Event Management

Program Overview

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Event Management

2024/25 Part-time Postgraduate Short course and CPD

Award

Contributes to the Postgraduate Certificate of Professional Development.

Faculty

Ulster University Business School

School

Department of Hospitality and Tourism Management

Campus

Belfast campus

Credit points

20

Start date

2 October 2024

Overview

This course introduces participants to the events industry, the event planning process and the complexities involved in organising events.

Summary

This course develops participants knowledge of the global events industry. The nature and scope of events are investigated together with the event planning process. It will provide participants with a sound basis on which to plan, manage and execute an event.

About this course

About

This course introduces participants to the events industry, looking at the event planning process and the complexities involved in organising an event.

In the past few decades, event management has grown and matured into a legitimate and widely recognised profession. In many instances, the tasks expected of event organisers have changed in response to government policy and commercial pressure. The rapid increase in the number of events in recent years, especially high profile events, has also made it a more competitive environment for funding, audiences and other resources. The course will consider the role of the event manager in the twenty first century and discuss the skills required to be successful in this dynamic industry.

The course will appeal to a wide variety of interests and backgrounds such as:

• Those currently employed in the leisure, event and tourism sectors who wish to progress to managerial positions.
• Those who have an undergraduate qualification in a non-cognate area and who wish to enhance career opportunities within the field of event management.
• Those with a cognate undergraduate qualification who are ambitious, and who wish to further develop their knowledge and skills in this specialist area.

Linked programmes

MSc International Event Management, PgCertPD Postgraduate Certificate of Professional Development

Assessment

• Essay (Coursework) [50%]: The assignment will consist of a 2000-word (+/-10%) essay which will critically evaluate the essential key aspects to ensure success in staging an event.
• Report (Coursework) [50%]: A critical reflection of the management of an event. Students are required to become involved in an event either as a volunteer or as part of their normal course of work. To complete the 2000-word reflective report, students will firstly observe and critique two key aspects of the planning, implementation and evaluation of the event by the professional event manager. The second part of the report is a personal professional reflection by the student, on the key learns from observing the professional event manager providing recommendations of what they would demonstrate as professional best practice, if they had to manage a similar event in the future.

Attendance

The course requires attendance at our Belfast campus, on five individual dates, during Semester 1.

The course runs on the dates below:

• Wed 02, Thurs 03 and Fri 04 October 2024, from 09:15am - 5:00pm.
• Learning Sets on 09 October 2024 (10am - 6pm) and 16 October 2024 (10am - 1pm).

Please note, dates and timetabling may be subject to change.

Entry requirements

Any undergraduate degree.

English Language Requirements

Applicants whose first language is not English must meet the minimum English entrance requirements of the University and will need to provide recent evidence of this (certified within the last two years).

Most of our courses require a minimum English level of IELTS 6.0 or equivalent, with no band score under 5.5. Trinity ISE: Pass at level III also meets this requirement.

Start dates

• 2 October 2024

Teaching, Learning and Assessment

Attendance and Independent Study

The content for each course is summarised on the relevant course page, along with an overview of the modules that make up the course.

Each course is approved by the University and meets the expectations of:

• the relevant generic national Qualification Descriptor (opens in new window)
• the applicable Subject Benchmark Statement (opens in new window)
• the requirements of any professional, regulatory, statutory and accrediting bodies.

Attendance and Independent Study

As part of your course induction, you will be provided with details of the organisation and management of the course, including attendance and assessment requirements - usually in the form of a timetable. For full-time courses, the precise timetable for each semester is not confirmed until close to the start date and may be subject to some change in the early weeks as all courses settle into their planned patterns. For part-time courses which require attendance on particular days and times, an expectation of the days and periods of attendance will be included in the letter of offer. A course handbook is also made available.

Courses comprise modules for which the notional effort involved is indicated by its credit rating. Each credit point represents 10 hours of student effort. Undergraduate courses typically contain 10, 20, or 40 credit modules (more usually 20) and postgraduate courses typically 15 or 30 credit modules.

The normal study load expectation for an undergraduate full-time course of study in the standard academic year is 120 credit points. This amounts to around 36-42 hours of expected teaching and learning per week, inclusive of attendance requirements for lectures, seminars, tutorials, practical work, fieldwork or other scheduled classes, private study, and assessment. Teaching and learning activities will be in-person and/or online depending on the nature of the course. Part-time study load is the same as full-time pro-rata, with each credit point representing 10 hours of student effort.

Postgraduate Master’s courses typically comprise 180 credits, taken in three semesters when studied full-time. A Postgraduate Certificate (PGCert) comprises 60 credits and can usually be completed on a part-time basis in one year. A 120-credit Postgraduate Diploma (PGDip) can usually be completed on a part-time basis in two years.

Class contact times vary by course and type of module. Typically, for a module predominantly delivered through lectures you can expect at least 3 contact hours per week (lectures/seminars/tutorials). Laboratory classes often require a greater intensity of attendance in blocks. Some modules may combine lecture and laboratory. The precise model will depend on the course you apply for and may be subject to change from year to year for quality or enhancement reasons. Prospective students will be consulted about any significant changes.

Assessment

Assessment methods vary and are defined explicitly in each module. Assessment can be a combination of examination and coursework but may also be only one of these methods. Assessment is designed to assess your achievement of the module’s stated learning outcomes. You can expect to receive timely feedback on all coursework assessments. This feedback may be issued individually and/or issued to the group and you will be encouraged to act on this feedback for your own development.

Coursework can take many forms, for example: essay, report, seminar paper, test, presentation, dissertation, design, artefacts, portfolio, journal, group work. The precise form and combination of assessment will depend on the course you apply for and the module. Details will be made available in advance through induction, the course handbook, the module specification, the assessment timetable and the assessment brief. The details are subject to change from year to year for quality or enhancement reasons. You will be consulted about any significant changes.

Normally, a module will have 4 learning outcomes, and no more than 2 items of assessment. An item of assessment can comprise more than one task. The notional workload and the equivalence across types of assessment is standardised. The module pass mark for undergraduate courses is 40%. The module pass mark for postgraduate courses is 50%.

Calculation of the Final Award

The class of Honours awarded in Bachelor’s degrees is usually determined by calculation of an aggregate mark based on performance across the modules at Levels 5 and 6, (which correspond to the second and third year of full-time attendance).

Level 6 modules contribute 70% of the aggregate mark and Level 5 contributes 30% to the calculation of the class of the award. Classification of integrated Master’s degrees with Honours include a Level 7 component. The calculation in this case is: 50% Level 7, 30% Level 6, 20% Level 5. At least half the Level 5 modules must be studied at the University for Level 5 to be included in the calculation of the class.

All other qualifications have an overall grade determined by results in modules from the final level of study.

In Masters degrees of more than 200 credit points the final 120 points usually determine the overall grading.

Figures from the academic year .

Academic profile

The University employs over 1,000 suitably qualified and experienced academic staff - 60% have PhDs in their subject field and many have professional body recognition.

Courses are taught by staff who are Professors (19%), Readers, Senior Lecturers (22%) or Lecturers (57%).

We require most academic staff to be qualified to teach in higher education: 82% hold either Postgraduate Certificates in Higher Education Practice or higher. Most academic and learning support staff (85%) are recognised as fellows of the Higher Education Academy (HEA) by Advance HE - the university sector professional body for teaching and learning. Many academic and technical staff hold other professional body designations related to their subject or scholarly practice.

The profiles of many academic staff can be found on the University’s departmental websites and give a detailed insight into the range of staffing and expertise. The precise staffing for a course will depend on the department(s) involved and the availability and management of staff. This is subject to change annually and is confirmed in the timetable issued at the start of the course.

Occasionally, teaching may be supplemented by suitably qualified part-time staff (usually qualified researchers) and specialist guest lecturers. In these cases, all staff are inducted, mostly through our staff development programme ‘First Steps to Teaching’. In some cases, usually for provision in one of our out-centres, Recognised University Teachers are involved, supported by the University in suitable professional development for teaching.

Figures from the academic year .

Fees and funding

Prices

• Northern Ireland, Republic of Ireland and EU Settlements Status Fees: £777.80
• England, Scotland, Wales and the Islands Fees: £777.80
• International Fees: £1,898.80

Fees information

Payment of Fees and Deposits

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Fees and Funding

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Additional mandatory costs

It is important to remember that costs associated with accommodation, travel (including car parking charges) and normal living will need to be covered in addition to tuition fees.

Where a course has additional mandatory expenses (in addition to tuition fees) we make every effort to highlight them above. We aim to provide students with the learning materials needed to support their studies. Our libraries are a valuable resource with an extensive collection of books and journals, as well as first-class facilities and IT equipment. Computer suites and free Wi-Fi are also available on each of the campuses.

There are additional fees for graduation ceremonies, examination resits and library fines.

Students choosing a period of paid work placement or study abroad as a part of their course should be aware that there may be additional travel and living costs, as well as tuition fees.

See the tuition fees on our student guide for most up to date costs.