Te Whare Wānanga o Waitaha | University of Canterbury (UC) Business Process Management course developed and led by Senior Lecturer Dr Nelly Todorova, equips students with critical, in-demand skills by embedding real-life industry challenges directly into the classroom, with some stepping from the classroom straight into expert roles.
Only NZ tertiary course offering live business process work
“Across New Zealand this is the only tertiary course in business processes where students work on real-time business process management issues using actual business data, mirroring the full lifecycle of process improvement projects — from discovery and diagnosis to digital transformation. We’re incredibly lucky to be able to partner with industry to help solve their issues,” Dr Todorova says.
“Instead of learning theory in isolation and then applying it to generic case studies, students engage with real organisational problems from day one.
“We have a two-way exchange of information allows students to apply what they are learning and have their learning challenged with information, deepening their understanding of the material by working through authentic, evolving challenges.”
Internship leads to career success at Foodstuffs
Bachelor of Commerce graduate Annaliese Yung was selected for an internship at Foodstuffs South Island after excelling in the course. That experience led to a job offer due to her high level of expertise. “Annaliese’s knowledge means she is now supporting Signavio [business process management software] at the South Island operations and other departments can call on her for support.”
Students from diverse Majors use key industry tools
The course has seen participation from learners majoring in everything from Information Systems and Software Engineering to Accounting and Marketing. “Students work in teams on a single, complex organisational problem and develop practical solutions using tools such as BPMN 2.0 and Signavio — key technologies used in business process modelling.
“We designed this course to ensure graduates could successfully translate their knowledge to industry.
Industry partners drive course success and demand
“Industry partners told us they needed help finding graduates with the right analytical and technical skills. We built the Business Process Management course to fill that requirement and now we consistently have specific requests for interns who have completed this course.”
A range of industry partners have helped make this course a success, including Foodstuffs, Alliance Group and the Christchurch City Council.
