UTS course code: C10143
UAC code: 605010
Testamur title: Bachelor of Information Technology
Abbreviation: BInfTech
Program Leader: Mr C S Johnson
Course fee: HECS (local)¹
Total credit points: 144

Footnote:
1. This course is not offered to international students.

Overview
Course aims
Admission requirements
Course duration
Course structure
Course program
Assessment
Rules and regulations
Professional recognition

Overview

This course is a cooperative education program in computer information systems and has been developed by the Faculty of Information Technology in cooperation with a group of private and public sector employers.

The number of students admitted each year is limited by the number of sponsorship commitments secured from employers to a maximum of 50 places.

Each student admitted to the course receives a scholarship for the duration of the course, subject to satisfactory performance and to certain conditions detailed further in this handbook. Each of the industry partners undertakes to sponsor a stated number of students, and contributes the full amount of their scholarship to a fund administered by the University.

The industry partners also provide the industry-based semester facilities for each of the students assigned to them.

Course aims

The program differs from other cooperative education courses in that during the industry-based semesters, students follow a structured program designed jointly by the University and the employer group, including formal coursework taught in industry. This coursework is assessed to University and business standards and familiarises students with business needs and requirements. During the industry-based semesters, students are exposed to real problems within an environment quite different from that of the University. The resources of industry are available to support the education of students.

The central curriculum of the course is information systems; this is supported by studies in management and strategic planning as well as the necessary background subjects in computing science and programming. The active participation of industry practitioners in course design and course delivery further ensures that graduates of the course are well equipped with skills that are relevant to present and future industry needs.

Admission requirements

Selection into the course is based on HSC results and the compulsory Bachelor of Information Technology questionnaire. Promising applicants are then selected for an interview and suitability is determined on the applicant's performance at the interview. Interviews are conducted by panels that comprise representatives of the University and the industry group. Applicants are assessed for their suitability to the industrial as well as the academic components of the course. The course is aimed primarily at current school leavers and is limited to citizens and permanent residents of Australia. Non-current school leavers are not normally admitted.

Further information is available at:

http://it.uts.edu.au/courses/c10143.html

Course duration

The course is of three years' duration and involves four semesters of full-time study at the University and two semesters of full-time study and practical experience in industry. The industry-based semesters are of 23 weeks' duration, and a 42-week academic year is the norm for the course.

Course structure

Course program

Post-2002 program

Year 1

Autumn semester
31465 Object-oriented Programming 6cp
31466 Principles of Distributed Computing 6cp
31467 Networking 1 6cp
31468 Information, Classification and Control 6cp

Spring semester
31474 Database Fundamentals 6cp
31491 Industry Project 1 9cp
31489 Industry Study 1 6cp

Year 2

Autumn semester
31469 Object-oriented Design 6cp
31470 Distributed Computing Architecture 6cp
31475 Requirements Engineering 6cp
xxxxx Approved Business elective 6cp
xxxxx Elective 6cp

Spring semester
31476 Systems Development Project 12cp
31735 Information Systems and Organisation Development 6cp
xxxxx Elective 6cp

Year 3

Autumn semester
xxxxx Elective 6cp
31492 Industry Project 2 9cp
31490 Industry Study 2 6cp

Spring semester
31479 Information Technology Professional and Society 6cp
31480 Strategic Information Technology Planning Project 6cp
31736 Business Processes and IT Strategy 6cp
xxxxx Elective 6cp

Electives

Electives may be taken from the Faculty of Law, the Faculty of Business or within the Faculty of Information Technology, subject to the approval of the Bachelor of Information Technology Program Leader.

Industrial experience

The two industry-based semesters are spent with two different companies. Students are not employees of the company, and are not obliged to find employment with a given company on completion of their studies. Nevertheless, students are encouraged to find employment within the group of sponsoring employers.

The dates of the industry-based semesters for 2004 are as follows:

• Autumn semester (third-year students):
  Monday 12 January – Friday 18 June
• Spring semester (first-year students):
  Monday 12 July – Friday 17 December

Students are expected to attend their assigned sponsoring company on a full-time basis throughout these periods. Students cannot expect any absences to be approved during the industry-based semesters.

Scholarship

The scholarship is paid at three different and increasing levels; all first-year students start at Level 1. At the end of each year, all Bachelor of Information Technology students with satisfactory progress move from their current level to the next level.

The levels for 2003 were as follows and will be reviewed for 2004.

• Level 1: $11,500 per annum
• Level 2: $12,000 per annum
• Level 3: $12,500 per annum

The scholarship paid to Bachelor of Information Technology students has been ruled as tax exempt. The reference for the ruling by the Australian Tax Office is Item 2.1A, section 51-10 of the Income Tax Assessment Act 1997. Class Ruling CR 2001/8.

Assessment

Grading of awards

The Bachelor of Information Technology is awarded as a Pass degree, a degree with Credit or a degree with Distinction.

The grading is based on the weighted average mark of core subjects (with the exception of the industry-based semester subjects) and performance in the industry-based semesters.

The grading of qualifying students is carried out on an individual basis by the Faculty's Examination Review Committee. This Committee takes account of input from the Bachelor of Information Technology Course Steering Committee. The Examination Review Committee is provided with the same information as that made available for the grading of Bachelor of Science in Information Technology, Diploma of Information Technology Professional Practice students, with one important addition: the overall assessment, by industry, of the industry-based semesters.

Rules and regulations

There are special conditions relating to students enrolled in the Bachelor of Information Technology.

Leave of absence is not normally granted to students, except under extraordinary circumstances and subject to satisfactory arrangements being possible. Likewise, withdrawal from the course and subsequent re-admission is not normally granted. Students are reminded that withdrawal without penalty from any course at the University is only possible up to the deadlines imposed by the University. After such deadlines, students are expected to complete all assessment tasks for subjects in which they are enrolled.

Variations to the approved program of study for the Bachelor of Information Technology are restricted. No industry-based subject may be deleted from the program, except under extraordinary circumstances and at the discretion of the Course Steering Committee and the Faculty of Information Technology. No industry-based subject may be taken during a University-based semester. The taking of additional subjects during an industry-based semester is seen as unusual and may only be done at the discretion of the Course Steering Committee and the Faculty.

The Faculty will not recommend probation for unsatisfactory academic performance. Instead, the Faculty recommends to the Faculty Board that a student be excluded under any of the following circumstances:

• a student fails any subject for the second time
• a student gains less than 50 per cent of the credit points for which he or she is enrolled in that assessment period
• a student fails any subject that is part of the program of an industry-based semester (there is provision for a supplementary examination to be taken in these subjects following a failure on the first attempt) or a student performs unsatisfactorily during an industry-based semester, or
• immediately prior to the commencement of an industry-based semester, a student has still to complete more than one subject in the normal program of the course to that stage.

Appeals against exclusion are dealt with by the University's Appeals Committee (of the Academic Board), which takes into account the recommendation of the Course Steering Committee.

Professional recognition

Holders of this degree are eligible for professional-level membership of the Australian Computer Society.