Member Article

High flying graduates make IT their business

A Northumbria University graduate has landed a job with British Airways after scooping an award as the top student in a new degree course set up to meet the IT and business needs of industry.

Christine McKibbin is staying in Newcastle after graduating from Northumbria with First Class Honours. In September she will join BA’s IT Graduate Programme in Newcastle after jetting off during the summer thanks to her top student prize of two airline tickets to any BA destination worldwide.

Christine is one of five students who are the first to graduate from the BSc (Hons) in Information Technology Management for Business (ITMB). The course was created to address a growing industry need for graduates with a blend of IT and business skills and has been delivered in partnership with many UK employers, including BT, British Airways, IBM, Unilever, Ford and Fujitsu, who have all actively given their support to the programme.

Paul Binks, Information Management Manager at British Airways, said: “We are delighted to have recruited one of the first ITMB graduates. This demonstrates that the design and delivery of the degree has been successful in meeting the needs of industry.”

Andrew Turnbull, Programme leader for the ITMB at Northumbria University says: “Employers are increasingly seeking business professionals who have a thorough knowledge of Information Systems and a sound grasp of technology but who also understand the business environment and can hit the ground running. This degree course was developed in partnership with the sector skills council for IT and Telecoms, e-skills UK, and endorsed by leading employers to ensure our graduates are able to fill a crucial gap in the market.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .