 Good afternoon everybody. I hope some of you at least can hear me. My name is Simon Boyd and I'm the program director and head of online learning at SOAS. Hopefully we'll be able to have a chat over the course of the next hour. Can everyone hear me, okay? Let me assign. Where's the chat function? Excellent. Brilliant. Well, I'm gonna run through a few slides which explain a little bit about the program and a little bit about studying at SOAS. And then we'll have the opportunity for any queries. If anything crops up while I'm talking, please feel free to use the chat function to utilise I'll be happy to address any that I don't come across at the end. And we'll also have a Q&A session towards the end of our time together. So I hope that's all clear. If you do have any queries, please feel free to kick off. And so I will begin. So a little bit about SOAS and what makes SOAS so special. I'm not going to repeat what's on the slides as you're no doubt able to read them for yourselves. But my own personal experience of working at SOAS is that it is a very special place. And we are uniquely positioned in the world to offer the academic content and expertise that we have. And we'd like to be able to share that with yourselves through the online programs that we offer as well. As if you have the opportunity to ever come to London too. So we have a huge number of very experienced and dedicated expert staff in academic terms. We have a wonderful professional services which can offer you the highest level of support that will enable you to study well. And we have access to one of only five National Research Libraries. And that's a considerable asset over 95% of the UK institutions. So to the Centre for International Studies and Diplomacy, which is where I work. I am the Programme Director, as I say, for the Global Diplomacy Programme, the Global Diplomacy MENA, Global Diplomacy South Asia. I'm also responsible for my pains for the Global Diplomacy MOOC and the Understanding Research Methods MOOC. Others of my colleagues whose faces you can see on the CISD website are responsible for the Global Energy and Climate Policy Programme. That's Dr. Howard Halbam. Muslim minorities in the global context. Dr. Sarah Stewart. The MSc Global Corporation Policy. Dr. Sudha Natharajah. And Palavine Roy. And correspondingly the UN MOOC is run by my colleague, the Director, Dr. Dan Plesh. And the Global Energy and Climate Policy MOOC by again Dr. Howard Halbam. So really you want to jump to the end and explain the quality of the programme that we have here and some of the things that you can expect. So the online programmes that saw us in CISD have been running since April 2013 and we've had over 450 students to date. Now that means that we don't have too many, we don't have too few like the old story of Goldilocks and the three bears. We believe we've got it just right. So it means the classes are manageable both from the student perspective and from our own perspective. What it also means is that we are able to dedicate ourselves to your educational wellbeing. So from that 450-5% or 450 students of various intakes, you had over 200 graduates thus far. And importantly over 85% of our students complete the masters within two years. And that's a function of the way the programme works, the support services we can offer to you and the way that the academic content is structured. So also it's important to note that because of the innovation and the excellence in the pedagogy we provide that is the theory of learning. Our students do very well. So 38% of our students end up with a master's distinction. So that means that average grade is over 70% throughout. And that means that we're able to again offer a very high quality product to everyone who's out there on the course. And that's acknowledged by the students. So 95% of the students rate of programme is excellent or very good. And we look like that is worthwhile. And it's something that our students say as being very... It's also pointing out and many of you may have come to this with a campus-based learning experience that there is a 5-8% increase in student performance over their campus-based counterparts. So the value of having an online learning experience is not in any way sort of second-class qualification or second-class learning experience. In fact, in many regards it's a forefront of educational provision. So we have a huge variety of different modules for your delegation over the course of your study period. Depending upon which degree path you take, it will depend upon the number of core modules you're able to undertake. And I'll talk a little bit more about that in a moment. But essentially the principles for our provision apply from whether you're 15 students or 80,000. We've had in fact over 150,000 students across the MOOCs now. So the pedagogy that underpins this is absolutely sound and has been regarded as being best practice and has been joined by a number of different institutions. And again, that's borne out by the remarks of the external examiner which I've joined shared with you at the bottom of this slide that we're looking at now. It's a consistently high level of academic engagement, an intellectual challenge. And with my educational philosophy, that's the very least I could ask of. So in terms of the structure, each of the MA programs, and I've just used the Global Diplomacy Exam as an example, has four 30-credit modules. And we are able to begin with the core module, the Art of Negotiation, and then equally you have a 60-credit dissertation module. And that adds up to 180 credits, and that is what you need to get your master's degree. So there are two 16-week study sessions, followed by eight-week dissertation, the mini-dissertation modules. And the start dates are in October and April each year. And you'll see the application deadlines there. The fee level for 2017-18 is £10,000, or £2,500 per 30-credit module. So you can pay an instalment, which I know a lot of our students find very helpful. So in terms of how it works, well, you have access to the World Class Library here at SOAS, and also the University of London's library. So that's very much to your benefit. We have a very clear and structured study schedule, which will give you the opportunity to work flexibly around your provision. All of the module guides are provided in the online format, and all of them are produced by full-time members of academic staff. Each of your modules is assessed through a series of activities, and that's just a way of describing an online assessment. And importantly, each of these have dedicated bespoke feedback, because this is the quality that really marks the programme out, is the quality of the feedback that effectively works as feed-forward as a learning tool on your behalf. All of the materials are supplied through the online format, and that includes the most up-to-date message content that you may need. And importantly, you're supported throughout this whole endeavour by a dedicated associate tutor for each of your subject modules, a personal tutor to look after your academic well-being, myself as programme director and other colleagues, and also by a dedicated administrator as part of a wider administration team. So in that sense, all of us are dedicated to your academic well-being. And if there's anything at any point that interferes with your ability to undertake the course, then that is something that we can address. And indeed, we have a good deal of experience in dealing with students who find themselves in difficult circumstances, be that in a physical situation, people who've had to be evacuated from different corners of the world due to natural disaster or conflict, or to sad personal circumstances before all of us in terms of bereavement and illness occasionally. So there's no reason why we can't assist in that kind of suggestion. Rather than carry on in that regard, I just wanted to share a series of reflections on the programme from other people. Perhaps very well placed as key stakeholders in the process to illustrate what the programme's done for its students. So again, I move to the comments of our external examiner. And he, in this instance, argues that the work that he sees and that's the work that students have done is on par with any of the institutions in the United Kingdom. And indeed, more broadly. And he do from one of our associate tutors talking here about how these students have, you know, that these encountered have been amongst the best that he's taught. And I think that is testament to the fact that the quality of the people we get on the course is really very impressive. And it was one of the reasons why I'm very keen to talk to you as prospective students, but also, you know, why is it where I get up in the morning and come in to work and talk to our students online? Perhaps I'll leave you with this reflection from one of our students, a graduate in October 2015. I think there are a couple of things to point out on that, but I'll just leave that for you to read for a moment. What's, you know, I feel slightly sort of warm inside about this quote is that the student found, you know, the learning experience good at the first instance. That's obviously the most important function of what we do. But also that they were, we were able to support them in their learning through being responsive, active individual student, but also creating that sort of positive environment for them. Equally that they recognise the quality of the program as being comparable with their campus based experience, which, you know, for good reason and some online provision is not to that quality, but it's recognised here that it is. And equally that, you know, this student who hadn't studied for a while was reassured by the support levels we were able to give to them. And, you know, perhaps most importantly from my position as an educator that they were inspired to continue learning. And that is, you know, it does make me feel warm inside, as I say. So in terms of applications, we would, you know, the deadlines upcoming for the October session. And again, we have a session in April with a March deadline for applications. And the application process, they're very straightforward, submitted online through the departmental website. And, you know, we turn around our applications very quickly so we can give you a sense of what your position is and enable you to get started with your studies. So that's been a quick sort of pre-CEO of the program, studying at SOAS and studying online. And so if you have any questions or queries, I'd be more than happy to address them. And if there's anything else or any thoughts to come to you, please feel fine to be, you know, to come back to me. Okay, so I've got a question here from Jiha around picking up a module to individually. Okay, so I'll just type my response. Oops, lost my connection again. Jules are only available as part of the program. So if you're interested in being a couple of modules, we could probably register you on the certificate in South Asia, a global diplomacy South Asia, at which point you'd be able to do and access to those elective modules on the program. Okay, thank you. I'm glad you can hear me. So I don't know whether we will be able to, I'm sure we can register you as on the program. Timo, thank you for your question. The first payment would have to be made by the end of the month, end of September. There's possibly a little bit of leeway to remind myself what day of the week the 30th is. So yeah, if it tripped into the first week, you know, in terms of getting paid at the end of a month, if it tripped into the 5th of October would be a suitable deadline for the start on the later in the month in October. I hope that helps. Thank you, Aida, for your question. Aida, you'd still need to look at doing an IELTS or TOFL to ensure your English level of English for the program ahead. They're relatively straightforward even encountering, you know, various bureaucracies around the world, undertaking a TOFL is not too difficult, I hope. You'll be able to do that wherever it is you may be. Hello, Chris. Nice to speak to you. In answer to Chris's question about a single textbook, this is rather a sort of, I have a vested interest here because I wrote a textbook called Global Diplomacy Theories, Types and Models, which, you know, now would be the perfect opportunity to plug. However, you know, sort of intellectually and philosophically, we don't rely on a single textbook because we don't want to just provide one perspective. Being at SOAS, we want to give you a truly global perspective and not one, you know, that's a function of, you know, my intellectual experience, which has been largely Western, et cetera. Claire, hello. Would you consider Twitter? Yes, certainly. Formal academic qualifications are not an absolute requirement. We'll take every individual application on that. So if you'd like to, you know, point to the experience that you've garnered in your professional service, that would be excellent. You know, we have a number, I'd probably say maybe 15, 20 percent of our student body have not had formal higher education qualifications, either through sort of circumstance, you know, displaced people, refugees, or through professional circumstances, maybe having joined a military environment as a younger person. Or indeed, you know, just that's the way that life has worked out. So, yeah, that's perfectly relevant. It's good if you're in that situation in your application to point out how your professional experience has engendered your interest in the subject and how you think it would be relevant. Hope that helps Claire. Suzanne, format of essay as well. The detail of that is unprovided within the virtual learning environment. So in terms of referencing, length, support that you get, et cetera, et cetera. You know, in technical terms, I suppose it's, you know, four to four and a half thousand to five thousand words piece. It accounts for 70 percent of a module mark. So it's a significant piece, but that fits the discipline that we're working in, which is one where the written word is still predominant. But we do within the assessment structure on the rest of the module, give you the opportunity to talk around other forms of assessment because we recognise that in not many professional environments, you get the opportunity to write a four and a half, five thousand word piece of work. So I hope that helps Claire. Claire, I'm more than happy to have a discussion about your application. That's not a problem. Feel free to be in touch. Aida, a second question. European accession, okay. And your anti-question, then orientation, considering the title of the school and your specialised masters, do you think my interest would not be met in a high quality? Well, I think what we try to do and what CISD does, which is distinct from SOAS as a whole is CISD talks to the global. It is the global part of SOAS. So whilst my colleagues in, you know, for example, the Asia Institute or the China Institute have a very specific geographic focus, colleagues like myself in CISD have a global perspective. So our tagline is thinking globally and acting globally, and that really fits well with the global diplomacy programme and indeed the global diplomacy book that I wrote. So we are very interested in, you know, questions of Europe and particularly how Europe in its current machinations and particularly from a UK perspective in that regard. How is Europe responding to issues and challenges from China, from other parts of the world? In that sense, you know, and I'm suitably well placed having spent a good deal of my time in the Euro-Atlantic world, you know, looking at my own research on transatlantic relations as a sort of complement to my global perspective. And that's really what's driven me from having had an academic background in bilateral Anglo-American relations to end up in an institution like SOAS. So I think if you were to consider the global diplomacy programme, I think your aspirations would be met. And equally, anyone can shape their master's experience with the support we give to you to determine and write your dissertation on the subject that you would like to do. So that's very much part of your sort of independent learning that we would want to encourage at the master's level. I hope that helps, Aida. Tino, how is the credit structure passing of a single module built up? Well, each credit, each module is made up of 30 credits and your module is accounted for 70% as your final submission after 16 weeks is your four to five thousand, four and a half to five thousand worth essay. The other 30% of your module marks are made up by what we call activities as a day. And in that sense, we have given these activities one, two, three, four, five and six, so six is the essay. The activity one is a formative exercise, and that means it's purely assessed. You don't receive any form of summative feedback. That's always summative assessment. You do receive feedback. Activities two, three and five are both all worth 5% of your overall module mark, and the activity four is worth 15%. Collectively, they make a mark out of 30. That's added to your mark out for your essay, and that's how you end up with 100% of marks for your essay. Sorry, for the single module. And in terms of your second question there, Timo, yes you can. You can pay two and a half thousand pounds every six months. Thank you, Aida. No problem. Suzanne, more than happy to send me an email. You've got my email address on the screen here. Mary, student numbers. Well, you know, as I said, I'm just sort of drawing on the Goldilocks analogy. We believe we have a sort of just the right number. Each student cohort in terms of a module is capped at 15 students. So you are only ever in a class effectively of up to 15 students. Sometimes it will be less than that, maybe 10, 12, but you'll never be in a class of more than 15 students. We probably take about 30 students each six months. So we are suitably selective in terms of what students come onto the program. We don't want students who aren't in a position to do themselves justice. So either that's through their aptitude or personal circumstances. So we keep it sort of manageable and ensure that we create a sort of community of learners. So we're very keen that you would draw and have a sort of intellectual relationship with the students in your class. So I hope that helps. Timo, no problem. Likewise, Susan. Celine, we've got a conditional offer. Celine, if you have your transcript and your degree certificate is in English, then that's fine. Do send those along, that would be satisfactory. Certainly mail it along with the other documents and do send them recorded or couriered so that we don't lose them. We wouldn't want you to lose them courtesy of the British mail system. In terms of participating on campus, there's a whole series of events that you're entitled to come into the building here in London each and every week. Be they just for CISD or indeed more broadly across the campus. In terms of whole courses, we're not in a position to offer that to our online students as yet. Largely because the estate is well suited to that. And so we're not able to offer sort of a residential experience in that guard as yet. It is something we're working on. And you know, if you happen to be or anyone in London for a while, then that's certainly... Equally, if you were here for a week and just wanted to sort of sit in on a class, then that would be fine also. Chris, the online progress similar instruction to the service MOOCs to CISERA. Gordley, the CISERA platform offers a different experience than the SOAS one. I mean, they're different levels of activity, different levels of educational experience, but you know, some of the content is relevant. So it's certainly worthwhile doing and you know, I recommend if you're considering doing one of our AMSC programs, then having a look at the MOOCs is certainly a good way to get started. Happy to help Mary. Tino, the availability certainly is there for global energy and climate policy. I would certainly recommend applying in that regard. Okay, yeah, that's fine. If you're just here in sort of passing or through travel or work, then by all means, we always were happy to see our online students in person. That's no problem at all. Nicholas, thank you. In terms of a time commitment weekly, we work on the basis of between 10 to 12 hours a week over the course of the 60 years. 18 weeks. And then between six and eight hours over the course of the eight week dissertation to the mini module. Why is the award in MA and not in MSc? It's a good question which reflects a lot about British and indeed universal global higher education. It's a masters of arts because the subject diplomacy broadly is considered within arts and humanities, possibly verging into the social sciences. The more scientific quantitative a degree is, the more likely it is to be an MSc. Who do we consider as our competitors? The competitors for being alma mater at the University of Leicester were competitors of sorts, colleagues at the University of Staffordshire who do the program, colleagues at the University of Lancaster. I'll just write that one Timo. So I think the cut. Probably the week we got as our competitors, King's to a degree, LSE. That said, you know, I should probably blame Trump a little bit more to say that we are, you know, the global diplomacy program is unique. And that, you know, CISD is the biggest single provider of diplomacy education in the world. Now, so the program between the campus program and the online program is bigger than Tufts, bigger than Columbia, bigger than other sort of global providers and certainly bigger than providers in the UK. Who is this? Certainly we'll have an FCO enrollment in this course and speaking to colleagues at the foreign office yesterday. So, yep, we'll have, you know, foreign office environment involvement. And that's just to say that students from, you know, the UK's final Commonwealth office have, you know, we have an arrangement with their learning and wellbeing teaching component, the diplomatic academy and their students come onto the program alongside other students. And we look good to that. In terms of library access, we have full library access on everything you get in the building here, we can get hold of online. So you have full access to the library. There may be one or two things in the broader context that are sufficiently the delicate that have not been provided in an online environment, but we have ways and means to get them online if we find ourselves in that circumstance. So you're as well served in terms of library access as an online student as you are in terms of getting in the building. Chris, just coming back on that, yeah, so during the course of the dissertation phases, so after each of the modules, you have a dissertation phase. So the overall dissertation module is broken up into four phases, four parts. And, you know, it's a lesser commitment in terms of those, you know, in terms of those mini modules, but nevertheless, it is a commitment. And it's very much in your interest to participate in the dissertation modules as well. So I hope that helps. Helping with time. I've got any other questions, anything else I can help with any thoughts about. We also have, I should probably mention the opportunity to participate in Geneva and New York Washington study tour. So students will be given the opportunity and for an additional fee, you will be able to join the students who we take to Geneva in February and then to New York in April and May and we take you to the United Nations. We tell you to various institutions and be slightly careful about who lies because of availability and people's commitments. But, you know, if that was of interest or indeed if you were in the vicinity, then students we know have come from as far, far afield as South Africa and New Zealand to join those study tours. Full details of which can come further down the line. Chris, yep, two years is the standard program. You know, as I say, 85% of our students complete it within two years. So, you know, that's very much to their credit, but also a function of having a program which allows students degree of flexibility, but keep on track. The trips to New York and Geneva are a week long each. So we spend a week in Geneva, approximately around the middle of 15th to 20th in Geneva. And then the April-May trip is end of April beginning of May sort of time. And as I say, we go to a number of institutions, provide a number of speaking engagements, opportunities for you to interact with. You know, high-level officials from the likes of the World Bank, the IMF, et cetera, et cetera. In terms of a student profile, just if that might be helpful, I would suggest probably, so I just come back to Tina's question on New York and Geneva. Travel arrangements. So the trips will be made, you know, it's your responsibility to arrive in Geneva or New York. So we don't build that in. But if you are able to get to those places, then we'll provide all of the internal travel, all of the internal support that you need and the accommodation that's built into that trip. Just to return to the sort of student profile, our students are spread everywhere geographically and that's really impressive. It's, you know, it's a wonderful thing to be able to talk to people around the world as I'm doing now, but able to learn from each other is a very rewarding exercise. Coming back to Chris's point, familiarization, we don't, the classroom online is made available at, you know, at the start date and that's quite deliberate. What we want to achieve is that everyone has the opportunity to familiarize themselves at the same point because it reinforces the idea of a community of learners. So equally, there's no, you know, sort of gremlins or secrets to the had in familiarizing yourself earlier. So everything starts on day one with your, you know, when the modules are the online classroom becomes available. Now, what we refer to as the VLE, the virtual learning environment, and sometimes by its sort of provider, which is Moodle, which is just a sort of brand name, if you like, for the platform. Absolutely clear. We'll be recording this and subject to editing out all of my uncomfortable pauses. We'll get it to you later on, perhaps towards the end of the week or beginning of next week, you'll get a version of this along with details of the application process. Elaine, okay. Happy to be in service. Nicholas, not usually. The classes are asynchronous. And by that, you mean that there's not an entirely synchronized learning experience. So the value of the recording is would be negligible. So we don't do that. Chris, within the realm of sort of intellectual argument here, my perspective, my understanding of the world is that there is a difference between global diplomacy and international relations. That said, I own a master's degree myself in international relations, but I have written on global diplomacy. I'd hope to address the fact that they are different throughout the course. Glad, Suzanne. Nicholas, the time zone equation, you know, really take out of the game a budget of making things asynchronous. So we provide people with a window of opportunity to undertake a particular piece of learning and achieve a learning outcome, not a specific time. Okay. Chris, pleasure. Celine, can we choose the climate quiz? You can choose certainly some of them. So the global diplomacy program in its sort of most broad sense, you can certainly undertake the global energy and climate policy module. So, yeah, the registering on the global diplomacy program gives you access to the most specific point of access to all of the different modules. Some of the other morbuses both modules. So the global diplomacy, for example, MENA program requires you to undertake not only the core global diplomacy module, but the core module for MENA, which is economics, politics, society, MENA. So undertaking that module is part of that program. And equally within that pathway, you need to undertake one of your elective modules needs to be from that MENA selection. That works the same for South Asia into a degree to Muslim minorities. Claire, yeah, that's as though we, you know, we think of these things. Not least the colleagues in the Middle East, but also to make sure that you have the opportunity to take your time. One of the great functions of this program, speaking to students who've been on it and students who didn't, you know, have the opportunity at the level which you are at is the opportunity to reflect an opportunity to take your time to think about some of these things, rather than, you know, because your boss needs it in an hour, which is what mine does. But, you know, it's that kind of experience to make sure that students have the opportunity to reflect and think about things and not just sort of that major reaction. Again, more than happy to help. Celine, certainly, you know, I've written numerous PhD references in recent times from our graduates and a good number of our graduates do go on to do PhD study. Again, this is my opportunity to cravenly plug the Global Studies PhD program, which is offered by CISD at SOAS. But as you'll appreciate, other PhD programs are available. And, yeah, you know, certainly the master's degree you receive here is as valid as any other. No problem at all. Well, in terms of the distinction with development studies in academic terms, they're distinct disciplines, academic fields. So they are not the same thing. They share a number of similarities, it's fair to say, in terms of there being, you know, broadly within the field of arts or social sciences more appropriately. So there is a relationship and certainly some of the circumstances in which, you know, those working in development studies need to practice diplomacy. And those working in development studies deal with development studies issues. I mean, that's certainly the case. Nicholas, no, the award, the wording on your degree certificate is precisely the same as if you'd attended a campus here in London. So there's no difference in that regard. So you're, you know, it makes no reference to it being an online degree. It's just, you know, a University of London SOAS degree. Timo, thank you for your time. Any more, any more? Any questions I can ask about? Answer indeed about tutor support or administration support? Finance? I don't know. That to you. No problem. I look forward to speaking to you. And indeed anyone else who wants to be in touch, please feel free. I'm glad it's useful. But equally, if there is anything more, and if you're anything like me, you'll probably come to the end of this conversation and then realize something I meant to ask. So again, just feel free to drop me an email and I'll be happy to be back in touch. Look forward to Ida. We still have a few more moments. If there's anything we can address. We can, is it where I call it quiz? And we'll be happy to be in touch directly. I know the feeling clear. We do have a little more time either. I've got another 15 minutes or so before the session ends here. So yeah, by all means, ask another question and the requirements. Sounds good. See, connecting already. Appreciate the point, Ida. I'm not too concerned about that in many regards. Many people who come onto the program have come to the study of diplomacy without a first degree in, you know, anything to do with diplomacy. So, you know, the fact that your master's degree was in literature and art history is not troubling to me. What it shows is that you've got a commitment to study and an ability to complete. So, you know, the topic is slightly different or indeed very different. It's not a huge challenge or concern to me. Okay, again, happy to help. No problem, Chris. That's one of the problems of synchrony and Ida. It's making sure that we can keep track of these conversations. The software is pretty good, but it doesn't make that. Okay. So, sort of final call. Anything else I can help any of you with? Any questions you might have? As I say, glad to be a partner service and glad it was useful to you all. If you have any further queries, feel free to be in touch with myself or my colleagues and we look forward to your application. Thank you very much for your time. Take care.