Latest News

RIBA recruiting for two positions - International Trade/Standards Officers
Be part of the vision; be part of the RIBA. The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) champions better buildings, communities and the environment through architecture and its members. With a passion to promote a wider public appetite and interest in architecture through its website, exhibitions, talks and four

IFPSM recruiting for a Director General
The International Federation of Purchasing and Supply Management (IFPSM) is a global body comprising both national and regional purchasing associations, facilitating global best practice and driving excellence in procurement and supply chain practice. The current Director General is retiring and the Board are now

Nuclear Institute has 2 new vacancies
The Nuclear Institute is the professional body for the nuclear industry, with approximately 2000 members throughout the UK and internationally. The Institute is looking to fill two part-time vacancies in their South London offices. Find out more about each of these exciting roles from the links

Read our January News Update
Read our latest issue of the PARN News Update - our monthly e-newsletter and subscribe for free! January 2011 News Update   Topics covered in this month's issue include...   Fit for Purpose Professionals - PARN Conference Winter 2012 Training Courses

New Training Courses for Winter 2012
Why not kick-start the New Year by signing up for one of our new Training Courses? We've developed a selection of seven exciting courses specifically for professional body staff, based on PARN's 15 years experience in conducting research and consulting on a wide range of issues that are unique to professional

Workshop Summary Available: Challenges for Professional Bodies
Workshop Summary Available: Challenges for Professional Bodies At our recent conference about Future-proofing Your Professional Body on 10 November, delegates participated in a workshop asking them to think about the future challenges for their own organisations and its members, and then discuss the issues and

Survey YOUR Members about E-Learning
In addition our survey of professional bodies, we are running a survey for YOUR MEMBERS to find out their views on and experiences of e-learning.     If you would like to find out how YOUR MEMBERS feel about e-learning and how they might be different to other professionals, then consider

New Strategy & Advisory Board for PARN
PARN is pleased to announce that we have set up a new Strategy & Advisory Board to support and challenge us as an organisation to:  Assess, support and challenge strategic plans Help monitor the progress of PARN in fulfilling plans Assess directions and ideas for business

Answer Our Survey: E-Learning for Professional Bodies
Answer Our Survey: E-Learning for Professional Bodies PARN's most recent survey forms part of a research project that we are conducting on e-learning for professionals, investigating how professional bodies are providing e-learning to their members. The project is supported by ACCA and

2011 Member Enquiries - Wrap up!
As 2011 comes to an end, we are looking back at the Member Enquiries that our members circulated via the PARN network. Topics varied from membership, CPD and discipline to governance and external relations.     35 member enquiries were posted during the year, and 70% of our member organisations

What's your approach to reserves?
For this article, we're sharing some of the findings about reserves from the 2nd edition of our Financial & Operating Ratios for Professional Bodies report.   On average, professional bodies saw reserves increase from £5.1M in 2009 to £5.3M in 2010.    We found that

Students polled about professional bodies
PUSH, an online guide to UK universities,  recently ran a poll to see if young people and students visiting their site knew what a professional body was...   40% recognised it as a way to get into a career 22% said they didn't know 21% said they are only for people already in a job

'Future-proofing' conference wrap-up
On Thursday, 10 November, PARN held a fantastic conference in London to examine what professional bodies need to do to support the changing nature of professionals and the demands on them in the future.   Neil Hunt, Chief Executive of RCGP chaired the event where we heard from those at the frontier of

Digital Exposure: Member Spotlight on ACCA's Helen Perkins
ACCA’s Helen Perkins explains how technology will change how accountants are made... It is clear that society is being transformed by technological developments – perhaps nowhere more so than through an increasingly rich and pervasive online world – which is becoming as prevalent as the physical

New Financial & Operating Ratios report out now!
Our second edition of Financial & Operating Ratios for Professional Bodies  report is out now! This unique report has been designed to help professional bodies evaluate their own performance relative to that of similar organisations in order to identify improvement opportunities. Based on two years of

e-Portfolios & professional associations
Application to professional body membership and the renewal process demonstrating Personal Development Planning (PDP) can often be a time-consuming, paper-based and paper chasing exercise. The result is a box file (or even several) of documents accompanying a completed form that cannot readily show the

Institute of Biomedical Science launches new CPD ePortfolio
Our new PARN member the Institute of Biomedical Science (IBMS), have a new ePortfolio resource as part of their CPD scheme. The Institute of Biomedical Science (IBMS) is the professional body for 20,000 members in the UK and abroad working across the biomedical science sector represented primarily by the NHS, university

CPD: Lifelong Learning of Millions
PARN Director Prof Andy Friedman’s new book titled Continuing Professional Development: Lifelong Learning of Millions offers the first comprehensive study on the subject of CPD. A fundamental change in the nature of professionalism is taking place; a change in what it is to be a professional and to be

Exciting news from TotalProfessions.com
It’s almost a year since TotalProfessions.com was launched with the support of many professional bodies, to provide advice, guidance and information for aspiring professionals. To celebrate, we wanted to look back at the achievements of the past 12 months, and also to make you aware of some of the exciting

Total Professions announces exciting new media partnership
www.TotalProfessions.com, the career portal for aspiring professionals, set up with support and impetus from many professional bodies, has agreed a 12 month media partnership arrangement with Cherry Publishing the major provider of web sites and related services for school and university students. The partnership

CPD and Revalidation
CPD Spotlight - June/July 2011 Think Piece by William Hanson There’s a way of describing revalidation that sounds almost exactly like CPD. It’s a regular check that professionals are keeping up to date and remain competent after qualification. Most professions already do that, don’t they?

Member Spotlight BPS
CPD Spotlight: June/July 2011 Our Member Spotlight this month is on the British Psychological Society (BPS) as they have set up an online CPD portal called The Learning Centre to enhance the provision of CPD opportunities available for their members.   About The BPS Learning Centre The BPS Learning

m-Learning
CPD Spotlight: July/July 2011 Special Feature by Amy Hannington We wanted to take a look at m-learning, otherwise known as mobile learning. Just got your head around e-learning? Well m-learning is part of it, not something wholly new; it simply refers to providing learning suitable for mobile devices. Maybe

New Training Courses: Autumn 2011
Training Courses Intro - Membership - CPD - Standards    ....unique one-day courses for staff & volunteers in the professional body

Reflective Workshop on Revalidation on 7 September
PARN is offering a Reflective Workshop on Revalidation on 7 September 2011! This half-day structured workshop includes facilitated group discussions on key issues related to professional bodies and are a great opportunity to get expert advice, share best practice, find out about helpful resources and learn

Pay structure for governing body members
 Pay structure for governing body members Ever wondered what other professional bodies pay their President, Vice President, Honorary Secretary, Honorary Treasurer or Chairman?    Find out in our Member Enquiry that investigated... Type and

Fellowship & Chartered status
Fellowship & Chartered status You can find out how other professional bodies deal with these grades of membership in our recent Member Enquiry. We looked at... Entry requirements for applying Accepted academic and qualification levels Proportion of members

Access over 200 Members Enquiries online
Our Members Only section of our website provides PARN members with access to over 200 past enquiry summaries on topics from membership subscriptions to examinations to governing body evaluations. We have categorised all of our past enquiries to enable you to find information on topics of interest quickly and easily.

Subscribe to CPD Spotlight for £10 per year (6 issues)
The first edition of CPD Spotlight this year has just landed in subscriber's inboxes. To kick off 2011, PARN took a fresh look at our e-newsletter design and have brightened it up. This month, our Member Spotlight is on the Irish Auctioneers & Valuers Institute and its online CPD system. February also brings you a

Advertise your vacancy with PARN
PARN’s vacancy service is a great opportunity to promote your vacancy to a targeted audience of sector professionals. By advertising on PARN’s website your ad is guaranteed to reach the right candidates, including individuals interested in a range of professional issues from CPD and ethics and standards to

What's new on PARNPeople - Latest blogs, discussions and resources
From mentoring strategy to developments in e-learning, PARNPeople has got people talking and sharing. Have a look at the recent conversations and let others know what you think by logging on at www.parnpeople.com! Blogs: Commentary to get you thinking Thoughts from the Sector  •Prospects for

E-learning and Member Services come out on top for PARN's 2011 research ideas
We recently asked PARN members to give us their thoughts and views on a number of potential new research projects. We received 73 replies so many thanks for participating in the survey! Click here for full descriptions of the proposed research projects. The project which received most support was on E-Learning with

Further resource & case studies give insight into experiences of volunteers
A "Volunteer Skills and Career Paths" resource and three case studies have been added to the PARN Volunteer Resource Area. This is a go to resource if you're interested in supporting (or simply understanding) your volunteers a bit better! Follow the link below to access the resource in the Members Area

PARN report on professional bodies engagement with foundation degrees published
PARN was commissioned by FDF (Foundation Degree Forward) to carry out research to identify how Foundation Degrees fit in with routes to qualification in the professions and to discern opportunities for facilitating partnerships between professional bodies and providers of Foundation Degrees as well as any barriers

PARN publishes Professional Standards Regulation
PARN has today released the newest addition to our publications family - Professional Standards Regulation. Co-authored by PARN Director Andy Friedman and Research Assistant William Hanson, this book is intended to raise awareness of what is involved in professional standards regulation, taking in the reasons why

Snapshots now available to PARN members on PARNPeople Reviews
PARN's Snapshot series are now available for members to download in the Reviews section of PARNPeople. Through Reviews, you can also make comments and ask questions on the individual Snapshots. PARN's past Snapshots include: Extent of CPD: The lifelong learning of millions Responses to the

A Lasting Impact: A case study of PARN’s influence on governance
Bringing the Board up to speed “When Board members have a two year term, there is a risk that they might not be able to contribute early enough or in all respects” says Stephen Bennett, Strategy Director at the British Institute of Facilities Management (BIFM). “While Board members have a

PARN Manifesto Update: Acknowledgement from Government
In May this year PARN developed a Manifesto for the new government, calling upon it to create a single point of contact for the professions to recognise and support the crucial role the professions play in society and ensure the expertise and advice they offer does not go unused. We sent the draft manifesto to the whole

Equally Professional publishes report "Like minds on different journeys"
A report was released today - "Like minds on different journeys" - on the work of Equally Professional, a network of 20 professional bodies committed to providing equality and diversity in and through their memberships, and thereby widening access to the professions. The report looks at what these

PARN Lay Member case study: Janette Gulleford shares her motivations and rewards
Janette Gulleford, Managing Director of Professional Solutions, has a long history of service in the professional body sector. She has worked for the Royal College of Midwives, as technical director in the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants, and currently sits on the Board of the Institute of Association