UNIT TITLE: Creative Entrepreneurial Freelance Practice (CFP1)
CREDIT POINTS: 20
UNIT CODE: CJO678
FHEQ LEVEL: 6
DELIVERING FACULTY: FCI
UNIT DESIGNATION: Traditional
School: Communications and Writing
Date validated: May 2011
Date last modified: Jan 2015
Unit delivery model: PC
Max & Min Student No.: 10/ 20
TOTAL STUDENT WORKLOAD
Students are required to attend and participate in all the formal timetabled sessions for the
unit. Students are also expected to manage their directed learning and independent study
in support of the unit. Where normal timetabled sessions do not take place, additional
directed learning may be provided, and/or students are expected to undertake additional
independent learning.
PREREQUISITES AND CO-REQUISITES: None – it should be noted that in order to increase
access to this unit across the Faculty, multiple variants are offered: students are only
permitted to undertake one variant of the unit throughout their studies.
UNIT DESCRIPTION
This unit is designed to provide a comprehensive framework for those students possessing
not only an interest in, but possibly having an expectation of becoming a creative freelance
practitioner in their working life upon (or soon after) graduation. Creative graduates face
fierce competition for jobs in the creative sector. This unit fills an important gap in
recognising that many will have to freelance for at least part of their working career through
necessity, rather than choice. Others will have expectations of developing their
entrepreneurial potential, preferring to ‘go it alone’ in the commercial arena rather than
seeking traditional employment with a commercial organisation. With creative
entrepreneurs taking longer to set up in the market, this unit will ‘fill the gap.’ It will
develop their creativity and entrepreneurial potential, and provide business start-up
knowledge. Those graduates with the propensity to operate as an entrepreneurially focused
professional will also enjoy better employment, as many firms actively seek to recruit
graduates able to evidence enterprising focus and motivation.
A special feature of this unit is the support given in generating creative ideas, combined
with the formal delivery of a Business Plan. This progresses any nascent creative ideas closer
to commercial reality and/helping identify how the creative student can differentiate
him/her self in a competitive market-place. Students evidencing exceptionally strong
business cases via the Business Plan might be offered additional physical, financial and
intellectual resource from the university.
LEARNING OUTCOMES
On completion of this unit, students will be able to:
Knowledge and Understanding:
K1 Demonstrate a comprehensive knowledge of how to develop creative ideas within the
business start up process.
Cognitive Skills:
C1 Analyse and critically evaluate new and/or abstract data and information without
guidance and apply the information using appropriate techniques to their business plan
C2 Confident in identifying and defining complex business problems and can apply
appropriate knowledge and skills to their solution
Practical and Professional Skills:
P1 Develop an in-depth knowledge of the practical legal, financial and marketing skills
needed to succeed in the creative commercial arena.
P2 Understand how to create a professional Business Plan.
Transferable and Key Skills:
T1 Work independently to communicate and share information using appropriate media to a
professional standard
AREAS OF STUDY:
The content of this unit will indicatively include
Company formation and insurance
Business Planning (financial aspects)
Maintaining financial records
Intellectual Property
Presentation and pitching skills
Selling and negotiation skills
Contractual and legal aspects
Employment Law
Health and Safety and risk assessment
Other modules may be incorporated if identified as being of practical interest and
professional concern by the cohort.
LEARNING AND TEACHING STRATEGY:
Students will be guided as to what they need to know in approximately 20 hours of formal
lectures (10 sessions x 2 hours) and then work both from their own knowledge and
independent research to understand what skill-sets and information they specifically need
to develop to be successful. The learning issues outlined above will be approached in an
overtly practical way to provide essential knowledge and then students will be encouraged
to reflect as to workable solutions that fit their own employability needs. Students will be
given plenty of time to develop a Business Plan over the course of a semester but will receive
directed support with respect to the formatting and content of their Business Plans in
individual tutorial sessions (each student receiving 15 minutes tutorial per week or 2.5 hours
per term). In sessions students are actively encouraged to present their own thoughts, ideas
and solutions to enable peer learning. Sessions may be delivered in the Solent Creative
incubation hub to encourage free-thinking and to inspire students to move on to consider
procuring incubation space. Time to create a learning contract has been inserted to the
overall provision of the course.
At the outset of the course students will be asked to indicate the extent of their prior
entrepreneurial experience via an enterprise audit and put into groups of teams to help
develop the team cohesion skills emphasised so regularly by enterprise educators. Using an
enterprise learning tool students will be asked to self-assess a range of enterprise skills both
at the start and towards the end of the course. This self-reflective exercise is designed to
improve confidence and entrepreneurial self-awareness.
ASSESSMENT STRATEGY
Students will be required to develop a professional business plan to support the development
of business/freelance practice. This will include elements such as market research,
competitor analysis, a marketing plan and financial forecasts and full costings. The student
will then be required to present their business idea to a panel. This will assess their ability
to ‘sell in’ their idea in writing and orally with the support of presentation aids.
ASSESSMENT
AE1
Weighting:
Assessment type:
Length/duration:
On-line submission:
Grade marking:
Anonymous marking
AE2
Weighting:
Assessment type:
Length/duration:
On-line submission:
Grade marking:
Anonymous marking
50%
Project (to incorporate Individual Business Plan)
not less than 2,000 words
No
Yes
No
50%
Business Presentation (formal class presentation)
10 minutes
No
Yes
No
AGGREGATION & RE-ASSESSMENT RULES
All elements of assessment will be arrogated to produce an over all unit mark
Access to the usual University support programmes will be offered as and when learning
support needs become identified.
If the student fails AE1, an opportunity to re-submit the Business Plan will be offered to the
student. If the student fails AE2, an opportunity to give another presentation will be offered.
Unit Author: Updated by Caroline Barfoot, Feb 2015