HR-related and specific courses: MSc Human Resource Management,
accredited by the CIPD, which can be taken full-time or part-time or, if you’re
lucky enough to be reading this in Barbados, Mauritius and Athens, as a
distance learning course. Surrey also runs a number of HR courses as part of
its executive programme: HRM, a two-week course aimed at senior staff whose
responsibilities include maximising returns from HR; Training the Trainers,
also two weeks, which looks at learning and knowledge development and addresses
the challenge of Continuous Renewal; and Managing Employee Remuneration
Schemes, which examines the strengths and weaknesses of various different
packages in relation to HRM strategies.
Founded: In 1891 as the Battersea Polytechnic Institute. It gained
its university status in 1966 when it was established on its current site in
Guildford.
College CV: The University of Surrey is in Guildford (just over
half-an-hour by train from London). It has 8,500 students on degree and
postgraduate courses, with another 5,000 on professional development. It enjoys
a world-renowned reputation for teaching and research and has seven QAA
excellent ratings, including for business and management. It has come top in
the last three years in the undergraduate employment league. It has one of the
highest proportion of research earnings from industry and nearly two-thirds of
its income comes from its own enterprise, which includes Surrey Research Park,
the largest science park in the UK to be owned and managed by a university.
Entry: For the MSc, a relevant first degree or a first degree and a
minimum of two years relevant work experience.
Star HR academics: Professor Paul Gamble, head of the Surrey European
Management School, is co-author of the recent book Knowledge Management, a
State of the Art Guide, and his areas of expertise include the strategic
management of information technology; Ron Bamford, a barrister, with particular
interest in HR and the services industry, along with employment law and
industrial relations; Dr Robert Phelps, an expert in decision theory and how
top managers make strategic decisions.
Alumni: Surrey has an active international alumni network with events
taking place all year round, a dedicated area of the university website and two
ex-student publications.
