The Institute of Public Administration and Management’s Bachelor of Science Programme in Procurement, Logistics and Supply Chain Management has been accredited by the “world’s largest professional body serving Procurement and Supply”, the Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply (CIPS).
At a College Management Committee meeting held on Wednesday, 18th October 2023, the Deputy Vice Chancellor of IPAM, Assoc. Prof. Miriam Conteh-Morgan said she received the letter of accreditation after about six months of submitting the application. She noted that the B.Sc. in Procurement, Logistics and Supply Chain Management is among the fastest growing programmes at IPAM, adding that the CIPS accreditation has further raised its profile with international recognition.
DVC Conteh-Morgan said they are elated as an administration for such an acknowledgement and thanked her team, including the Dean of the Faculty of Business Administration, Dr. Ernest Udeh and the former Head of the Department of Procurement, Dr. Shekou Ansumana Nuni for their immense contributions toward the attainment of such a level of recognition. She said the CIPS accreditation is a validation that the programmes offered at IPAM meet international standards, noting that IPAM can compete in certain areas at an international level. She said such an achievement has brought further credits to IPAM and by extension, the University of Sierra Leone.
Admonishing students of the Procurement Department at IPAM, Assoc. Prof. Conteh-Morgan said they should be proud of such an achievement but hasten to caution that they should bear in mind that such recognition comes with responsibility. She noted that for the institution to maintain the CIPS accreditation, which she said did not come easily, students of the procurement department should be hard-working because the future success of the programme rests on their efforts to go through the programme successfully and become ambassadors of IPAM. She encouraged prospective students to apply for the course and to make great efforts to become outstanding students.
The Procurement, Logistics and Supply Chain Management Programme is a 321-Credit B.Sc. (Hons) undergraduate-level programme delivered over a four-year period on a face-to-face basis at IPAM. The CIPS accreditation provides a fast-track path to becoming a member of the Chartered Institute of Procurement and Supply (MCIPS).
According to the conditions for accreditation, to apply for MCIPS designation, “students must submit their application to IPAM for onward transfer to CIPS within five years of graduating and have three (3) years of experience within a role of responsibility within the procurement and supply sector.” Moreover, only students completing the program “will be eligible for MCIPS; credit transfers between courses or institutions not specified on the Accreditation Statement will not be accepted.”
Furthermore, the CIPS letter of accreditation states that students undertaking the programme will receive a one-year complimentary membership card from the international institute which is renewed annually while they are enrolled for the course.
Among other benefits, the CIPS accreditation provides students with “support and guidance; expertise and intelligence; career progress and success; community and connection; and credibility and recognition”. Moreover, the accreditation constitutes recognition of a world-class programme, which reflects the current and future needs of the global procurement and supply management profession.
