The 13th Convocation Ceremony of the BSc Degree in MIS offered by National Institute of Business Management in collaboration with the University College Dublin, National University of Ireland, Dublin was held on July 11 2011 at the Water’s Edge, Colombo. This year 252 students graduated with 12 students obtaining First Class Honours, 151 obtaining Second Class Honours Grade I, 89 obtaining Second Class Honours Grade II in three main disciplines namely BSc in Management Information Systems(MIS), BSc in Management and BSc in Human Resource Management(HRM). Miss. G. R. D Dodampe was the best performer of the BSc in MIS and Miss. K. C. Welihinda was the best performer of the BSc in Management/HRM.

The Deputy Minister of Youth Affairs and Skills Development Duminda Dissanayaka and the Secretary to the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Skills Development S. Hewapathirana graced the occasion. The chief guest Dullas Allahapperuma the Minister of Youth Affairs and Skills Development was the keynote speaker at the event. The occasion was also attended by Dr. Hugh Brady President of the University College Dublin, Dr. Michael MacDonnel Director of Quinn Business School UCD and other distinguished academics from the UCD.

University College Dublin (UCD)
Founded in 1908, the National University of Ireland is a federation of four university institutions in Ireland. The National University at Dublin, more commonly known as University College Dublin (UCD) - one of the NUI institutions, with 22,000 students and 2000 staff is one of the largest universities in either Britain or Ireland. It is a fully accredited university with faculties ranging from Arts to Medicine and large professional schools in Engineering, Law, Veterinary Medicine and Business.

The faculty of Commerce was one of the foundation faculties of the University in 1908, and has the distinction of offering the first MBA degree in Europe.

NUI’s success in Europe as a university of academic excellence has encouraged it to extend its programmes to the Asia-Pacific region through a collaborative arrangement with the Asia Pacific Management Centre in Singapore, Hong Kong and with National Institute of Business Management in Sri Lanka.

(Ref: www.nui.ie; www.ucd.ie) National Institute of Business Management

The National Institute of Business Management (NIBM) was established in 1968 under the purview of the Ministry of Industries and Scientific affairs in collaboration with the UNDP, with ILO functioning as the executing agency. Since its establishment, the NIBM has aimed at achieving excellence in the programmes it offers to its clients, drawn from the public and private sectors in Sri Lanka.

NIBM functions as a statutory body under the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Skills Development. The stability of being a government institute and the customer driven philosophy of the private sector which we have adopted means that well recognized qualifications at reasonable cost are being offered to the employed as well as to the school leaver to obtain the knowledge as well as the practical aspects needed for professional and personal development.

The main objectives of the institute as spelt out in the NIBM (Amendment) Act of 1991 are as follows:

• To provide for and promote Business Management Education and Training
• To provide Management Consultancy and Advisory Services
• To facilitate improvement of Productivity

These objects are achieved through the two divisions of the institute. These are the Management Information Systems Division, and the Productivity and Management Development Division. At the inception, Management, Consultancy, and Productivity were the key areas of study. The Productivity and Management Development Division was created through the recent amalgamation of the Productivity Facilitation Division and Management Development Division.

The NIBM main campus is located in Colombo and its regional centres are in Kandy, Kurunegala, Galle and Jaffna which ensure that quality training is available through NIBM to a wider range and a greater number of our valued students. All NIBM centres are equipped with fully air conditioned modern computer laboratories, classrooms and other facilities .

In 1979 the NIBM took a step towards education excellence by introducing the Diploma in Computer System Design. This was further developed with the introduction of the Higher Diploma in Computer Based Information Systems in 1989.

The BSc in MIS programme commenced in collaboration with the National University of Ireland in 1996. This programme provides Sri Lankan students with a unique opportunity to acquire an internationally recognized degree qualification and thereby provide them with equal access to all world wide Master’s Degrees and other opportunities as available to all students from UCD.

So far 1000 students have been awarded the BSc degree in MIS. The pass rate is over 98%.
Since 2009 NIBM has introduced two more degree programmes in collaboration with UCD in the fields of Management and Human Resource Management. This year the first batch of students passed out with Management and Human Resource Management Degrees.

BSc in Management Information systems
The BSc degree offered by the University College Dublin is a four year programme and applicants who possess the NIBM Higher Diploma in Computer Based Information Systems are enrolled to the third year of the programme. Direct entry to the third year is also entertained from applicants having the following qualifications.

• NIBM Diploma (DCSD) with 3 years relevant experience or
• NIBM Diploma (DCSD) and British Computer Society (BCS) Diploma or Australian Computer Society (ACS) (all papers) with one year relevant work experience.
• BCS (Diploma Level) with 3 years relevant work experience or
• Equivalent qualification acceptable to the joint selection committee.

The Diploma in Computer System Design(DCSD) is one year full-time programme. The Higher Diploma in Computer Based Information Systems is a two year full-time programme where the Diploma is its first year.

BSc in Management / Human Resource Management
NIBM is offering these two degrees in collaboration with the UCD since 2009.These porgrammes are designed to produce efficient and action oriented managers with leadership qualities that meet the ever changing needs of the private and public sectors.
Outcomes of the Programme:

• A well groomed graduate who will face the challenges of the business world successfully.
  
• A graduate with a sense of reality to understand the truth about the corporate world.
  
• A manager who understands and respects themselves as well as fellow citizens in society.