The Security Institute is making a bit of a fuss about the men and women who have passed its diploma – and why not?
June 22 will see a graduation and presentation ceremony for those most recently gaining the TSI diploma in security management or certificate. As TSI chairman Mike Bluestone said in his speech to the institute’s AGM in March: “This past year has also seen our SyI Diploma and Certificate programmes, delivered by Perpetuity Training, achieve BTEC accreditation respectively with Edexcel at levels 5 and 3, something which we can all be very proud of. The development of both qualifications to be assessment based opens the door to many more possibilities, which will be an exciting time in 2010.” It’s part of the institute’s efforts to drive continuous professional development, and work towards chartered status. The certificate and diploma it’s only fair to add began with the International Institute of Security (IISec) which merged with TSI in January 2008.
Modules
Now it’s taught by Perpetuity Training. It’s all distance learning; you do the 12-month coursework that’s marked and returned to you. It’s aimed at middle and senior management, and takers have been not only from private security, but the 999 and armed services, and health and safety. You do modules, titled understanding security, threats to security, risk management, the legal system; and management. The diploma lets you apply for full membership of the Security Institute. Assuming the institute’s validation board passes you, you can use the letters MSyI after your name. The three intakes a year are in January, May and September. For details and downloads visit www.security-institute.org
The institute passed on a questionnaire to the recent diploma students, and here is what some of them told us. First, Steven Molloy.
Please give a brief cv or your background – is it police, military, private security, or some other?
Retail security; private security (in house); Fire Service.
Why did you take the plunge to do a distance learning course?
I have been in my current role for 17 years and I am very happy as the assistant security manager but I am here by experience rather than qualification and in this time of employment unrest I felt that I should start to get some formal qualifications under my belt.
Any reason why this particular course – as there’s no end of possible courses for managers, various MBAs and masters degrees in risk and security management, and non-university courses, and so on?
This is my first step back into studying for many years so I wanted to test the water to see if I could do it. This course I felt offered the best choice for me to fit in with my current lifestyle.
Was there anything you hadn’t bargained for? (The sheer hours of work on top of your paid job, being a learner again?)
When I first got the pack I did what most people do: had a quick look at the assignments and thought, a piece of cake, but then reality hits home when you start to write about it, you think you have answered it, do a word count and find that you have only done 200 words, and then it swings the other way and you do too many words; it is a fine balance. The hours are up to you how long you spend on researching and writing. It’s not as easy as I thought it would be.
What (if anything?!?) did you get out of the course – particular things that help you in your job, or more subtle things like confidence, and satisfaction in the achievement?
Satisfaction definitely. When you complete the assignments and then send them off it is a good feeling, awaiting the results can feel like an eternity and then it’s trying to improve to aim for a better result and comments. I love the research, I have picked up so much more information reference sites that I can call on most weeks.
Without necessarily wanting to pry into your past, how did this compare with your previous schooling / learning?
Because I have initiated this, I went and found the course that best suited me. I find this has helped me to discipline myself to study. In the past it has been ‘you have to do this because we are telling you’, it wasn’t my choice.
How did you juggle this extra ball in your life – besides work, friends and family, and everything else?
It is hard as I have a young family that need time, My wife has just finished a degree so I supported her during her studies, she is now returning the favour, I am also a retained firefighter which takes training and I am also studying with them. It just means some late nights but I focus on the light at the end of the tunnel and that’s my goal short-term pain for long-term gain.
If someone said to you they were interested in doing the course, what tips or advice would you give them?
l Read all the supporting information that you provide;
l Plan your time roughly so you have some idea;
l Keep time for the family;
l Research a much as you can, keep notes for reference; and
l Do it for you and enjoy what you are learning.
And here’s Deborah Keelan.
Brief CV: Ex-Police Crime Reduction Advisor for Greater Manchester Police. Currently a specialist School Security Advisor for Salford City Council Children’s Services in the Asset Management Team. I am responsible for advising on security of over 100 schools and other educational facilities.
Why did you take the plunge to do a distance learning course?
Because I felt that although I have extensive experience of crime reduction-prevention, secure by design and CPTED etc, I felt that I needed to be qualified in actual security management, risk management and the management of security personnel.
Any reason why this particular course?
I would love to do my masters, however, it is not financially possible and the cost of this diploma is very good value for money. My employers were happy to bear the cost of this for me, whilst a masters is not possible either through my employer or through funding it myself.
Was there anything you hadn’t bargained for?
Not really, I completed my PGCE [Postgraduate Certificate in Education] a few years ago so I was prepared for the extra work.
What did you get out of the course?
It has definitely boosted my confidence because I have been getting good marks for my assignments, even distinctions on my first attempt, which I was obviously very pleased with. It has also given me confidence to think about my future in security management and maybe explore areas that I hadn’t thought about before for future career development. I also have to say that there aren’t many other females in this line of work and I feel I am able to compete with everybody else, so some recognition in the area of security management will help me in my future career path. In terms of my current job the study in relation to risk management has helped me look at things in a different perspective, and have the knowledge and confidence to give a good argument or justify the case to support a proposal I am putting forward, especially in times of restricted budgets.
Without necessarily wanting to pry into your past, how did this compare with your previous schooling / learning?
I have only done distance learning once before, many years ago, and that was actually for a GCSE course in psychology, so a little different. I think distance learning really suits me as I can be motivated to get on with it. Most of my other previous training was very hands-on with practicals and site visits etc, so this has been very different for me. I have only had to use the mentoring scheme very recently, and this has been very helpful.
How did you juggle this extra ball in your life – besides work, friends and family, and everything else?
Quite well. I have had to ask for a couple of extensions, however, this didn’t really cause any problems and they have been very accommodating. This was because of circumstances at work, being short-staffed and covering someone else’s job on maternity leave; so nothing to do with the actual course. I am lucky that I can do research in my lunch-time and after work, and use practical examples from my job to help me. I have also had some changes in family circumstances, both my daughters are now at university so I have more time on my hands to study!
If someone said to you they were interested in the course, what tips or advice would you give them?
I would advise them to go for it. Actually, I have already recommended it to a friend. My advice would be as with any course to manage time as effectively as you can and start the next module as soon as you have submitted the last one. I find this really helps me to continue and not get distracted with other things, or get out of the studying mindset.
And here is what other diploma-takers say.
Stephen Stone works for the Open University and has a private sector security background, both for major security companies and in-house. He saw the diploma as a natural progression aid for his career: “It gave a validation that my approach to the subject was pretty much correct.”
Use time wisely
While it’s always difficult to generalise, it does seem that those taking the diploma have to be quite creative and disciplined in their use of time – or should we say, even more disciplined. Stephen Stone said: ‘A majority of the studying was done during lunch breaks, where I could lock myself away with a networked laptop and not be disturbed.’ What’s interesting is that you can take the course for any number of reasons – and get different things out of it. Stone summed up: “My best advice would be to read all you can on the subject, take from this what is pertinent to the question. Once written, pass the paper onto someone else to read, with the question and ask them as a layman if it answers the question.” So, you can take the diploma for quite narrow reasons, to get the piece of paper at the end, or to confirm that the way you do your job is sound; and yet the beauty of education is that you cannot tell what you will learn on the way, nor how making that extra effort in your life may improve you.
Jean Claude Hurd
Jean Claude Hurd spoke of the convenience of learning at your own pace: ‘It’s quite difficult, but with good planning it is manageable.’ He joined the police in 1975 and retired in 2001 as an inspector. He served in the regular police, a paramilitary unit, and National Coat Guard. ‘I feel more confident and I have the key terms to do presentations.’ Like others, he spoke of the course as tailored for the security industry professional: “Without hesitation I keep telling to my former colleagues to go for it because this industry is developing so rapidly that there is a shortage of skilled personnel in this particular sector of the economy.”
Andrew Pope
Andrew Pope served in the Army from 1983 to 1992 and has been in private security since. Like most others, this was not his first foray into being a mature student. He studied for the certificate in security management with the Scarman Centre at the University of Leicester, which has since changed name to the Department for Criminology. His intention is to carry on to masters degree level. ‘The Perpetuity Group seemed to be wise choice given Prof Martin Gill’s association,’ Prof Gill being a Leicester University criminologist and founder of the consultancy and trainers Perpetuity.
Different at a distance
The diploma – like other courses, it’s only fair to say – may not tell you how to do your job; the studying may only confirm that you are doing your job in the right ways; but it can tell you why you are right. As Andrew Pope wrote: “I have learnt many things, in many areas whilst conducting research for my assignments. Which has enabled me to be more assertive in the workplace when discussing detailed topics.” Distance learning is different from your school days, as he said: “As such I do have to push myself mentally in a way that I don’t normally … It has been difficult, I now have a study calendar attached to the fridge to remind myself and my wife when I have planned study time, how much unplanned study time I need to find, and other social events and commitments.” So, as time is precious, Andrew Pope’s advice is to do quality research, and draft out how you are going to go about studying a module, rather than rushing to put some words onto paper. All that should make life easier when you come to write an assignment.
Barrie Stewart
Barrie Stewart retired in 2008 as an inspector, 32 years in the police: 26 years with Tayside, six in the City of London. In the latter years he was a CT (counter-terrorism) security co-ordinator and a kidnap-hostage negotiator. “Having retired from the police,” as he says, “with considerable practical experience and venturing into the commercial world, I felt a need to demonstrate that experience in a formal qualification. Distance learning allowed me to do that and work at the same time. I already have a diploma in management, but I felt the need to have a formal security qualification. Having been away from the formal learning environment for some years, the diploma in security eased me back into academic study. I have now signed up for the MSc [masters degree].”
Pride
As Barrie had done some distance-based learning over the years while in full time work, he was familiar with the pressures, and reported that he did not find the diploma to be particularly demanding despite his other interests. What may be of interest are the intangible gains that he spoke of; the feeling of being exposed to a greater breadth of security; the confidence to tackle a longer, masters course; and ‘and a certain pride in gaining an industry-recognised qualification’.
