session-based format of study. Thus, current and future HR professionals from different cities of Ukraine can participate in it.
Both programs are designed for one and a half years of intensive study and a two-month internship at Canadian or Ukrainian enterprises. Classes begin in September. However, registration starts already in spring: after passing preliminary testing, future students can, on the recommendation of specialists, improve their knowledge in individual subjects.
Some modules from the diploma programs (financial accounting, managerial accounting, financial management, human resource management) are separated into individual certified courses, which are conducted in the format of short-term seminars. This form of education allows representatives from the regions to complete an intensive, concentrated course and receive a Canadian certificate (it counts as part of the diploma).
Quality Technology
The success of the programs is based on the latest scientific and methodological technologies, experienced instructors, and a modern material and technical base. IIB's educational methods make it possible to use all the advantages of interactive learning in the educational process. These include case analysis, case studies, role plays, live discussions, presentations – everything that triggers the mechanism of creative perception of information and its transformation into essential practical experience. As a result, already during the learning process, students learn to solve the problems they will encounter in real business.
Modern teaching methods are based on a modern educational and material base. Students have access to computer labs and free Internet access. IIB students have a unique opportunity to use materials from the world's largest library in electronic format EBSCO. That is about 4,500 of the most popular publications. There is also an excellent traditional library of business literature. Its main volume consists of English-language new releases, including economic periodicals. The innovative approach to learning allows students to stay in constant contact with their alma mater: even while on a business trip, they can review lecture materials, complete practical assignments, and communicate with their instructor.
The teaching staff of IIB is one of the main components of the success of these projects. They are high-level professionals, practitioners, and, according to students, extraordinary personalities. All of them have completed internships at leading institutes in Europe and North America and have many years of research and teaching experience.
Canadian Diploma for Ukrainian University Graduates
An important factor in the successful advancement of the Canadian program is that graduates receive the original Canadian diploma of Grant MacEwan College – Management Studies Diploma or HR-Management Diploma. And graduates of the Canadian Business Management program have the opportunity to continue their studies at IIB and obtain a state Ukrainian diploma of second higher education.
Specialists also note that the study of management and finance is conducted in a comparative aspect of the economies of the two countries. Both Ukrainian and Canadian examples are used as case studies. This is a truly unique advantage of the program, especially in the eyes of those students who associate their future with work in Canada or in Canadian firms in Ukraine. They begin their path to a career from the IIB classrooms, because it is here that they receive lessons in practical Western management, enhanced language training, and a diploma from a college that is well-known and respected in Canada.
Demand for specialists whose level of education meets modern international standards is growing in Ukraine both among domestic enterprises and foreign representative offices. And it is not surprising that among graduates and students of the Canadian program are employees of such well-known companies as Philip Morris, Sony, Miratech, the Canadian Embassy in Ukraine, Leninskaya Kuznya, Internews Ukraine, Ukragrobusiness JSC, Energobank AB, National Democratic Institute for Foreign Affairs, TACIS, the British Embassy in Ukraine, and many other well-known organizations and institutions.
The main purpose of business education - to form a team of specialists of a new generation, those who can take a fresh look at the development of the economy in our country. And this urgent task for our state is being successfully solved at the International Institute of Business.