Distance learning: OU

Paul Donovan

When Father Paul Donovan completed his Open University Business School (OUBS) MBA he was also nearing the end of his Chaplain exchange with the US Navy...

Paul Donovan

When Father Paul Donovan completed his Open University Business School (OUBS) MBA he was also nearing the end of his Chaplain exchange with the US Navy. He had signed up for the qualification after a meeting at Flag Officer Surface Flotilla, which left him wondering what a balanced scorecard was all about. He ‘had always picked things up quickly at primary school and so never developed the habit of applying myself, because I never needed to. During later studies at grammar school I don’t think I achieved as well as I might have done because I lacked that application.’

However, he completed his A-levels and trained for the priesthood in Rome, taking Bachelor degrees in Philosophy and Theology, and then a postgraduate degree in Theology. Despite these qualifications he recognised that business management would be extremely useful in Service life as well as widening his own vision of the world. ‘Having an MBA means that the chaplain’s perspective on things gains greater weight in the counsels of the executive. So now when we’re talking budgets or people or organisation, my MBA studies have clued me up.’

A traditional university or business school may not be an option for men and women serving in the Forces who need flexibility to cater for travel and the unpredictability of military life. Donovan chose the OUBS because of its reputation; the OUBS is accredited by both the Association of MBAs and EQUIS, the European benchmark.

‘What I feared most was making a fool of myself in front of other people who would know business life much better than me,’ he says. ‘Out of the 15 people in my first tutorial, three of us were in the Royal Navy/Royal Marines and the tutor used to be a WRNS Officer. I suspect that in the discussions it was those who were in business who felt left out!

‘The finance sections I thought would floor me, but I found the materials well written and my tutor excellent, so even I passed that part. It’s flexible, the materials are well written, the quality of the tutors is top-notch, and it introduces you to people from such a diverse set of backgrounds that you’re enriched just by meeting them.’

Having graduated in June at Portsmouth Guildhall in the UK, he will join the Directing Staff of the Armed Forces Chaplaincy Centre, Amport House, near Andover.