BBA Global Project and Change Management

Do you want to change the world and are you looking for an international challenge? Are sustainability, human rights, global health, social responsibility, the increasing divide between rich and poor, global warming, civil society and advocacy for minorities themes that you care about? Do you want to contribute personally and professionally to a better world? In our four-year English-taught programme, we teach you how you can make a difference.

We combine theory and practice, project management, business and research with global issues. The programme consists of courses, real projects with companies from the first year onwards, an international internship and professional career counseling. In the end, you'll know how to lead a project team and how to put innovative ideas into practice. You'll become a change maker, aware of your own strengths and ambitions, able to create sustainable value for society. Global Project and Change Management is a Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) offered by the Windesheim Honours College.

Your career

After graduating, you can start your career for example as a:
- Project manager/advisor at international NGOs like Red Cross and Doctors without Borders
- Project manager in slave-free clothing or food industry
- Project manager for businesses aiming to introduce sustainable production
- Project manager/advisor with governments or political institutions
- Communication advisor on healthy lifestyles with an insurance company
- Project manager reducing food waste in cities or at large popular events
- Advisor with local developers to promote imperfect food rejected by large grocery stores
- Advisor improving communication on scientific results on Global Warming (IPCC)
- Advisor improving Corporate Sustainability like Coca-Cola with Coca-Cola Green
- Advisor on Corporate Social Responsibility with TOMS Shoes
- Social entrepreneur

Also, many students continue with a Master’s programme at one of the Dutch or other international universities, for example:

- United Nations University - Merit (Maastricht)
- Master of Organic Agriculture - Wageningen University
- Master of Cultural Policy, Relations and Diplomacy - Goldsmiths, University of London
- Master of Global Health - Copenhagen University

Our curriculum

In the first year we lay the basis for your future profession as Project Manager. You will start right away with working on an actual project with actual clients. Within a couple of weeks, you’ll have an accurate image of working as a project manager: what it entails and which skills you need to develop over the next four years to be able to succeed.

In year 2 we’ll take your project management skills to a professional level, with courses like Advanced Project Management, Project Teams & Leadership, Grant Writing and Presentation & Pitching. The same goes for your applied research skills. Additionally, there’s more attention to People, Planet & Prosperity, with courses such as Social Marketing, Economics for development, Global Challenges and Global Business Strategy.

You start year three with the minor Managing projects in a globalized world. This minor is a combination of practice and theory. Two days per week are spent working on a project at an organization (the client), either in the Netherlands or abroad. The other three days are reserved for intensive training, workshops and master classes from experts from the work field, in project management and research. The second half of year 3 is dedicated to the field of your choice: one of the topics of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals: like poverty, hunger, health, education, gender equality, water and sanitation, clean energy, decent work and economich growth, innovation and infrastructure, reduced inequalities, sustainable cities, responsible consumption, climate action, life below water and on land, peace and justice and partnerships.

You start year four with your second Project Management field of choice. After that, you will do your internship. This internship of ten weeks has to entail research, a research report and the results of that research have to contribute to the development of the work field. You are studying at an Honours College, so we have high expectations of you. And judging by feedback from the work field, our students are doing an excellent job.

The grand finale

The programme ends with the so-called Capstone. The Capstone is the final course where all the key learning objectives of the WHC-programme are tied together. During the Capstone, you demonstrate that you have achieved all competencies set by WHC. So you have to prove to be competent for project management in the professional field of your choice and to be an independent career navigator. For example, you will have to compile and reflect on your portfolio (body of work as WHC student) You will also write an argumentive essay based on your thesis, and submit three academic articles, two related to project management and one to your specialization. Using the essay, you then formulate three propositions and defend these before a professional panel, consisting of three professionals from the work field and two WHC examiners.

Project Management fields

A project manager always operates within a specific field. At the college, you have the freedom to choose two Project Management fields in year 3 and 4. This allows you to pursue your personal interests while developing a specific professional profile at the same time. The fields have common components, in that they are a combination of research, innovation, business ethics and Global Challenges, applied to the specific field: one of the topics of the UN sustainable development goals.

Entry requirements

• diploma similar to Dutch havo or vwo diploma with a pass in English and mathematics
• English proficiency in Cambridge B2, IELTS 6,5, TOEFL internet 90, paper 575

Selection procedure

- Register via www.studielink.nl before 15 May
- You will receive an automatic email for the Student/Programme Matching Test, requesting you to:
- Answer general questions about your personal situation and study environment
- Write a motivational statement
- Write a personal essay
- Send a copy of your academic transcript in your native language and an official translation into English
- Send a copy of your ID
- Personal selection interview (in person or via Skype)
- The BBA programme selects only 80 students per year and we work on a first come first served basis.

Scholarships

Unfortunately, Windesheim doesn't provide scholarships, but our tuition fee is very reasonable.

See more details on our website www.windesheim.com