OUBS launches Centre of excellence for Voluntary Sector Leadership

The Open University Business School (OUBS) has announced the launch of its first free online course as part of the newly established Centre for Voluntary Sector Leadership (CVSL). The philanthropically funded centre will become a primary resource for voluntary sector organisations giving access to leadership development modules and research-led insight.

The first free module, also known as a Badged Open Course (BOC), is Introducing the Voluntary Sector. It is an eight week course covering the context and features of voluntary and community organisations including the structure and history of the UK voluntary sector; values and beliefs; funding issues; understanding stakeholders and beneficiaries; power and empowerment; and the role of volunteering. The course will be hosted on the OU’s free open educational resource website OpenLearn and is aimed at learners working (or aspiring to work) as paid members of staff or as volunteers in voluntary or community organisations.  The second course, Working in the Voluntary Sector, will be available later this year.

Over the last decade, the voluntary sector has been increasingly challenged by austerity measures and the shifting expectations of what support the voluntary sector can, could and should provide. Leaders and senior managers of organisations, whether paid or unpaid, are increasingly required to operate in a highly competitive, increasingly commercialised context.

Professor Siv Vangen
Director of CVSL

The Centre will build on existing specialist research expertise and capability in the voluntary sector, public leadership and social enterprise. Its mission is to:

• Establish OUBS as a trusted source of expertise in leadership development thinking for the voluntary sector in the UK.
• Lead on new areas of research where there are significant leadership knowledge and solutions-based gaps.
• Provide free and flexible leadership development opportunities that meet the priority needs of the sector.
• Ensure that all best practice and new thinking is disseminated as effectively as possible.

There will be an official event in October 2016 to mark the launch of the philanthropically funded centre and to announce two further free courses on leadership development and collaborative leadership currently under development. The event will also be an opportunity to share the developing research agenda.

For more information on CVSL, visit the website.