Western Continuing Studies Partners with Procept Associates to Stay in Tune with Emerging Trends

November 30, 2016 - Many of the largest "new economy" companies (Apple, Google, etc.) are noted for their ability to adapt quickly to changing marketplace trends. As noted in The Economist (Dec. 2015), Apple sells through its inventories every four days and introduces a new product every four weeks, Facebook updates its software in real time, and fashion retailer Zara designs 40,000 new products a year and ships them to stores twice per week, creating an environment of constant change. Trying to keep pace with the speed of change in the current economy challenges all businesses, including adult education.

To help it stay in tune with emerging trends in the business world, Western Continuing Studies (WCS) has partnered with Procept Associates Ltd., Canada's oldest and largest provider of project management and business analysis training.

"As one of Canada's leading universities, we take pride in providing top-quality programming using the best instructors. Partnering with Procept, we can ensure that our programming evolves with the changing marketplace needs and that we can bring highly-experienced instructors who are at the top of their professions," says Christine Wilton, Program Manager for Western Continuing Studies. "My role involves creating and implementing a strategy that helps us enrich and transform the lives of our diverse audience of adult learners in this rapidly-changing world. We believe that Procept's exceptional instructors and industry-leading courses will help us meet our strategic goals."

With over 200 classroom and online courses in its catalogue, Procept offers courses ranging from beginner to advanced levels in many fields. Under this new partnership, Procept will be offering several of its project management, business analysis and agile courses through WCS.

Carlo Barrettara, Procept's president, supports the partnership, stating "We are delighted to expand our network of university partners in Canada and the USA to include Western, Canada's leading university. We are pleased that Western Continuing Studies decided that Procept met its high standards of excellence."

Wilton continues: "As industry standards change and business practices evolve, courses quickly become outdated. Procept's ongoing investments in updating existing courses and developing new courses to address emerging trends frees Western Continuing Studies from having to do so ourselves. This frees up resources we can devote to other programme areas and towards maintaining our culture of customer service excellence."

The first course of many under the partnership will run at the WCS downtown London campus starting January 25, 2017. The course, Certified Agile Project Manager, will be delivered by Kevin Aguanno, Canada's leading agile expert and author of over 30 books and DVDs. At the completion of the three-day course, students will write the Certified Agile Project Manager exam from the Project Management Association of Canada (PMAC-AGPC.ca). For more information on the course, visit http://bit.ly/2g4aETM

ABOUT PROCEPT ASSOCIATES LTD.
Procept Associates Ltd. is a leader in management education with offices coast-to-coast across Canada as well as in the USA and overseas. Procept started operations in London, Ontario in 1983 and its USA-based subsidiary started in 1965. Procept provides training on behalf of several Canadian and US universities, is the official management training provider to many government bodies, and provides in-house training to many corporations and non-profit organizations. Find out more at http://www.procept.com

ABOUT WESTERN CONTINUING STUDIES
A division of Western University in London, Ontario, Western Continuing Studies offers courses and programs designed to meet the needs of a diverse group of learners – from two-day to 12-week courses, both daytime and evening classes, delivered face-to-face and online. Every year more than 3000 adult learners enroll in courses for professional development and personal enrichment at Western Continuing Studies. For every one of those students, the decision to return to the classroom can be life changing. Find out more at http://wcs.uwo.ca